CHAPTER 1: A DEVIL FOR A HUSBAND
1049 Words
ZOE'S POV
I have been married to Micheal Sullivan for three years. A man my family had essentially sold me to in exchange for debt forgiveness.
Many would think me mad for being happy about such an arrangement, but I'd loved him with all my heart. For three years, I'd tried to make him love me back.
But today, my world shattered.
I found myself in a dark, stifling room, blindfolded as the chains used to bind my hands and feet bit into my skin. The cold bite is a cruel contrast to the suffocating heat around me.
The mocking laughter of my captors echoed in my mind and it cut through my screams like a knife.
"Let me out of here!” I shouted for the hundredth time, my voice crackling with desperation.
The laughter stopped, replaced by slow deliberate footsteps. My heart pounded, I knew those steps too well.
Michael.
He was not the man I thought he was. He was a murderer, a man without a heart to love anyone, a man prepared to kill me because I knew about his monstrous identity.
“Still alive, I see.” The sound of Micheal's voice made me struggle from the chair but the chains binding my hands and feet were too strong to shatter.
“You bastard. How could you do this to me?” I spoke through tears, rage surged through me, it was stronger than my fear.
If only my parents knew who Micheal and his family were in the first place, they wouldn't have given their only child off as payment for their f*****g debts and it wouldn't have ended their lives.
I could feel him step closer to me. The smell of his masculine fragrance which enticed me the first day we met was doing the opposite to my nostrils now.
It smelt awful like a fragrance mixed with blood and deceit. My blindfolds were ripped off and blinked against the harsh light.
And there he stood. The man I had once called my husband. His suit was pristine, his blonde hair tousled, his ocean blue eyes as striking as ever. But they were empty. Cold
“Why don't you just give up and die?” He asked, his voice calm but hostile.
“I'm not one to give up easily. Your men's punches to my face won't end my life.” I arrogantly stated even in my tight position.
“Fragile and Fiesty.” he mused, his fingers ran through my face then to my hair as he caressed them tenderly. His touch made my skin crawl and my rage increased, I spat at his face, not caring about the consequences.
His expression darkened. “Bitch.” He lamented in disgust as his hands cracked against my cheek. The force sent me to the floor, my head spinning.
I gritted my teeth as he still introduced me as his wife. “Once I'm out of here, I promise you death.” I vowed.
Micheal laughed. ” Oh Zoe, you couldn't even hurt a fly.”he mocked, straightened and adjusted his cufflinks with meticulous care.
“Help her up.” He instructed one of the men. And immediately one came and raised me up.
I groaned as I sat there, it felt like every bone in my body was suddenly broken, like I was paralyzed. I watched his back turn to me why he wiped my saliva off his face with a napkin.
“Why are you doing this?” I wept.
He spinned around, his lips curling into a cruel smile. “Why? Because you know too much, Zoe. And nosy… foolish people like you need to be executed immediately” he snapped his fingers, turning towards me.
Micheal walked closer, not too close so I didn't get to spit at him again. “Say your last prayers, dear wife, before my men kill you. You won't get the chance again.”
“May my soul come back to haunt you to death, Micheal Sullivan.”
His thick brows furrowed. “Haunt me?” He laughed mockingly, engaging his men too.
He crouched to my level, his eyes glowed bright blue mixed with so much rage. “I am the devil himself. And I will send your soul back to hell. Mark these words, Zoe.”
As he stood tall again, he turned to his men. “Burn this whole warehouse down. Leave everything burnt to the ground… especially her.”
I whispered, “Someone else will surely expose you.”
He smirked at me. “And whoever that is, will surely end up like you.”
“Goodbye wifey. Don't worry, I'll make sure no one even remembers you.” He waved his hands gently, the smirk not leaving his face and with that he was gone.
His men didn't waste any time, they moved swiftly, emptying cans of diesel around the place, dousing me in the process
I didn't mind the acrid smell all over the place. I wept heavily, praying within me that somehow this was all a dream, that I had never known Micheal Sullivan.
“Light it up.” one of the men yelled at another, throwing the empty gallon of diesel away.
I struggled against the chains “Please...don't kill me.”I pleaded desperately, tears streaming down my face.
But they ignored me like I wasn't even there. The cracking sound of the fire engulfed the warehouse, devouring everything on its path, licking at the walls, the men were long gone, leaving me to burn in the hot furnace.
I coughed, struggling with the chains.
“Help! Someone, Please!” The more I screamed, the more the flames came closer and burned hotter. My strength ebbed, my vision blurred. “Help.” My voice was disappearing, it felt like my lungs were beginning to shut down.
As I collapsed, engulfed in flames, I felt my strength and hope fade. This was it.
But then, just as darkness claimed me. A gentle presence enveloped me, whispering comfort.
My guardian angel? Too late, I thought, tears streaming down my face. I closed my eyes, accepting eternity, and whispered goodbye. The presence cradled me, whispering softly, "You're safe now.”
For a fleeting moment, I believed it.
- Writer
