The CEO's untamed wife

You there." The voice sliced through the oppressive silence of the prison cell. Elaine lifted her dull gaze from the cracked concrete floor, remaining motionless. Her body felt weighed down, as if gravity itself had claimed her. “Didn’t you hear me?” She perceived the presence of the Inmate before feeling the pain. BAM! Her head was slammed against the floor, a sharp c***k echoing through the cell. White-hot pain exploded behind her eyes, stars bursting across her vision. Her ears rang violently, but she didn’t scream. She didn’t even flinch. She simply lay there, cheek pressed against the cold ground, letting the pain pulse through her skull like a cruel reminder that she was still alive. The floor beneath her was hard, damp, and icy. Every breath she took hurt. Her body ached in ways she hadn’t known a body could ache. Her scars and the burns on her face made her a stranger to herself. Her mind wandered through the wreckage of what she called a life, but there was nothing to cling to. No hope, no comfort, no escape. “Acting aloof?” the inmate asked, Around her, the other inmates reacted predictably. Some smirked, entertained by her suffering. Others turned away, indifferent. Only one woman standing a little farther back watched her with a trace of pity. They all knew the rumors. She had killed them, her husband's family, those innocent children, all perished in a fire she started out of spite. She was a monster. She was about to be hit again when a guard banged hard on the prison cell. Inmate 517, he called out coldly, the guard crouched down to her. The moment his eyes landed on her face, he froze, then he turned away almost immediately. His jaw tightened, his nose wrinkled, disgust flickered across his expression before he masked it with indifference. “Disgusting,” he muttered. Elaine looked up to stare at her reflection on the wall but what she saw made her skin crawl. Skin warped and uneven. One side pulled tight, with a scar that ran from the edge of her eyes to her jaw. Fire had eaten her once, acid had finished the job. She had stopped remembering what her old face looked like a long time ago. The guard grabbed her arm and yanked her up. Bones screamed. Her knees buckled, but he didn’t slow. Her shoulder slammed into the bars as he dragged her forward. “You’ve got a visitor,” he said flatly. “Lucky you.” Lucky, a part of her almost laughed, but a small part of her was filled with a little anticipation of who it was. They reached the waiting room quickly. Elaine sat down and across her, sat a woman dressed in bright colors. Elegant. Composed. Gloved hands folded neatly on the table. A face mask hid her features, but her posture alone felt familiar. The woman tilted her head. Her voice was soft. “Could you… chain her tighter?” she asked the guard. “She frightens me.” The guard hummed in response and chained her again. That voice. Elaine froze, this voice was unmistakable even if she turned to dust. It was the voice of Victoria Lynn, her supposed best friend who destroyed her life, but she was supposed to be dead in that fire. Elaine had seen Victoria go into the house and never come out. She was even pronounced dead. Shock gripped her, her skin crawling as she felt cold with disbelief. Then could you give us some privacy? Victoria requested sweetly, and the guard, blushing, scampered away. The woman reached up and removed her mask. The world cracked. The face staring back at her was hers. Her face, the one she had once carried, was now replicated, same eyes, same nose, same lips. Smooth, untouched and perfect. Not a scar in sight. Victoria had taken her face, her identity, her life, and now she sat there smiling like she had won everything. Elaine’s mind went blank. Victoria Lynn smiled. “Oh,” Hi Elly, Victoria said gently. “You look surprised. Oh right, I am now Elaine Ashford, so I probably shouldn't call you that,” she said with a smirk playing on her lips. Memories surged into Elaine's head violently, the fire, the acid, the betrayal, the life stolen. Rage clawed at her chest, she lunged, chains rattling violently, but the metal held fast. She could not reach her. Victoria leaned back, calm as ever. “Careful,” she said. “You’re still so… impulsive.” Elaine trembled, “YOU did this,” she rasped. Victoria’s smile widened. Mmm…but, you let me. The words were soft. Deadly. Victoria leaned back, smiling, a cruel, satisfied smile that twisted Elaine’s stomach. With a smirk on her face, she looked at the privileged girl who she had always envied. When she saw how pathetic and miserable she looked now, a sense of satisfaction warmed into her heart she chuckled gleefully. “You were always so foolish,” Victoria said softly, almost sweetly. “Abandoned Adrian when he needed you. You could have had everything; power, love, security, but you chose… Peter, and now? What about Adrian? Elaine asked impatiently. Victoria smiled, “Oh Someone still cares? Well, let me update you for old times' sake. He is a quadruple now…you know, and they are just about to finish him off,” Victoria whispered, leaning closer, her voice almost taunting, almost sweet. “And there was nothing you could do. Nothing, though you were always too weak to stop anyone. You lost everything, Elaine, everything you cared about. And I… I took it all.” Something inside Elaine snapped. A scream tore from her throat as she ripped her hands forward. The chain broke, the table crashed. Victoria shrieked as Elaine grabbed her hair and yanked her close. Hairpins scattered across the floor. Elaine seized one and drove it straight into Victoria’s neck with perfect precision. Blood sprayed, guards rushed in, shouting. Elaine didn’t stop, she stabbed and stabbed until they dragged her back, slammed her against the wall. Her head hit concrete. Blood streamed down her face. Still, she fought. A guard electrocuted her, another one followed, electricity surged through her body, searing flesh, locking her muscles. Pain consumed everything. As darkness closed in, Elaine saw Victoria bleeding on the floor, still wearing her face. She smiled. At least one thing had ended. Her body went limp as the darkness finally consumed her. —------- You drugged me. The voice sliced through her, sharp, angry, hazy and intimate. Her eyes fluttered open. Light pierced her vision. Her head spun violently, thoughts scattering like leaves in a storm. A hand gripped her neck, cold and firm. Her eyes widened. Adrian, her heart raced, what was he doing here? Where was she? Had he rescued her, or was this a new nightmare? “You drugged me?” the voice came again. Drugged? She struggled to focus. Her body felt foreign. Her muscles refused to respond. Her typically sharp mind was clouded with fear and confusion. Then pain flared before she could think. Adrian’s teeth sunk into her shoulder. She screamed a desperate sound that shook her to her core. Stop, she whispered. "Now you have to pay," he hissed. Pay? Pay for what? Her chest heaved, her vision blurred. She tried to open her eyes to look at him clearly as this may be the last time she would see him, but reality came as painful fragments. The pain was both physical and psychological, she felt so lost. Adrian tore her clothes and entered her roughly with no foreplay or anything. She flinched from pain, gripping his shoulders tightly. “You have gotten really bold,” he whispered, is it because I indulge you? She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't make a sound. The room twisted. Her sense of time dissolved, and Then darkness consumed her once more, deeper than before.