An incessant beeping threatened to send Ella into a rage. Her head pounded and her throat ached. She must be sick... but what was that beeping? She tried to shift, to move, but her body ached too much. Something pulled at the inside of her elbow. Struggling to force her eyes open, the light in the room making it nearly impossible. Finally, an eye peeped open. She forced it to stay open and look around. The other eye followed suit soon enough. She was in a stark white room with bright, blue tinged lights over head. She began to panic as she realized it was a hospital. She was in a hospital bed. She tried to sit up, but she couldn't. Everything hurt and she was so weak. She tried to swallow, but she realized a tube was shoved down her throat. A strangled sound came out of her. The door opened and a couple of nurses came in. They rushed to her and assured she was in good hands. They removed the tube from her throat and gave her water. Her head swam, but she pushed through to take some wa

“I'm done,” she said firmly. Trying to keep from screaming at him. “You can't be done,” Nathaniel spit back at her. “You think that law school will still want you when they find out you cheated and left me? Do you think they want you without my name?”Ella grabbed the latest newspaper and slapped it onto the table. Front page was a picture of Nathaniel kissing Vera with his hand under her shirt. The words “Trouble in the Woods paradise?” were written under the image. “They won't believe I was the one that cheated.” She flipped to the article about the picture that listed her accomplishments and mentioned her volunteer work while absolutely trashing Nathaniel's character.He looked at it for a moment before swiping it off the table. “There will be more of these, except they'll destroy you next.” “They can try. There's no dirt on me to find. You though? You and your mistress? That's going to be a field day.”Nathaniel slammed his fist down onto the table. “You will remain living here

Ella waited with her heart in her throat. She kept refreshing the page on her computer. Her test results would be posted any moment. Daniel had called her when he got the text that she was about to check her score. “It's not up yet... any second now,” she said with a shaky voice. “I know you did well. Don't have a heart attack over it,” Daniel said with a chuckle. “You studied your heart out.”Ella gasped and let out a little shriek. “I got 100% on both!”“I knew it!” Daniel said excitedly. “I... I'm shocked...”“You shouldn't be. You earned this! Hey, do you want to go out and celebrate?”Ella almost said yes immediately, but hesitated. What if they ended up in the tabloids again? She wasn't doing anything wrong, but Daniel didn't deserve to a have his private life out in the open like that. “If you're worried about the papers I can pick up some things and come over.”“You basically read my mind,” she said. “I'm sorry.”“Don't be,” he assured her. “You're one of the more famous p

Sun filtered through the blinds of Ella's bedroom. She blinked awake, feeling disoriented and groggy. She realized she was still dressed. She sat up, memories coming in. “Oh gosh... I fell asleep with him here...” she said out loud. She put her head in her hands and groaned in embarrassment. He must've put her here. Her embarrassment grew. She looked at her phone, hesitating for a moment, but decided to grab it and call him. “Hey Sleeping Beauty,” he said in a low voice. “Did I wake you?”“Yeah... but it's okay, I needed to wake up anyway. You sound better than my alarm.”“Daniel, I'm so sorry I fell asleep last night. That was so rude.”“Stop, no it wasn't.” He laughed. “You had a rough day. You needed sleep. I'm glad I could help you relax enough to get the sleep you needed. Don't worry about it.”“Thank you for being so understanding.”“Not a problem. You have court again today?”“I do.” She sighed and got out of bed. “Is that going to interfere with school?”“No, I have some ab

Work, sleep, spend time off with Daniel and repeat had been Ella's summer. She and Daniel had settled into a routine that she absolutely loved. She called him after work every time she worked late and he stayed on the phone with her until she was home and locked into her apartment. Every day off she had he took her out to dinner and then they'd cuddle up to watch TV at her place or his. She used her paycheck for living expenses and her tips for savings. Since she worked so often and the restaurant was extremely high end, her tips were often massive. She'd gotten much better at her job. Over the summer, she hadn't been attacked or followed again, but she hadn't forgotten that last threat. Nathaniel was living his high life, but the tabloids spoke often of trouble in paradise for him. That only made Ella more nervous that she was still a target. The mistress likely wouldn't be a target, especially if Nathaniel was showing signs of being unhappy. But as time went on and she wasn't left