Chapter 1

Oriana

The rain beat down around me mixing with the tears that were streaming down my face.

Who was he? He was definitely not the man that I was planning to marry 3 days from now.

My name is Oriana. A 23 year old nobody from Miami. I moved to England before my parents died and that’s when I met Jaime. He was also from Miami. He was the perfect guy, was always there for me when I needed someone to talk to, compassionate and kind. Before he proposed, our life together was magical. He would take me out on dates, meet me after work with flowers, showered me with gifts and generally made me feel like I was the most important person in the world a princess. After popping the question with the most beautiful princess cut ring may I add, things started to go down hill. I was just too wrapped up with work and wedding planning that I didn’t see the signs of the person he was becoming.

He became very insecure thinking that I was going to run off with every guy I spoke to or who spoke to me. He kept tabs on my whereabouts which must’ve been a full time job on top of his normal job. He kept calling my place of employment which resulted in them having to terminate my contract. The day they let me go, he held me in his arms and said “You don’t need to work babe. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. You were too good for that job anyway.” So, I stayed home, lounging around and taking time for myself, which was something that I hardly ever did. That’s when my perfect world started to crumble piece by piece.

If I didn’t cook before he got home, “You have been home all day whilst I have been slaving away at work all day. The least you could do is make sure there’s a nice meal on the table for when I come through the door.” I supposed he was right. There was nothing else for me to do all day so, I made sure that dinner was ready for when he got home every night.

The next incident was again for something minor. I have never been a messy person, the apartment was always spotless. Laundry was always done and put away, dishes washed, dried and put away, garbage taken out daily. Earlier today, I had forgotten to rinse out the cup that I had been using before needing to use the bathroom. I placed it in the sink and went to take care of business and of course, Jaime got home before I could clean it or have the chance to explain. ‘SLAP!’ The sound echoed around the kitchen, my hand shot up to check my now stinging cheek. This slap felt different and so did the sensation. I was right, blood, he had actually cut my cheek this time. I held onto my cheek as my eyes filled with tears.

“I am not marrying a slob. Tidy up. You do nothing all day but lounge around like the lazy, good for nothing that you are.”

“Wait, you told me that I didn’t need to…” ‘SLAP!’ Same cheek. My ear was now ringing and the blood was tricking down my face onto my neck. I was determined then that that would be the last time he would lay his hands on me.

Trying to blink back the tears and wipe the rain out of my eyes as I ran from my apartment before he woke up was becoming difficult. The more I thought about what he had done to me over the last few months, the more I increasingly worried about my safety if he caught me. At the same time, I thought about how peaceful death would be. Over the last few days, he had beaten me for no reason until I passed out, then he would carry me to the bedroom, well I assumed he carried me and continued to rape me whilst I was unconcious. A shudder raced down my spine but I didn’t stop running.

‘BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!’ Shit! I hadn’t noticed that I had stepped out into oncoming traffic. My heart raced, the pain in my jaw forgotten in the moment of being almost hit by a car.

‘Why can’t I catch a break? All I want is for someone to love me for me and to protect me. Lord knows I need it now.’ I silently prayed. I hadn’t noticed that I was kneeling in the middle of the street in the pouring rain until a hand gently rested on my shoulder.

“Excuse me ma’am. Is everything alright?” I turned to look at the stranger who gasped as soon as he saw my face. The cuts and the bruises both old and new and the blood stains on my clothes. He took out his phone and dialled someone so fast they must’ve used speed dial.

“Boss, I think you need to see this. No, no. I will bring her with me.” He disconnected the call and walked towards me and held out his hand to help me up. “ I know you don’t know me, but I want to help. My name is Julian and my boss would like to see you.” I looked at his hand, the voice of doubt nagging at me in the back of my mind. ‘He’s a stranger, he could hurt you.’ Noticing my inner struggle, Julian smiled at me, “it’s OK, I understand. If I was going to hurt you, I wouldn’t have made my presence known to you.” He did have a point there. I nodded as I took his hand.

“Thank you,” I winced.

“Let’s get you out of the rain so that we can assess your injuries.” I nodded. I was in too much pain to talk right now, I just hoped that he didn’t think I was being rude.

Julian opened the door to a sleek, black Mercedes that was parked next to us. ‘When did this park here?’ I thought. I was wrapped up in my own little pity party that I hadn’t noticed it pull up alongside us.

“My boss would like to see you. I hope that’s alright?” I nodded. At least I wouldn’t be out in the open for Jaime to find me. Surely things couldn’t get any worse than they already were, right? So I took the only other option I had and that was to meet Julian’s boss.

We drove along the now quiet roads. “Here take this,” Julian said as he passed me a blanket. I wrapped it around my body, not realising that I was practically shivering. This night has taken it’s toll on my body, making me feel numb. I looked at the passing buildings as we drove for what felt like hours. We left the main road and followed what seemed to be a private secluded road. You wouldn’t even notice it if you weren’t looking for it. I started to feel a little uncomfortable as we drove deeper into the trees when we came to a stop in front of a set of gates. The security guard opened the gate and we headed along the wooded driveway. There in front of us, was a well lit mansion with a fountain in the centre of the driveway. I had never seen anything like it in my life, apart from in movies. The look of surprise on my face must’ve been amusing as Julian couldn’t suppress his chuckle.

As soon as we stopped, the driver opened my door and offered his hand to help me get out.

“Thank you,” he nodded in response.

“Don’t mind Javier. He doesn’t usually interact with anyone but the boss, but he seems to have taken a liking to you. Come my dear, let’s get you inside and warmed up.” Julian helped me up the 5 steps leading towards the front door. “Lileth!” he bellowed, making me cringe. Loud voices now make me jump. A small, grey haired woman seemed to appear out of thin air.

“Oh my days,” she gasped, “what happened to you?” she exclaimed. “Maddie, run and fetch the doc. Apologise for the early wake up call but tell him it’s urgent.” Maddie, a young, brunette girl with freckled cheeks and a button nose, ran off to do what Lileth had asked her.