Zade devours Veronica's words into a passionate kiss, tangling his fingers in her lengthy black hair. His heart vibrates to the sound of harps as she wraps her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Veronica nearly overloads with longing as she recalls how Zade's lips always tasted like cherries.

While Zade and Veronica both have grown as lovers, as adults, as people — they always come back to each other.

Veronica releases a sharp gasp when Zade unties her shirt, capturing a glimpse of her light pink lace bra. Zade's laugh vibrates against her lips from his laughter as he cups her ample bosom in his hands. Her face turns pink, feeling exposed, but loving every second of it. There's no other person in the universe she wanted to give her first time too.

It's Zade's.

She's always been Zade.

Ever since the day when Zade spilled chocolate milk all over Veronica's clothing-- she knew he would be her one.

Zade nibbles on Veronica's sensitive spot on her neck, causing her to grasp his shoulders as a helpless moan escapes her throat. Zade doesn't let up. He sucks on her skin until it's red with tension. The silence fills up with Veronica's heavy breathing as she throws her hair into a ponytail and goes down on her knees.

"W-What are you doing?" Zade asks, dragging his finger along Veronica's skin, causing goosebumps to erupt.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Veronica smirks as she tugs on the belt in his jeans.

"Hello!"

I gasp when a knock on my window snaps me out of my intense concentration on the smutty book in my hands. Jesus flipping Christ! Right on the best part too.

With furrowed eyebrows, I roll my window down and reply with a, "Yes?"

"This is a no parking zone," he states with an aggravated expression as he hands me a slip through the cracked window.

My eyes nearly pop out of my skull when I realize the random slip is a freaking ticket.

Dropping my book on the passenger seat, I leap out of the car and follow the spontaneous police officer. "Why am I getting a ticket?"

The officer turns around with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Miss, maybe it's because you're parked in a no-parking zone. Next time be more aware of your surroundings instead of having your face stuck inside a book."

My mouth falls open. "Never in my life did I think I would get in trouble for reading. Seriously, I'm sorry for not noticing the sign, but I don't have enough money to pay for this."

He flexes his jaw. "That doesn't sound like my problem. Now, you have a good day, Miss."

"Son of a bish," I mumble under my breath as I stuff the ticket into my pocket and get into my car.

I mentally imagined banging my head against the dashboard before turning on the car and moving to the parking lot. My eyes fall on the digital clock on the screen.

Wow. Props to her. I didn't think she would last five minutes in there let alone two freaking hours. I hope she's having the time of her life in there. After the last two grueling years, she deserves the absolute most happiness the world could conquer up. Losing the love of your life really changes a person.

At least that's what Mika and the dozen books I devour day and night told me. It sounds life-changing, life-consuming. I don't know if I want that. I've never been in love. Until a few months ago, I didn't think I would ever get an opportunity to date a boy of my choosing.

I sigh, staring at the vibrant flower decor on the front cover. Could I experience a love like Zade and Veronica? Asiel and Mika? Who am I kidding? There's no freaking way I could live an ordinary life when I'm actively being searched for. Opening myself to someone other than Mika only brings uncertainty into my life, and I have had enough of it to last a lifetime.

I blow a raspberry, causing the strands of hair framing my face to rise upward, and toss the book into the passenger seat. For a fleeting moment, my eyes latch onto the scenery of the thriving party-- people roaming in and out, chatting on the steps, living their lives to the fullest. It's magical.

To be frank, deep inside my heart is plagued with envy for Mika. She has the freedom to attend events like these and make connections with people. What sucks is that Mika doesn't even realize it. You only acknowledge little things like this when your privilege has been ripped from underneath you. I can't leave my apartment without being covered head-to-toe in a made-up facade-- excluding tonight.

I only came to this event for moral support.

My eyes float over to an object resting in the middle of the concrete staircase. Turmoil wrecks my brain as hordes of individuals act as if the item was in my imagination. It can't be. My heart rate picks up a notch as I wrap my arms around myself and take a deep, long breath. Am I losing my mind?

I groan internally.

There's only one way to find out.

My body immediately flinches when I close the car door behind me. Dread sinks to the bottom of my stomach. Why am I terrified? Mika would've noticed if someone was tailing us-- she always did. If it weren't for her, I would've been scooped right back into his chains months ago. Either way, with every step, my heart trembles against my ribcage.

The wind swirls in my hair, combating the hot, fiery fear seeping out my skin as sweat. My wedges clink against the concrete stairs as I charge forward instead of looking back. I'm petrified of glancing back around.

Finally, the azure, small, cube-shaped present lays beside my feet. Squatting down, I seize the gift and drag it towards my ear as I shake it aimlessly. Nothing. Pitch silence. What the hell? The bow untangles with a single tug. Oh, sweet baby Jesus. I'm overreacting over nothing. Watch it be a typical gift someone dropped on their way to the event.

Just open it, Isabela.

In the blink of an eye, I remove the lid, and the blood empties from my face. My heart ceases to palpitate. I'm reluctant to breathe, hoping the box was undoubtedly a trick of my imagination. One word, three letters, was all it took to disembody myself from a sense of rationality.

The word 'boo!' stares up at me.

Reality doesn't dawn on me until I misplace my footing and collapse onto my butt. There's no freaking way. Someone has to be toying with my last shred of sanity. My heart pounds to the speed of light as I struggle to lock the chamber of my suffocating terrors. It's all in your head, Isabela.

I'm jumping the gun like I always do.

It's nothing.

My coping mechanism helps adjust my heart rate to a healthy one. I'm guilty of having an overactive imagination-- it's a good and bad thing welded into a complicated batch called Isabela's unexplainable characteristics. After dusting the rock pebbles off my trenchcoat, I bounce my eyes over to my parked car, being examined by four hefty individuals.

Knots coil in the bottom of my stomach. They're like green stalk vines, gripping me within and caving in to absorb me. He's here. He found me. My blood runs cold, devoid of all its nutrients. I hope we meet again someday, Mika. For now, I have to do what I know best: run until my legs snap off.

I take off as if my life depended because it certainly does. Quickly, I peer behind me to see the same men from before following me on this absurd goose chase. My shoulders collide with strangers as I dash forward to any sign of sanctuary. My breathing goes ragged as sweat trickles down my forehead.

My maneuverability is compromised by the large, chunky wedges weighing down my feet. It makes every step that much more tedious and laborious. Freedom doesn't have a price tag. I'll reach the end of the freaking earth before submitting to him again. Bystanders exchange concerned looks as I whirl right past them, and I bet half of them don't bat an eyelash at what's happening in front of them.

Zig-Zag.

Narrow streets to rousing highways.

Side to side.

Up and down.

Nothing gets them off my trail.

They had to be crafted from the Devil himself to withstand all the compromising positions I'm putting us through. Lucky for me, I have another trick up my sleeve. It's risky, and merry well could end up with a death sentence, but I would willingly burn in hell than live through it. Without letting an inch of doubt creep through, I race into the street filled with whirring cars.

My eyes linger on the crystal-white LED headlights, and swallow my fear as I await impact. To my dismay, the car screeches to a roaring stop, the tip barely grazing my knee. Collections of blaring horns blur into nonsense chatter as a grip attaches to the nape of my neck. His touch bruises my skin. My stomach recoils in disgust, threatening to spoil the ground with my breakfast.

"What the fuck?" The man curses, exiting the vehicle to flash the middle finger at me. "I just brought this fucking car. Are you a fucking psychopath?"

A rough, bone-chilling chuckle erupts from his throat, rolling down my back. I don't need to look up to know it's him. He comes alive in my nightmares. Five months apart isn't enough to desensitize the wounds he marred on me. My eyes fall to the ground, marveling at my shatters of hope.

"I'm sorry." He forces through his teeth as his grip on my neck becomes tighter. "See, my fiance had a little too much to drink. I was trying to bring her home." His raging, hot breath scorches my ear as his voice sinks a few octaves. "Right, tesoro."

My body trembles. Slowly, my eyes trail up his long, slender figure, landing on his sharp, sculpted face. His azure irises swallow me whole while his right eyebrow arches up, daring me to challenge him in front of everyone. He wants to be given another reason to persecute me. His silent threat is like a loaded gun, waiting for the right moment to press the trigger.

Fudge it.

If he wants me, he will have to take me kicking and screaming.

An earsplitting crack runs through my ear canals as my head collides with his face. My unexpected uprising throws him off, causing his attention to drift to his bleeding nose.

His jaw flexes as he compresses the oozing fest gushing from his nose. "Prendila."

My eyes widen at his crew, invading the scene we created in the middle of a highway.

Fudge.

I bolt to the other side of the street as if I was trying out to be on the track team. Damn it. I don't know Paris's geography enough to know where's a good place to hide. All I can do is run. As I weave to turn into an alley, a sharp sensation shoots up my leg, and I stumble to the ground. My teeth plunge into my bottom lip to cope with the piercing sensitivity of my ankle.

My voice wavers on the verge of breaking down. "No, no, no." Tears fight to fall from my ears as I remove my wedges to find my ankle swollen and bruised. "No, no, no." This can't be end. Why would the universe give me freedom only to take it away again?

Chewing on my bottom lip, I force my uninjured leg out of my wedge and trek forward. Hope disappears like fireworks after they erupt in the sky. I'm limping and trapped at a dead end. The only thing I can do is try to climb the fence. A welp escapes my lips as I ascend upward, the pressure on my ankle building up.

I'm almost there.

A nauseating, spine-chilling laughter tremors through the chain fence like the wind engulfing me in a storm. I don't care. I keep going. His claps roar along with his laughter under the pitch-black starless sky.

"How pathetic," he hisses, snapping his fingers. "Prendila."

My finger clings onto the chains like a spider monkey as I try to force my feet into the grooves. The fence sways like a swing while his men try prying me off. Their rough hands penetrate my skin, tugging me down like ankle weights. I scream my little heart out. Begging and pleading for someone to help me.

"Figli di puttana. Just press on her ankle," he orders.

An excruciating agony blazes through my entire body and an ear-piercing welp leaves my lips. It's not just for a fleeting moment. No. They maintain the pressure on the spot, twisting in ways it shouldn't ever be. Tears trickle down my cheeks. By the third time, I'm breathless, weak, and a shell of the determined girl trying to escape her abductor.

My grip loosens.

That's all it took.

His crew latches onto a limb, holding me securely to keep from squirming. Tears flood down my cheeks as everything sets in. I'm his again-- a trophy to parade around. I don't want to cry or show him how much he terrifies me, but my body can't help it. My heart bounces around my ribcage as he throws his cigar away and treks forward.

Blood stains his teeth as he shines his monstrous grin. His pierced tongue snakes out to wet his lips. Disgust rest on my stomach like undigested food as I drop my gaze to anywhere but him. He trails his finger from my forehead down to the slope of my chin. I fight to move away, but his crew is like shackles on my body.

"Tsk, tsk," he whispers, dragging his thumb over the seam of my lips. "How I've missed you, tesoro. You had me so worried." His eyes sharpen with rampage as his hand coils around the sides of my throat. "We've got alot of catching up to do."

Anxiety trickles into my bloodstream as his grip grows tighter and tighter by the second.

Hey guys, your favorite writer is back (jk I'm probably not your fav but you're my favs 💜) I'm super excited to share Isabela's story with you, and I hope you're just as eager to read it.

While this chapter isn't necessarily to read to understand the story (which is why I consider it a prologue) I feel like it wouldn't hurt to get extra context on how Isabela ends up back with her future husband...

I hope you guys love Isabela as you get to know her more and more with every chapter. She's definitely younger, more naive, and carelessly, but I hope you come to love those things about her.

Thank you for supporting me and leaving any comments or votes, I'm super super grateful! I cannot wait to talk with you guys in comments! You guys motivate me to keep writing crazy story for you guys! I'm so thankful for you!

Love ya ❤️💜❤️💜💜