Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Author’s POV

After leaving Cara in front of her classroom, Chase drove to his boxing club where he teaches boxing.

His club even organizes underground fights sometimes when boxers from nearby locations come there to compete against one another.

But he does all of this legally. He can mess around with anything but not with his work. And this boxing club is his passion.

He reached there and saw his friends are already waiting for him. They strode towards Chase as soon as their eyes fell on him.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so pissed?” John asked.

“Do you have to ask? Of course he is worried for Cara after what happened to her last night” George said.

“Is there anything else that is bothering you?” John asked ignoring George’s words.

‘Yes I am pissed at myself. I think that I have put her in danger. Everything that had happened to her last night was my fault. Someone did it to her, for getting back at me’ this is what he wants to scream out.

So that he can feel a little light inside. All of these thoughts are making him feel stuffy and now it is getting difficult for him to even breath properly.

“Nothing. Did you get the guy?” Chase asked and his eyes turned dangerously cold in a matter of seconds.

“Yes we did but…” George stopped as his eyes averted from Chase to John as if seeking confirmation to tell him and John nodded his head hesitantly.

Chase noticed the weird behaviour of his friends. They never act hesitant around him and at least not when they are about to go and beat some bastard up.

“Does that mean, it’s not Law’s doing?” Chase inquired. He was suspecting Law to be the one behind all of this.

Because he is the only one who would go to this extent, just to get back at him. Others are not courageous enough to provoke Chase like this.

But if it’s not Law then who can it be?

The realization hit him and his jaw clenched tight as he gritted out, “It’s not that person right?”

John sighed and said, “You guessed right, it’s…..”

***

Chase entered into the cafeteria and directly made his way to the table where he knew his target is.

He slightly glanced in direction of Cara and noticed her eyes widening upon seeing him. But right now he was more focused on taking care of the culprit.

He stopped near table and everyone sitting on the table stopped eating, some even got up from their chairs upon seeing the look on Chase’s face.

Law leaned back in the chair, folding his arms over his chest as if he was waiting for Chase to say something.

But Chase didn’t use words. He just grabbed the corner of the tablecloth and pulled it off of the table, causing everything to fall down making a loud crash sound.

Law got up instantly, followed by others sitting around the table. He glared at Chase as he grated in anger, “What in the f**king hell are you doing right now?”

But Chase’s eyes were fixed on only one person, Mia.

As soon as her eyes met with Chase she gulped visibly. She tried taking a step away from him but Chase’s voice boomed in the silent cafeteria when he threatened, “Don’t”.

And she couldn’t move at all. “It was you who did all those things last night, right” it sounded more like statement than a question.

Mia tried acting innocent as she tried asking with a fake smile, “What are you…” she couldn’t complete her sentence when Chase grabbed her by her neck and her eyes widened.

A gasp of surprise erupted from more than half of the students present here, including Cara.

Everyone knew that Chase never hurts women, no one had seen him use violence against women. So this scene in front of their eyes was shocking for them.

“Don’t f**king try to play in front of me” he growled lowly on her face, holding her neck in a firm grip.

She was struggling to get herself out of his grip but he was just too strong for her or anyone for that matter.

Cara’s heart had already started beating loudly as soon as she saw the murderous look in Chase’s eyes. But she was trying her best to not lose her mind.

“I am not playi…ahh” Chase tightened the grip on her throat a bit more, choking her a little.

“You like playing, don’t you? Let me also play a game” Chase said with an evil smirk and pushed her away from himself. She stumbled back while coughing a little.

Chase’s eyes went to his friends and they understood the message. George nodded and walked out of the cafeteria. Everyone was just silently watching the scene unfold.

Sapphire was now holding Cara’s hand in hers, trying to keep her sane.

After few seconds, George came back and again a loud gasp of surprise was heard in the room. George was dragging a guy by his collar.

The guy looked terrible. He was completely beaten up by Chase. His left eye was swollen. He had busted lips, bleeding nose. The blood was splattered over his white coloured shirt. The guy was not even in a condition to walk properly.

George pushed the guy away and he fell between Chase and Mia. Mia was so shocked to find her brother Samuel here.

Upon seeing the shock on Mia’s face Chase asked, “Why? You thought I wouldn’t be able to find him or did you expect me to let him go even after finding the truth out because I considered him as my friend, huh?”

Samuel is Mia’s brother and was working for Chase in his boxing club. It’s not that he needed money or anything, he just loved boxing just like Chase.

Upon seeing the guy’s passion for something, he himself is passionate about, Chase decided to let Samuel work for him.

He would have never imagined him to be involved with his sister and do something so disgusting, if not for John’s brother who helped them.

He was quick in finding out the owner and also the location of the person who called Cara yesterday night.

“Chase listen…” Mia started but a scream left her mouth when Chase swung his leg and kicked Samuel in his gut causing him to groan in pain.

Cara’s breath hitched upon seeing that, as a painful past memory flashed in front of her eyes. She shook her head trying to not think about that right now.

‘It’s Chase, Cara. It’s Chase’ she reminded herself.

Chase crouched down and grabbed Samuel by his hair as he asked, “Why did you do it? If you wanted to get back at me for hurting your sister’s fake feelings, you should have come to me”.

“But you decided to bother wrong person,” he growled at his face as he landed a punch on his jaw and blood splattered on the floor because of impact.

“You shouldn’t have called her in the middle of nIght” he threw a punch, “You shouldn’t have sent her those disgusting things” one more punch, “You shouldn’t have…”

He was cut off and his hand stopped in mid air when Mia said, “What’s so wrong about that huh?”

Chase’s scorching gaze averted to Mia. He pushed Samuel away and got up standing on his feet.

“Why do you treat her so differently? What’s so different about her? Is she good in bed, better than me?” Mia asked while folding her arms over her chest.

Chase took a threatening step towards her and she stumbled back. He was trying so hard right now to control himself. He doesn’t want to go against his own principles and use violence against women.

“Don’t try to get on my nerves Mia. Don’t make me hurt you like I did to your sh*t of a brother. One more word about her from your mouth and I will forget all of my boundaries” Chase threatened.

But instead of shutting her mouth Mia started again, “You will get bored of her soon. And what’s so wrong with the things I sent to her dorm room? Ask her she must have enjoyed them a lot, considering what kind of b**ch she….” A loud sound echoed in the room when Chase slapped her.

She fell on the floor because of impact. She tasted blood in her mouth.

Everyone was wide eyed, mouths agape. George and John’s mouths were hung open too. No one expected this.

Cara was stunned too. Luckily she had already taken her medicines in the morning because of the anxiety she was feeling since last night. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to witness the violence in front of her without getting panic attack.

Mia’s hand was on her cheek when her tear filled shocked eyes met with his. She never expected him to actually slap her. That is why she was going on blabbering.

“I had warned you before, not to call her by names. She is not a sl*t like you. Don’t ever compare yourself with her. And about what you and your brother did last night, I know what I have to do about it” Chase said.

He was about to turn around and make his way towards Cara when she said, “Why only two of us? Won’t you punish the mastermind behind it?”

Chase’s skeptical gaze again landed on Mia and he asked, “What do you mean?”

John and George were also staring at her face while waiting for her to continue. Because as far as they dug into the last night’s incident with the help of John’s brother, they didn’t find anyone else involved in the matter.

So who could Mia be talking about?

Law was trying to sneak out of there and Chase didn’t have to hear Mia say the name of the bastard. He himself was making a move.

Chase’s eyes turned even more cold and dark than before as he grabbed Law by his collar and landed a strong punch on his face causing Law to fall on the floor.

Chase didn’t give any chance to him for recovering as he straddled him on the ground and started throwing hard punches on his face.

“Didn’t I tell you that if you ever mess with her again, no one will be able to save you from me. Not even your dad” Chase growled on his face, holding him by his collar.

Cara’s breathing started becoming heavier and uneven. She was just on the verge of losing the control to her fears when Chase’s voice snapped her back to her senses.

“This is for making her scared, for making her cry. For thinking in such a disgusting way about my girlfriend” as he continued punching him.

‘He won’t hurt you Cara, he is doing it for your sake’ she reminded herself to not give in to the panic attack.

Chase was getting out of control. He was losing his sanity to his anger. He was not thinking straight at the moment. He wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that he was making his Cara scared.

Cara was seeing him lose his mind. She wanted to go ahead and stop him but her own fears were binding her. She knew she might get a panic attack at this rate but she was fighting to keep control over her mind.

John tried pulling Chase away from Law but he was not ready to stop, not yet. He needs to inflict the same amount of pain on these bastards, as much they scared Cara and made her cry.

Law’s face was all busted, because of all the punches. But even after this Chase was not planning on stopping.

He released his hold on Law and got up on his feet. He still wasn’t looking satisfied. His eyes were searching for something and they stopped at one of the nearby table.

Cara followed his gaze and a cold shiver ran through her body when few more memories from the past, flashed in front of her eyes upon seeing the baseball bat on which Chase’s eyes were fixed.

Chase started storming to grab that bat and Cara could literally feel her heart pop out of her chest.

But when she saw him grab that bat, she pushed all of her fears away, forgetting all past memories and strode towards him. She knows that only she can stop him from doing anything which is going to ruin his own life.

Chase was about to reach near Law when Cara stood in front of him and said, “Chase stop”.

“Move Cara” Chase said while trying to side step her but she again stood in front of him, “Chase please. It’s enough. You punished them enough”.

“It’s not enough yet Cara. Not even close” Chase said and side stepped her. Law was now sitting on the floor.

He said, “Do you think you will get away with it? I will file a lawsuit against you. You won’t get away with it”. Law tried threatening Chase but the tremor in his voice was proof of how terrified he was right now.

Chase chuckled dangerously at his words and asked, “Haven’t you heard everything about me? I guess everyone knows it well that I had even been to Juvie before. There won’t be much difference between Juvie and prison anyways”.

“But do you know why I had been there? For what crime?” Chase asked with an evil expression on his face.

He walked near Law and crouched down to his level as he whispered so that only Law will be able to hear him, “For attempted murder”. Law’s eyes widened and he swallowed hard.

Chase got up and held the bat with both his hands, making his hold on it firm as he said, “Let’s see will your daddy be able to send me to jail this time”.

Saying this he got ready to swing his bat but his hands halted when teary eyed Cara got in between him and Law. The bat stopped just few inches away from her face.

“What the f**k are you doing? You might have gotten hurt” Chase shouted at her face as his heartbeat increased to an immense level.

If he didn’t stop at the right time, it might have hit her. And the force he had put into that swing was just causing his hands to tremble a little now.

“And if you don’t stop now, it is going to hurt you. It will ruin your life Chase. Please stop it” She screamed but her voice came out as whisper.

Chase’s body stiffened for a moment. Her words repeated in his mind and he realized, she is stopping him because she is worried for him. She cares for him just like he does for her.

“Please let It go. I don’t want you to ruin yourself for me” she cried and stepped more closer to him as her hands went up to wrap around his waist.

He came out of his trance and the bat he was holding fell from his hand. He pulled her more into himself letting her bury her face in his crook.

She was sobbing now and once again the feeling of regret started making its way to his heart.

He motioned his friends to take care of the situation. He is planning on filing a complaint against Mia and Samuel as they have the evidence against them.

Regarding Law he is definitely going to take care of this bastard for good. But for now he decided to divert his whole attention to Cara.

He picked her up bridal style as he already felt the trembling of her legs. He walked her out of there taking her to his car. He made her sit and settled down beside her.

She was still crying but it was better than earlier. She can’t believe that she didn’t give in to her fear of violence and get panic attack.

It happened for the first time that she didn’t get panic attack even after witnessing that amount of violence. She can’t even witness few punches without losing her mind.

Maybe it happened because she knew it was Chase in front of her, not someone else.

Chase wanted to give her some time to relax before saying anything but he wasn’t just feeling patient today.

“Are you okay?” he asked her softly.

“No I am not. You scared me there. You scared me to my core” she complained.

“I am sorry. I couldn’t control my anger. I know you don’t like fights and I should have been considerate but I just lost my mind as soon as I got their names. Actually I had lost my mind yesterday, when all that happened to you” he tried explaining.

“That’s different. I know you were fighting for me. But you were about to kill him, Chase. Do you know how big of a problem that would have become for yourself. You can’t ruin your life for me or for anyone for that matter” she scolded him.

And somehow he liked how worried she was for him.

“Don’t get yourself in trouble for someone else’s sake ever Chase” she said through her sobs taking his hand in hers.

“You are not someone else Cara. And if it’s for your safety, I think I will not be able to stop myself from getting angry or losing my mind” he said while tracing the back of her palm with his thumb.

“Chase…” she got cut off by him. “But I will try not to go extreme next time. I will not ruin my life okay” he assured her and she nodded her head.

They sat there in silence for a while, trying to soothe their inner anxiety and pain with each other’s presence. “Want to attend other classes” he asked breaking the silence.

“Not really. I have already submitted my assignment. I would like to go back to dorm and rest a bit. You should also go and sleep. You didn’t sleep a wink last night” she said.

She has stopped crying but her voice is still hoarse. And deep inside she is still shaking but trying to put up a strong front.

He handed her a bottle of water and started his car. He took her to a burger shop and instantly a big smile appeared on her lips.

She loves burgers and he knows it will help her in forgetting everything. They ate in silence. All of a sudden Chase looked deep in thoughts.

He drove back to her dorm building but held her hand in his before she could get out of his car.

Cara noticed that he was thinking about something for a while now but she didn’t ask anything because she knows if he feels like talking to her, he will eventually.

He always speaks his mind in front of her, she knows it. That is why she never pressures him or urges him to share his thoughts with her.

“You have something to say?” she asked.

“Move in with me” he said all of a sudden and Cara’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.

“What?”

“Yes. I think that’s the right thing to do at this moment. Everything that is happening to you is because of me. We never know who else is just waiting for the time when I am not around you and take advantage of the situation to get back at me”.

“Chase, that’s not necessary” Cara said.

“It is Cara. This time we were lucky that they just sent things to you that won’t harm you physically. But what if next time they try to hurt you when I am not around”

“I won’t be able to take that and might just do something stupid, of which you are so worried about. I controlled myself today but I don’t know if I will be able to do the same next time” he told her his inner thoughts.

“But… how can we? I don’t think I am ready… I mean…” she started feeling anxious again.

“Hey relax. If you are worried about… I mean you don’t have to. My apartment has three rooms. You can stay in separate room”

“Don’t be anxious. I might have kissed you without permission but I won’t take things further until you are comfortable and willing”

Her face flushed at his words. He smiled at her shyness. He is still burning from inside. Still wants to destroy those who hurt his sweet little Cara but this girl in front of him just knows how to mess with his emotions.

She is expert in making him feel many different emotions at a time.

“But if you keep blushing like this and looking all cute in front of me, I don’t know when I am going to lose my control but it will happen soon at this rate” he teased and her face reddened even more.

“I won’t move in if you keep teasing me” she threatened.

He chuckled at her words but raised his hands in surrender, “Sorry, my bad”.

Silence fell over them for a while. She was thinking about his offer of moving in with him. Actually she is scared to live alone in her dorm room. So this idea of Chase was sounding really good to her.

But she was hesitant. She doesn’t know if it’s the right thing to do. She trusts him that is not the problem here. But still should she move in with him, can she do that.

She was deep in thoughts when Chase said, “Don’t think too much. There is nothing wrong with girlfriend moving in with her boyfriend. And I assure you that I will behave”

“Okay, let me think about it. I will tell you by tomorrow” she said.

He nodded his head. He leaned forward to kiss her. He walked her to her room.

Gave her clear instructions to not open the door for anyone if it seems suspicious. Call him right away if something happens.

After dropping her off, he returned to his apartment. His friends were already there.

He asked them about Samuel and Mia and John informed that his brother will take care of the situation.

“But we don’t have anything on Law so we can’t do anything about him for now. And it feels like you have put yourself in the problem. Law’s father won’t stop this time after seeing his son’s condition” George said.

“I will take care of them, don’t worry” Chase assured.

“I think Cara is still in danger, as long as Law is out there. Have you thought anything about that?” John inquired.

“I asked her to move in with me. So you guys will have to stop barging into my apartment on your own will now. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable” Chase told his friends.

Mischievous smirk appeared on both of their lips as they teased, “Oh living together, hmmm”.

“But you should not forget your friends for your girlfriend, that’s not fair” George complained.

“Shut up. Now get out. I need to prepare everything” Chase said with a small smile.

John and George laughed at him. They wanted to tease him more but Chase threw them out of his apartment.

It’s evening right now and he is still thinking about Cara. He is worried for her. He had called her multiple times after dropping her off to her dorm room.

She told him that she is okay and Everything is fine but his heart is still feeling restless.

He just decided to go and meet her. And if she agrees, he can take her out for dinner. With this plan in his mind he drove to her dorm. He parked the car and came out.

But before he could take a single step, his legs froze on the stop upon seeing the scene in front of his eyes.

In a instant his eyes turned bloodshot red, fists balled to his side. His jaw was clenched tight when he saw Cara in some other guy’s arms.

She was hugging some bastard in front of her dorm building and Chase was determined to break the hands which dared to touch his girlfriend.