Two weeks. That's how long Chadwick said he had me locked in the room. The one he locked me in during the night of his party. A cold, dark room with windows boarded and lights removed, blocking any sight of freedom, a bed that feels like you're sleeping on cement, and a bathroom with no lighting either. It's a room that makes you feel like you're inside a coffin, but above ground, where you can freely move around.

This latest time he locked me in the room, he gave me a dose of what Helen Keller went through by moving the bed, dressers, and nightstands to another location. There were also other things he added to the room that crashed to the ground whenever I roamed around trying to find my way in the darkness—which gave me more bruises, scrapes, and cuts on top of the other bruises he'd given me during my two-week stay in hell.

Chadwick didn't even allow me to call my father while he held me captive, as I suspected would happen. So, I have no idea if my father made it or succumbed to his heart attack. And it hurts me to think I missed seeing him and telling him how much I loved him before he took his last breath.

I've been going crazy since I was let out of hell, since I still can't call any of my family. I can't find my phone, probably because Chadwick got rid of or hid it.

Three days ago, Chadwick let me out of the room he uses to punish me, and I've been in my room, lying on my bed, feeling sorry for myself, and denying all the food he's brought to my room ever since—fearing he had his hired help poison my food. I also refused all drinks they tried serving me, opting to drink out of the bathroom faucet instead.

Gross, I know. But do you blame me?

A knock at my door had me freezing still, afraid it was Chadwick warning me he was on his way in to beat me for refusing to eat and drink everything he'd ordered for me. Instead of responding, I rolled to my side, my back facing the door, not wanting to see the hate in his eyes when he entered the room.

"Sara, it's me. Can I come in?"

It's Marla.

It hurt to move and speak, but I got off the bed and dealt with the pain as I sauntered to the door to let her in. Marla's eyes looked pained when I opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered since it hurt to use my voice. My eyes peered around her, wondering if Chadwick was outside the door. I didn't want to see him; I was only curious to know if he sent her to my room since I'd avoided everyone else since he let me out of his hellhole prison.

"He's not here," she whispered, knowing who I was looking for. "And yes. He asked that I check on you since he had to go away on a business trip." She looked around her, then leaned closer to me, whispering, "But I'm not checking on you for him. I'm only here for you—to make sure you're okay. He said you haven't eaten or drunk anything he's sent to your room."

"Do you blame me?" I whispered in response. "I don't trust anything he's having them bring me," I told her, slowly waving my arm for her to come in, flinching from the pain when I swayed my arm around.

Marla was here when Chadwick finally let me out of the room. And I should thank her for talking him into letting me out of the dungeon. But when I opened my mouth to tell her how appreciative I was of her for getting him to do the right thing, my mouth snapped shut after realizing she said he'd left on a business trip.

"You said he's out of town?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, and she nodded. "I did." She reached into her purse, removed something, and then extended her hand to me, flipping her palm side up—my phone. "He gave this to me for me to give to you. He said he'd call you randomly every day to check on you. And he expects you to answer every time," she warned, rolling her eyes, and my guard on Marla eased a little because of her reaction.

Maybe she truly is on my side after all.

She sat on the bed beside me, eyeing the phone in my hand. "He deleted all of your contacts except his and mine, of course," she warned, sounding remorseful. I'm glad I memorized my sisters' and parents' phone numbers by heart for this reason. Otherwise, I'd panic and then have to wait until they called me—which could be never. I wouldn't put it past Chadwick blocking their number from calling me.

I'm grateful for Marla talking Chadwick into letting me leave his prison, but I still have a slight distrust regarding her. She seems genuine and sincere when she talks to me about helping me leave the monster, but Chadwick giving her my phone and only leaving their numbers in it and how he asked her to keep an eye on me have me questioning her motives. Is she truly for me? Does she have a friendship with my husband? Or is this all an act to test me to see what's going on in my head and then report it back to Chadwick?

"I suppose he also sent you here to babysit me."

I may be questioning her intentions, but because she's looking at me and the look in her eye begs me to see she's on my side, it wouldn't bother me if he sent her to watch me like a hawk. At least I'll have some normalcy by talking with someone while hiding from the world in my room.

"No. He hired someone else to keep an eye on you twenty-four-seven," she admitted poignantly, sighing. "And yes, that person is hiding right outside your door."

Lovely. I didn't see them when I looked around her, but that didn't mean anything. Chadwick's men are like chameleons.

I can't believe I fell for this psycho. What was I thinking?

Now, I wish I'd waited to see if Declan would return to me. I did wait for a while, assuming he had to work, and figured he'd at least get a hold of me to let me know he was okay and had to leave for work, but that never happened. He just left, leaving me to believe we were over for good. So, I did what I felt was the right thing to do—move on.

Who am I trying to kid, anyway? Myself? If Declan truly loved me like he claimed to have, he never would've left me how he did. He never would've left me wondering what I did wrong for him to want to up and leave without giving me an explanation. Over the years, because I hadn't heard from him, it also had me wondering if something terrible had happened to him and my life was spared for whatever reason.

What else am I supposed to think?

Since that happened ages ago, I know it's something I should just let go of and move on, but I can't. I've tried moving on, but look where it got me. Since marrying Chadwick, I've felt like I've been playing my own game of Resident Evil.

Marla leaned into my ear and whispered, "I spoke to my friend a few nights ago. He said he'd help get you away from the asshole and bring you to safety."

My mouth dropped. She lifted it, whispering loud enough for me to hear, "Shh. Don't say anything. I used this window of opportunity Chadwick gave me to tell you this. I have more to tell you, but I need to tell you everything outside this house. He's got the entire house bugged."

I nodded, letting her know I understood what she was warning me of. But if I've got a spy watching my every move, how in the hell will she be able to get me out of this house or even leave if her friend said he'd take me in and get me out of this mess? There's no way she'll get away with this! Not if I have a babysitter, and not if my husband has the entire house bugged.

"I'll let the guy outside your door know I'm bringing you to the gardens for fresh air. He may want to follow us, but he may also leave us alone since Chadwick filled him in about who I am to him, believing I'm on his side."

I wouldn't hold my breath. If what she's saying is true, he may already know you're a fraud and is testing you. I've seen firsthand how he operates, and I've been with him long enough to know how he thinks and what he sees.

"I'll be right back," she said, quickly pushing herself from bed.

I was curious to see what Chadwick did to my phone, so while Marla talked to my adult psycho-sitter, I turned it on and looked through it. The asshole didn't lie. He deleted every contact of mine—except his and Marla's like he said. All my apps were deleted as well. My phone was utterly wiped out.

I dropped my phone on my lap, flopped backward on the bed, and stared at the textured ceiling, wondering if being alive was worth hanging around. Because of how I feel right now, it isn't. Chadwick took all my will to live away, and I'm just so tired of feeling suffocated from this life I'd been living.

I have three sisters who love me dearly, including my parents, so that should be enough for me to stay in this world. Well, at least one of my parents will say my life is still worth living, anyway. Still, it doesn't stop me from thinking it's not worth it anymore.

I called my phone to access my voicemail, curious to see if he had deleted any messages from my sisters, and I wasn't surprised to hear there were none.

When the door opened, I lifted my head. Marla waved fast, letting me know I needed to hurry. "He gave you fifteen minutes to get fresh air."

"How generous of him," I retorted, the pain from my voice stabbing my throat.

As sore as I was, I couldn't move as fast as she wanted me to, but I tried my best to block out the pain. Marla's suspicion was correct. My adult babysitter followed us outside, but instead of following behind, he stood at the garden's edge like a bodyguard, watching our every move, ensuring Marla wasn't taking me off the property.

The moment we were far enough away from the guy watching me, Marla started with, "Don't acknowledge, nod, or look at me as I tell you how I'll break you out of here and get you to, my friend."

Doing as she said, I looked ahead and whispered, "Okay."

"First things first. My friend has a ten-year-old daughter and a bitch for an ex-wife. So, I want to warn you that once you're in his care, you might get some evil looks or some shitty comments from his ex-wife. And his daughter, Everly, might ask hundreds of questions about why you're staying at his home since she's never seen her father with another woman."

"Did they recently split?"

She huffed a laugh. "No," she stated firmly. "They married directly after she found out she was pregnant, but their marriage lasted only a year. Two months after Everly was born, Felicity, his ex, filed for divorce. And it was a huge blessing. He was miserable the entire time they were married. He thought he did the right thing by marrying her. But thankfully, for Everly's sake, they ended it before they made things worse for their daughter. Even though they made the right decision to split, his ex has made things difficult for him ever since."

"So, he knows what being in a loveless marriage is like."

"He does. And he's extremely familiar with emotional and mental abuse." She sighed, sounding sorry for the guy. "Eight more years, he has to go with dealing with her abusive ways. The good thing is. None of what she says or does affects him. He lets it go in one ear and out the other. He's also dealt with many domestic violence cases and has saved many women from their abusive partners. He's a prior marine, a green beret with the Army National Guard, and an officer of the Mobile, Alabama, police department. So be eased that he knows what he's doing and how to deal with the kind of person Chadwick is."

A Marine.

Declan was a Marine when we were together. Not that this guy's being a Marine matters, but I know what kinds of training they undergo because of Declan.

"How long have you known him?"

"A tad longer than I've known you. Anyway. Since he agreed to take you to his home instead of bringing you to a safe house, there are some things he asked that you do while you're staying with him."

"Which is?"

"He was adamant about teaching you self-defense and putting you through a gun training course, should you ever need to use one to save your life. And he won't take no for an answer." My eyes widened. I've never shot a gun in my life. Hell, I've never even been around one. I've seen Chadwick with one, but he's never shot it around me. "And that current phone of yours you'll need to get rid of. Chadwick has a tracking device installed in it. So, once I break you out of here, we'll toss it somewhere to throw him off when he comes looking for you. My friend also gave me a phone for you to use—which I won't give you until I get you out of here. It's not your average phone, so I'll have to show you how to use it."

How can there be a phone that's not an average phone? What's so different about them? A phone is a phone, isn't it? It can't be that hard to figure out, but instead of asking what was different, I said, "Okay."

"He also asked that you do your best to ignore his ex-wife. With everything you've been through, he doesn't want you to allow her to get under your skin. Felicity is extremely manipulative, very controlling, and extremely harsh with her words. And she always uses their daughter against him." She looked behind her, then returned her gaze to the roses ahead of us, saying, "We're running out of time, so we'll have to finish this conversation later. Instead, I'll quickly fill you in on what's next," she said, then explained when she'd help me escape, what I needed to bring, and what I shouldn't bring with me. And if there's anything I really want that I can't bring with me when she breaks me out of hell, she'll get it for me another time.

My nerves went haywire after Marla explained when and how she'd break me out of Chadwick's home. The longer I sat in my room looking around, thinking, and planning my escape, the more I felt sick. And it made me queasier thinking about what he'd do to me, to us, if we got caught, especially by him.

I feel Marla's helping me leave Chadwick may not be such a good idea for us both. If he caught us, he'd for sure make our lives a living hell more than it is right now by torturing and killing us slowly. He'd be so proud of what he was doing that he'd smile the entire time he was afflicting great pain on Marla and me.

Now, even though I fear for my life staying with Chadwick, I fear my life would be in even more danger if I tried fleeing, and I don't want to break out of here.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!🤞🤞