42. Robert
forty-two
Robert
I had already known what I’d see before I opened the attachment on the second email. It couldn’t have been clearer since I opened the video of Jeremy harassing that woman - he was involved in every part of our crumbling lives.
My lawyer was the best in the business, but he was methodical, slow in a way I hadn’t been able to stand when the stakes had felt so high.
For Delia, everything had been on the line. I hadn’t been able to shake the anger boiling inside me—someone had sabotaged her, and if I was right, it had been no coincidence.
The drive to Delia’s place felt longer than it was with her not answering my calls. Every red light seemed to mock me as her voicemail plummeted me deeper into despair.
“FUCK!” I screamed, at the slow-moving car in front of me, slamming my fist on the steering wheel.
Jeremy’s face burned into my mind. It had been so obvious. Of course it was him. I’d been so deep in thought about my own betrayal that I’d missed all of his betrayals along the way.
And now he’d committed the ultimate betrayal by hurting the mother of my future child. I thought about her struggling, thinking she’d lost those hours because of bad luck or some clerical error, never knowing it was sabotage. Never knowing it was Jeremy. He was right under our noses the whole time.
By the time I pulled up to Delia’s off-campus house, I was running on pure adrenaline. I didn’t even cut the engine before I was out of the car, striding up to her front door with purpose. One foot in front of the other.
The blinds were drawn, but a faint light glowed through the window. I knocked, hard and loud.
“Delia?” I called, trying to keep my voice calm even as my heart raced.
Nothing.
I knocked again, louder this time. “Delia, it’s me. Open up.”
Still nothing.
Something was wrong. I could feel it.
A chill ran down my spine, and I stepped back, scanning the front of the house. I heard something that only pricked my sixth sense further: a muffled shout.
“Delia?” My voice came out sharper now, panic lacing every word. I pounded on the door with my fist. “Delia!”
No response. Then another sound—something like a thud, followed by a faint, desperate yell.
My instincts kicked in, and I stepped back, putting all my weight into my back leg, and then I slammed my foot into the door.
The door gave way, crashing open as I stumbled into the narrow entryway.
I could not believe what I was seeing!
Jeremy was on top of Delia , pinning her down against the floor of her living room. Her face was turned away from me, her arms struggling beneath his weight.
She let out a pained muffled cry, and something primal exploded inside me.
“Get off of her!” I roared, charging across the room.
Jeremy barely had time to turn his head before I hooked my arm around his neck and yanked him to the ground. I didn’t care if I hurt him. I didn’t care about anything except the way Delia’s face looked, frightened, flushed, vulnerable.
On my knees, I held Jeremy from behind, my elbow still hooked around his neck, and listened to the life drain from him, felt his body going limper.
No, he wasn’t getting out of this so easy. I wouldn’t let him.
I slammed Jeremy against the floor next to Delia as she scrambled to get out of the way on her hands and knees.
My hand tightened around his throat as pure rage coursed through me.
“Do you like that? Huh? Do you like someone bigger than you on top of you? Controlling you? Doesn’t feel good, does it?” I screamed in his face, droplets of spit flying through the air.
Jeremy clawed at my wrist, his strangled words gurgling out of him, “Wait—”
“Wait? Wait? I bet you’ve heard that a time or two,” I told him gravely.
His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth. “Shut up,” I told him, picking him up by the collar only to slam his head down on the ground.
“Robert, please, you’ll kill him!” Delia shouted, from across the room. She was on her knees, gripping onto a chair, breathing hard.
Jeremy shook his head against my assault, and he stared into my eyes as he whispered hoarsely, “Listen, I—”
“I said shut up.” My voice was deadly calm, and I saw the fear in his eyes as he realized I wasn’t bluffing. I pressed his neck harder against the ground until my fingertips touched the cold, hard floor.
All I had to do was use just a little more pressure, and his windpipe would crush, and he’d stop breathing. “You think you can touch her? Hurt her? Destroy everything she’s worked for? Because you’re jealous ?”
“No,” he gasped.
“And those women? Those women who trusted you to protect them? And you called me pathetic?” I growled, my nose touching his.
Delia blurted, “Please, Robert! Please stop!”
I turned my head, my grip still tight on Jeremy’s throat. Delia was standing up now, her face pale and streaked with tears.
“Call the police,” I ordered her, without loosening my hold.
I looked down at Jeremy, at the blood in his face and the tears swimming in his eyes. The same eyes that had pretended to care about me, to care about Delia.
“Let them decide your fate. If they get here before you die, then I guess someone up there still cares about you because I don’t.”