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CHAPTER 3
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2024-09-24 01:26:40The Wicked Proposal
His voice was ironic, the malice dripping off every word. Even in his tone, I could feel the wickedness in every word. "I know you're surprised to see me here," David began, his smirk growing big and a step closer to where I stood, frozen in shock. "But I have come to help you… that is if you are ready to dance to my tune." A cold run of fear ran down my spine. Help me? What sick game did he play now? David, of all people, wanted to help me? The same man who had brought me nothing but agony was standing in front of me, offering salvation. He leaned slightly forward, his voice low, dangerous. "I'm good with people, and I can pull a few strings, get you outta here in no time. Three days. That's all it would take for you to be free." I couldn't utter a word as the words swirled in my brain, too shocked. He leaned further forward, a nauseatingly cheerful grin pulled onto his face as he closed the space between us. "I still have feelings for you, Isabella. Believe it or not, I don't want Maxon to have you. You're mine. And if you agree to marry me, I'll have you out of this place within three days." I literally couldn't believe what I was hearing for a moment. The anger started to boil in my stomach as my heart suddenly spiked. Was he serious? After everything he had ever done to me, this man thought he could stand in front of me now and ask for my hand in marriage. Asking to claim me again? His sense of ownership was twisted and repulsive. David did not care for me, and he never had. And here he was again, looking to manipulate me once more, dangling this freedom in front of me as some kind of prize I could win if only I sold my soul to the devil. The weight of his offer caught my breath under it for a moment. I fisted my hands deep into my palms, digging my nails. "Nooo!" I screamed, my voice shaking all over with fear and anger. I did not care whether the guard in the hall of the prison heard me; neither did I care whether I was making a scene. David needed to understand that I wasn't the little, weak girl whom he had manipulated. "You devil!" I cursed louder. "Just leave! I never want to see your face again, monster." David's eyes narrowed, his lips ending in yet another cruel smile. He laughed-that cold, mocking laughter that I grew to despise. "That's cool, Isabella, " he said in a voice full of venom. "If you have decided to stay in prison for the rest of your life, then that is your choice." Just then, the correctional officer appeared at the entrance, and even before he got to this, he was signalling that our time was up. David just stood there for a moment, smiling at me with that inane grin on his face, as if he had all the time in the world. He shrugged indifferently, reached into his pocket, pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of it, and reached out with it, slipping it into the palm of the guard with a few whispered words. I didn't know what David had said, but immediately, this guard's expression darkened. Whatever David had said, I knew it wasn't good. Quite clearly, he had bribed this guard to demean my life in this hellhole even more. I bit my lip, trying not to scream. I just could not give David the benefit of seeing me break. Not this time. I don't know what came over me then, but something in me flipped. Perhaps it was just anger. Maybe I was just utterly exhausted from being hurt and manipulated for such a long time, or maybe it was that deep-seated determination to survive at all costs. But somehow I had had enough. Whatever David might try to throw at me, I wasn't going to crumble anymore. I just wasn't going to let him win. This guard, who had been bribed by David, roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward my cell. His hold on my arm was firm, almost bruising; his voice was cold as ice as he spoke. "You're going to spend the rest of your miserable life here, you worthless criminal," he sneered, his face mere inches from mine. I said nothing. I didn't flinch, didn't react. It was a pleasure for him and David to see me in pain. I kept my eyes forward, my jaw clenched in some silent act of defiance. Then I was thrust backwards into my small, dark cell. The heavy door slammed shut with a loud, echoing bang. It seemed to reverberate off of cold, concrete walls to place me into a deafening, oppressive silence alone. Again. I threw myself onto the hard, uncomfortable bed, and my mind started to reel with all that had happened. How did I get here? How did it all fall apart this far? Then it was there-despair-and something flashed across my mind, something my mother used to say:
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Hope To me, it was now a topsy-turvy life. My world, which up to this moment in my life had been ordered and shining bright with promise, was in rapid succession growing chaotic and dark. Days earlier, worse still, David managed to make my dismal prison life even darker by bribing the guard while having such a weight put on an already fragile existence. The real and imaginary prison walls seemed to be closing in on me. My cell's discomfort, coupled with the cruelty of the guards, was now becoming insufferable. Three days had passed since David's evil proposal, and the cloud of despondency and bewildering dimness hung heavy upon my mind. I was made to feel like a puppet in his wicked game, where every string is pulled further to torment me. The dim hope in me, once a steady force, now fluttered as tenuously as a candle flame in the path of chilling wind gusts. I remain jammed inside that vortex of manipulation with little chance of getting out. Yet today was different, somehow.
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Unexpected And before Mary could get started, the guard curtly cut us off, "Time's over. You gotta go." Mary turned to me with an apologetic yet determined look. A look in her eyes said something I couldn't quite define but made me feel even more miserable. "Goodbye, Isabella," she uttered softly, her words now soft-soothed-and a gentle good-bye amid my storm. She'd turn and be gone; now this figure retreated slowly from my view. I watched her go, last fluttering flame in the dark, until her form was lost. How final the glimpse of her departure was. I was the lone wolf again, with the world weighing on my shoulders. The guard clutched my arm tightly and started pulling me toward my cell. The steps were miles as my heart was focused on the weight of what Mary had just told me. I hardly noticed the handling; my mind was racing with the storm churning inside, the recent days, and the import of Mary's revelation. Her words entered my mind, like splinters being driven deep. Flung back fin
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Isabella sat on the cold, hard bench in the visiting area, her heart racing. The weight of Mary's words hung in the air like a storm cloud. She felt a mix of fear and empowerment-fear of the unknown, and empowerment from the sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, she could prove her innocence.Maria," she whispered, "what if they find out? What if David finds out about what you discovered?"Maria leaned in, her eyes darting across the room in succession. "We have to be careful, Isabella. David has eyes everywhere. Still, you have to listen up. We have a great opportunity with this, and I am not going to let it slide.Isabella nodded, her brain racing. "I can try to remember anything else. What am I to be looking for?"Mary let out a deep breath. "Look back at your trial. Every conversation you had, every moment that seemed out of place. There must be something-any thing-that can help us.She shut her eyes, trying to put the pieces together. It had been one confusing haze of faces and
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Isabella sat on the cot in the dim light of her cell, staring at the cracked concrete walls that had become her world. It seemed impossible that it had been weeks since Mary had made that first visit to her. The walls felt like closing in around her, holding her hostage with her thoughts. But instead of defeated, a spark was beginning to light in her. She had waited long enough for somebody to save her. It was time to act.She shut her eyes and started going over in her mind every incident that led to the whole case against her. It was like a bad movie running in her head-the trial, the courtroom, the gavel coming down on her future. What could I have done differently? she thought. Who was really behind all this?Suddenly, clattering noises filled the hall and dragged her out of her reverie. A few guards were accompanying a new inmate into her cell block. She walked inside, head held high and an aura of confidence surrounding her. Dark hair combed back in a tight bun, with a fierce gl
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Isabella sat on the cold, metallic bed in her cell, with a small, tattered notebook in her lap. It was what she had now to try to make sense of her nightmare-a simple tool, yet in her hands, it was the beginning of far much more. She had been writing in it for days, jotting down each and every detail she remembered about the trial. With every word, another memory came to the fore, each sharper, more critical than she first had thought.Her hand danced across the paper, jotting down names, dates, moments that had passed unconsidered during her hearing: witnesses that seemed nervous, the security footage that never quite fit with the timeline-and Helen, that key witness, something off about her testimony that Isabella couldn't quite place yet.With a deep sigh, she closed the notebook and stared blankly at the grey concrete walls of her cell. Her mind was abuzz-the tiniest hint of hope making its slow way back into her heart. Maybe she could find a way to expose the truth. Maybe this wa
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Isabella sat on the bed and looked out at the dim light issuing from the small window high above her. Something was changed in the air within the cold walls that surrounded her, almost a spark of hope. Her prison time had bestowed upon her some very unexpected allies, and for the first time in a long while, she was not entirely alone.It was the others who have gradually, yet slowly, begun opening themselves to her: women beat down by life in ways similar to herself. The stories, the pain, and the anger were too much to count, but then again, so was she opening up to them in return. There was a sense of budding comradeship growing between them-a bond she never expected to find within a place such as this.But even as that strength in her grew, she couldn't be blind to the threat that was ever present. Every step closer she came to the truth, she stepped one step deeper into danger. Somewhere out there was David, and his reach wasn't confined within those prison walls. One mistake, and
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Isabella began to pace the small cell, her bare feet cold against the stone-cold floor. Each step echoed in her ears while her heart, this time, was not racing out of fear but anticipation; pure adrenaline was running in her veins. This was the day she would finally meet up with David and see his response to understand that she was no longer the same woman he framed; she was grown up now and had a plan in store.Isabella steeled herself as the guard came to take her away to the visiting area. Sharp, calculating, her mind went over and over the things she was going to say. David had no idea what was coming, and she wanted to keep it that way. If she could just throw him off, just for a second, that might be enough to get him into some kind of mistake.She walked into the visitor's room, where he sat already, superbly dressed as always in his suit. He looked every inch the charming successful businessman that he had always been, but Isabella knew better. Under the polished veneer lay a
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With a final surge of determination, I summoned every ounce of strength within me, channeling the artifacts' energy into a devastating blow that sent Victor crashing to the ground.The battlefield fell silent, the echoes of battle fading into the cool morning air. Victor lay defeated, his armor shattered and his dark ambitions thwarted by the guardians of the artifactsAs Victor lay defeated on the ground, the battlefield around us was eerily quiet. The remnants of his forces stood in shock, their resolve crumbling as they realized their leader had been vanquished. Maya, Lila, and I stood together, our breaths heavy with exertion yet filled with the relief of victory."It's over, Victor," Maya's voice rang out, firm and unwavering. "Your quest for power ends here."Victor struggled to rise, his face contorted with rage and disbelief. "You... you cannot stop me," he spat, his voice hoarse. "The artifacts... they belong to me!"Lila stepped forward, her eyes ablaze with righteous anger.
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