Luca had warned her about Donald, but she had refused to listen to him.
And now—-
More police cars arriving at the scene with sirens blaring momentarily distracted Vivian, and she looked at Mario in dismay. “Is this all because of me?”
“No, signora.” When she turned to him in confusion, he elaborated quietly, “Numerous students apprehended in the vicinity were underage – and found in possession of either alcohol or illegal substances.”
And as if to emphasize the bodyguard’s point, police officers walked past them, dragging sobbing and struggling university students whose hands were cuffed behind their backs. When they noticed her looking at them, one of the girls spit at Vivian.
“This is all your fault,” the girl snarled. “We’re all in this mess because you played around and you couldn’t handle your shit!”
“If I get kicked out of varsity, I swear to God I’ll kill you,” a red-faced boy slurred.
As more invectives were hurled her way, Mario hastened to usher Vivian inside the Rolls Royce, and as the car sped away, she could only stare blindly outside the windows, unable to count the number of arrests being made.
There were so, so many – and were they all because of her?
“Signora?” It took Mario several times of calling out to his employer’s wife before she turned to him with haunted green eyes. “Signor Valencia wishes to speak with you.”
She took the phone with shaking hands. “H-Hello?”
“Are you okay?” Despite the tautness of her husband’s tone, the worry that threaded through it was unmistakable, and she choked back an involuntary sob, feeling like she didn’t deserve to have Luca worry about her.
He had warned her, but she hadn’t listened to him.
“Luca—-” Her voice caught, as her eyes stung with tears that burned with the need to be shed.
“Tell me you’re okay,” her husband gritted out.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca exhaled sharply. “Just tell me if you’re okay first, per favore.”
Realizing she was only making it harder for him, she struggled to get her composure back and worked hard to keep her voice from shaking as she answered him. “I’m fine n-now. They c-came just in time.”
“Bene. It’s what I needed to hear.”
“Luca, I—-”
“We’ll talk when I get back.” His tone was still taut, but it was also cold now, and it hurt.
Did he blame her for what happened?
She would understand if he did.
“Eula and I will leave for the airport—-”
Unable to help it, she cut him off, asking tremulously, “Luca, are you mad at me?”
Silence.
Vivian bit her lip hard.
Finally, her husband said, “No, cara. I’m not. I love you, and I’m thankful that you’re safe.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. She knew in her heart he wasn’t lying, but somehow hearing the words still hurt, and she didn’t know why.
When she arrived back home, the silence in the house felt too eerie and oppressive at the same time, causing her to toss and turn in her bed. It was almost eight in the morning by the time exhaustion forced Vivian to sleep.
Vivian had vaguely wished that she would feel somewhat better the next day but upon waking up in the afternoon it was the opposite that happened, with her mood swinging from lethargy to anxiety, self-pity and terror.
Like anyone else, she heard of stories of sexual attacks from the news every day but even so she had foolishly believed it was something she would ever suffer from—-
Until last night.
The sensible part of her knew what happened wasn’t her fault, but the irrational part of her couldn’t help pointing inwards in self-blame.
Luca had warned her, but she had ignored it.
She had seen the signs herself, but she had ignored it.
Didn’t that mean she was to blame for Donald’s attack?
Even knowing it would be read as an act of cowardice, Vivian decided on the last minute not to attend her classes that evening. She just wasn’t ready to face the world yet, and she didn’t at all look forward to the prospect of having to confront Kay about what her boyfriend did.
In an effort to distract herself, Vivian decided to check on her email while praying silently in her mind that she wouldn’t see her inbox flooded with hate mail.
When she opened her eyes, she realized that reality was worse.
One of the new unopened messages in her inbox was from Maria.
I’ve made mistakes but I’ve learned from them. I would have stayed away if I thought you deserved them. I only wanted a chance with Eula. But after what happened last night, I knew it wouldn’t be right for me to simply stand and watch and do nothing.
If you really love Luca and Eula, then please do what’s best for them.
Below the message was a download link for a folder of videos.
She clicked the first one, and Vivian paled when she saw that it was a recording of Luca and his ex-wife when they were still in high school. They looked young and innocent, happy, and completely besotted with each other.