Chapter 2

Laura Sterling

“Help me… someone, please… I can’t feel my legs anymore.”

My voice came out as a weak, broken whisper, barely loud enough to echo off the locked bedroom walls. I lay curled on the cold floor where Derick had abandoned me, tears pouring endlessly from my swollen eyes.

The grief for my lost family still clawed at my heart, but now it mixed with the fresh wave of shame and violation that made every breath hurt.

The pills were already taking hold.

A terrifying numbness crept up from my toes, turning my legs into dead weight.

I tried to move them, but they refused to respond, lying limp like they no longer belonged to me. Panic surged through my chest as the familiar dizziness clouded my mind.

“Why is this happening again?” I sobbed quietly, clutching at my useless thighs. “He’s destroying me piece by piece… and I’m too weak to stop him.”

Suddenly, muffled voices drifted from the hallway outside the door, I heard some official-sounding tones. My heart jumped with desperate hope.

’They’ve come. Finally, someone has seen what he’s doing. They’re here to rescue me from this nightmare.’

I dragged myself closer to the door with my arms, ignoring the burning pain in my shoulders. “Help!” I called out, my voice cracking with urgency. “Please, whoever you are.....Derick is hurting me! He locks me in here and drugs me every day!”

The lock clicked. The door swung open.

Blinding light from the hallway stabbed into my tear-filled eyes, forcing me to squint. For one fleeting second, relief flooded my chest....until the figures came into focus.

Derick stood there, flanked by two police officers. He had changed into a clean shirt, his face arranged in perfect sorrow, eyes glistening with fake concern. I never knew he was this good at acting.

He locked me in the bedroom after assaulting me...And now this?

“Officers, thank you for coming so quickly,” Derick said, his voice thick with emotion. “My wife… she tried to poison me. I found suspicious pills in her things this morning. I’m honestly terrified for my life.”

I stared at him in complete shock, my mind reeling.

’Poison him? That’s a lie! I’ve never tried to hurt him. He’s the one who forces those pills down my throat. He doesn’t even touch my cup!’ I tried to argue, but only tears came out.

“What are you talking about?” I cried out, pushing myself up on trembling arms. “Derick, I never poisoned anything! You know that’s not true....please tell them!”

No one listened to me.

One of the officers stepped forward, his expression hard. “Ma’am, you’re under arrest for attempted murder.”

Before I could protest again, rough hands seized my arms and dragged me across the floor like an animal.

My numb legs scraped uselessly behind me, sending sharp jolts of pain through my body.

“No! Stop!” I screamed frantically, tears streaming down my face. “I didn’t do this! Derick, tell the truth! You’re framing me!”

Derick shook his head sadly, placing a hand dramatically over his heart. “She’s capable of anything, officers. I’ve been living in fear for months. Please… protect me from my own wife. She’s not the woman I married anymore.”

His words cut deep as they hauled me out of the house and shoved me into the police car. My desperate cries filled the night air, but no one cared.

At the station, everything blurred into a cold nightmare. They threw me into a dim, barren cell. My body ached from the rough treatment, and the numbness had spread higher, making me feel half-dead.

Then Derick appeared outside the bars, standing beside his young secretary who carried a stack of papers. Her red hair perfectly styled and her face carried triumph I never expected to see....

This was supposed to be the person who would serve my company with loyalty, and now... The infidelity was so obvious on their faces. I felt so sick to even look at them.

“Sign the divorce papers, Laura,” Derick said calmly, sliding the documents through the bars. “It’s finished. You have nothing left.”

I stared at the papers in horror, my hands shaking. “No… I won’t sign. This isn’t fair. You can’t do this to me!”

His secretary...Lilly Ford... forced the pen into my grip while the guards held my arms steady. They made me scrawl my name across the lines as tears blurred everything.

Derick leaned in closer, his voice dropping low. “Make sure she suffers while she’s in here,” he instructed the guards with a cold smile. “And force her to take the pills every single day. They’re for her recovery....she needs them to stay stable.”

He turned as if to leave, then paused for his final performance. Loud enough for the guards to hear, he began to sob dramatically. “My poor Laura… I still love her, but she’s become so dangerous. Please, take good care of her.”

As he walked away arm-in-arm with Lilly, the heavy cell door clanged shut behind him.

I collapsed against the cold bars, my body wracked with violent sobs. “How did my entire life collapse in one single moment? Everything is gone… just like that.”

Memories flooded me through the tears......memories of the man Derick used to pretend to be. He had been so gentle back then, a humble janitor at Sterling Group while I ran the company as CEO. I remembered the way he would wait for me after late meetings, eyes full of quiet admiration.

“Miss Sterling, you inspire me every day,” he had once said softly. “A simple man like me doesn’t deserve someone like you… but if you’d give me one chance, I’d spend my life making you happy.”

He had begged me for months with tender words and patient touches. “I love you, Laura. Marry me. Let me prove I’m worthy.” I believed every sweet lie. I ignored my family’s warnings and handed him my world on a platter.

I clutched the bars tighter, crying until my throat burned raw. “You were never that gentle man… it was all an act. And I fell for every single word.”

“Derick… what have you done to us?”