Chapter 1

Chapter 1: This Can't Be Happening

Elaine's Pov

I stood in the middle of the bar, my eyes filled with shock. There were a lot of men in the bar, men that I had never seen before. The man that I had loved was also amongst them, sitting.

The love of my life, the one whom I had given up everything to get married to. We have been married a little over one year and I had loved him for a very long time. When I had the chance to marry him, I jumped at it immediately.

I thought he loved me at the beginning of our marriage, he showered me with everything I had ever wanted but he suddenly changed.

“What's happening… Why… Why did you call me here?” I asked, confused at what I was doing in this place. He had called me a few minutes ago to quickly come here. I had no idea it was a bar until I came inside. The moment I came inside, a bad feeling washed over me.

I shifted back, wanting to leave but two people suddenly appeared behind me, making me stop.

“Strip.”

Just one word, and the earth came crashing down on me. I glanced around the room, at everyone who stared at with their expressive eyes, at those who waited for me to do as I was commanded. They didn't hurt me, however, the person who commanded me was the very person I had loved.

“Didn't you hear me? I said strip.” My husband, Caleb repeated, a smirk on his lips.

I lowered my head, my hands trembling. My lips were parted open to speak, but no words could come out. Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes as I gingerly stepped backwards, subconsciously trying to run away.

“Stop her and help her remove her clothes if she doesn't want to do it herselt.” Caleb said to the security guards who stood behind me. They came forward and held me by my arms, twisting it to my back and forcing me to kneel down. I felt a sharp pain go from my arms to my wrist and a small ‘crack’ filled my ears.

But I didn't fully register it when one of them directly tore my clothes, and goosebumps arose on my body from the sudden laughter that sounded from all directions.

I couldn't raise my head up to meet their eyes but shoes appeared right in front of me and I looked up to see Caleb, the man I had given myself to. He stared down at me, an evil glint in his eyes.

“Why?” I asked, “Why are you doing this to me?” My throat constricted.

“Why?” Caleb tilted his head, confusion showing on his face, “You're my wife, Elaine, so your body is mine to do as I please. After all, you were the one who forced my grandfather to make me get married to you. If it was for you, I would have gotten married to Emily. Now, you have to face the consequences of what you did.” Caleb said hatefully and forcefully raised my chin up, motioning for a man to bring over a bottle of wine.

My eyes widened as I realised what he wanted to do.

“No. No please, I can't drink that. No, please!” I struggled against the grasp of the security men who held me tightly.

“Caleb, please, you know I can't drink that. I beg you, please let me go. Please.” I begged, but it was to no avail. The guard yanked my head back, forcing my mouth open. The sharp scent of alcohol burned my nostrils as Caleb poured the wine into my mouth. The liquid burned its way down my throat, my body immediately began rejecting it.

The liquid that escaped going into my mouth got mixed up with the tears running down my face, some got into my eyes.

My vision blurred as I choked, gasping for air in between sobs. But by the time he was finished, more than half of the bottle was already gone. He threw the rest onto the carpet and knelt down, smirking as I continued to cough.

“Wasn't that good enough?” Caleb questioned, “Now that wasn't so bad after all.”

“Caleb… You…” I began coughing, my eyes were getting blurry, it was hard to see their faces. A sharp pain went through my stomach and I gasped.

“C… Caleb… My… my stomach. It hurts.” I gasped again as the pain spread to my spine. I thought I saw a flicker of panic in his eyes, but I was deluding myself. Caleb didn't care, he had never cared. But I still needed help, the pain was almost unbearable now.

“Caleb please, please help me. Pl… Argh!” The sharp twisting pain in my stomach intensified, it felt like knives twisting and tearing inside my stomach. I crumpled to the floor.

“Help you? This is the consequences of your actions Elaine, so you have to deal with it.” Caleb sneered, stepping back as if my pain disgusted him.

My eyes widened as I felt wetness between my legs, it was warm, thick and terrifying.

“No. No, no, no, no. This can't be happening, no!” I cried out as I realised exactly what was happening. I looked back at Caleb who knew that I was having a miscarriage, I thought he would help me even upon seeing that. But once again, I was wrong. He stepped back, looking at the blood in disgust and dialled a number.

The world around me was getting dark, I was losing consciousness and the last thing I heard Caleb say was, “Don't let anyone know where she came from. You can tell the doctors that you saw her bleeding on the road.” And then the doors closed as my word completely went dark.

“Hold her down! She's hyperventilating!”

“Bring in the oxygen tank! Be quick about it!”

“Her heart rate is stopping!”

I heard bits and pieces as I floated in and out of consciousness. I felt like dying, I wanted to die. But even the world was against me because a few hours later, I woke up in the hospital, white ceilings, white walls, everything was white.

I hated white.

“How are you feeling?” A few minutes after I had woken up, a doctor walked into my ward with a writing board in his hand. I glanced at him, not saying anything.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” He apologised, smiling sheepishly.

I had an alcohol allergy, I couldn't drink anything that had alcohol in it. If I did, my throat would close up for a while, my tongue would swell and I would have rashes all over my body; and that was only if it was a small amount but Caleb forced down more than half a bottle down my throat.

“Miss, someone found you on the road while you were having a miscarriage so he brought you here and paid for your medical bills. Is there any of your family that we could call or…” Before he could say anything further, I heard a familiar voice from the hallways and my body stiffened.

I glanced again at the doctor, willing for him not to let them in, but they were faster than he was. Two people kicked the doors open and walked into my ward, one was my mother and the last one was my mother in law.

“It's not visiting hours as the patient is still under observation, please you have to leave now or…” My mother ignored the doctor's words and stomped towards me, her eyes blazing.

She raised her hands and without hesitation, she slapped me on the cheek, her nose flaring in hatred for me, “You crazy bitch! How dare you lose the baby after all your husband has done to care for you! How dare you!”