MARRIED BY MISTAKE

An Evil Agreement

It was a Monday evening; It happened on a Monday evening, that yes—the beating and punching and kicking. And I thought that I was not going to survive but I did. I woke up and believe me, Jason was not on my mind. After opening my eyes, I realized that I was still in the basement. I tried moving my body but I realised that it was stiff. Crushed by anxiety, I gazed around me. I could feel the rope tightly cuffed to my hands and feet. Suddenly, I felt like dying and the pain was unbearable; like I was in my own prison. Anyone reading my story will curse at me, wondering why I haven't left my marriage but it's not that easy—there's no perfect marriage. I've listened to many African interviews, watched many of their series along with eastern series about awful abusive men. I'm grateful to God that Jason is nothing like them. He's way better. He just has a bit of an anger issue. Still, as I thought back at the terrible stories I've heard, I became scared.

Streak of tears rolled out of my eyes and for a moment the pain got to me—that Jason was turning into a monster. I almost could not recognize the man I married again. The pain that came with these thoughts coupled with the ones around my body was almost becoming unbearable. I felt all sorts of pain around my face and abdomen and really hoped that Jason could release me. I tried sitting up but it hurt like crazy so I laid there bare on the floor.

“Jason!” I screamed.

“Jason!” I screamed again and again.

Then, I got tired of “J-a-s-o-n,” the last time, it went out faintly.

Soon, I realized that he wasn't there, outside this room, in the basement. I waited, pleading every time I ran out of patience but there was no trace of him. Everywhere was dark and I was still panicking from the cruel environment. I kept on calling and pleading. Little did I know that Jason was not even at home and it was another day. It was Tuesday and I had already been locked up for fourteen hours—fourteen hours of hunger and thirst.

By noon, that same Tuesday, he was at my step-mother's place; the mansion I grew up in, the one my father died in and the one that was my biggest torment—yeah, that one. He was there after putting me through a lot of pain; after beating me so much that I prayed for death.

“You're here,” my step-mom said. Her name is Hilda Michaelson. She strolled over to where Jason sat on the couch, directly opposite him then she positioned herself very well on the couch.

“Well, I wasn't expecting you today.” She said then crossed her legs onto the other.

“It's the end of the month.” Jason replied.

“Oh, yes, of course, sometimes I mistake you for a real husband. You're such a good actor and I almost forget that it's all a game!” she scoffed, her statement dragging to the fact that Jason had been deceiving me for three years. Three good years, spent and wasted. Three years he kept on acting, brainwashing and confusing me and I really believed that everything he was doing was right and that I had grown up with the wrong perspective of marriage.

Bit by bit, he not only instilled fear in me, he brainwashed me so much that dying for him looked like the dream every woman should harbour towards her spouse.

Hilda handed over a cheque to Jason, a one-million dollars cheque and Jason took it. A large smirk crawled swiftly into his face. Shamelessly, he took it, gazing hungrily at the one-million-dollar cheque as though it was the key of life. I felt disgusted.

“So, how's the most loved bride in all of America, you know who?” she scoffed.

Jason did not resist his delight in mocking me. “She's there suffocating in the basement.”

“I think that's too harsh.”

“But you said to go really hard on her. I mean the first plan was to deceive her into giving everything to me but as we have it, wealthy empress isn't as trustworthy as we had expected. Inspite of her crazy love for me, it didn't reckon well with her but believe me fear will do it and a little re-making of her mind. It's proven and it works like magic.”

“Yeah, you're right. We agreed to let you do this your style so, I'll let you. What matters most is reaching our goal.” Hilda said.

“Of course!”

Then he asked all of a sudden, “After everything, do you want her dead?

“I wouldn't have hired you to be her husband if I wanted to kill her; but, but, I like the idea. Still, no! It won't sit right. It'd be just too suspicious judging, no, no. Forget it.”

“I wasn't-”

“Forget about it.” she finished dismissing the thought as fast as it rang in.

She knew why she wasn't in for murdering me, at least not yet but Jason didn't. He allowed himself to be fooled by his greed. She knew she couldn't kill me under the circumstances. It would be a foolish thing to do. She could if she could wipe all her sins away but she couldn't. And when it comes to law enforcement, the system is so crafty that it allows a criminal's sins to pile up especially if they have failed in apprehending the self-same person before and especially when the person in question is a big bull. That's the term they use if I'm not wrong.

You see, big bulls are dangerous and must be destroyed instantly; otherwise, they'd crush everything in their path. Big bulls are known to ambush and their opponents who end up getting caught unawares suffer extreme loss. Big bulls call the shots and just like what's happening in my family, Hilda's the one calling the shots. In this game, she's the big bull and not just I but Jason wouldn't be spared. That's how dangerous she is. She's sly, just like a serpent and certain people knew this already but not the whole world.

My dear step-mom as she put it in the media here had a record already with the FBI. Although, it has not been fully established due to lack of evidence, they're heavily bent on apprehending her and putting an end to her madness but they need hard evidence because their speculations would remain baseless as long as they have nothing on her. The thing is she killed my mother and father in the most brutal way. She wasted them like animals but that's a story for another time.