جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 6

LORETTA “Please!”The scream wrenched out from my lungsMy hands flew to my heaving chest, as if I were trying to stop my heart from bursting through. My vision is distorted and blurry, it takes a few minutes of breath work to realize where I wasMy roomI blinked back the haziness in my eyes, going through the routine my therapist had taught me ‘Focus on the present Loretta. Feel your heartbeat’ I could hear her gentle voice in my head. ‘If you can't see it, it's most likely not real’I did so, focusing on my mess of a room. The dress I had disregarded on the floor last night after returning from work tired, the empty coffee cup on my desk, the colourful stick-on notes with my favorite quotes I placed on the wall opposite my bedMy fingers found my damp hair “It's not real.”I wasn't drowning in an endless pool of coal-black water, I was home, fine and somewhat safe That was good for nowIt took me extra five minutes to go through my relaxation exercise before climbing down from m

LORETTA I barely made it to the car before my legs gave outFather's grip on the steering wheel was tight. “That went...well”I didn't know if it was a question or not. Bile revolted in my stomach and rose to my throat “Drive” I wanted to be out of here, put as much distance between Elion and me as possible. If I had only twenty-four hours till my nightmare began, I wouldn't waste a second of it in his parking lot“Please drive”He said nothing else, started the ignition and pulled out of the driveway of Elion's twenty-three-story company. The crushing grip around my windpipe loosened a smidge. I lay my head back on the seat rest, looking out the window, but I didn't see the streets of Seattle All I saw was himHis eyes, those coal black eyes that have haunted my sleeping and walking hours for years, the sound of his voice, and how I could feel it deep inside my belly, his broad, immovable body that made him look larger than the bulding, larger than life itself And his face.....I

LORETTA Find his secret. Nine months. Be free This has been my mantra for the past three days. I hadn't seen him since my first night here. Elion leaves early before the sun is up and arrives late at night when everyone is asleep, I should have been relieved by his absence, but somehow, it made me more anxious than his presence would have.It would have been better if he had shown me some sort of anger, at least then I could have prepared myself for his wrath. But Elion has been nothing but coldness and indifference. I didn't know when my nightmare in his hands would begin, only that it definitely would.Find his secret. Nine months. Be free.His staffs on the other hand have been most welcoming. Mrs. Park and Joseph returned from their monthly leave the morning after I arrived. From the way they gushed over me, Elion clearly hadn't told them the truth about us, that we weren't a love match. I was too glad for their warmth to care.Mrs parks the housekeeper baked me her special appl