Louis' POVA slow beep echoed in the room, rhythmic and soft, like a lullaby for the broken. My eyelids fought against the light, but I forced them open.White ceiling. Drips. The antiseptic chill of the hospital. The sting of the IV pierced into my hand like a reminder. I was still alive. Somehow.My breath was shaky, uneven. Everything felt distant, like I was caught between a dream and something I hadn’t made sense of yet. My gaze shifted, and there she was, sitting quietly beside my bed.Her head leaned gently against the wall, eyes closed, lashes casting shadows over her cheeks. One hand was curled in her lap, the other lazily brushing a strand of hair away from her face. My wife. My quiet, beautiful wife. The one who never spoke. But then—That voice.The memory came crashing back like a wave against a fragile shore. I could still hear it, soft but desperate. Pleading. "Please, save him. Don’t let him die." The voice echoed through my skull like it had been etched into my bones
Evelyn’s POVThe moment the door slammed shut behind him, I locked it. My fingers trembled around the latch. The metallic click echoed in the room like a gunshot. He was gone. At least for now.Then came the banging, loud, insistent, and desperate.“Open this door! Evelyn, open it now!” Erica’s voice sliced through the silence, sharp and high-pitched.But I couldn’t hear her. Not really. My heart was pounding too loud, drowning out everything else. The phone, I was holding it like it was a ticking bomb. My hands were slick with sweat. He’d seen it. He saw the damn phone. Not just once, he had picked it up. He touched it. He felt it. And it’s only a matter of time before he realizes what it is. What I’ve been using it for.What if he finds out?No. No. He can’t. He can’t know. If he does, God, I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do.My hands were shaking like I was holding lightning. My knees felt like water, and my throat was tight. I looked around the room like the walls coul
Louis’ POV“How dare you!”The words tore from my throat, loud, hoarse, shaking the air like thunder. My hand slammed the edge of the glass table, and it shattered beneath my fury, splinters flying, the loud crash echoing in the room like a gunshot.She flinched hard, shrinking backward like a frightened animal. Her eyes widened with fear, and for a brief second, her trembling body made me falter, but I was too far gone.“Tell me the damn truth!” I roared, storming toward her. “Did you sneak out when I locked you in here just to see your lover?”My hand reached for her face before my mind could catch up, fingers clamping over her mouth as if silencing the lies I feared would spill. But she couldn’t speak. I knew she couldn’t. So why the hell was I grabbing her mouth?My thumb brushed over her lips, and the sensation sent a pulse through me I wasn’t prepared for. Soft. Warm. Full. Those lips… even now, in this mess, they stirred something raw in me. I wanted to kiss them, devour them,
Evelyn’s POVI stood frozen, the world spinning around me. My breath hitched in my throat, each inhale burning like fire in my lungs. My heart slammed violently against my chest, shaking my ribs like a cage barely holding back a storm. My hands trembled. No, my whole body trembled. How the hell did this happen? How did she find out?Did I slip? Did I speak out loud without realizing it? Or… is this a trap?Maybe she doesn’t know anything. Maybe she’s just bluffing, throwing lines into the water to see which one pulls me under. Maybe she’s trying to scare me, trying to make me slip up and say something I shouldn’t. And if I do... if I speak even a word, it could be the end. The end of everything. My life. My mother’s life.I can’t let that happen.“I said, speak! Or I’m going to smash this phone!” Erica’s voice cut through the room like a blade.My heart nearly gave out. That phone, God, that phone, it's my only lifeline. My only leverage. The only thing standing between me and the man
Evelyn's POVThis is all my fault.I got myself into this mess.It started with hate, my hate for Louis. I let that hate fester until it grew bigger than reason. Bigger than fear. Now, it's like every decision I make just spins me deeper into this hellhole. There's no peace, no freedom. Just shadows. Watching. Following. Waiting.He’s always there. The man I call the demon.He knows where I am. What I do. Who I talk to.Every second of every day, I feel his eyes on me. Like a hunter waiting for his prey to breathe the wrong way. And when I do, he doesn’t hesitate.His hand gripped me so tightly it felt like my bones would crack. A knife pressed against my neck, its cold edge kissing my skin with deadly promise.“You think you’re smart, don’t you?” he growled, his breath reeking of menace. “You keep disobeying me. You keep pretending you have a choice.”I stayed frozen. Silent. Terrified. My heart pounded so loud, I thought it would shatter in my chest.“You don’t want your dear husban
Evelyn’s POVI paced the floor like a prisoner trapped in her own home. My bare feet made soft, angry taps against the cold marble tiles as I kept circling, circling, like a lioness in a cage. And then, the sound hit me. Muffled moans. A woman’s voice. Then a man’s, his. It was happening again. Behind the door across the hall, he was with another one of his mistresses.My fists clenched at my sides.This man will never change.The ache in my chest twisted tighter as I heard the rhythm of the bed, the laughter, the sighs of pleasure that didn’t belong to me, that never really had. My eyes burned, but I refused to cry. Not anymore. I hated him. I hated him so much I could taste the bile rising in my throat. He had locked me in this room. Like some object. Just because I wanted to leave.Just because I dared to say I was tired.Of him. Of this life. Of being invisible.He’s insane, I whispered to myself. I had never seen him this out of control. But he wasn’t going to win. I wouldn’t giv
Louis’ POVI let go of her, stepping back as if the distance between us could erase what I’d just done. My breath came in short, shallow bursts. The silence that filled the space between us was deafening. I didn’t say the word she was waiting to hear, the word I knew she deserved.Sorry.But I couldn’t say it. My lips wouldn’t move, and even if they did, I wasn’t sure if the word would mean anything anymore.I had pushed her. Slammed her against the wall. Not out of love. Not even out of rage. But out of jealousy. Dark, ugly, bitter jealousy that I didn’t even recognize in myself.Was I really this far gone?I had sworn, sworn, I wouldn’t fall. That I’d keep control, stay detached. But I was slipping. Drowning. Every second around her pulled me deeper into a mess I didn’t understand, and I didn’t know how to climb out.I turned toward her, my voice cold, emotionless, a contrast to the storm raging inside me.“You’re not leaving the house again,” I said. “I’m locking your room, and I’m
Evelyn’s POVI was trembling,no, shaking, feverishly, like my bones were turning to ice beneath my skin. My hands clutched the phone so tightly it could've snapped in half. One ring. Two rings. Three.Nothing.Why wasn’t he picking up?Why now, of all times?My breath caught in my throat. I felt like I was drowning in my own fear. The silence on the other end of the line screamed louder than any voice could. I was in my room, my sanctuary, or at least, it used to be. But now, it felt like a cell. Every creak of the wooden floorboards outside my door made my heart skip. I heard the sound of footsteps. Slow. Heavy. Purposeful.He was coming.Panic surged through me like a jolt of electricity. My eyes darted around the room in desperation. Where do I hide the phone? Where? Where?! My fingers trembled as I lifted the small cupboard door beneath my desk and shoved the phone inside, praying he wouldn’t find it.Then, the knock.Soft at first. Then firmer. More urgent.“Evelyn...” His voice
Evelyn’s POVWhat the hell was happening?What was he trying to do to me right now?One moment he was quiet, cold, distant, treating me like a ghost that wandered into his life. The next, he was… this.I watched, stunned, as he unbuckled his belt with one swift motion, the metallic click echoing in the room like a gunshot. His eyes were dark, possessive, burning with something I couldn’t understand.He stormed toward me.Panic surged through my chest. My body acted before my mind could catch up. I scrambled back, desperate to get away.But he was faster.He grabbed me and pinned me to the bed, his strength overwhelming mine.“You’re not leaving,” he growled, voice low and chilling. “You’re staying. You’re going to perform your wifey duties.”My heart dropped.My throat dried up.No. No, no, no.Did he mean—?Sex?This couldn’t be real. We’d been married for years, yet he had never once touched me. Never glanced at me like a man should look at his wife. He kept me in a separate part of