CLOSER | H.S.

59.

Valerie watched him walk away in slow motion. He didn't look at the house he was leaving behind. Harry passed the luxurious door he handpicked for his home without looking back at his TV, his several cars in the garage, the millions of dollars in his office, no. His eyes only looked back at Valerie.

The whole time Valerie knew Harry not once did it cross her mind that this day would come. Harry was always smarter than everyone else, richer than everyone else, so that made him more powerful than anyone else in England. He often seemed unstoppable, so she never entertained the idea that it could be over someday. Harry flew higher than the atmosphere, so the fall would be just as hard.

Valerie watched as uniformed men broke into Harry's luxury home. She didn't care if they destroyed it, she never cared about that place.

"Oh my God", she said one more time as tears rolled down her cheeks.

One man walked into the house as she stood there in shock. It took her some time to recognize him, he wasn't wearing a police uniform like the others, parading a Styles suit instead like a trophy. Those hazel nut eyes were way too familiar.

Valerie's poor little heart raced at the sight of him. That man was the last person she'd imagine seeing in that situation, and yet it made perfect sense. Zayn Malik had always been a private investigator and way too close to a person of interest. Harry Styles took away what was his. Like a racing bull, a stupid mole, Zayn Malik swore to destroy the man who stole his girlfriend.

"Wouldn't be the first woman you tried to kill!"

"Wouldn't be the last!"

Those words captivated him and he slowly smiled, until it turned into a wicked laugh, going back and forth in the video to look at his grand prize. He had been looking into Harry for years then and had nothing concrete to incriminate him, but Angelina walked into his apartment to change everyone's lives forever. This is all it took. A click, and it was over.

"Hello, Valerie", Zayn's thick accent echoed in the room, the poor girl was unable to move or react, astonished with the sight of him. She could have fainted right then and there, and indeed, her insides were turning like clothes in a washing machine.

She ran to the bathroom to empty her stomach and ball her eyes out, but eventually the cops removed her from there and carefully told her to pack her bags. Those bags that she barely had time to unpack, just like that, she was leaving again.

Throughout Valerie's entire life, she had never experienced something like him. Harry loved and saw through her just like she saw humanity in him. She promised herself to not leave his side, and she sat there behind him through two excruciating weeks of trial. She would have to see what Harry had done to over ten people, twelve bodies hid away so that no one could find, like nothing. She knew for certain that twelve bodies didn't even begin to cover a lifetime of crimes, they hadn't even scratched the surface. She wasn't strong enough, so she silently cried and hid away the tears so the media wouldn't scrutinize either of them. The whole case was gigantic and it brought international attention, because Harry Styles was indeed a very powerful man and he was taking down a few people with him as well.

She was in the eye of the tornado. The media was going after her, the police took her testimony and held her up for hours practically everyday trying to get something out of the mistress, she had expensive lawyers on her back to support and advise her all the way. Angelina and Zayn Malik sat by the opposition, the former wearing a victim Scarlet A letter on her chest and fulfilling the role the media wanted her to fill, and the latter parading the Styles suit every single day, rubbing the disgrace against their face and giving fuel to the media. He walked in with his chin up and expensive perfume filling the courtroom and spoke calmly to the judges. It was like a choreography he had rehearsed for a long time.