Chapter 4

"What do you think you are about to do?" Caleb asked nonchalantly. He tightened his grip and forcefully collected the fork from her, and then slapped her.

Natalia fell hard on the floor, holding her cheeks that were already bruised. Streaks of blood flowed down her lips. Caleb stared at her in disdain and watched her as she hid her face behind her lush and full hair.

"Were you trying to stab me? With a fork? You must be delusional," he spat in anger. Crouching before her, one knee bent, he grabbed her jaw and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Listen and listen good, fool. You live here and you live by my rules. I don't care what you do or what happens to you, just stay away from me," he said before proceeding to go upstairs.

"And one last thing.....," he said, halting in his steps.

"Don't you ever lay your filthy hands on me," he warned coldly before walking away nonchalantly. The maids volunteered to help her stand up, but she refused, curling herself in a heap on the floor.

She needed no form of consolation. All she needed was peace and freedom from this place. She wanted to go somewhere far away where she wouldn't be seen or heard from.

After crying for some minutes, she stood up and walked slowly to her room. Her steps mimicked that of an ancient Egyptian Mommy.

The maids watched in pity as she kept climbing the stairs with her back hunched. 

"I pity the young mistress. She has gone through so much," the first maid said.

“Yes, I agree with you guys. She is suffering through a lot.”

"And to think she hasn't made any evil plot or attempt on the young master shows how patient and tolerant she is," the second maid intoned.

"You guys better stop gossiping and get back to work before someone overhears your conversation.”

"Remember that even the walls have ears.”

"You don't want to lose your jobs, do you?" the old head maid asked.

"Of course, not," both maids replied, looking scared.

"Then get back to work, off you go," she ordered, and the maids ran like mad women in different directions.

********

Natalia sunk into her soft mattress. She wished her life could be soft and comfy like her bed. She wondered what she could do to end her pain.

She hated Caleb to the core and wished to have nothing to do with him, but the fact that he was a thorn in her flesh weighed her down.

"What should I do at this moment?"

"Arrgh! I feel like stabbing his chest and cutting his throat into tiny pieces," she said in a murderous rage, talking to her pillow.

"Only you know how much I've been through," she spoke like a mad woman, caressing her pillow.

"There is no place to escape from here and I know that Caleb would love to see me dead sooner," she muttered under her breath.

As she walked towards her mirror, she was shocked to see how emaciated and horrible she looked. Her hair was a curly mess and her clothes too were tattered, and covered in sauce. 

"I look incredibly crazy," she muttered to herself.

Slowly, she sat on the vanity chair, reaching for her comb and caressing it. Her mother had gifted it to her before she got married to that disgusting beast, Caleb. She could still smell her mom's lavender hand oil on it.

"Are you so loveless that you now fall in love with a comb?” Caleb said, standing in her doorway. Natalia ignored him and set out to brush her hair, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Well, no matter how much makeup or how much you brush your dreadful locks, you'll still look ugly to me," he insulted.

"Thanks," she replied.

"Guess I don't have to brush it anymore," she smiled faintly while standing up to sit at the edge of her bed. Caleb walked up to her vanity, picked up her comb, and threw it out the window.

"Huh!!! What did you just do?"

"Why on earth would you do that, you beast?" she screamed while launching an attack on him. Caleb kicked her and she rolled over on the floor in pain.

"You value that comb so much, huh?"

"Why don't you climb over there and get it?" he said, spitting on her before walking off briskly. Natalia cried for a long time, she could still feel the deep pain in her abdomen.

Making a resolve, she stood up slowly, headed for her wardrobe, and picked a long black robe. She wore the coat over her small figure and waited until midnight when the church bells rang. Stealthily descending the steps, she made sure to be cautious.

All the maids were asleep except the head maid who was cleaning every last bit of nonexistent dust and speckle. Her long coat fully disguised her in the darkness and she blended with the darkness.

As the head maid finally scurried off to her bedroom, Natalia took the keys which were hung by a rack beside the doorpost, and proceeded outside. The guards were on duty.

She needed a distraction and found one. Quickly, she pulled the fire alarm's lever and the guards ran helter-skelter, trying to discover the cause of the alarm. Natalia took that opportunity to unlock the gate's locks and escape.

Natalia ran as fast as she could towards the river., her hair streaming out behind her. The river was her only hope.

The only solution she could come up with was to take the easy way out of the mess she found herself in. She quickly lowered the lamp and approached the river.

She could see her reflection in the water. She took her time to savour her last appearance. She never wanted to go this way or end up this way. She just wanted to settle down with a good, loving guy and not one who considers her as trash.

Her teardrops dropped into the river, and slowly approached it, allowing the feeling and chill to engulf her being.