Need Nothing
1851 Words
VICTORIA'S POV
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My chest rises as I inhale a calming breath, letting the nerves roll down my back in goosebumps. "Hello, Jackie." I address Jax's little sister as she glares daggers at me, eyes burning with rage.
"Why are you here?" Older, but never wiser, Jax's mom steps out from the kitchen, chin held high, carrying her entitlement on her face.
"To get my belongings." I say calmly, but not weakly. I have absolute no reason to be civil, to be kind, to let them treat me as the lesser person. Not anymore. Not ever again.
"Your belongings?" Jackie scoffs as if it were the best joke she's ever heard. As if I had nothing to take, like this wasn't my house I lived in for years too.
"She probably never bought anything in her entire life," His mother whispers loud enough for me to hear, and my brain feels like it's short circuiting.
"Enough," Jax's father sigh, appearing from who knows where, looking like an older version of the man I used to love. Jax's mom, Alice, stands taller, looking at her husband with surprise. Fred, Jax's dad, has always been the reasonable one, not entirely kind, but not as cold hearted as his wife and daughter. He's told them to leave me alone many times, though I think it was for Jax's sake rather than mine.
"Alice, you can clearly see that Vicky bought her own clothes. Jax has much better taste than that," He gazes at me from the corner of his eye, the blood rushing to my cheeks as that invisible hand slaps me across the face. Alice's throat gurgles as she laughs, her cold eyes roaming from the top of my head to my shoes.
"Clearly," She mutters, sighing in disappointment. My clothes are made of the best fabrics, sewn with the precision, the quality at its best. I can already see the damn thread coming loose at the hem of Alice's shirt, but sure...My clothes are worthless.
"Excuse me," I mumble irritably, moving past them to the room without glancing back towards the foyer downstairs. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea that Wystan came with me after all.
"What are you packing it in?" Jackie sneers, the sound of her heels clicking against the tiles behind me as she follows raking down my skull like nails on a chalkboard.
"In my suitcases," I snap, my impatience getting the better of me. Does she want me to put in a trash bag? I'm sure she'd say yes.
"I will supervise to make sure you're not taking anything you're not supposed to." She says chirpily, as if doing me a favor, but there's an edge to her voice, a warning.
"You don't know what is mine and what isn't, so no." I turn, facing her. She didn't expect me to stand my ground, and I could tell by the way her eyes widened that she was surprised.
"How dare you speak to her that way?" Alice storms over, hands balled into fists at her sides, her overly fill red tinted lips pressed in a thick, flat line of rage.
"How dare you speak to me that way?" I snap back, raising my voice, watching as her chin tucks into her chest as she pulls back her head.
"You spoiled and ungrateful brat!" Alice seethes, speaking through her bared teeth like an animal while I calmly stand still and stare at her, waiting for her next move.
I thought they were uncivil when Jax and I were together, but I never imagined that they'd act like this, like I'm an intruder in a house I know every corner of, where I slept every single night, where I've made dinner and cleaned.
"Get off your high horse," I snipe, "I want nothing that belongs to your son, nor do I want anything he bought." I want nothing to hang over my head, and I certainly don't want a reason for him to contact me again.
"Aren't you a saint?" Alice croons sarcastically, giving me a suspicious look.
"I'm taking my things and leaving," I grit out, biting back the urge to roll my eyes and yell at them. I have no more patience.
This isn't my house anymore-- that's what I keep on telling myself. I don't want it anyway. I'm barely inside the room when Jackie storms in, arms crossed, "Get out," She demands.
Standing frozen, my gaze lifts towards hers, "I'm packing." I manage to grit out as calmly as possible.
"I don't care, get out!" She yells. Where does she get the audacity from?
"No!" I yell back, her eyes narrowing into slits. I can see the exact moment her last brain cell gave out, the exact moment that unhinged genetic part of her lost all life, because her face contorts, shoulders squaring, and her eyes-- chaotic.
She lunges for me, in her heels, darting so fast that I barely blinked before she pounced. Her long manicured nails outstretched like a cat's claw. Her nail scraped down my cheek, just below my eye, her other hand grabbing my hair. I scream, loudly, my throat hurting and it doesn't take very long for Alice to show up, panicked but when she saw me on my knees, being dragged towards the door, her scared facade replaced by amusement as she stares down her nose at me, disdain in her eyes.
"What did you do now?" she asks, head tilted with precision.
"She yelled at me," Jackie seethes through gritted teeth, voice wavering, her fingers curling in my hair, my roots straining as my scalp burns and I scream again until my throat burns.
"Shut up!" Alice whines, rubbing her temple dramatically.
"Let go!" I seethe, grabbing her wrist that's on my hair, trying to control it.
"Stop!" A deep familiar voice shouts over the ringing in my head. Looking up to meet those familiar silver-blue eyes, I feel Jackie's fingers slacken.
"Who are you?" Alice sneers with disgust, rage circling every word she spews into the air.
"Mom," Jackie whispers in warning, and when I glance up at her, I can see the recognition in her eyes, the awe and confusion as she lets go of my hair.
"Let. Her. Go." Wystan grits out, striding over with angry steps. To my surprise, Jax's sister lets me go, stepping back when Wystan reaches us, holding out a hand for me. I grab it, and he hauls me to his chest before stepping in front of me, eyes scanning the room suspiciously. He doesn't know who they are.
"Jax's family," I explain in the softest whisper I could manage.
My brother hums in response, the sound curt, as if he already guessed it.
"Who is he?" Alice asks her daughter, softly, carefully. I watch as Jackie leans towards her mother as if to whisper a secret when she says.
"The heir of the Devereaux group. One of the richest men alive, or will be when he inherits it." I stare stunned at Jackie. Doesn't she live underneath a rock? How does she know my brother, but not me?
"I'm standing right here," Wystan grits out, shaking his head, "And you just assaulted her." His balled hands tremble, head shaking.
"I'm defending my brother's home," Jackie's voice is soft, almost innocent. As if she's scared all of a sudden.
"Is this your new boyfriend?" Alice sneers, lip curling up in disgust. Jackie's calm expression turns cold again when she looks at me, "Have you forgotten that you're still married?" She asks, and all I can do for a moment is stare in disbelief.
"Has your brother?" I retort with rage.
"You're despicable," Alice sneers, turning towards Wystan. "She's no good. You better get out now before you can, before you waste your years on someone like her," I bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing at the insinuation that I'm dating my f*****g brother. Gross.
"Butt out of my business," Wystan glares at them, not correcting them. "Get your things," he tells me, head slightly turning for a moment without him having to look away from them. Standing frozen in a room I once adored, a cold hollowness fills my chest, a chill running down my spine. I don't need anything here. I walk over to the closet, to my safe inside, unlock it with a passcode and pull out the file with my documents before shutting it, slowly turning around.
"What's that?" Jackie asks, whether she's intrigued or just looking for a fight, I don't know.
"Keep whatver you want, burn the rest if you wish. I. Don't. Care." I shove at Wystan's arm, nudging him towards the door, "Let's get out of here," I mumble, knowing he heard me.
"Running?" Fred steps in front of me, blocking us in. He reaches for the documents, and I yank it back to behind me.
"Do not touch me," I warn, but it's no use, because at six foot seven, Wystan steps in front of me, towering over Jax's father without trying to.
"You're picking a fight you can't win, Sir." Wystan says calmly. The respect in my brother never fails to show what kind of person he is, why dad is leaving him with his legacy, but right now, I wish he wouldn't bow to these people. I wish he wouldn't respect them at all.
"Sir?" Fred barks out a dry, humorless laugh, his thinning eyebrows drawing together.
"Dump her," Fred demands.
"She's not..." Wystan starts to explain when Alice steps into his line of sight, "Listen here, boy." She points a finger at him, right in his face-- something she's done to me, over and over. Watching as she does it to my brother, I can't imagine how I let her do it to me.
My heart beats fast, too fast, and the next moment, I find myself lunging.
"Do not do that!" I yell, the urge to knock her on her ass all these years ripping free from their restraints, but as I leap, two strong arms wrap around me. Arms that are so familiar, yet disgust coils deep within my stomach.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jax sneers, putting me down when Aubrey walks in behind him.
Everyone starts talking and it's a mix of loud voices, arguments and screeches that makes my eye twitch.
The coldness in the air wraps around me before I could realize what's happening, and within the span of a blink, Wystan is in front of Jax, his hand cutting through the air before it connects with Jax's cheek.
Alice screams. Jackie gasps. Fred just stands there, staring wide eyed while I observe Jax crumbling to the floor like an inflatable ball after it had popped.
"That's for cheating on her," Wystan grits out as he stands over my husband's body, shaking his hand, and by the looks of the redness, I could tell that the punch had hurt his hand as much as it had hurt Jax's face that was already starting to swell.
- Writer
