I ran my fingers through my hair and stared at the woredrobe infront of me.

There isn't enough space in that useless car to place every crucial thing.

Should have bought a bigger vehicle. The maserati won't fit half these stuff.

"James."

Oh, surprise surprise. What on Earth is he doing here this time of the day?

I mumbled for Callum to come to the bedroom.

He stood by the door looking at me intuitively.

"Early in the freaking morning?" I glared at him. "What do you want? Thought you're beyond upset with me for seducing Betty and causing her to leave."

"I'm still angry at you." He informed, unhappy.

"You look like shit." I commented, inspecting his attire. "And smell just as worse."

Where the fuck has he been to? The brothel?

Then again, its Callum we're talking about. I doubt he even knows how the inside of a brothel looks like.

"I feel that way." He replied, unmoved by my antics.

Always the calm one.

"What's all this? Are you leaving for someplace?" He looked at the suitcase and duffel bag on the floor.

"Obviously." I replied blantly. "What do you want Callum?"

I know exactly where Elisabeth left to. And that's where am headed.

Thanks to Inez, I have a crucial led.

Cleveland.

Inez didn't skip on the opportunity to make it up to me after the mistake she made years ago. The second I asked for the favour, Inez told me each detail on Betty's where abouts in Ohio.

"Why are you packing up? The semester is barely over."

He's starting to annoy me.

"None of your business." I uttered. "If you have nothing to say then leave."

That was a bit cold.

"Sometimes, I really despise you." He was displeased. "Despite sleeping with my girlfriend and not apologize for it, you're being an asshole."

Sorry.

"I didn't force her." I told him. "Betty wanted to."

Callum's expression turned strained. I almost felt bad for having sex with Elisabeth. But she isn't for him, that girl's mine. End of Story.

"I would never do that to you." Callum countered.

Come on.

"If you're here to guilt talk me, then it's a waste of time." I said seriously. "It's not my fault you fell for the wrong girl."

That was harsh but it's the truth.

Callum sighed, tired. "I know the people who beat Elisabeth up." He leaned on the door frame.

I instantly questioned, "Who are the fuckers?".

Those idiot are going to pay. Dearly.

He snorted spitefully, "You'll be surprised. We're actually familiar with the culprits."

Shit.

I'll be damned if the reason Betty went through that is because of us.

"Names?" I demanded.

"Merissa and Emily."

Fuck.

I cursed under my breath.

I should've known.

God, why didn't that ever cross my mind? From the very beginning, it was them. Evidently.

"How did you find out?"

I was starting to get on edge. The urge to run someone over with my car and cause damage was bazaar but strong in my head.

Those stupid trumps dared to lay hands on my Elisabeth.

That sounds psychotic since Elisabeth isn't property rather a person. But that's how I feel about her.

She's for me. Period.

"Emily." He answered. "And I reckon we're not letting them get away with that, Right?" The malice in his tone was triggering.

I nodded to agree.

"What do you suggest? Because confronting them is not an option anymore if Emily already admitted everything to me." He asked. "They hurt Elisabeth terribly."

"This is actually a second time." I informed, getting even more on edge.

"What?" He ranted. "And you've always known about it."

"No I didn't." I defended. "Elisabeth never said anything but I'm figuring they did it before because Betty returned to her dorm room wounded once when we were still together. She said some girls did it but never gave me names."

"And you didn't think to look for them? What the hell....!!"

Fuck.

"She didn't want me too." That's obviously not good enough.

"You can't be serious." He frowned.

What was I thinking?! I should've done something back then. This wouldn't have happened again. May be it's my fault.

"Listen, we'll deal with this when I get back from my trip." I know how bad that looks but I can't miss my flight. "I promise I'll be here to fix this soon."

"Are you kidding me? I just told you about the people who almost hospitalized Betty and you're taking a trip."

Seeing Elisabeth again and convincing her to come back to me is way more important. And if she decides to be stubborn, then I'll have to drag her back to New York.

Okay, now I sound like a narcissist. I need to be in control of myself.

I can't just force her to return. She'd want to leave again.

I must handle this differently.

I need to show Elisabeth that she's better of with me.

"You haven't told me where you're planning to go." Callum reminded.

Right.

"Mother's firm is facing issues." I forged. "I must supervise. Things are really bad Callum, I'll get back when I solve everything there."

He nodded, convinced. "For how long?"

It may take about a week to get Elisabeth to return with me. I don't think she'll keep up for longer than that.

"A few days at most." I replied. "Not more than a week."

I know Callum probably hates me now. And he'll surely hate me more once he finds out what am planning.

But He's not Elisabeth's boyfriend anymore.

So technically, I'm not doing anything wrong.

Callum might be angry at Betty and probably feels betrayed, which he is.

But I can see in his eyes, he actually loves her.

If he's willing to go after Emily and Merissa, Callum is definitely not over Elisabeth.

And that doesn't surprise me.

I hope they never slept together.

The thought makes me want to punch him on the face.

"Alright, I can't stop you." He walked out.

Our friendship is stained. Something I never thought possible.

It's only a matter of time until Adrian notices. He put us together, always believed in us. He may be a Jerk at times, but he's a great friend. And he surely won't be happy finding out about this.

_______________