Chapter 3
I got up to leave. Carlo lunged, grabbed me.
"You're not leaving. You're mine. Stay!" he shouted.
He dragged me back to bed, fumbled with his belt, his tie, anything to bind me. "Anyone who tries to keep us apart, I'll end them. You're mine, now and always!"
His phone rang.
He hung up. It rang again.
Carlo paused, picked up.
Low volume, but I heard.
"Mr. Rivers, Miss Green's allergy reaction is severe. She's vomiting blood. She needs a transfusion," the voice came through his phone.
Carlo cut in, impatient, "Then give her one. I'll pay."
"No, sir. Miss Green has a rare blood type. No reserves. Her type, it's the same as Miss Carter's," the caller explained.
Carlo's hand trembled.
"No reserves? Nearby hospitals?" He frowned, got up, put his shoes on. "I'm coming. If you're lying, I'll tear the place apart."
Leaving, he ordered the housekeeper not to let me leave.
Put several locks on the bedroom door, pocketed the key.
"If anything happens to my wife, you'll disappear from Harboriton," he snarled.
Eyes red, he shouted. His last look at me was a mess.
"Wait for me. I'll handle this and come back. We have so many memories. We can go back," he said to me.
He left in a hurry. All I felt was disgust.
He enjoyed a young girl's innocence, looked for my shadow in her. Got caught, then cried and clung.
After all this, he still wanted me to forgive him.
Late at night, fighting stomach pain, I called my best friend Hanna, vacationing in the mountains.
Using our old code, I asked her to come get me.
One month left. I didn't want to be "Miss Carter," the woman who lived for Carlo.
I just wanted to be me.
Hanna sensed trouble, tested me. "Hungry this late? Why not order in?"
"No, dieting. This fat's in the way."
Her breath hitched.
She knew it meant I was trapped.
"Okay. I'll order for you when I can. My break starts in a couple of days," my best friend said.
I knew Hanna would act. Until then, I couldn't provoke Carlo.
I knew even if he seemed unable to let go, it was just habit. He didn't love me, but wouldn't release me.
In the early morning, he returned, cold from outside.
"Good girl, waiting for me," he said with a smile.
He brought warm milk. "It's cold out. Gotta take care."
He smoothed my hair back, exposed my forehead like in school, smiled. "My Aylin, still as beautiful. The prettiest girl at Harboriton High."
"Get this straight," I said coldly. "I'm not the high school Aylin. And you're not that Carlo."
He flinched, pulled back.
My hair fell, glamorous waves, business perfume.
Carlo's eyes cleared, turned cold.
"I went to the hospital. Elsa's still out, needs blood. Bad luck, her type is the same as yours. Rare. Hospital's low," he said.
His voice was hoarse. "Aylin, she got sick apologizing to you. Can you..."
He didn't finish, looked at me with hope.
He knew I never let him down.
"What if I say no?" I asked.
I clenched my fists. "How can you be sure she actually drank? I took the drink for her. She followed me, said horrible things, but I didn't force her to do anything."
"Aylin. You said it. She said horrible things. So you taught her a lesson, right?"
Carlo's smile was bleak. "Elsa's simple, like a blank page. And you, I've seen your business tactics."
That sentence shattered me.
Suddenly, my head spun, consciousness faded.
The last thing I remembered was me falling into his arms and a kiss on my forehead.
He murmured. "Whatever you did, you're still my wife. After this, we marry. Never apart."