Chapter 1

1

Marriage. A word that changes human lives in a different yet sometimes beautiful way. For lovers; marriage means the celebration of love, peace, joy or a forever they promised to each other. Finding a home in someone, dedicating your whole life to that person and experiencing everything with them is said to be living in a dream world whereas only a few get to live in it till the end. These eight are stronger than any other word in the world because it purely means a new phase of life. However, for some, it could only mean signing up for a death warrant. 

Perhaps consider me one of them.

At first, the word marriage was the same for me as I described it at the start but then, when I chose my life-partner, it changed the definition for me. I got married to my childhood best friend who I thought nobody knew better than me. Now I realised I was living in a fantasyland. I just knew his fake shades. He turned out to be a man I don’t recognise today. 

And that was when I decided to leave him, I caught him selling drugs to international students two weeks ago in our own house. He didn’t expect me to be at home that sooner. However, God had sickened me for a good reason, I had to see the final proof of his inhumanity. I thought he was only a bastard to me but that day I realised he wasn’t just a bastard but a title of destruction in the name of the human mind and leaving him was the only option left for me to keep my spare purity safe. 

At the moment, he hadn't made it home yet. Ever since the day I found out his hideous face he started showing up late than usual at home, probably when I get dozed off. Yesterday he stayed out late till 3, sometimes it gets more than that. Every night I wanted him to come home early because this modern jailhouse scared me to death. The security was a threat itself. I could die by an siren trigger due to detection error, who would save?

These electronic home cleaners?

But today I prayed he wouldn’t come home early before I left his mansion.

Yes, I decided to escape him, forever. Because he simply didn't deserve me in the first place, I was the one dodging all red flags which I should've noticed. 

It was 12 o'clock at midnight and let me tell you why it took me a whole day. I had been planning this escape out for weeks but it wasn't easy to elude from a man who has gangster in his tribe. He had CCTV cameras, trackers, a high-rated security system everywhere. First I had to switch off each and every camera without being seen in these camera while invading to the security room. After that, I packed my clothes and essentials and hid those bags in my secret spot. But I kept it in time he was a bigger fish than my net, it would be stupidity to think he wouldn't know I eluded him, after all, he was a man who was a techno freak, and apart than that guns & games were his every day’s play.

With each passing minute, my anxiety overgrew in me. I was standing in my garage; waiting for my Uber to pick me up or else I would be meeting my death if my plan would go in vain.

And finally after 3 minutes exact my Uber showed up before him. I climbed the electric-charged wall that was defused, I rushed to the Mazda and quickly threw my luggage in the trunk. I was hasty to request the driver to dash the car, and to my luck, he was a cooperative old man who didn't find suitable to waste any time in questioning about my whereabouts or being skeptical of me at all. Maybe, he got an idea of what and why I was doing. I got in the cab, he floored the pedal to the metal.

“Hey El, this is Jenna, it’s my new number. I’m headed towards the highway and will catch you up  in morning. Be ready for me, hope you listen to this as soon as you wake up, if not then I’ll be throwing your phone off the building,” As I finished recording the message I hit the ‘send' button on a lighter note. As the ‘message has been sent’ notification popped up, I shut my eyes down in a bit of relaxation, this was it. I was done getting treated like a stray pet and I was going away from him, far away from him forever. I was better off him.

“My dear, it’s going to be a long journey. Do not worry about your security, now you’re on me and it’s on me to deliver you safely. You look tired and my heart can not take your condition, so I would suggest you take a good relaxing nap,” I smiled at my uber driver’s choice of words. It was like he sucked half of my sadness just by his ‘my child’ word, for a moment I felt like having someone to count on. I was sure he had noticed swollen eye bags and water in my eyes when I got into the cab. Perhaps he got what happened to me and who did this because of my wedding ring. He thought I was exhausted but actually, I had a whipping section in the morning by Liam which was a fresh scar on my body and I cried a lot because of it,

It wasn’t that it happened for the first time but I had no energy to bear it. So, I cried out my heart today.

“Yes, I also think I need a victorious nap,” I smiled and saw him getting my gesture. “Can you please tell me what’s the time?” I asked him while calculating Liam’s current whereabouts, 

“It’s 12 in the midnight, ma’am,” He told me and my chest clenched, grasping, what if he came home early and found me nowhere. I couldn’t think of a thing he wouldn’t break. Last time when I stayed late at my job and came from a tiring workday, I was welcomed by a broken glass window along with shards of vast pieces mixed in the glass. This time the whole mansion could be set on fire.

“Are we on the highway already?” I asked the driver with a tight voice. I inwardly prayed we did if not then it won’t be hard for him to locate me through his contacts.

“Just a few minutes and we will merge into the highway,” he told me, eyeing me through the back mirror, I nodded anxiously.

Dodging Liam wasn’t an easy task for me, I had to buy a separate phone and carefully hide it from him, then I couldn’t even take my car because he had trackers in it. I had to change my bag because no one knew if it could have a tracker too. Marrying him had become a constant prison for me, he was too much of a stalker and it suffocates me. I couldn’t move without his permission, watch something or go anywhere without him like he bought me and I was bound to follow him. Giving two years to this abusive relationship was more than I should have given.

My phone started buzzing and I saw Eliana’s ID on it, I picked up and she went like, “Hey Jen, I woke up for water but saw your message popping, you’re safe with the driver? Tell me if he caught you yet or anything suspicious happen-,” she blurted out to tease me but I got offended and trailed her off,

“El! Shut your mouth! My heart is already haywire. Just pray I get to you fast and pass me bless that I cross the toll gate safely. I don’t want to think about any bad now, I don’t like this feeling at all. I’ve already seen enough trouble so no more now talking regarding it,” I snapped at her and directly suggested running her mouth less.

“Just reach fast to me, I’m anxiously waiting for you, my bubble,” she consoled me. I happened to smile twice just this moment after so many days.

“For sure, take a good nap because I’m coming for sleepless night overs,” I said and she chuckled out loud. “I’m always ready for boy fun?” she replied, and before I could correct her about what I meant, she dropped the call. Girl’s always in a rush. 

Lost in moving trees with an absent mind, I kept cherishing this moment of peace, then my mind switched to somewhere else, somewhere to Liam, Our first encounter, first date and then that perfect first night. Every little moment we had when life was good and then, it lost forever. I can not forget my first time with him ever. He was once my peace but now, an abusing psycho.

My eyes left a tear admitting these memories would always stay in my past and haunt me even when I want to erase them from my system.

But for the immediate escape, to wipe off these thoughts, I tightly shut my eyes and concentrated on my sleep. I forced myself to see the dark and fall into it. 

With some difficulty, I finally managed to doze off.

****

“Kiddo… Miss. Maxwell… wake up, we are almost there,” I slowly registered the driver’s voice in my mind, my eyes squinted as faint sunlight made its clear way to my eyes through tinted windows. 

Waking up from a heavy sleep, it took me time to get back in my senses. Indeed, I had a peaceful sleep after so long, I was deprived of it.

“Wha-Where are we?” I asked the old driver.

“We made it inside LA just 15 minutes ago and almost to your destination,” he said while I dusted off my clothes and adjusted my mind to freshen up.

I immediately fetched my phone inside my bag and when I turned on the home screen, I saw 7 calls from Eliana. I’m doomed. 

Damn, I slept too heavily, “Girl, I tell you your phone was constantly buzzing but I didn’t disturb you, I guess you took a good amount of sleep after decades,” the driver assumed and I nodded then told him that I just noticed those calls,

I tried to call her back but she didn’t pick up, so I sent her a voice message of my arrival in a few minutes. I bit my lip in apprehension as I thought about her well-being, it wasn’t she couldn’t take care of herself but it was Liam’s fear.

Before this absurd thought could take over my positivity, I wiped it off saying to myself that I had become a pessimist and I was only creating fake scenarios in my mind.

The time flew away and I was in front of Eliana’s cute condo building. I gave the driver his total and went inside the building. Her apartment was on the 7th floor so I decided to take the lift, dragging luggage on stairs wasn’t a suitable image for me.

Getting to her apartment after a great struggle, I rang her doorbell. In the first bell, she didn’t open the door so I pressed it again and again, no response,

As I was about to ring for the thrice, the door went wide open, “Hey there, love,”