Chapter 10
I struggled fiercely and cried for help. I was nearly swallowed by desperation.
“Enough already!” Finally, Dexter kicked Kyle aside.
I knew how he loathed anyone touching his stul!. He didn’t care about me, but since he had touched me, he considered as his cheapest of possessions.
I fell to the ground in a heap, hugging my clothes tightly around me.
Dexter seemed to lose his interest.
“You all get the hell out!” his said with an icy tone.
Kyle and the others knew to read the room. Seeing Dexter pissed off, they all scrambled up and left.
Now it was just me and him in the room.
He stood up, kicking me in disgust. “I heard you met with Ryder today. Are you that easy? Are you throwing yourself at him to make him sleep with you?”
Ryder had been my college senior who had been pursuing me for years, a genuinely good guy.
That day. I met with Ryder because he was leaving for graduate school abroad. He told me he’d secured a spot for me to study abroad too. He wanted me to think it over, to give him an answer once I’d decided. Even if I didn’t like him, it was okay, he said. He admired my talent and would wait for me.
Honestly, I was tempted. Dexter didn’t love me: I knew he’d never marry me.
I said I’d think about it, because at that moment, I was still fantasizing that maybe, after all these years, I could earn a sliver of love from Dexter.
But it was that night that pushed me into despair and made up my mind to leave.
“Phoebe, did he touch you?”
I just hugged myself tighter, not answering.
“I’m talking to you!” He kicked the coffee table in a frenzy, glaring at me with fury.
Scared out of my wits, I shook my head through tears.
“I’m telling you that you’re not to see him again, got it?” He grabbed my hair, threatening me to stay away from any man but him.
Frightened, I nodded, but he wasn’t done with me yet.
He looked at me with disgust, and there was disdain in his eyes.
“Dexter… it wasn’t me who told Hailey about marrying you. It was Hailey. She said there was an engagement, and asked me…”
1/2
Chapter 10
His look frightened me. I desperately tried to explain.
Because my shirt had been torn open by Kyle, it now hung off my shoulders and exposed my bare skin. I was drenched, and in that moment, I must have looked particularly filthy and .cheap.
Angry, he picked up a bottle from the table and poured it over my head. “You’re so filthy. Just wash yourself off.”
I closed my eyes in fear to let him ravish me. I kept telling myself that I owed him, and I’d pay off my debt that night. Tomorrow, I’d apply to study abroad. I was going to leave.
I thought once he was done bullying me, he’d let me be. But he grabbed my chin and kissed me as if possessed. I thought he would find me dirty.
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