Chapter 2

That comment had actually posted the exact address of my studio and my cell number.

Then my phone rang.

An unknown number.

The second I picked up, the caller started screaming.

"You're Angela Salazar, right? How dare you cut in front of my Jeff! Who do you think you are..."

A girl, and she didn't sound very old.

I hung up on the spot.

The phone rang again.

Another unknown number.

"Angela Salazar, you disgusting woman, you dare bully my Jeff? I hope you rot..."

After that my phone wouldn't stop.

One unknown number after another, coming in nonstop.

I stopped answering, but it was still a nuisance.

That went on for half an hour or so, and then the phone suddenly went quiet.

Instead, a text came in.

"This is Jeffrey Dickerson. Want to talk?"

So it seemed Jeffrey was running this whole harassment campaign himself.

While I was still thinking it over, Jeffrey called.

I pulled out a voice recorder, switched on the record function, then picked up.

"Angela Salazar, how's that? Enjoying the calls?"

His voice was full of himself.

"In the last hour I've had dozens of harassing calls," I said.

"People cursing me, people threatening me. You organized all of this, didn't you?"

I spoke each word clearly, just to get it down as evidence.

"That's right, but that's only the appetizer."

"So? You'd better be a good girl and give in to me, or you'll only bring more trouble on yourself."

I answered evenly. "Jeffrey, I'm advising you to stop now, before it's too late to regret it."

"Hmph, still talking tough. Then you go ahead and wait for the regret!"

"Though I do like your stubbornness. That way, when you kneel to me later, it'll be even more of a thrill to play with you!"

Jeffrey let out a few cackling laughs, then hung up.

Before long the unknown calls started up again, one after another.

At the same time all kinds of abusive texts came flooding in.

Every filthy, vile word, insult and threat piled on.

Lucky for them I don't crack under pressure. I just switched off my phone and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up.

First I called my mother.

Her phone was off.

It left me somewhere between laughing and crying.

So I had a quick breakfast and headed out.

First I went back to the mall from the day before.

Found that iced coffee shop.

Got a copy of yesterday afternoon's footage.

Then I went straight to my mother's company.

She should be back from overseas by today.

Though I didn't know if she'd made it to the office yet.

I went straight up to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm here to see Georgina Pruitt."

The receptionist looked at me, puzzled.

"Do you have an appointment?"

I blinked. "No."

She put on a touch of regret.

"I'm sorry, you need an appointment to see Ms. Pruitt."

That was inconvenient.

"Then is Ms. Pruitt in the office?"

She shook her head. "I'm not able to say."

Well. They ran a tight ship here.

This was going to be tricky.

I'd never had anything to do with my mother's company before.

Apart from her, I didn't know who to ask.

I thought about it and decided to leave for now.

But just as I reached the main doors, a hand shot out and blocked me.

It was Jeffrey.

"Oh? You tracked me all the way here?"

"What, are you finally ready to cave to me?"

He wore a look of pure smugness.