Page 10 of Battered Moves

“You don’t have to tell us anything if you’re not ready, beautiful,” River tells me after shooting Chase a glare, butI give him a grateful smile.

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. I want you guys to know me, all of me,” I reply.

Jaxon nods and squeezes my shoulder, so I start.

“Liam and I grew up together. Our parents were best friends, and his family lived just next door. We did everything together—went to the same school, same classes, and got into dancing at the same time. He was my only friend, my best friend. I’d had a crush on him since I was like twelve, and everybody always said we were made for each other. When we were sixteen, Liam finally confessed his feelings for me, and we got together. We were in love.”

I look up from my hands in my lap and see Jaxon’s jaw ticking, so I look back down.

“We both loved dance, and we were good, so our dance teacher thought it would be a good idea for us to audition forCanada’s Biggest Talents.”

“We saw the finale on YouTube,” Chase says. “You guys won.”

“Yes, we did,” I reply, nodding. “We took off from there. Liam was good with the media. He was Canada’s golden child, and I was the pretty little accessory on his arm. Since I’m not good with people or crowds, I let Liam do all the talking and was just there, smiling at the cameras. We started a YouTube channel, built a community for ourselves, and performed all over Canada. We won some competitions, and everything was great. It was a hard lifestyle, but I loved it, and Liam was good to me…until he wasn’t anymore.”

Chase and the others listen attentively as I continue. “It started with little things, like him being more controlling over my social media and what I wore or ate, until he controlled my whole day. Then it escalated quickly, and he became physically abusive. At first, he would just grab me or push me, but then it turned into hitting me. He would always apologize afterward and say he was stressed or had a lot on his mind. I believed him and forgave him, but it just kept happening. When it just got worse, I wanted to leave him, but I was too scared of what he could do to me or my career. He had everyone wrapped around his finger, and nobody would take my side or even believe me. I didn’t know what I would do if I couldn’t dance anymore. At that time, we were already considered celebrities, and I just knew that if we parted ways, it would make waves,” I say, my voice shaking with emotion, so I take a deep breath before continuing.

“The final straw was when he pushed my little brother during a fight. Theodore heard him yelling and came in to protect me, realizing that Liam was hurting me. I knew then that I had to leave him. Hurting my family was over the line. I told him that we were over, and he left, telling me I would regret it,” I say, my voice breaking as tears stream down my face.

“The same evening, he came over to our house and he…he…” I start to sob, so Jaxon scoops me up to sit in his lap, straddling him.

“We’ve got you, Liv. You’re safe,” he says, stroking my head.

I feel more hands rubbing my arms and my thighs, so I relax in Jaxon’s hold. He’s right—they’ve got me, and I’m safe.

I turn my head in his embrace and lean against his shoulder, needing his strength to tell them the end of the story. He holds me tight while I start again.

“Our house had three floors, and I was just going down to the kitchen to get something to drink when I heard a muffled scream. When I hurried to check, I found Liam standing over the bodies of my parents with a knife in his hand. They were already dead, lying in their blood. I ran back up to get my phone but remembered Theodore was in his room, so I went to him, and we hid in his closet. Only Liam found us and brought us up to my room on the third floor. He was frantic, telling me that we needed to leave and that we would build a life together somewhere else. He said they were all against us and wanted to break us up. He was waving the knife around and swung it in Theodore’s direction, stabbing him in the chest,” I recount through sobs.

Jaxon wraps his arms around me tighter and plants a soft kiss on the top of my head.

“He didn’t mean to hurt him, but when I wanted to call for an ambulance, Liam refused to let me or help him. Theodore bled out in my lap. It all happened so fast.” Tears are now streaming down my face.

“After that, he told me we needed to leave and that I would get over everything. I refused to let him take me, so I tried to get to my phone, but he was faster. We struggled for it, and he cut my shoulder and forearm in the process. He went to get some bandages to patch me up so we could leave for wherever he wanted to take me, but I’d rather die than go with him, so I jumped out of my window.”

I feel Jaxon inhale sharply as I continue with my story.

“The jump didn’t kill me, obviously, it just shattered my knee and caused some other minor injuries. Our neighbor saw me jump and called the police and ambulance. I needed three surgeries and physical therapy to walk again. Liam’s trial was sped up because of his father’s connections. The Harris family is old money, and they own half of the health institutes in Canada, including the hospital my father worked at as chief of cardiology and the facility Liam is locked up in.”

“How could they do that?” River asks, his voice laced with disbelief. “Locking him up in a facility his dad owns? How is that fair treatment for his offenses? And how did he even get away with pleading insanity?”

“You guys have no idea what money can do,” I reply, letting out a bitter laugh. “I witnessed a few times how Mr. Harris made Liam’s life easier by dropping their name and throwing around some money. It’s all just rich privilege.

“After what happened, I was left alone in the big house. I started trauma therapy, which I’m still doing online, and just tried to survive, but the media was relentless. There were people in front of my house all the time, journalists and fans of Liam, telling me I destroyed his life and career and that I should be the one locked up. It got so bad that I couldn’t leave the house anymore without being harassed, even months after everything happened. On top of that, Liam wrote me a letter at least once a week, and his parents called and knocked on my door regularly. I couldn’t handle it anymore. One day, while I was at my therapist’s office, someone sliced my tires, smashed my windows, and spray-painted a message on my car, telling me I should go kill myself. That’s when I decided I’d had enough and needed to disappear.”

Jaxon is shaking, and I can see the rage building in his eyes. I turn my head to look at River and Ryder. Ryder is furrowing his brows and playing with his lip ring, while River’s eyes have a glassy sheen.Chase hooks his pinky finger with mine.

“You did the right thing, Liv,” he tells me gently. “You needed to get out of there.”

I nod. “I knew I wouldn’t have survived that hell any longer, but now it seems he’s found me, and it’s all going to repeat itself,” I say, my voice breaking.

“It won’t,” Jaxon says, his voice firm. “You’re not alone anymore. We’ll keep you safe and figure out how he found you. You’re not going out in public alone until we know how dangerous this situation really is. We don’t know if it’s just a letter to spook you, or if he has someone near you who could hurt you.”

“I don’t think he would want to hurt me. In his strange view, he did all of this because he loves me,” I say.

“That’s not love,” River says.

“It’s not, but he doesn’t get that.”

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