Chapter 2

***

“Ma’am!” One of the serving staff had screamed as they watched her lifeless body wrack with violent spasms.

Everyone knew Master Mattew hated his wife. What surprised them was that she stayed despite the beating and mental abuse.

At one point they had suspected he had something against her before Mrs. Rose had subtly dropped that she had been abandoned by her family when her father remarried hence why she clung to Matt feeling he was the closest thing to family.

They knew she didn’t deserve the slaps as she literally spent her time being his perfect fool so the panic they had felt when they saw her convulse was real.

One of them had even burst into tears while another screamed and another shouted for help.

Rose’s eyes dilated as she rushed to her, barking out orders.

Foam slowly Soraya's lips then there was nothing.

Chaos erupted.

The servants rushed her into a car, panic overriding what should have been protocol… No one thought to call Matt. 

It was at the back of their mind but of course no one wanted to be a scapegoat, if he could cause the marks in madam's body then he wouldn’t spare their life…one wanted to be the one responsible.

They didn’t get far when another car crashed into theirs, jolting the vehicle sideways. 

In the confusion, Soraya’s body was removed… The butler never saw who took her nor did he see the needle.

All he felt when the dust settled was the sharp sting before the darkness claimed him.

***

I gasped awake.

It almost hurt to breathe as I bolted upright, scared out of my mind, disoriented and terrified as I didn’t know what to expect.

A masked man sat beside me in the backseat, and as soon as he saw that I was awake, his hand patted me as though to ease the fear, “Easy now mama, you are safe.” he coaxed.

Safe.

The word felt foreign but I felt the warmth his hand had filled me up with was enough to calm me.

Was I really though?

I knew that once I was awake, it was only a matter of time before Baron, Matt most trusted staff and butler would wake up to alert him to my disappearance.

Matt controlled everything here in this city so finding me wouldn’t be hard.

He pressed something into my hands pulling me out of my reverie, I looked down to see a passport different from the one I had with me, and a ticket.

“This is who you are now, the boss has taken care of everything.” He said the act suddenly pulled to a stop.

My hands shook as I stared at the unfamiliar name and my passport that had been torn all over the floor.

“You had purchased a ticket in your name… what makes you think you could hide anything from your husband? He is THE MATTEW KANG!”

I mentally smacked myself for being so stupid, this explained his rage and quick temper these few weeks .

He knew and must have thought this pregnancy was some excuse to leave him or he thought… I mentally smacked myself for giving his excuses.

I wanted to ask about the boss that had thought my life was somewhat important that he stepped in to help but I decided not to.

It seemed too good to be true but I knew this person was just as powerful as Matt as he had connections in his house.

“Where are…?” I whispered trying to find my voice again after a while.

There was no going back now.

“The airport.”

I moved to open the door when curiosity hit me and I couldn’t help but ask, “why did you help me?”

He stared blankly at me for a second before shaking his head, “Leave a good life, Soraya or should I say Alexandra."

“Thank you.” I whispered as I slid out taking the backpack he had handed me.

The car slid away leaving me to myself.

Everything passed in a blur.

I just couldn’t shake off the feeling that Matt was already on my tail , nor could I stop looking over my shoulder as I started boarding.

 I was leaving Matt and I had to admit it all seemed so fast; almost too rushed and too good to believe. I was waiting for the worst to happen.

Then someone tapped my shoulder, dread enveloped me as the stranger held out his phone, “Um… I think this was for you.”

I shook my head, my eyes pleading but he pressed his phone in my hands and immediately Matt held my gaze causing fear to freeze me in.

“See how easy it was to find you??” he snarled. “This your stupid escape plan would earn you whips from my belt… did you really think that you could leave me”

How did he find me?

I turned to face the man that had given me the phone to see that he had left me.

“Look at me!” Matt screamed just as the boarding announcement echoed overhead.

Even whilst still far, he had control over me and that was because I gave it to him I realized as I saw him try to compose himself as he excused himself.

He was still at the party meaning he wasn’t going to do anything irrational now.

My hand trembled as I pressed it against my belly almost as though I needed a reminder of why I had left.

“I’m giving you 30 minutes to go back home!” Matt’s furious voice through the phone brought me back to reality once again… the reality that I wasn’t going to let him win even if it meant always being on the run.

Because of my name change, finding me would be harder.

“You think you’ve won?” he snarled. “You think disappearing makes you free? I will find you, Soraya just like I did now and once I do...”

My throat tightened as I tried to blink away the tears.

Why couldn’t he just let me go?

For how long will I pay for the sins his delusions had accused me of committing?

“If you get in the cab I’ll send you now and head back home, then maybe I’ll forgive you and pretend this foolish attempt of yours to leave me never happened.” He said with a smile that brought back the feeling to Deja vu.

For a second… just one… I almost folded. 

Then I thought of my child and without thinking twice, I said what I have been meaning to say for  while, “Fuck you, you crazy insecure monster!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You don’t love me so why is it hard for you to let me go?!”

“My body is covered with your marks of claim and I won’t let my child face this same trauma you sick fucker… I’d rather Eve dead than return to that hell hole you call home.”

There was silence on the line so much so that I could mash hear a pin drop and before he could reply, I hung up.

My hands were still shaking as I stared at the blank screen of the phone.

Before my gaze caught the stranger that had given me the phone… There was no doubt he was one of Matt’s minions.

Without thinking twice, I shoved him in the chest hard catching him off guard and ran without looking back.

I wasn’t going back.

“Final call,” I heard and stumbled into line, my heart slamming so violently I thought it might give me away. 

The boarding gate was a blur of movement and noise. It almost felt like my lungs were burning as I forced myself forward, ignoring the dizziness. 

It seems that the drug still hadn’t fully left my system and my mind flew back to the masked man that helped me and wondered how powerful he was that I wasn’t allowed to go through the drug test.

Matt deserved whatever that man had planned for him.

Every view in my peripheral looked like Matt and every whisper sounded like his.

When I finally collapsed into my seat, buckling myself in with shaking fingers, I didn’t… couldn’t breathe properly until the plane began to move.

I pressed my forehead to the window, tears slipping silently down my cheeks. 

It was over but this… this was a sign that I was mentally prepared for whether Matt was going to throw in my future.

I knew he wouldn’t have my time for a few weeks as the elections are drawing nearer but something also told me that before he could strike, the masked man would have done whatever he had planned for him.

We were starting afresh… with nothing but our passport.

My hand slowly wrapped around my belly and I found myself whispering promises ignoring the fact that our future was going to be rough.

About 30 minutes in the air, I felt so comfortable to close my eyes and when I did, memories followed.

Matt hadn’t always been a monster.

At first, about two years ago, he was charming and yearned for me so much that I had felt smoldered by his eyes so many times.

Not only was he attentive to my feelings but he was at my beck and call.

He remembered the littlest thing about me down to the fact that I hated loud arguments. He told me I was special and I was safe with him.

I believed him  and let my guard down.

The change had been slow enough to heed to my brain's warning but I was so in love.

He stopped liking it when I went out alone and  insisted on driving me in case I needed to go anywhere. When he started showing interest in politics, he became busy and hired security “for my safety.” 

Then came the plea to quit my job because being a politician's wife was tasking.

The first day he had slapped me was the day I had gone to settle my accounts with my boss in the evening, the only time I could sneak out without him being a pest.

I lived to regret it because that changed everything, as though he liked I would cower in fear and obey, he started doing it frequently.

If I didn’t obey him or shocked him or did something he didn’t want me to do… after that he’d whisper apologies whilst fucking me, sometimes he cried and begged on his knees with gifts… even swore the reason he was doing this because he loved me too much.

By the time I realized I was trapped, the house we had built in love became my prison.

The plane jolted violently causing me to jolt awake.

And the scene when I woke up sent chills of terror down my spine, the cabin was filled with screams and the lights flickered while the pilot was trying to restore calm.

Turbulence?

I clutched my seat as the plane tumbled once again.

No… this was more than turbulence, I thought as the plane was tilted sharply, and my heart dropped.

We were going to die?!

A woman sobbed somewhere behind me while I heard a child scream out loud… the man in front of me started praying.

I looked out the window and a cry escaped my lips.

A roiling mass of bruised clouds had replaced the once clear sky while white gusts slammed against the plane, snow whipping so violently it erased the horizon. 

The plane dipped again, more violently this time, and the wing outside my window shuddered, I heard a scream.

I pressed a shaking hand to my belly, curling forward as the plane screamed.

Oh my God?!

“Please,” I whispered. “Please.”

A scream escaped my lips as the plane seemingly lost control and started dropping at a very fast pace.

If possible, my screams became louder as the opposite side of the plane fell.

I heard the crash… it didn’t take long for the head to follow suit taking us with us, also immediately pain exploded everywhere at once before darkness enveloped me.