Three punks with bleached-blond hair had been tailing me for a while now. I had no idea when they'd started following.
They whistled at me every few steps, and no matter how fast I walked, I couldn't shake them.
Unease crawled through my gut. I broke into a run toward the villa.
But when I reached the front door, I discovered the keypad lock had been changed.
The three of them stood under a tree a few yards away, leering at me with sickening grins.
They watched me like I was putting on a show for them. Like I was a piece of meat they could swallow whole whenever they pleased.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I pressed the doorbell over and over, but no one answered.
The second-floor window swung open. Yolanda appeared in a silk camisole.
She hurled my suitcase out the window without a second thought. The light caught the hickeys on her neck, vivid and shameless.
"Clement, I thought you had so much pride. Then take your garbage and get out of my house."
"I've already frozen your cards. That pitiful balance in your bank app probably won't cover half a month's rent."
I didn't have time to care about her contempt. I was panicking.
"Yolanda, there are creeps following me. Can you just let me inside first?"
"Or at least call the police for me. My phone's dead. They're standing right there under that tree. Come out and look if you don't believe me!"
Yolanda froze for a moment, instinctively turning around.
"What? Don't worry, I'll—"
A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
Nathan appeared behind her, shirtless, flashing me a taunting smile.
"Hey, buddy. This is a gated community. Without a resident's permission, security won't let strangers through the gate."
"You publicly called off the engagement today and humiliated Ms. Morton. You won't even apologize, and now you're making up lies to trick her? That's pathetic."
"Ms. Morton, if you don't teach him a lesson this time, people will walk all over you."
Yolanda's expression shifted. She looked down at me with undisguised disgust.
"Clement, I didn't realize you were this manipulative. You can kneel out there tonight and let the rain wash some sense into that head of yours."
"Tomorrow morning, I want to hear you go on a livestream and beg me to take you back."
"And remember—without me, you're nothing. A man I've used up and thrown away isn't worth a dime."
She shut the window without hesitation.
Behind the curtains, two silhouettes tangled together in shameless abandon.
My heart went cold, inch by inch.
The three bleached-blond thugs stalked toward me, grinning like wolves. One of them dragged his tongue across his lower lip.
"Pretty boy, your girl's busy with her new man. She can't even be bothered with you. Why keep embarrassing yourself? Come play with us instead."
"Don't worry, we don't pay for our fun. Damaged goods like you aren't worth the money anyway." He threw his head back and cackled.
They clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me toward a dark corner.
I thrashed and fought. Then someone came running out, brandishing a bat.
It wasn't Yolanda.
It was a middle-aged couple who also lived in the community. They'd just gotten back from out of town and had been sitting in their car talking. They'd witnessed the whole thing.
The three thugs bolted the moment they realized they'd been spotted, too fast to catch.
I picked up my suitcase and politely declined the couple's offer to let me stay the night.
The husband insisted on giving me two shirts from his younger days, then drove me to a nearby hotel.
Yolanda really was ruthless. To force me to grovel, she'd confiscated every expensive accessory she'd ever given me.
Not that I cared. Things like that—I'd never been short on them.
I borrowed a charger from the front desk and planned to catch a flight home the next morning.
But on the way to the airport, the rideshare driver suddenly changed direction.
The man who'd gotten in halfway through the ride was staring at me like a predator sizing up its prey.
I reached for my phone to call the police. The driver let out a cold laugh.
