Page 2 of Nyx

I haven't told a soul. My parents don't have a clue about his level of control and the violent outbursts at home.

My friends...

What friends?

Getting into a serious relationship and getting married so young severed most of my friendships soon after graduation.

My former friends had different life goals, and their paths looked nothing like mine.

I have acquaintances, people we socialize with, but there isn't one person in my life whom I would trust with the secrets of what I face at home. I would bet money they'd turn right around and tell Graham, hoping for a bite of the pie he's quick to dangle over my head.

My family's money is substantial, but it will never compare to what his family has, another thing he was quick to remind me of from the start. Yet one more red flag that didn't register as one until I was in too deep to get out.

Aren't you glad you're marrying into a rich family? when we first got engaged quickly turned into you'd have nothing without me. I'd destroy your family if you ever left.

My family, those ingrained expectations I met each and every time, is what has kept me with him for the last three years. I know what he's capable of in business. I've seen firsthand the power he wields and how easily and without remorse he can cut a multi-generational opponent off at the knees.

Knowing the fallout my family will face can no longer matter. Things in my life changed substantially four months ago, and it has taken me that long to pull the trigger on what I knew I should have done years ago.

Fear and I are great friends now, and it swims inside every crevice of my body, my hands shaking as I try to pack my most important things in a rush.

It mixes with unfamiliar disappointment.

The one time I ask for genuine help, the one time I need it the most, I'm left alone.

Calling the women's shelter was my only choice since asking anyone in my life would get back to Graham.

They swore someone would be here this morning to help me. It was my only window of escape, and yet no one has knocked on the door in the last half hour since Graham left for the business trip that would keep him away for the next three days.

I don't know how to face this alone, but I know I have no other choice.

I zip my second suitcase and roll it to the living room beside the first one. I was told to pack light, to only take essentials, and I think I've managed that.

I've taken nothing sentimental. Every other belonging here is attached to a life I'm running from. I want no memories of it, nothing to draw me back in.

I look around the room, jerking when a knock bangs against the front door, and instantly, I feel a sense of guilt for thinking the representative from the women's shelter wouldn't show.

I roll both suitcases to the door, struggling when they won't cooperate with each other, all the while choking down the threat of sickness forming in my throat.

"I was afraid you weren't coming," I say as I open the front door.

I thought I knew fear, but it's nothing compared to the complete terror inside me when I see Graham standing there, his eyes dropping to the suitcases.

He's slow to look up at me, something he has mastered in his control since we got married. The anticipation of what's coming has always been one of his favorite parts of the mind games he likes to play with me.

"Going somewhere?" he asks, his voice calm and cool.

I know better than to lie. Lying always makes things worse, but I can't seem to muster the words of truth either.

"Let's talk inside," he says, stepping past me as if he doesn't have a single ounce of worry that I'll slip out behind him.

Dutifully and with shaking hands, I close us both back into the house.

"What did I tell you would happen if you ever tried to leave me?"

My hands tremble, my whole body shaking as I turn to face him.

"Go on," he urges when I remain speechless.