Caitlin's POV: My heart sprang and bolted in fear, with each step he took towards me. I thought I had more time to myself. I had hoped our anniversary would bring a reprieve from all the tension, thinking he would be gone for a week. But, Fuck it! He was home, and I was wrong. Anniversary or not, tonight would be just as dreadful like all the others.I stood frozen, my eyes fixed on the vibrant yellow parrot perched on the window sill. It's eyes a bright, piercing blue. It cocked it's head to one side, watching me with an unblinking gaze. As I reached out to touch the parrot's soft feathers, a strong hand grasps my waist, pulling my back against a hard, muscular chest. "Hey beautiful, I'm home." He whispered.Aiden's fingers caressed my skin, his touch a mixture of passion and possession. His lips trailed soft passionate kisses along my neck, and brushed against my ear. But I felt nothing; nothing at all. No spark, no flame, no desire."I miss you...miss your scent so fuck
I woke up the next morning, still lying in Aiden's bed, with bruises all over my body. It ached all over. My sex area, my b**bs, my ass, my nipples, they all were in so much pain, reeling from the events of last night..Damn it! This crazy maniac b**tard dealt seriously with me. Such a beast!As I slowly sat up in bed, I saw him standing by the light of the window with just his pants on. He was radiating in every way. His broad shoulders and toned abs were evident as ever, rippling beneath his skin as he moved. A valid testament of his rigorous workout routine. If only Aiden hadn't become like this, he would have been the true definition of a perfect man for any woman, giving his looks and all.They had once captivated me. But now, they only serve to mask the monster that lurked beneath.He turned to pick up his shirt from the bed, and I noticed the faintest glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes, a hint that he was pleased with himself for having asserted and worked his dominanc
Chef Francois really isn't the first to to think this way. The whole world thought so too.Aiden was such a candid manipulator.Nobody would believe my story even if I told it because, we acted all lovey dovey on the outside.He was the charming, successful husband who lavished me with expensive gifts and took me on exotic vacations. While I was the beautiful, devoted wife who adored her husband and supported his every endeavor.The picture-perfect couple, always holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. People often saw our union as a fairytale, But behind close doors and all the facade, we were a ticking time bomb.I was trapped in a cycle of abuse and intimidation. Aiden bore an intent desire to dominate and possess me. He dictated every aspect of my life, from what I wore to who I spoke to.The smiles, the laughter, the romantic gestures, all of it was a carefully crafted illusion. It was designed to conceal the rot that lay at the heart of our relationship. How the hel
I walked into the hall, looking elegant and ravishing in my red, kinky new gown. That was his gift!Honestly , I purely wished my heart was half as cheerful as the image my dress portrayed.The party was in full swing, the music loud and the lights flashing. But I felt like I was walking through a nightmare, trapped in a world that was not my own.I walked round several tables, feeling like a doll on display, greeting guests. Everyone seemed to be staring at me, judging me."You look stunning." Someone whispered in my ears as he walked past me. I smiled sheepishly, atleast he said it to my face. Much better than side talks."Hi, Madam Helena." I greeted Aidan's stepmom."Hmmmph! So what if you wear such a beautiful dress?. Madam Helena responded in a cold voice, "that still doesn't make you a princess.""Come on over and cut out the steak for me." She ordered.Yeah! She was actually on her supposed act of belittling me, but, I wasn't even feeling it. This was nothing compared to h
With the bathroom door half-open, my breath hitched and caught in my throat. I dared not move, not wanting to betray my position. The seconds stretched into eternity. Aiden's cologne filled the doorway, his presence both commanding and suffocating. "Oh, Aiden, you're here." Sophia threw a crazy rhetorical question out of nowhere. "I came to get my wife." Aiden responded bluntly, paying her no attention. "Okay, I'll just return to the party alone then." She said and squirreled out. As soon as Sophia left, Aiden faced me with a cunny smile playing round his lips. "Didn't expect to see me?" His voice was calm, too calm, sending a shiver down my spine. I swallowed hard, my mind racing for a plausible excuse, but none came. "I… I was just…" My words faltered, betraying my fear. He stepped closer, his gaze never leaving mine. "Just what, Caitlin? Hiding from me?" I shook my head, unable to find my voice. "What were you doing here? Everyone's been asking for you." His eyes so
"Where is she?" I heard Aiden scream from his room.I knew better than to keep him waiting, so I hurriedly slipped out of bed and walked past the men by the corridor, into his room. As soon as I reached out supposed matrimonial room, I took in the smell of alcohol.Aiden was seated on the same sofa he had been seated the previous day, and there were four empty bottles on the floor around him. There were three other untouched bottles."I'm here." I whispered, and he looked up at me before giving me a drunk grin.Oh, he was drunk. Maybe this could be a chance to escape this planned sex."You know you're alcohol intolerant." I walked up to him and reached to take the bottles that was in his hand, but he cuddled the bottle tightly."No, I'm not giving this to you.". He shook his head, and looked at my face again. "Come drink with me."I shook my head at his drunken action and took a bottle of alcohol too. I walked over to the other sofa and sat on it, opening the bottle.Yeah. That was a
"Don't talk to much, baby." Aiden rasped and brought my lips back to his. He kissed me again, and then broke the kiss for a few seconds to maneuver me to sit in the perfect position for him. I moaned softly as i sat my ass over his hard, but still clothed d*ck. I placed my hands on his shoulders and quickly leaned in for another kiss. Aiden's hands settled for my ass and squeezed it hard. "Aiden." My lips trembled against his lips and, hearing me moan his name made him harder. "I want to see those f**king tits." He growled and pushed the straps of my gown down my shoulders, his lips kissing all over my face. He trailed kisses down to my neck, just as his hands reached my bra cupped boobs. I threw my head backwards, moaning softly as his tongue grazed the skin of my neck all the way to my shoulders, in a long sensual lick. Aiden glanced down at my bra and a sexy grin flashed. "Blue... befitting for a good girl." Before I could say or do any other thing, Aiden had
The next day, I woke up with a slight headache. My right hand was on my forehead as I fluttered my eyes open.The ceiling of my room came into view first, and I shut my eyes back. Few seconds passed before i opened my eyes again and sat up on the bed.As soon as i sat up, memories of the previous night came rushing into my brain and i gasped. I hurriedly pulled the sheets off my body, falling into a state of panic for the next few seconds.I raked my hair into my hands and shook my head, recalling the words i had said to Aiden, the sounds i had made for him, the way i had whimpered against his body, the sting and pleasure of his hand smacking my ass, and the way i had...."What the hell did I do? Did I...did i squirt?" I could barely believe what i had done but still, as i leaned back unto the headboard and calmed down, a part of me said it was not so bad.I had never felt anything like i felt the previous night, and a silent, small part of me wished i was not drunk while at it. Wi
The world outside felt the same. The streets, the cars, the people all moving like clockwork, none of them aware of the storm that was brewing just beneath the surface. I could feel it, like a pulse in my veins, every thrum a reminder that things had shifted. That I was no longer the woman I had been just days ago.I drove in silence, the city lights blurring past as I made my way home. I should’ve been nervous. I should’ve felt the weight of what I was about to do, but the closer I got to my house, the more everything felt like a distant memory. The walls, the rooms, the furniture, all of it had been built on lies. The house that Dylan and I had filled with hopes and quiet whispers didn’t matter anymore.I parked in the driveway and sat there for a moment. The drive had been longer than it should’ve been, and it had given me time to think. To plan. To go over every last detail of what was about to happen. There was no going back.I wasn’t afraid. I was past fear.I was past everyth
I didn’t sleep that night. Not really.I lay in the dark, wide awake, listening to the soft hum of the city outside, feeling the weight of what I had learned settling deeper into my bones. The truth wasn’t a relief. It wasn’t a final revelation that gave me peace. It was a wound that had been opened and left to bleed. It kept oozing, pulling at the fragile stitches I’d managed to tie around myself.I thought about Dylan.I thought about Aiden.But most of all, I thought about me. What was left of me.I could hear the faint sounds of Dylan moving around downstairs, the clink of dishes, the soft murmur of the television. I didn’t want to face him. I couldn’t. He had been a part of it. He had watched. Maybe he thought his guilt was a decent trade for pretending to be my savior. But it wasn’t. Not anymore.I wasn’t angry, though. Anger would have been easier. What I felt was worse. It was a strange kind of emptiness. Like I was floating in the dark, with nothing but a vague sense of be
The shower ran long enough that the steam fogged up the mirror, but I didn't care. The sound of water crashing against the tile was a dull, mind-numbing rush, almost like I could drown out everything if I stayed under it long enough.But I couldn’t hide.Not from myself. Not from what I’d learned. Not from what I was becoming.I turned the water off, but the silence that followed felt even worse. Cold air wrapped around my skin, my breath coming out in sharp gasps, as if I’d been holding it for years. I stared at the reflection in the mirror, a face that didn’t belong to me. A face I didn’t even know. Not fully. Not anymore.My hand trembled as I reached up, my fingers brushing the scar beneath my left eye. The one Dylan had created. The one that was supposed to be a mark of my new life. My evolution. A life engineered to fit someone else's design.I wasn’t Caitlin Roe anymore.I wasn’t Caitlin Gallagher either.I was a replacement. A project. An experiment.And I didn’t know who the
I didn’t cry.I thought I would.I thought I’d make it to the elevator and fall apart, slide down the wall and sob until my throat cracked. But I didn’t.I rode the elevator down like I was made of steel. Hands still clenched. Face still burning.The lobby lights buzzed overhead. The security guard gave me a stiff, polite nod, like nothing was wrong. Like I hadn’t just stood in the same room as the man who reprogrammed my body and tried to erase my soul.I nodded back.Because that’s the game, isn’t it?Pretend nothing’s bleeding.Pretend you’re not drowning.Pretend you didn’t just learn you were built.It was cold outside. Not winter-cold. But the kind that sneaks under your skin when you’re already brittle inside. My heels clicked across the pavement as I walked to my car, and every sound felt too loud. Like the world was trying to draw attention to me. Like it knew.I sat behind the wheel with the engine off for a long time.Not thinking. Not planning. Just existing.And even tha
I left Dylan’s apartment without looking back.He didn’t try to stop me. Just stood there, silent, like a man watching a fire he didn’t bother putting out. And maybe that was the truth, maybe I was always meant to burn.I drove until I couldn’t feel my fingers on the wheel. Ended up in a parking garage, staring at nothing, chewing on the edge of a panic attack.Then I opened the flash drive again.Not on my laptop this time. On a secure system. A hacker friend from my undergrad days owed me favors, and I called one in. Said I needed everything decrypted. Hidden files. Metadata. Time stamps. Anything.They called me an hour later, voice low and clipped.“There’s a hidden folder. You didn’t see it.”I hadn’t.I went back, followed the breadcrumb they gave me.Inside were audio logs, notes, screenshots of messages, even therapy session transcriptions. And a folder marked...“HER”.My hands shook as I opened it.Dozens of photos.All of me.Years back, Surveillance stills, Social media scr
I didn't sleep there. How could I? I drove until the sky went pale, then parked in a grocery store lot and sat there, staring at my reflection in the rearview mirror. I didn’t recognize the woman looking back. Eyes ringed in black, lips chewed raw, heart ticking like a bomb.Emily knew me.Not “knew of me.” Not guessed or imagined.She said my name.I kept playing the message in my head, those last words, like she was whispering straight through time, through death, into my ear. “Don’t trust either of them.”How did she know?And why did it feel like I was already too late?By 8 a.m., I was parked outside a library. Not mine. Not local. A town over. Somewhere neutral. I signed onto a public computer with trembling fingers and searched for anything. Old records. Articles. Social media scraps. There was almost nothing about Emily after her death. Just sanitized obituaries and half-hearted blog posts about water safety.But I wasn’t looking for her anymore.I was looking for me.I dug
I didn’t go home.Home felt like a place for people with answers. People who knew what side they were on. I didn’t know anything anymore.Who was I running from? And who was I even running to? So I found a diner. One of those nowhere-places with cracked vinyl booths and a jukebox that hadn’t worked since the 90s. I sat in the corner, hunched over my laptop, the flash drive clenched in my fist like a trigger.I hesitated before plugging it in.Part of me already knew this wouldn’t be something I could unsee.The drive had one folder./EMILY/Inside were three files.Audio_Log_06.m4aJuly_14_CamFootage.mp4Letter_To_Caitlin.docxThat last one hit me like a brick.Letter to Caitlin.I never met her. Not once. I only knew Emily from Dylan’s stories. From the quiet grief in his voice when he mentioned her. From the wedding photos still shoved in a box in our closet. She was a ghost in my life. Beautiful, Tragic and Untouchable.How the hell did she know my name?I opened the letter.> Ca
I didn’t want to go.But the invite, or more accurately, the command, was sitting in my calendar like a trap with a blinking countdown. “Meeting with Mr. Gallagher. 12:05 PM.”Of course he’d make it five minutes after noon. A power play. Make me sweat.I stared at the screen a moment longer than I should’ve, then stood. My legs were shaky, even though I tried to play it cool. Everyone was still pretending not to watch, but I felt it. The tension when I passed someone’s desk. The fake typing that stopped just long enough to eavesdrop.I hated them. I hated how they looked at me now, like I was some broken puzzle they couldn’t wait to solve. Like a scandal in heels.When I reached Aiden’s office, I hesitated for half a second. Just long enough for my nerves to kick. Then I opened the door.He was already standing. Backlit by the floor-to-ceiling windows, crisp and composed in a suit too perfect for someone with a heart so rotted.He didn’t say a word as he stepped around the desk and c
The morning air felt unusually thick as I returned the office building, the weight of the previous day still lingering in my chest. I had to quickly finished the tasks at hand before Aiden would ask for it.I pressed the button for the elevator, hearing the soft hum of whispers that echoed from the lobby. “… Did you hear? Mr. Gallagher spent hours in his office with Emily yesterday. Alone. I thought they just worked together on the big reports?”“Yeah, but did you hear what he called her?” A second voice whispered. “I swear, he called her Caitlin. I thought her name was Emily?”“Wait, what? Are you sure?”“I heard it too. Something’s up with those two, that’s for sure…”The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped inside, trying to ignore the rising tension in the air. It was hard not to notice the undercurrents of gossip, the shifting glances from people who weren’t even trying to hide their curiosity.As the doors closed, I sighed and leaned against the wall, willing myself to shak