Chapter 4

When it came to Samuel's relatives, aside from his parents and his grandpa, the rest were total strangers to me.

The "brother" he kept talking about was actually his uncle's son. Their families go way back. In Samuel's eyes, he might as well be his very own little brother. Apparently, but I'd never even met the guy.

After I finished packing, Samuel offered to drive me, and I couldn't say no, so I just went along with it.

He didn't even bother asking for the address—just headed straight to Jason's house.

He even carried my suitcase right up to the front door for me.

My throat tightened. "Samuel, are you having me followed or something?"

Samuel just glanced at me, totally unfazed. "No, I just looked into Jason."

A chill ran through me. No wonder Jason was always so shy and hesitant around me—Samuel must've put the fear of God in him.

Samuel knocked on the door, and I followed close behind. As soon as Jason saw us, he shoved Samuel back, glaring. "Stay away from her."

For a moment, I was actually impressed—it looked like Jason was finally standing up for himself.

Samuel gave a cold chuckle and handed Jason a tube of ointment. "She's been in a rough mood lately, so she'll be staying with you for a couple of days. Keep an eye on her and make sure she puts this on, morning and night."

I had to admit, he was pretty damn meticulous. He noticed my bruises, didn't say a word, but still came prepared with the medicine.

"She gets cold easily, so don't let her have anything icy. And she's always glued to her phone—if she's still up at midnight, just kill the Wi-Fi and make sure she doesn't stay up all night," Samuel instructed.

Seriously, this was way too much. If I couldn't even stay up late scrolling on my phone, what was the point of living?

Before Samuel could suck any more joy out of my life, I slammed the door right in his face. Honestly, with all that nagging, you'd think I picked up a dad instead of a husband.

As soon as the car started up, Jason pulled me close, checking me over with concern. "He didn't hit you, did he?"

I shook my head. "No. He actually wanted to beat me when he saw those photos, but I threatened him. I told him if he ever tried it again, you'd get revenge for me."

Wanting to keep his spirits up, I encouraged him. "You're younger than him and you work out all the time—if it ever came down to it, you'd definitely beat him."

Jason gradually put on a smirk. "If he ever tries to hit you again, just call me."

Living with Jason was pretty chill, except for one thing—the maid and the driver at his mansion were kind of off. Every time Jason and I got a little too close, the maid would cough loudly, and Jason would instantly scoot away from me.

One time, we won a game and got so hyped we hugged each other, and the maid actually came over and practically yanked us apart.

The driver was just as weird—he'd randomly snap photos of me, like he was some kind of undercover spy or something.

I asked Jason, "What's the deal with your driver and maid ?"

He leaned in and whispered, "My mom found out I'm dating, and she's freaked I'll get someone pregnant before marriage and mess up my studies. So she put them on babysitting duty to keep tabs on me.

"Don't worry, if anything comes up, we'll just text," he said, trying to reassure me.

After finally getting a few days of peace, Samuel was back to bug me again.

He asked: [Honey, you've been living away for half a month. You should come home already. I'll come get you tomorrow?]

I swear, marriage felt just like signing a slave contract—freedom? Never heard of her.

I snapped a screenshot of this conversation and sent it to Jason.

[Looks like our good times are about to end. My husband's coming to pick me up.]

Jason replied: [Anna, maybe the rumors aren't spicy enough, so your husband still won't budge on the divorce. Maybe we need to kick things up a notch.]

I mulled it over for a moment, then decided to pull out all the stops and blow his mind.

After Samuel brought me back, I made him sleep in a different room.

It was way past midnight, and I couldn't sleep, so I shot Jason Cooper a text: [Baby, wanna get a hotel room with me tomorrow?]

After a long pause, he replied: [I'm scared.]

I fired back: [You know... you're honestly the most chicken-hearted side chick I've ever met.]

He sent me a pleading emoji.

I added: [I've always treated you so well. Are you really okay with letting me live with some guy who beats me?]

[Honestly, those two weeks with you were the happiest days I've had since I got married.]

[If you don't want to help, whatever. He's actually pretty decent when he's not hitting me. Life's long, I'll just suck it up. If I end up getting beaten to death, just remember to offer condolences."

Jason replied: [Anna, don't talk like that. Just let me think about it for a bit, okay?]

[It's not that I don't want to help, but I need to have an escape plan. I'm honestly worried your husband might snap and actually kill me.]

He finally cracked, so things might actually work out.