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When he steps back, I slide down to the floor, and I want to lie there, but I’m scared he’ll start kicking at me again. I struggle to my feet, using the wall as support, but then he grabs me by the neck. His fingers tighten around my throat, and he shoves me up against the wood until I’m barely able to stand on my toes.
I don’t want to, but I can’t help looking at him, meeting his eyes. I can’t find any sign of emotion shining in his eyes, and it scares the hell out of me. They’re empty, devoid of life.
“Why?” I gasp while trying to breathe past his tight grip.
“You deserve the punishment,” he sneers. “Once you understand you can’t defy me without suffering the consequences, we’ll be able to restore what’s left of our relationship.”
What the hell?
He lets go of me, and I lean heavily against the wooden wall. I bring a trembling hand to my neck. My movement draws his attention to my hand. Again, he lunges, yanking my engagement ring from my finger with a painful twist. He throws the ring to the other side of the cabin.
With an incredulous expression on his face, he snaps, “I can’t believe you got engaged to him. What the actual fuck? You seriously think you can do better than me?”
I can only stare at him, my mind struggling to catch up with what’s happening. It feels like I’ve been thrown into the twilight zone. Nothing makes sense.
A cruel sneer pulls his lips back from his teeth. “You need to realize I’m the best you can do. I’m the only one who understands you. You need a firm hand to control you. Look what’s become of you.” He waves an aggressive hand over me. “The slutty clothes, the weight you put on, the excessive makeup, and your hair hanging all over the place, it all stops.”
My mind is spinning. What the hell? How am I supposed to make sense of this?
Terrified, I watch as he walks to the kitchen. When he pulls a rope from one of the drawers, my eyes widen. Not hesitating, I run for the door.
Josh darts for me, and before I can grab hold of the doorknob, he grabs me around the waist and drags me back. I let out a helpless cry, and then he drops me to the floor. Crouching beside me, he growls, “Try that again, and I’ll kill you.”
I believe every word, and it makes me freeze. There’s not a word to describe the fear flooding me. It makes me feel like I’m stuck in a frightening trance, my body a shivering mess.
Josh throws the rope over one of the wooden beams by the ceiling, and when he reaches for me, my survival instincts flood back. I try kicking at him. I claw at his arms and face. I let out a feral scream as he delivers a dizzying punch to the side of my head, my body slumping back to the floor.
Josh is much stronger than me, and dazed, I feel helpless as he begins to tie the rope around my wrists.
“No,” I whimper. When he hoists me up into the air, I try to fight with every bit of strength I have left. Josh throws me back down to the floor and wraps his fingers tightly around my neck again. This time he squeezes hard, cutting off my air supply. I try to take a breath, but nothing gets past his hold on me. I claw at his hand and arm, then try to yank it away, but I’m not strong enough.
He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head. “Calm down, or I’ll fucking choke you to death.”
A deep chill creeps through me, and I force myself to stop fighting. He yanks me up again, and when he ties the rope tightly around my wrists, I can’t stop the whimper from escaping my lips.
“Look what’s become of you,” he spits the words through his teeth. “You never would’ve dared to question me. Now you’re trying to fight me? Enough is fucking enough!”
My body is tugged into the air, and I end up hanging inches from the floor, shaking violently.
I’m not going to survive this.
I do my best to switch off, to not think or feel.
I try not to care about what’s going to happen.
I try, but I fail miserably as anguish and hopelessness fill every corner of me.
Devastated, I sacrifice my pride, and I beg, “Please, Josh. Let’s talk about this. Tell me what to do so I can make things better between us.”
He stares at me for so long, it makes my skin crawl, then his lips curve up in a triumphant smile. “You can hang there for the night and think about what you did. Tomorrow I’ll consider accepting your apology.”
