Chapter 53 Chapter 53
It was a golden retriever with big brown eyes that had its tongue hanging out in the picture. Valerie giggled, finding the dog incredibly adorable. “What’s his name?”
“Bob.”
“Bob?” she repeated and fought hard to hold in a chuckle. Jackson looked dead serious about it, so she tried not to laugh even though the name sounded funny to her.
“Why does everyone react weirdly when I tell them the name?” he suddenly sputtered, throwing his arms up in exasperation. Valerie gaped at his sudden outburst. “What’s wrong with Bob?”
She cracked and began to giggle, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “It’s a beautiful name. You were so creative when you thought of it.”
“Thanks.” he said happily and beamed at her, but then he fell silent for a moment and tilted his head. “Wait. Was that sarcasm just now?”
“No, I was serious.”
“Really?” When he looked at her with piercing eyes, she blushed yet again, nervously holding on to her notebook.
“Of course, Bob is a great name for a dog.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Jackson answered, looking pleased. “Do you have a pet too?”
“Uhhh… yes, actually I do…” she answered, not sure if it counted as a pet or not. “I have a cat called Mochi.”
“Mochi?” he repeated and raised his eyebrows. “You’re laughing about Bob’s name when your cat is literally named after a snack?”
She giggled, only now realizing that Mochi’s name was kind of weird. “You have a point there,” she answered.
“And how do you even deal with a cat daily? They’re so sassy and huge snobs,” Jackson said, his lips twitching in amusement.
“Those are just clichés. Mochi is nice and loves cuddles.” Valerie said, smiling when she thought of her little demon pet.
Needless to say, the rest of the interview went very well since they got along great. Valerie was able to gather a ton of information about Bob, and not so much information about Jackson himself, but she had a lot of fun and made a mental note to ask more about him next time. Hopefully, the fans would appreciate reading an interview where he almost endlessly talked about his pet, but knowing them, they would love anything he said, no matter what it was.
When the interview neared its end, she thanked him, already looking forward to the following meeting in a few days. “Thank you again for making time,” Valerie said, and he returned her smile, his eyes sparkling in mirth.
“No problem at all. I’d say we both had a lot of fun,” he chuckled. “See you soon, Valerie.”
—
Valerie walked to the lift and pressed the button to go back down. As the doors opened, she stepped inside, not paying attention to the other person who was already there. She had her eyes fixed on the ground and was smiling contentedly, thinking about the interview. Jackson had been even nicer than she had imagined, and she was glad that she got to meet him. She needed to thank Thorne again later.
A sudden, painful stinging coming from her wrist tore her from her thoughts, and that was when she finally looked up, gaze falling on the other person in the lift. Her eyes widened in disbelief, shock, and fear.
She stumbled back and hit the wall of the lift. Struggling to keep her composure, she clung to the metal handrail, not daring to say a single word. An old fear consumed her, dragged her down into a deep hole.
“Is that you, Valerie?” he said, sounding exactly like he did when she had last seen him years ago. His voice alone was enough to trigger something dark within her mind. She was taken back in time to a day she had tried so hard to forget.
A memory flashed before her eyes. She saw him looming over her, a bloody knife in his hand. He had used it to cut her arm, and only seconds later, he had punched her mercilessly, cracking one of her ribs. She could barely get any air into her body, the pain overwhelming her. With every breath she took, her ribs seemed to constrict around her lungs.
Her eyes became wet with tears that soon spilled over. Desperately, she used her hand to cover the deep cut he made with the knife, blood coating her fingers. He left her bleeding in her car, and she had struggled to find the strength to reach their shared flat on her own. That had been the first time she had feared for her life in his presence, and it would not be the last.
“Hey, are you deaf?” he asked condescendingly, his icy eyes taking the life from her body. Her happiness evaporated like steam—she was petrified, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Her mind turned on her and kept showing the pictures she never wanted to see again.
She was lying on the ground, clutching her stomach after he had attacked her ruthlessly. It hurt so, so much, and she could hardly take it anymore. What had begun as a harmless argument had turned into something much worse, with him assaulting and punching her.
Her body ached badly, but she couldn’t bring herself to cry. Her tears had dried a long time ago. She was numb. With every hit, she got closer to giving up. She had stopped fighting back a long while ago, knowing that it only made things worse. Eventually, he lost interest in her and left her on the kitchen floor. That was how Hope and Naomi found her when they came over to check on her after she didn’t pick up her phone. It was the day Valerie finally opened up to them and gathered the courage to involve the police.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder had her come back to reality, and she faced Uriel, her ex, who had tormented her for months before they had finally broken up. She had cut him out of her life with great difficulty, and she never expected to see him again.