Chapter 1: The Injury

~ EVANGELINE ~

The alarm rang before sunrise and I turned it off quickly. Victoria hated when I was late.

I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. The guest bedroom was freezing, as always, and I have been stuck here for the past two years of my marriage with Jason because he never let me sleep in the master bedroom with him.

I washed my face and got dressed in something plain. I learned not to wear anything that drew attention in this house.

The kitchen was dark when I walked in. I turned on the light and started making breakfast.

My days are the same now. All I do is cook, clean and serve like a glorified maid.

Two years ago I thought marrying Jason would save me. I had run away from my controlling family and changed my name to Emma Sterling. When I met Jason, he seemed kind and different from my father.

I was so damn stupid.

"Emma!"

Victoria's voice came from the dining room. I grabbed the plate and carried it out to her.

She sat at the table with her phone in her hand. She didn't look up when I placed the food in front of her.

"The juice," she said.

I went back to the kitchen and poured orange juice. When I brought it to her, she took one sip and pushed the glass away.

"It has too much ice!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Blackwood. I'll make another one right away."

"Just stand there and be quiet will you?!"

I stood by the wall with my hands folded. This was my life now, I was so fucking pathetic it hurts.

Jason came downstairs and sat across from his mother. He poured himself coffee and looked at his phone.

"The meeting has been moved to Thursday," Victoria said.

"Fine."

He drank his coffee without looking at me. When he finished, he stood up and walked past me like I was invisible. The door closed behind him.

"Clean the table," Victoria said. "Then scrub all the floors."

"Yes, Mrs. Blackwood."

I spent the whole morning on my hands and knees scrubbing floors. Victoria walked behind me checking my work.

"You missed a spot."

"This corner is still dirty."

"Do it again."

She finally went upstairs for her afternoon rest and the house went quiet. I sat at the kitchen table and tried to breathe normally. My back hurt and my knees hurt but I had a few hours before she came back down.

Later that evening, I was setting the dinner table. Victoria wanted everything perfect for when Jason came home.

I laid out the white tablecloth she had shipped from Italy. Expensive things like this don't move because the real me grew up surrounded by far much more.

Victoria came down the stairs talking on her phone. She wasn't watching where she was going.

Her hip bumped the edge of the table.

The glass of water I just set down tipped over. Water spilled across the white tablecloth leaving a dark ugly stain.

Victoria stopped talking. She hung up her phone without saying goodbye.

The silence was terrifying.

"Do you know how much this tablecloth cost?" Her voice was too calm.

"Mrs. Blackwood, I'm so sorry. I can clean it right now if you just give me a second..."

"You ruined it."

"It was an accident. I didn't mean..."

"Everything is an accident with you." She set her phone down and turned to face me. "Everything."

She grabbed my left arm and twisted it behind my back. The pain was so intense that it shot through my wrist and I gasped.

She shoved me sideways. My hip slammed into the corner of the dining table. I stumbled forward and my shoulder hit the edge of the tall cabinet by the door.

I heard something crack loudly.

Then the pain came and it was blinding. It started in my shoulder and flooded down my entire arm. My legs gave out and I slid down the wall.

My left arm hung limp. I couldn't move it and I couldn't breathe.

Victoria stood over me breathing hard. For just a second, something that looked like fear and guilt crossed her face but it disappeared fast.

"Get up," she said.

I pressed my right hand against the floor and pushed myself up slowly. Every movement sent more pain through my shoulder.

Victoria grabbed my good arm and held me steady. She leaned close enough that I could smell wine on her breath.

"You're not going to the hospital," she said quietly. "You're not going to tell anyone what happened here. If anyone asks, you fell. Do you understand me?"

I nodded because I couldn't speak.

"Good." She let go of my arm and smoothed down her blouse. "Now clean up this mess before Jason gets home."

I cleaned the spilled water with one hand. It took forever and hurt so much but I folded the ruined tablecloth and wiped down the table.

I didn't cry. If I started crying I wouldn't be able to stop.

Jason came home later and I was standing in the kitchen doorway with my left arm pressed against my chest. Letting it hang made everything worse.

He saw me and his eyes went to my arm.

"What happened?" he asked, not concerned but irritated.

"She fell," Victoria said from the living room. She didn't even look up from her phone. "You know how clumsy she is."

Jason looked at me for one more second. Then he nodded and walked into the kitchen.

He stepped around me to pour himself a drink asking no other questions. Not even concerned about whether I needed a doctor.

The man I married just walked past me like I was an insignificant fly on his perfect wall.

That night I lay in the guest bedroom with my arm wrapped in a cold cloth. The lights were off and the house was silent.

A thought settled in my mind that I never let myself think before.

I could actually die in this house if I don't leave soon and I still have eight weeks to wait out.

I just had to wait until my trust fund unlocked and I would have enough money to disappear where no one could ever find me again. Eight weeks. I just needed to survive eight more fucking weeks.

My lawyer and I met up secretly for me to finalize my divorce without Jason knowing till I was ready. But I needed to bid my time and that means acting like I always have.

Most nights I stayed up late working on my laptop after everyone went to sleep. It was the one thing in my life that was still mine. But tonight my fingers wouldn't move and my shoulder hurt too much.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand and I picked it up with my good hand.

A text message from Marty lit up the screen.

[Marty: hey babe. been trying to reach you all day. are you okay? also the deadline is coming up sooner than we thought and we need to talk about it. call me when you can. love you always.]