Chapter 13
Three Months Later...
I stared at my laptop screen, completely baffled by what I was reading. What the hell was my team doing? My eyes burned with frustration, a storm of emotions clouding my mind. Groaning, I printed the document and stormed downstairs. My body felt like it was dragging through quicksand—tired, sick, and mentally worn down. The custody battle with Kira had just ended, but I couldn’t shake the bitter taste of it. It frustrated me beyond belief that he fought so hard for Crystal. Even after she told the judge she wanted to be with her biological parents, they still had to run all the damn checks. Kira dragged it out as long as possible, and I had to return to work sooner than expected.
Slamming the printout onto the desk in front of me, I watched my team flinch. I could practically hear their heartbeats racing in the silence that followed. My mood swings were doing their job—putting everyone on edge.
“Who printed this?”
The room went unnervingly still. I held up the article, the words stabbing into my chest. Someone had the audacity to print something from my private life—something I had explicitly declared off-limits. This was beyond a breach of trust.
“I believe I asked you a question. Who printed this?”
Jess was the first to raise her hand, her face pale as she hesitated. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. A migraine was already creeping in. Maybe I should just go home, book a doctor’s appointment, and take a few days off. Yelling at my team wasn’t helping anything.
“You’re not going to fire me, are you?”
“No, I’m not. If it were anyone else, I would have. I’m going home,” I muttered, already feeling my patience unravel.
“But it’s still early. Are you alright, boss?” James asked, concern lacing his voice.
“I’ll be fine. Just hold down the fort, James. I need a day—or two.”
Shaking my head, I sent Saxon a quick text saying I was heading home. Grabbing my jacket, I tried to shake the weight of the day off my shoulders. Saxon and I had agreed that we’d go back to my place. It was easier for me to work from here, and it wasn’t a huge deal to transfer Crystal to a school nearby. Saxon, well, he could work from anywhere, no matter what the world threw at us. Even with the custody drama hanging over us, I felt like life was still on track. Tonight was about celebrating. The party was tonight, and despite everything that had happened, Kira was still invited. He hated us, but eventually, he’d get over it.
I called for my car, but as soon as I slid into the backseat, I was met with an unexpected presence.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped, my heart sinking as I stared at the man who should have been a ghost from my past.
“No ‘hello’? Have you forgotten your manners, sweetheart? Bitch, that’s no way to talk to your husband,” Kai sneered, his voice dripping with malice.
“You are my ex-husband, Kai, and have been for nearly seven years. What makes you think you still have any control over my life?”
The slap came out of nowhere. My cheek burned with the sting, and I didn’t even register it fully until the pain spread through me. I reached for the door, but Kai yanked me back, locking the car doors with a click that echoed in my bones.
“You think you can just come back and waltz back into your life, taking her with you? You thought wrong. I took you away from her once, and I will gladly do it again. No one touches what’s mine.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, my voice shaky but defiant. “I have a life now, and you are no longer a part of it. Get out of my car.”
“As long as you live, I will always be a part of your life. You think this is the first time you’ve run away from me. You have always belonged to me”
Before I could scream out for help, the fist came hurtling towards my face and everything went black. When I opened my eyes next, I was in a soft bed. My face and jaw hurt, I was sure the bruise was already forming across it. I tried to move my hands but they had been tied above my head. I tried moving my feet and saw they were tied down as well. He was furious, he was only ever like this when nothing went his way. I groaned when I saw the devil himself poke his head into the rather large room. He smiled when he noticed I was awake. This cannot end well.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” His voice was too smooth, like honey mixed with venom. “I trust you slept well? Of course you did. A single knock to the head and you’re out for hours.”
My mind spun as I slowly regained consciousness. The throbbing in my skull made me nauseous, and my body felt heavy, as though my limbs were weighed down by lead. I tried to move, but the tight ropes binding my wrists and ankles reminded me that escape wasn’t an option.
“What time is it?” I rasped, my throat dry and cracked.
“Well into the night by now,” Kai replied, his grin wicked as he stepped closer. “But you won’t need to know the time here, sweetheart. We’ll always have each other. No matter how many times you try to run away, I’ll always bring you back to me.”
A shiver of dread ran down my spine as the implications of his words sank in. I fought to keep my voice steady. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He leaned in closer, his breath cold against my skin, a sickening whisper in my ear. “I told you, darling. I own you. I’ve owned you for years. I’m just completing the picture now. All I need is our beautiful daughter, and the family will finally be whole again.”
The rage that surged within me was enough to make my pulse pound in my temples. I twisted against the ropes, my heart hammering in my chest. “Don’t you dare touch her.”
Kai’s smile widened, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw something darker flicker in his eyes—something cold, something predatory. “You’ll learn to accept this, sweetheart. I’ll take care of her, just like I’ll take care of you. We’re a family, whether you want it or not.”
Every word felt like a blow, the reality of what he intended to do settling over me like a suffocating weight. I could feel my breath catching in my throat. I refused to let him see my fear, but I was terrified. For Crystal. For myself.
But I wasn’t going to let him win. Not this time. Smirking, he sat down on the bed, running a cold hand up my naked thigh. I tried to wiggle around him but all he did was dig his fingernails into my skin, making me cry out. Never once has he ever drawn blood but I felt the skin break. This was serious. If I don't conform to him soon, I know for a fact that he will kill me. I will not die like this, not after I finally got my happy ending. I will not die like this.
“Just let me go Kai, I swear I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go”
The slap across my face indicated that I should not beg again. I could taste the blood in my mouth again. I could feel the tears starting to run down my face, but that only caused another slap to the face, making my head hurt from before throb in pain.
“Stop crying you bitch, you know I hate it when you cry. You will learn to fall in place again. No one is coming for you, because despite what you think, no one cares for you like I will''
Kai stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut with a resounding bang that rattled through the silence. My heart hammered in my chest, a mix of fear and defiance churning within me. Saxon will look for me. He will look for me. He has to.
I clenched my fists, the ropes biting into my wrists as I fought against them. The thought of Saxon was the only thing keeping me from completely unraveling. We had been through so much together, survived so much. He knows how much tonight meant to me. He won’t just let me disappear.
Stolen story; please report.
The darkness pressed in around me, the weight of the room suffocating, but I refused to give in to the panic clawing at the edges of my mind. I kept repeating it, like a mantra, willing it to be true: Saxon will find me.
I could almost hear his voice in my head, that reassuring tone that always calmed my nerves, the way he looked at me as if I mattered—no matter what. He knew me. He understood me. I wasn’t going to lose him now, not after everything. I couldn't.
Tears blurred my vision, but I wiped them away quickly, the sting on my swollen face a reminder of the horror I was trapped in. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t forgotten.
The darkness crept closer, and my body trembled, exhaustion overwhelming me. I fought to stay awake, to keep the light of hope burning in the pit of my stomach. But soon, the pull of sleep took over, dragging me under like a tide.
I whispered his name into the stillness, knowing that even if I couldn’t see him, Saxon would come for me. He will find me.
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I woke to the soft, light touch of fingertips grazing across my skin—so gentle, it almost felt like a dream. For a brief, fleeting moment, I allowed myself to smile, thinking I was somewhere safe, somewhere I could escape. But the moment my hands moved, reaching out instinctively to capture those stray touches, reality crashed back in. The rough tug of the ropes around my wrists yanked me from my dreamlike haze. My gaze shot upward, and I saw the tight knots securing me above my head. No. Not again.
My body tensed, my pulse quickening as I twisted my arms, trying to free myself. But I knew it was useless. Kai was ex-forces. He knew knots like the back of his hand. These were the same kind he had used to restrain me before. I wasn’t getting out of them without help—and help was nowhere to be found.
His voice, low and ominous, broke the silence. “It’s better if you don’t try to break free. You’ll be treated so much nicer when you just comply with my every demand.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, a chill spreading through my body at the cold finality in his words. I strained my neck, looking over at him. He was lying beside me, his body casually sprawled across the bed like he owned it—like he owned me. His fingers were tracing idle patterns on my bare side, cold and unfeeling, as if I were nothing more than a piece of property to him.
I closed my eyes, a wave of nausea and dread washing over me. I know what he wants. I always know.
The memories of what came next slammed into me, uninvited and sharp. The roughness, the violence of it all. Every time he tied me up like this, I knew the routine. The more I resisted, the worse it would get. The longer I fought, the more pain he would inflict. I could already feel the fear creeping into my bones, the helplessness curling around my heart. There was no escape. Not this time. Not ever.
I could feel the oppressive weight of his eyes on me, watching, waiting. There was no bargaining with him. No reasoning.
"Please," I whispered, though I knew it wouldn’t matter. The word felt weak in my mouth, powerless. It was always weak. And it would always fall on deaf ears.
Kai smirked, his fingers moving with a possessive slowness up my side, leaving a trail of cold fire in their wake. "You’ve always belonged to me. You just need to accept that."
And so, I did. The words hung in the air like a suffocating fog. There was no escape from this nightmare. Not now. Not when he had me exactly where he wanted me.
He would use everything as leverage—a twisted kind of bargaining chip. If I was just nicer to him, if I did what he demanded, then the moments of intimacy would be gentler, softer, maybe even bearable. He promised that the sex would be better, as if that would make up for everything else. But even when I complied, even when I tried to make it easier for him, nothing changed. The cycle would repeat. His sweetness was fleeting, his cruelty all-consuming.
Yet, somehow, I kept believing him. I kept believing the lies he whispered in the dead of night, after he’d hurt me, after I’d begged him to stop. In those moments, he’d pull me close, like I was the most precious thing in his world. The tenderness would sweep over me like a wave, drowning out the cold, calculating side of him, and for a moment, I would let myself hope. Hope that he could be different. That I could be different. That we could be happy. But that hope was short-lived. The illusion shattered within hours, leaving me alone in the aftermath, wondering how I’d fallen for it again.
I tried to make sense of the words he’d said about me running away. “You always belong to me. You’ve run before, and I’ll always bring you back.” What did he mean by that? How many times had I actually managed to escape him?
I was afraid to ask. The answer might be worse than I could imagine. The truth might break me in a way I couldn’t fix.
In the back of my mind, a nagging question lingered—Had I ever really been free from him? It was hard to tell. Maybe every time I left, my brain somehow buried those memories deep down, protecting me from the reality of just how far gone I was. How I had always been caught in his web, always trapped, even when I thought I had broken free.
Six years. Six years of my life, lost. It felt like a lifetime, but how much of it had been real? How much of it had been me, and how much had been him, pulling the strings?
I looked down at his disgusting smile and wondered why the hell I even fell in love with him in the first place. I felt his hands run up my naked thigh and I tried not to whimper in disgust. Then he forced his lips onto mine and I screwed my face up in disgust. I needed to get out, I needed to get back to Crystal and Saxon. I needed to breathe fresh air again. So without thinking about the consequences, I bit down onto Kai’s bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood.
“You bitch”. He slapped me hard enough for the recent cut on my lip to reopen. But as soon as I saw the blood running down his lips, the pain was forgotten and I triumphantly smiled.
“You’ll pay for that. You will never leave this place. You try to escape and I will slit your throat this time”. He slapped me across the face again but it didn’t wipe the silly smile across my face. He stormed out like a child, slamming the door again. This time, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. If he was willing to kill me, I will make sure I will take him down with me.
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Saxon’s POV
The party was finally starting to come together, but something gnawed at the back of my mind, refusing to let go. The lights were set up, the food arranged on the table, the music playing softly in the background—it should have been a time of celebration. But as I checked my phone, a sinking feeling in my stomach only deepened. Lisa had texted earlier, saying she’d be home soon.
But now, hours had passed. The house was almost ready, the guests had started to trickle in, and yet she was still nowhere to be found. I could sense the tension mounting in my chest. Lisa had been under so much pressure since she returned to work, struggling to get her footing in a new environment, facing rejection after rejection. It had taken a toll on her, and I hated seeing her like this, but I also couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
Crystal’s laughter echoed from the hallway as she bounced into the living room. Her energy was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile as she practically skipped across the room. Her mood had lifted since being transferred to the school near our house; she was making new friends, adjusting well to the change. It made my heart swell to see her happy again.
“Afternoon, Dad! Have you seen Mum?”
I forced a smile as I tucked my phone into my pocket. “She said she would be home soon, but I don’t know if she’s back yet.”
Crystal’s face lit up with that innocent excitement that only a child could have, but I noticed the quick flicker of concern in her eyes, too. She knew how much this dinner meant to us.
“Okay. I’m going to finish off my schoolwork before I get ready,” she said, turning back toward the staircase.
“Alright,” I replied absently, though my thoughts were already elsewhere.
I glanced back at my phone, frowning at the message Lisa had sent earlier. She’d said she’d be home around noon. Now, it was nearly five in the afternoon. I dialed her number again, my finger shaking slightly as it hit the screen. Voicemail. Not again, I thought, frustration beginning to bubble. I tried again, and then once more, but the same result: nothing.
Panic was setting in, quick and brutal. The party needed to go off without a hitch, but this… Where the hell was she?
Guests had begun arriving, and though I knew I had to put on a brave face, my mind was racing. I tried to push the worry aside as I greeted the first few, plastering a smile on my face even as my heart hammered in my chest. The food looked amazing, the atmosphere should have felt festive, but the weight of uncertainty was dragging me under.
“Hey man, this looks great. Where’s Lisa? I thought she would be here early to take credit for everything.”
I turned to see my brother walk into the room, his voice lighthearted, but I could hear the edge of concern underneath it.
“I don’t know where she is,” I said, my voice quieter than I intended. “She should have been here hours ago.”
My friend raised an eyebrow. “Just give her a ring. I’m pretty sure she’s probably stuck at her desk, like she always is.”
I nodded, but something didn’t sit right. Her phone is off… why won’t she pick up? It wasn’t like her to just disappear without letting me know.
“I’ve tried… her phone’s off,” I said, my words barely more than a whisper, frustration rising in my chest.
“Hey, is everything alright?” he asked, his tone shifting from casual to concerned.
I shook my head, forcing a strained smile. “I don’t know. I’m starting to worry.”
I looked at the front door as more guests arrived, their laughter and chatter only intensifying the emptiness I felt inside. Where was Lisa? And why hadn’t she answered? Something wasn’t right—I knew it.
But no matter how much I tried to push the feeling aside, I couldn’t shake the dread that was creeping in.