The Monster I Married

FLASHBACK:

Rose's POV

"Where am I?"

My eyes snapped open slowly, the white ceiling, swirling like milk until the edges finally sharpened.

The silence in the room was not peaceful, it was pressurized, suffocating vacuum. I felt a pounding headache, that drummed against my skull in a frantic rhythm. I was weak, I felt incredibly fragile, like a glass doll that could shatter at any touch.

I lay perfectly still, my breath shallow listening. I was trying to remember the last thing that happened and how I ended up in an unfamiliar room.

Beep... Beep...Beep.

The faint sound of a heart monitor nearby confirmed my worse fear. I wasn't in the house. This was definitely a hospital.

I tried to move my hand to my head, but a sharp tug stopped me. My wrist was strapped to the bed with a thick leather restraint. Panic erupted in my throat, hot and frantic. I tried to pull away, but my muscles were weak and useless.

Then my memories all came running to me. Richard was with a nurse in my room, the horrible memory of the guards pinning me against the wall. The smirk on Richard's face as I cried to him for help.

I looked around the room. It was small, cold and entirely white. There were no windows, only a heavy metal door. Where exactly is this place? A hospital shouldn't be locked away like this, I asked myself.

"Richard...." I whispered, my voice raspy and broken.

CLICK

The door opened, and the sound echoed in the room like a gunshot. A nurse walked in, not with a friendly smile, but with a cold, observant gaze. Then it finally clicked, Richard told me I was being violent and having episodes, the next thing I woke up in this room, this only meant one thing. This wasn't just a hospital. It was an asylum.

The nurse walked, straight to the IV drop hanging above my head.

"Good, you are awake," the nurse says, her voice completely devoid of emotion.

"Where is he? I demanded, trying to sound authoritative but failing as my voice trembled. "Where is my husband?"

The nurse didn't answer me immediately. She adjusted the IV, checking the flow of whatever drug was currently flowing into my veins. "Mr Hawthorne will be here shortly to check on your progress."

"Progress?" I laughed, a bitter, hysterical sound. "I am not even sick! He took everything from me! He is sleeping with my friend! I let it all slide and this is how he relays me!'

The nurse just sighed, looking at me with pity that felt like condescension. "That's what they all say, dear. My husband did this and that. It's all delusion. Mr Hawthorne would never do that to you, I assure you."

"I swear, I am not delusional! It's the truth, you have to believe me!" I shrieked, pulling against the leather straps until they burned.

The nurse didn't flinch. She just picked up a syringe from her tray. "Dr Silas ordered a sedative if you became violent. And you are doing just that right now."

"No..no no...please no!" I begged, the memory of the liquid from the previous day filling me with terror. "Please, don't I will be quiet! Just don't drug me again please I am begging you!"

"It's for your own good, ma'am, think of your baby. You are just so lucky to carry the next heir of Mr Hawthorne."

The nurse moved toward me with practiced efficiency.

"My father is Mr Hawthorne! I am the only child and heir to him! Richard is an impostor!"

The nurse shook her head in pity. I looked at the needle, feeling completely trapped, completely helpless and betrayed.

I have to get out of here

The thought was a frantic scream in my head, but my body felt like lead.

A moment later, the door clicked open, and the sound seemed to echo in the empty room. Richard walked in, looking sharp in his tailored suit, a stark contrast to the sterile environment. The nurse quickly packed up, greeted him and walked out the room.

My heart hammered against my ribs, my breath catching in my throat. I didn't say a word yet. I looked at Richard, tears immediately spilling from my eyes. I wasn't angry, I was profoundly, tragically heartbroken.

"Richard?" I whispered, my voice raspy and weak. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

I looked at him with absolute vulnerability, hoping desperately that he would see me as a human, as his wife, the mother of his unborn child.

Richard didn't look at me with love. He looked at me with a chilling, indifference. He walked to the side of my bed.

"You have been very selfish, Rose," he said, his voice smooth, devoid of any affection.

"I haven't done anything bad to you before," I sobbed, pulling against my restraints. "Remember how I helped you get a job in my dad's company? How I paid your fees in school and helped your mum's business?"

Richard sighed, a sound of genuine annoyance. He leaned down, his face just inches from mine. "You have lived in enough luxury, Rose? You need to stop boasting now, you don't waste any chance to insult me. You pushed me to this, okay, don't act all innocent.

The words struck me harder than any slap would. My dad had warned me about Richard, but I never believed him. I was so blinded by love and I welcomed snakes into my life.

"So...you are doing all this because I have lived in too much luxury? You are stealing my dad's wealth because I am being selfish? my voice barely a whisper.

"I didn't steal your dad's wealth, you gave it to me, Rose," he said, pulling a thick folder from his briefcase and lay it on my lap "Just sign these papers, so you can rest peacefully." he commanded. "Right there," he said giving me the pen.

He didn't let me say another word. He guided my hand, forcing me to sign the document that transferred the last of my shares into his name. I tried to pull back, but my muscles were immovable. The drug had made my body almost paralyzed.

"Good," he said, taking the pen back, a look of triumph finally breaking through his indifferent mask. "Now, you can rest."

"Do you remember how we met, Richard?" I asked, my voice shaky.

He nodded. "Yes I do, you saved me from a moving truck and got hit instead." He smiled, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I should have let you die, right there," I whispered. He didn't say another word. He turned on his heel and walked out, leaving me restrained, broken, and completely alone, while the drugs pulled me into a terrifying conscious void.