Valentine Martin woke up in the early morning, scrunching her nose as she heard unfamiliar moaning through the wall. She sat up, massaging her face to get the sleep away. Straining her ears, she heard it again.
"Use your words slut. What do you wa...
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Valentine's ex-boyfriend had looked worse than the time he fought a squirrel- which, admittedly, had already set the bar pretty low- all because the pesky little rodent had stolen his beloved peanut butter sandwich.
Valentine's ex-boyfriend seemed to have suffered quite a few injuries, with his upper lip carrying a deep cut, his right eye being swollen and blackened, and his right jaw featuring significant signs of damage as well. He also had bruises on his neck in the shape of handprints, and his left arm was wrapped in a cast. His piercing, glaring eyes were locked on Valentine, who was rendered speechless at the sight of the damage, and who had forgotten how to breathe.
"You," he said, his voice laced with anger as he walked up to the counter and stood in front of Valentine, who instinctively looked for the door only to realize that he had turned the open/close sign to closed, trapping her inside the store. The ex-boyfriend's piercing glare was unsettling and intimidating, and Valentine felt a cold chill run down her spine.
"How dare you run away from me?" Tyler asked angrily.
"After all these years I've treated you well, paying off your college debts, giving you a place to live in my home, and now you suddenly grew a backbone; saw the light." His voice was laced with anger, as he spoke with vitriol and hostility.
Tyler reached out and stroked Valentine's hair, making her feel small and insignificant. "You have no idea what you've done. " He yanked on a handful of Valentine's hair, pulling her close. His eyes were dark and intense as he looked downs at the woman below him as she cried out in pain.
"Because of you people are gonna get hurt. Because of you they'll die. " "W–wait what?" Valentine asked confused.
"Look at you," Tyler murmured, his voice tinged with cruel amusement. "You have no one. When you die, no one will mourn over you. Not one person will shed a tear when you're gone. Soon they'll know that you're a nobody."
His fingers brushed against her soft, smooth skin, slowly, as if he was savoring this moment of humiliation.
"Come back to me now, before I have to hurt more innocent people."
Valentine hated it. She opened her eyes, determined not to let Tyler see that he'd gotten to her. He was feeding off her fear for him, and the thought of him laughingly savoring her reaction made her want to crawl underneath a rock and hide. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing how she felt.
Tyler grinned at Valentine, giving the illusion that they had just been participating in some sort of playful game. He acted as if she was still his. "I love this cat and mouse game, babe," he said, "And here I thought you were the most boring housewife ever."
Then he walked out of the door, not bothering to look back at her as he disappeared from her sight.
As soon as he was gone, Valentine collapsed to the ground, hiding her face behind her hands, trying to stifle her sobs.
