Chapter 5

Candida and Joey were gone. I came home from a long, aimless walk to find their room empty, their belongings vanished. I felt a sliver of relief, a tiny breath of fresh air in the suffocating prison of my life.

It didn't last.

The next day, the front door burst open, and Jackson stormed in, his face a thunderous mask of rage. His leg was in a cast, and he leaned heavily on a crutch, but his fury gave him a terrifying energy.

He lunged at me, grabbing my wrist in a crushing grip. "Where are they?" he roared, his eyes red-rimmed and wild. "Where did you send them?"

I stared at him, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Elena!" he shouted, his spittle hitting my face. "Candida and Joey! They're gone! You drove them away, didn't you? You threatened them!"

His phone rang, a shrill, piercing sound. He answered it, his voice tight with anxiety. I heard bits of the conversation.

"...robbery... beaten badly... hospital..."

His face went white. He turned to me, his eyes filled with a murderous light. "They were robbed," he hissed. "Beaten. They're in the hospital. And it's your fault. You did this."

"Jackson, I swear, I didn't-"

"They told the police you threatened them," he snarled, his grip on my wrist tightening until I thought the bones would snap. "They said you told them to get out or they would regret it. You're a vindictive, cruel woman, Elena."

He wouldn't listen to me. He wouldn't let me explain. He was convinced I was the villain.

His phone rang again. It was the hospital.

"What blood type?" he barked into the phone. He listened, his eyes darting to me. A strange, calculating look came over his face. "She's right here. We're on our way."

He hung up and looked at me, his expression cold and hard. "Candida needs blood. She has a rare blood type. The same as yours. You're going to go to the hospital and you're going to save her."

"No," I whispered.

He didn't ask again. He dragged me out of the house, his fingers digging into my arm like talons. He threw me into the car and drove like a madman to the hospital.

They put a needle in my arm. I watched my blood, my life force, drain from my body, flowing through a tube to save the woman who had tried to take my life. Jackson stood by, his arms crossed, his face impatient. He didn't speak to me. He didn't look at me.

When it was over, I was weak, dizzy. My head spun.

"Now," Jackson said, his voice devoid of any warmth, "you're going to go to her room and apologize."

He was called away by a doctor before he could drag me there himself. I was left alone in the hallway, swaying on my feet. I knew I should leave, but some morbid curiosity pulled me toward her room.

I found her sitting up in bed, looking pale but smug. Joey was beside her, his face a mask of childish innocence.

"Why?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "Why are you doing this? Why did you lie?"

Candida laughed, a cold, sharp sound. "Because I hate you, Elena. It's that simple. You have everything, and you're so weak. You can't even hold on to your own husband."

She leaned forward, her eyes glittering with malice. "He's mine now. He'll do anything for me. And for his son."

She gestured for me to come closer. "He keeps me on a tight leash, you know. Monitors my calls, my movements. He's obsessed. But I'll get away. And when I do, I will destroy him. And I'll start with you."

Joey picked up an apple from the bedside table and threw it at me. It hit my chest with a dull thud.

"Get out!" he shrieked. "You're a bad lady! You hurt my mommy!"

He then grabbed a heavy glass vase full of flowers. He raised it over his head, his face twisted in a snarl that was terrifying on a child.

"I hate you!" he screamed, and threw it.

I flinched back, raising my arms to protect my face. I stumbled, pushing him slightly as I tried to get out of the way.

It was all he needed.

He let the vase drop, then threw himself backwards onto the floor, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. "My arm! She broke my arm!"

Jackson burst back into the room, his face a canvas of fury.

"Mama, she pushed me! She hurt me!" Joey wailed from the floor.

Candida was immediately at his side. "Oh, my baby! Elena, how could you? After everything we've been through!"

I tried to speak, to defend myself, but the words wouldn't come. I was trapped in a nightmare.

"You are a monster," Jackson said, his voice low and trembling with rage. "You hurt a child. After all I've done for you."

He took a step toward me, his hand raised. I saw the blow coming, but I was too weak, too shocked to move.

His hand never landed. A team of nurses and doctors rushed in, summoned by the commotion. They pushed me out of the way, surrounding the screaming child and his hysterical mother.

I stumbled back into the hallway, the sound of their accusations echoing in my ears.

"She's a menace, Jackson! You have to do something!" Candida cried.

"I will," I heard him promise, his voice like ice. "I will make her pay for this."

I knew then that my life in this house was over. My life with him was a death sentence.

I didn't go back to the house. I walked to a dark, quiet alley, my body shaking with a cold that had nothing to do with the night air.

I was leaning against a brick wall, trying to catch my breath, when they came for me.

A black bag was thrown over my head, plunging me into suffocating darkness. Rough hands grabbed me, and a searing pain exploded in my back as something hard, a bat or a pipe, struck me.

I screamed, but the sound was muffled by the bag.

The blows kept coming, a relentless, brutal rhythm of pain. My ribs cracked. My head slammed against the ground.

"Please," I sobbed, my voice a broken whisper. "Why?"

A rough voice answered from the darkness. "The boss says you need to be taught a lesson."

The boss. Jackson.

The last blow landed on my head, and the world faded to black. The last thing I heard was the man's voice, speaking into a phone.

"It's done, Mr. Parks. She won't be bothering you again."