Falling for her oppressor

chapter 20

As the door slammed shut, the sound of James’s heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. The tension still hung thick in the air when Nelly cautiously entered the room, having waited for her father to leave before stepping in. She quietly locked the door behind her, her heart racing with a mixture of curiosity and unease.

She walked slowly over to her mother, who stood near the bed, visibly shaken. “Mom…” Nelly began hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Are you… are you really cheating on Dad?”

Lorna’s eyes snapped up to meet her daughter’s, a flash of panic crossing her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out at first. Nelly pressed on, her voice trembling. “I’ve noticed, you know. You’ve been going out more, coming home late, and you always look… different. I couldn’t help but wonder.”

Lorna sighed heavily, her gaze shifting to the floor. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair and shook her head slowly. “Nelly, you don’t understand. It’s not about that,” she muttered, her voice thick with worry. “Your father can’t find out… about what we did to Kyra.”

Nelly’s eyes widened, a cold chill running through her. “What we *did* to Kyra?” she echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lorna’s eyes darted toward the door, as if checking to make sure James wouldn’t suddenly reappear. “If he finds out, Nelly… he’ll kill us. Do you hear me? He’ll *kill* us,” she whispered, her voice desperate, pleading.

Nelly swallowed hard, a knot tightening in her stomach. She’d always sensed there was something off about Kyra’s sudden departure, but her mother’s words confirmed her worst suspicions. “Mom… what did you do?” she asked, but the fear in her voice made it clear she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

Lorna didn’t respond, only shook her head, her eyes dark with guilt and fear.

Nelly bit her lip, her thoughts racing. “Dad’s really angry this time,” she said quietly. “He’s suspicious. If he finds out… I don’t think we’ll be able to talk our way out of this.”

Lorna nodded grimly, her face pale. “Then we need to make sure he never finds out,” she whispered, her voice barely steady. "No matter what."

Nelly said nothing, but the weight of the secret they now shared seemed to press down on her, heavy and suffocating. The cracks in their family were growing wider, and deep down, she knew it was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down.

It had been a month since Jason married Rachel, but it didn’t feel like it. The wedding had been grand, a spectacle of everything but the one thing Jason truly wanted: love. Every day since, he found himself slipping deeper into his thoughts, unable to escape the memory of Kyra. She haunted him, her laugh, her smile, the way she made him feel like the only person in the room. No matter how hard he tried to push her out of his mind, she always came rushing back.

Where was she now? Was she okay? Did she think about him the way he thought about her?

Each question ate away at him, the guilt and regret festering like an open wound. His marriage to Rachel felt hollow, an obligation rather than a choice. He had done what was expected, but in doing so, he had lost the one person who made him feel alive. The emptiness was unbearable, and it was starting to show.

At work, Jason’s mood had plummeted. His colleagues noticed how distant he had become—no longer the vibrant, driven man they once knew. His thoughts wandered during meetings, his focus slipping during important discussions. Every task felt like a burden, every hour dragged on painfully slow. Even his boss had pulled him aside once, asking if everything was alright. But how could Jason explain the void inside him? How could he admit that his heart belonged to someone who was no longer in his life?

And then there was Rachel.

Rachel, who kept trying, kept forcing herself into his space as if she could fill the hole Kyra had left behind. She clung to him, seeking affection that he couldn’t give, no matter how hard he tried to mask his indifference. Every touch from her felt wrong, every smile forced. He had given her nothing but cold shoulders, and yet she persisted, pretending everything was fine.

"Jason, let’s have dinner together tonight," Rachel suggested one evening, her voice cheerful as she placed a hand on his arm.

He barely looked at her, a dull ache settling in his chest. "I’m not hungry," he muttered, brushing her hand off without thinking.

Rachel's smile faltered for only a moment before she forced it back, her eyes betraying a flicker of hurt. But she wouldn’t give up. “Maybe we can go out this weekend, get some fresh air?”

Jason nodded absently, but his mind was elsewhere—on Kyra. Where was she? What had happened to her after he let her go? Each day without her felt heavier, a weight pressing down on him. He knew he had made a mistake, one he couldn’t undo. And it was starting to destroy him from the inside out.

Rachel, oblivious to his inner turmoil, kept trying to break through, as if she believed she could make him love her the way she wanted. But Jason couldn’t love her, not when his heart was still with Kyra, wherever she was.

Rachel stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the towel wrapped around her body, her damp hair falling loosely over her shoulders. She glanced at herself one last time before stepping out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where Jason sat on the bed, eyes glued to his phone. His face was expressionless, his attention completely elsewhere, as it so often was these days.

“Jason,” Rachel said softly, walking toward him with a hint of playfulness in her voice. “I’ve been thinking… maybe we should start talking about having a baby.”

Jason glanced up from his phone, his brow furrowing slightly. He hadn’t expected this. “I’m not ready,” he said flatly, his tone lacking any warmth.

Rachel’s smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered, walking closer and sitting down beside him. “What do you mean you’re not ready? We’re married now. This is the natural next step,” she said, her voice light but with an underlying persistence.

Jason sighed, putting his phone down and looking at her more directly. “Rachel, I’m just not ready,” he repeated, his voice firm but distant.

Rachel’s frustration began to show, though she tried to keep her tone calm. “But you *are* ready, Jason. We’ve been married for a month. What’s stopping us? We’re supposed to be building a family together.”

Jason didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he stood up, running a hand through his hair, feeling the weight of her expectations pressing down on him. He had already given her so little, and now she wanted more, something he knew deep down he wasn’t prepared to give. Not to her.

Without saying a word, he walked toward the bathroom, his footsteps heavy with the tension hanging between them.

“Jason,” Rachel called after him, her voice tinged with disbelief at his dismissal. “You can’t keep ignoring this. We’re married. We should be planning our future!”

Jason paused at the door for a moment, his back to her, then entered the bathroom without a word, closing the door behind him. Inside, he leaned against the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. The weight of it all—the marriage, the lies, the constant thoughts of Kyra—was suffocating him.

Rachel sat on the bed, the silence in the room deafening. She had hoped that marriage would bring them closer, that with time Jason’s coldness would fade. But every day felt like a battle she was slowly losing. And now, with him brushing off the idea of a family, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something—or someone—standing between them.

Jason stepped out of the shower, the steam billowing out behind him as he grabbed the towel and dried off. His movements were slow, almost mechanical, as he walked back into the bedroom. Rachel had laid out his clothes on the bed—simple, comfortable clothes she had picked for him. He didn’t argue, didn’t say a word, just dressed in them, feeling the heaviness in the air between them.

Once he was dressed, he sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, running a hand through his damp hair before finally lying down beside Rachel. The mattress shifted slightly under his weight, but the tension still lingered. He stared up at the ceiling, his mind elsewhere, the events of the day barely registering.Rachel turned to face him, her eyes soft as she moved closer. She lay her head on his chest, her body curling into his side as she closed her eyes, her arm draping over him.For a moment, the room was silent, save for the soft sound of their breathing. Rachel, as always, sought comfort in his presence, but Jason lay still, his thoughts far away, caught in the spaces between what he wanted and what he had. The warmth of her body against his should have felt like home, but instead, it only reminded him of how far he had drifted from the life he thought he’d have.