Page 75 of I Despise You
“Yep. My father took me to his office, and I cracked open the window without him realizing. The key card opens the storage room next door. If I can get through the window of the storage room, there’s a chance I can reach the office and climb through the window there.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Are you sure that’s safe?”
“Not really, but there’s a windowsill and some indentations in the wall that I can use for support. I just need to wait for the right moment to slip away.”
“Okay.” His plan sounds crazy, but that’s nothing new.
We mingle with the other guests, but soon we realize that getting away won’t be easy. If Chase’s father isn’t looking at him, then it’s one of the guards doing it.
“Am I imagining things or is everyone watching us?” I whisper.
“You’re not, and they are. Fuck! I guess he thinks I’m going to do something to embarrass him and he wants to stop me before it happens.”
“But what could you possibly do?”
“Start making out with you, maybe. I don’t know.” He shrugs.
“Do you think they’d notice if I slipped away? Maybe it wouldn’t be as weird if I got lost on my way to the bathroom or if I took longer to get out. Besides, going after me everywhere would be weird as hell.”
“What? No! You can’t do it. It has to be me. It’s too risky. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
“But you can’t get away, and if you’re willing to do it, then it shouldn’t be too dangerous.” I don’t want to end up hanging from a building, but maybe it’s not as bad as it seems. “I can go check it out at least. If it’s too much of a problem, I won’t do it.”
“Absolutely not. First, you’re wearing a dress. It can catch on something. Second, if I fall, it doesn’t matter. You’ll still be safe. Third, this is my mess. No one else should take a risk for me, especially not you.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter if you fall? Chase! Stop acting like your life doesn’t matter!”
“But it doesn’t. Everywhere I go, I ruin things. I ruin people. I destroy lives. So what if I’m gone? No one will miss me.”
I catch his hand, looking deep into his eyes. “I will miss you.”
His lips part in surprise.
“And I’m going to try to do this. I promise I won’t do anything if I’m not a hundred percent sure I can do it safely.”
“Liliana—”
“No, Chase. It’s fine. Just give me the key card and tell me where to go.”
He glances at the guards, pressing his lips together. “Be careful, please,” he says after explaining where I should go, and tucks the key card in my hand, squeezing my fingers.
I give him a small nod, and then I disappear into the crowd. It takes me a bit to lose the guards, but they’re really looking at Chase more, not at me. I slip away, rushing through the hallway and taking the stairs to get to the second floor.
I look right and left before swiping the key card through the slot. The door opens, and I enter the storage room. I slip out of my shoes and pad over to the window. When I take a look through it, my pulse speeds up. Getting to the other window won’t be easy. Actually, this is probably the stupidest thing I’ll ever do. If I even survive it. But as I take a closer look, I realize Chase was right about the indentations that I can grab onto.
I need to tear off the bottom of my dress to make it shorter. Luckily, I spot a pair of scissors on one of the shelves, so I cut my dress. If I manage to pull this off, I’ll have to get out of the house and then call Chase because I won’t be able to go back to the party like this.
I haul myself through the window and do my best not to look down. Holding tightly onto the rough stone, I move from stone to stone. The window seems like a billion miles away, and I just focus on my movements, trying to forget about the danger. When I reach the window, I push it open all the way and throw myself inside.
My chest heaves, sweat beading my forehead and dripping down my back. I look around the office, and my gaze falls on the open laptop on the desk. If Chase’s father has the footage, I guess it’s on his computer.
When my hand lands on the touch pad, the screen briefly turns black and asks me for a password. Shit! I don’t know what the password is. I probably can’t even guess, unless it’s something stupid if Chase’s father feels like no one will get this far to even reach his laptop. I’m surprised it’s not locked with a fingerprint or facial recognition, but maybe that’s needed only when it’s turned on for the first time. Chase must’ve distracted his father enough that he forgot to turn off the laptop.
I look around for any clues that could help me with the password, but the only thing I can see everywhere is the name of Chase’s father’s company. Huh. What are the odds that he loves his company more than anything in the whole world?
I type the name, and a few moments later, the laptop unlocks. I can barely believe my good luck as I quickly click through the files and folders, not even sure what I’m looking for or how I’ll recognize what I need.
A random folder titled X catches my attention, and I open it. There’s a bunch of videos in it, and I click on the first one.
I clamp my hand over my mouth to stop a scream, and I can feel the color drain from my face. The camera is looking straight at Kayla, who has tears in her eyes. Whoever is on top of her has the camera attached to his clothes.
When she tries to scream, a hand is pressed over her mouth. I’m sure it’s not Chase’s. But whose is it?
Kayla fights, trying to push the man off her. She reaches for the camera, which falls off and rolls over multiple times until finally stopping.
Kayla struggles as Chase’s father, with his pants down, his hips pushing against hers, wraps his hands around her throat.
It takes me a moment to notice the door has opened, but when I do, I scream so loudly my whole body shakes.
