LOGINMONIQUEI wake up slowly, my body aching from sleeping on the cold bathroom floor, still trembling from the tension and humiliation of last night. The robe is still warm around me, but it feels like a thin, fragile shield against everything I know is coming. My hands and legs shake as I force myself to stand, moving toward the mirror. I look at my reflection and then, like a knife twisting, I remember Ryan’s hands, his mouth, the way he seemed to riddle me with himself..... I can’t take it.I strip down immediately, stepping into the shower. The water is hot, scalding even, and I let it run over me again and again, washing, scrubbing, over and over until I can convince myself every trace of him is gone. I shampoo, rinse, shampoo again, rinse again. I can no longer hear his sounds, but the feeling of being dirty lingers, crawling under my skin, impossible to shake.I quietly open the bathroom door. The last thing I want is to see him....his stupid face, that triumphant smirk. But the
MONIQUEFor a second, I think he’s going to kiss me. For a second, I think he’s going to let me go.But… the former wins.His mouth comes down on mine....but I’m quicker, because I was already expecting it. I turn my head to the side, and his kiss lands on my cheek instead. He laughs. His laugh is strange, manic, hollow.Then his lips move down, towards my neck… my shoulders… and lower. I try fighting him. Oh, I try fighting him. I’m screaming, telling him to get off me.“Get off me, Ryan! I don’t want this.....stop! Stop!”That’s all I can say, his name and the word stop over and over, like maybe if I repeat it enough, he’ll actually hear me. But he doesn’t.I try to kick. I try to move my hands. But he’s heavy, too heavy, and all I can do is thrash my legs weakly beneath him. Then he uses his free hand to grab at my dress, and I hear the sound of something tearing. The things on the nightstand crash to the floor, rolling away, glass clinking against the tiles.Now I’m lying beneath
MONIQUEI don’t know how long I sat there, holding that phone, clutching it like it was the only lifeline I had left. Then I thought I heard footsteps outside the door. Panic jolted through me. I quickly shoved the phone beneath my pillow, hiding it just in time.No one came in.I lay there, still, heart pounding, the phone pressed under me, and I kept wondering....was he really out there? Was Marcus truly at the gate? Would he really have come in if I had said yes?The questions swirled around in my head until they started to fade into a haze of exhaustion. I thought of my aunt, of Friday, of the papers Ryan wanted me to sign. We’d just have to wait and see if he kept his word.Somewhere in the middle of those thoughts, I must have drifted sleep.Because....... suddenly I felt hands slide around my waist. Strong, heavy, possessive hands that made every part of me tense. A slow pressure. A shift of weight behind me. Before I could even open my eyes, I felt a cold body pressed against
MONIQUEI swallow. I don’t know why, but there’s something....some vulnerability in Marcus's voice. And before I can answer, he goes on.“Please, don’t lose hope, Monique, okay? Just know that out here, I’m fighting for you. I’m with you. And you don’t have to stay with that bastard. You don’t have to. Just tell me, say the word, Monique—and I’ll be there right now. In fact…” he pauses, his voice trembling with quiet urgency, “I’m outside the gate. Right at this moment. Right at this minute.”I gasp. “What?”My eyes dart around the room, my pulse spiking. For a moment, I half expect him to appear right here, like he could somehow break through the walls and reach me. I rush to the window and pull it open, but the air that greets me is still. The house is far from the gate, too far. Even if he’s really out there, I can’t see him.“Just say the word, Monique,” he says into the phone after a while, his voice low, pleading. “And I’m coming in there. I’m taking you out. I’m getting you out
MONIQUEWe move again to the music room, then the space I had once planned to turn into a gaming room for the kids.“Such a big house for such big dreams,” Mrs Bennett muses. “You thought of everything...fun, laughter, a life together. You built this place for your family.”We finally reach the glass doors leading outside. Mrs. Bennett slides them open, and a rush of evening air hits my face. The scent of chlorine and night blooms fills the air. We step out onto the patio. Two pools glisten under the outdoor lights, one large, elegant pool for adults, and beside it, the smaller one I had designed especially for the children I thought I would have with Ryan.Mrs. Bennett stops at the edge, her voice quiet now. “You picked this house because you said it felt like home. Because you wanted your future here. You said it was where you’d raise your children, where you’d grow old with Ryan.”She turns to me, her expression soft but sharp, every word carefully placed.“Tell me, Monique… are yo
MONIQUEI look at him, staring at him, my eyes wide. Given that he’s threatening me here, in front of his parents, I understand what this is: his way of showing me that I have no one to run to. This is him telling me that his parents are with him, that I’m alone.... and that no one will help me.“Oh, would you please stop scaring the poor girl?” Mrs. Bennett says, her voice soft and motherly as she walks toward Ryan. She lays her hand gently on his shoulder. Ryan smirks at me before standing up and leaving the room.A few seconds later, Mr. Bennett rises too. He doesn’t look at me, doesn’t say a word. He just follows his son out, leaving the air filled with tension.Mrs. Bennett is the only one still there. She stands over me, watching me with a sweet smile I do not trust.“How are you doing? How are you feeling?” she asks again, her tone falsely tender, as if she’s forgotten she already asked me that earlier.“I’m doing good,” I manage to say, though my voice barely makes it out.Sh







