“Really?”
Holly nodded vigorously, “Laura, when you get there, will you continue to work as a journalist and write articles?”
“Of course. Patrick helped me contact a local media company, and I’ll start from scratch. But I believe I’ll achieve results soon.”
“A woman should fully pursue her dreams…” I said, “And should fully commit to her career.”
After saying this, I felt like I had heard this before.
Someone else seemed to admire independent and strong women.
And yet, I turned myself into his plaything.
Feeling a bit melancholic, I shook my head, trying to clear away those memories.
The flight to Canada was scheduled for two days later. I went home to pack my bags, starting with clearing out the fridge, where there were still many crabs.
I organized everything one by one, and by the time I finished, it was already ten o’clock at night. I was ready to take a shower and go to bed.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang urgently.
I was startled, thinking it might be Patrick coming to deliver my passport, so I hurriedly opened the door.
But instead, I was hit by a strong smell of alcohol.
“Cameron?” I was taken aback. “You…”
Before I could finish my sentence, he had barged into my home.
With a loud bang, he shut the door, his crimson eyes staring straight at me.
“Have you been drinking?” I frowned.
It seemed like he not only drank but also drank a lot.
He smirked slightly, that same unruly look on his face. He sat on the sofa, loosening his tie and unbuttoning a few buttons of his shirt, revealing his muscular, tanned chest.
“Come here,” he chuckled.
I stood still.
My silence angered him, and he roared, “I said, come here!”
My body trembled.
He looked like an enraged beast at this moment.
He stood up… I lost my balance as he forcefully pushed me onto the sofa.
“Cameron, you… let go!”
“Let go? Ha…”
His rough fingers slowly traced over my face.
He delicately touched my forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, all the way down to my collarbone. His breath became increasingly ragged, and when his fingers slid down and reached my chest, he paused.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with intense possessiveness.
A chill ran down my spine, and my heart beat irregularly. I tried hard to push him away, but his strength was overwhelming, and I couldn’t budge him. Ignoring my resistance, he pressed me down and used his belt to bind my hands, a wicked smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Cameron, don’t… don’t!” Tears streamed down my face as I struggled.
“I’ve told you before, Laura… You’re mine!” His cold voice roared in my ears. “Are you ignoring my words?”
“Why don’t you break up with Patrick? Do you still want to elope with him?”
Cameron viciously grabbed my hair. The pain was excruciating, and my whole body went numb.
“Laura, are you trying to fool me?”
“No, listen to me…” I desperately tried to explain, but he didn’t give me a chance.
His kisses fell…
He bound my hands, pinned down my legs, his strength astonishing.
He rubbed and kneaded me roughly.
All I felt was pain, from head to toe, not a single part of me spared… As he thrust deeply, a sharp pain tore through me, and I screamed in agony.
I had never cried so desperately.
“Laura…” he forcefully invaded me, pressing down on my shoulders, repeating incessantly, “You’re mine, you’re mine…”
“I won’t allow you to leave with him!”
With a low growl from Cameron, the nightmare finally ended.
Pain flooded over me, and the sense of humiliation gradually exposed.
I lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Cameron stood on the balcony, his broad back blending into the desolate night. Soon, the smell of nicotine drifted over, and my heart ached, followed by a wave of nausea.
I got up to go to the bathroom, but my knees gave way, and I collapsed to the ground.
“Laura!” Cameron rushed over, wrapping me in a blanket.
I saw that no inch of my skin was intact. Blood streak on my wrists, and my arms, legs, and chest were covered in bruises.
But I couldn’t find a trace of guilt on Cameron’s face. He looked cold, as if everything he did was just a matter of course.
A surge of hatred rose in my heart, I wished to tear this man to pieces!
I glared at him furiously, raised my hand, exerted all my strength… but before that slap could land, he grabbed my wrist. He sneered, his gaze contemptuous, speaking in a mocking tone, “Want to hit me again?”
“I let you hit me before because I didn’t want to argue with you, but don’t push it too far!”
His expression was fierce and tinged with mockery. He squeezed my wrist tightly and slapped my face several times.
“Laura, don’t challenge me!” he said. “Behave, and I won’t treat you bad… Otherwise, not only will I make you suffer, but I won’t spare your beloved either!”
I caught a glimpse of his smug smile. Then, I grabbed his hand and bit down hard on his hand until my mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
Thanks to Cameron, I was afraid I had become a bloodthirsty monster myself.
I screamed and shouted, driving him out like a madwoman, then locked the door tightly…
For the next few days, I stayed locked inside my home, with my phone turned off and the landline unplugged. I did nothing, just curled up in a corner, lost in thought.
It felt like a piece of my heart was missing and I didn’t know how to heal. I suddenly remembered when I accidentally killed Jacob Campbell, and during that time, the world was just as dark. The doctor told me I had “post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Is the old illness recurring now? I hugged my head tightly.
How wonderful it would be if I could turn into a snail, retreat into my shell, and ignore everything.
I locked myself in for three days, during which someone knocked on my door. The urgent doorbell and concerned inquiries only made me feel worse.
I knew it was Patrick outside.
But I couldn’t face him now.
Every time I saw the wounds on my body and remembered that nightmare of a night, I felt filthy!
For the past three days, I had hardly eaten anything, and by the fourth day, I was starting to feel weak. When I stood up, I saw stars. It was then that Holly came knocking on my door. “Laura, are you home?”
I hid behind the door, picking at the wallpaper with my fingers.
“Laura!” the knocking grew louder. “Laura, are you in there? What’s wrong with you? Your phone is off, and I can’t reach you at all… Did you lock yourself in? Please, if something happened, tell me…”
“Okay, if you don’t want to talk, I won’t force you.” After a moment, Holly spoke softly through the door. “If you’re inside, just listen to me.”
“Laura, something big happened, it’s serious! Two days ago, there was a video circulating on The Lynch Group’s internal network. Almost every employee of The Lynch Group received it… The content of the video is very…”
She didn’t finish her sentence.
In that moment, my mind went blank, and I gasped for air as if suffocating.
A video?
I couldn’t believe it, Cameron actually did this to me!
“Laura, in the video… It’s you and Cameron…”
I flung the door open. She hesitated for a moment, then grabbed my hand anxiously. “What’s going on?”
I stared at her blankly. I felt like my mouth was moving, but no sound came out.
“This is a big deal,” Holly’s face turned pale. “The Lynch Group has been in turmoil for the past few days. Everyone is talking about you and Cameron, and someone has already leaked the video…”
“What?” I shuddered all over.
“Stay calm,” She looked at me. “I’ve used all my connections to intercept the video. But with the internet being so advanced, I just deleted it, and the next second someone uploaded it… So, I can only do my best to control the spread of the video as much as possible…”
“Laura, the video not only features you but also Cameron… I think he wouldn’t want things to get out of hand either. He should be sending more people to delete this. But as for how the video got leaked… that…”
I forced a bitter smile. Where else could it have leaked from? Besides Cameron, who else would leak it!
“Laura, there’s something else…” Holly’s voice trailed off. “You, you have to stay calm.”
“Tell me,” I felt numb. “Are you trying to tell me that Patrick has seen it?”
“Laura…”
She bit her lip and let me lean on her shoulder.
Cameron leaked this video to let Patrick see it, didn’t he?
He wanted to broadcast to the world that I was his plaything, didn’t he?