Chapter 1: The Escape
737 Words
Isabella
The car engine coughs one last time before falling silent. The silence that fills the cabin is more deafening than any noise. I grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white, my eyes fixed on the deserted road winding through the forest. This is supposed to be freedom. This time, it's the right one. I can feel it.
I turn around to check. Leo, my angel, is sleeping soundly, curled up against his stuffed animal, unaware of the precipice on which we stand. For him. Everything is for him. I push a strand of his hair back, so similar to his father's, and a wave of nausea washes over me. Not now. I mustn't think about Dario now.
Suddenly, headlights tear through the darkness behind me. Two white, cold eyes growing at a terrifying speed. My heart stops beating. No. Not already. Not this fast.
The car, a sleek black sedan, overtakes me and pulls across the road, blocking any passage. I can't breathe anymore. The doors open. Silhouettes in dark suits emerge, impassive. And him… he is the last to get out.
Dario.
He doesn't run, doesn't shout. He advances with deliberate slowness, each step a hammer blow to my budding hope. Even in the dim light, I feel the weight of his gaze on me. I am petrified, a bird hypnotized by a snake.
He stops at my door. I don't want to look up. I don't want to see. But my body obeys him, always. My trembling fingers activate the switch. The window slides down, letting in the night air, icy, and his scent, that blend of leather and power that was my atmosphere for years.
"You took a rather long drive, Isabella."
His voice is soft, too soft. Velvet hiding a blade. It pierces through me, pins me to my seat. I keep my eyes downcast, fixed on his hands, those hands that can be so cruel and yet held our son with surprising gentleness.
"Let us go, Dario. I'm begging you."
The plea is weak, pathetic. I know it even before he reacts. An icy smile stretches his lips.
"Go? But you're already home. Anywhere I am is where you belong."
The word "belong" echoes in the car like a sentence. He leans in, his arms resting on the window frame, imprisoning my field of vision.
"Did you really think I wouldn't know? That I wouldn't be watching you? Every breath you take, Isabella, I know it. Every beat of your heart belongs to me."
His hand reaches out, brushing my cheek. I shiver, a mixture of terror and that familiar curse, that toxic attraction I've never managed to eradicate. I close my eyes, searching for strength.
"Not this time. I'm not coming back this time."
He ignores my declaration, his gaze sliding towards the back, towards Leo. A strange glimmer, almost tender, passes through his eyes. A possessive tenderness.
"You took my son. You tried to steal what is mine. We're going home now. And we're going to forget this… lapse in judgment."
The implication is clear. There will be no discussion, no negotiation. He came to reclaim what he believes belongs to him. His men stand motionless, ready to execute his every order.
I cast one last look at the road ahead, at the freedom that was within reach. It already seems to be fading, becoming a mirage. I know what will follow. The silent car, the ride back, the doors of the villa closing behind us. His anger, cold and calculated, descending not in shouts, but in a reinforcement of the invisible bars of my cage.
I lower my head, defeated. A burning tear rolls down my cheek, tracing a furrow in the dust of my thwarted escape.
He won. Again.
But as I place my hand on the ignition key to cut the engine of my old car, another thought, dark and determined, germinates in my ruined mind.
Maybe he won this battle. But the war isn't over.
I belong to him, it's true. But he also belongs to his thirst for power. And in the shadows, others are watching. Alessio. Viktor. Names, faces that could become weapons.
I slowly raise my head and meet his triumphant gaze. I say nothing. I simply let a new resolve take root in my soul.
I will never run again.
Next time, he will be the one to fall.
- Writer
