Chapter 1

I've never run so fast in my life. I ran from him. I ran from my past. I ran from the Satan that I was married to.

The cold evening breeze brushed through my hair and the pouring rain soaked my clothes and washed away my tears. I left everything I had behind but took a black backpack filled with things that might come in handy. I packed some clothes, another pair of shoes, my toiletries, a brand new phone that I bought two weeks ago just for this purpose, as well as cash. Lots of it.

I didn't bother stealing from him and took what belonged to me. Over the past few months, I collected some cash from my salary and my savings account. I made sure to cash out small amounts so it wasn't suspicious.

Nothing scared me anymore apart from him finding me. This wasn't my first attempt at escaping him. Not at all. It was my second. I feared the outcome.

The very first time traumatized me enough to wait for tonight, for three years.

Three fucking years were stolen from me. I spent countless nights locked up from the world so that he could change me. That he could manipulate me into doing whatever he wanted. It didn't work in the slightest.

I slowed my pace and looked back to see if any taxis were near. Running around in New York wasn't the best thing but I had no choice. I saw one driving quite slow and waved my hand to stop it. I stopped as the taxi stopped right beside me. I opened the door and sat in.

"Good evening, can you drive me to the airport?" The driver nodded and drove off. I took my phone out and texted Delilah.

Aella: I'm off to the airport.

Delilah has been my best friend since my college years when I studied Business and Economics. She was the only one that knew about what I was going through. I didn't have close relatives to count on since my entire family worked under Archer. I took a few deep breaths to calm down as much as I could before I heard a ding from my phone.

Delilah: Perfect, I'll be there in five and we'll meet in security.

I felt some relief run through my body before I looked through my window. I was so close to leaving it all and starting all over again.

It took ten more minutes to arrive at the airport and after paying for the ride I was off to meet Delilah. I hurried inside and looked around. I scanned the surrounding area for a 5'11 brunette. I noticed someone waving and immediately recognised her. I smiled, running towards her as she did to me. When we met, I hugged her tightly and a few tears left my eyes. She backed away and cupped my face.

"My poor girl," I smiled through the internal pain. "Let's go, we have to make this flight." I nodded before we hurried towards the security check-ups. Delilah went in first and showed her passport as well as went through the metal detector. My nerves began to worsen as I approached the security. I smiled and handed the man my passport. Obviously, this passport wasn't my real one. This one had my fake name and identity.

Name: Ella Cadell

Birthday: 04-08-1996

Sex: Female

Nationality: American

I thought this plan out very carefully with Delilah. We both knew the risks but still, it didn't stop us. And at this point, there was no going back. If I showed up at the penthouse, he would quite literally, like he calls it, put me back to my place. This package included hitting and hurting me in any other way possible. And he made sure that no bruises would be seen by other people.

The security guard looked at my passport and then back at me.

"You're all set," I smiled and went through the security check-up without any problems. Since Archer knew Delilah, she changed her identity to Dena Jacobs. I took my bag and we both made our way to board the plane. As we hurried towards our destination, I dropped my ticket on the ground and bent down to pick it up. As I got back up, looking down at the piece of paper in my hands, I bumped into a hard chest.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," I looked up and saw a gorgeous man in front of me. He had short dark brown hair and wore a stunning black Armani suit with a white dress shirt underneath. He was much taller than me. Like 6'5 or 6'6. The smell of his cologne irritated my nose but in a good way. I could tell it wasn't cheap.

Gosh, he was sculpted by gods.

"You should watch where you're going," I nodded before he moved out of my way. He couldn't even look much in my direction as he walked away. That's how pointless I looked to him. I noticed Delilah standing like seven meters away. I approached her and earned a look from her.

"What the hell was that?" We began going forward.

"I'm sorry that I bumped into someone by accident."

"Yeah, you should be careful. What if someone recognizes you?" She was right. As the wife of Archer Bowman, the CEO of Bowman corp., I have attended a few events the first year of our marriage but after one incident at one of them, I was no longer allowed to go.

We weren't the last ones boarding but weren't first. We waited for the people in front of us to board first and then it was our turn. We showed our tickets and went through the tunnel to the plane. We went inside and made our way to the first-class seats.

We both had money and this wasn't for the luxury, more for the comfort and security. We were about to take a ten-hour flight and I was not about to risk getting recognised by someone. We found our seats in the middle aisle and sat down.

There were doors that we could use for even more privacy and all of the other fancy first-class privileges. An example of that would be the very comfortable chairs that you could make into a bed. A huge TV and headset for movies and a full menu for upcoming meals.

I leaned back into the seat and my eyes widened when I noticed someone walk into our section. The man I bumped into. He met my gaze but quickly looked away and went forward to find his seat.

"Is that the-"

"Yup," I said and looked at Delilah.

"You do know who that is, right?" I furrowed my brows. "You really don't know?" I shook my head no. I wasn't allowed to watch the news or even look anything up on my phone or computer because, in Archer's eyes, that could ruin his efforts into making me a total doll for his use. Even though I had my ways in using the internet and staying up to date with the main world events.

"Who?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the flight to Rome is about to take off. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the flight. Signore e signori, il volo per Roma sta per decollare. Si prega di allacciare le cinture di sicurezza e godersi il volo." We heard the pilot say while I was getting annoyed with Delilah.

"Come on," she smiled and looked back.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about him if he's right behind you," I didn't look back to not raise suspicion but the suspense was killing me. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat. I fastened my seatbelt and began looking through the movies and shows I could watch. I picked out the Office after not finding anything else and put my headphones on.

Just the thought that I was running away from him was terrifying me. All I could hear in my head was him saying: "If you run away one more time, I'll make sure to torture you like you've never even thought could be possible. Maybe then you'll understand the fact that I own you." He said that while he gripped my throat so hard, I thought I'd die from suffocation.

He'll find you. This won't be good. He has never lost you.

I kept telling myself and just those thoughts made me tear up. I wiped the tears away and looked back at my show. I felt Delilah's hand on my shoulder; I looked at her and smiled.

"You okay?" I nodded. She smiled and looked back at her movie, which from what I saw was Twilight. She loved these movies with paranormal creatures.

This was going to be a long flight.