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Silence.
Nobody would find her here. There was no way she was going back to Rita’s house. She only wanted to control Bella too. Sure, she was trying to protect her from their father and Neil, but she couldn’t see she was doing the same thing to her they were.
Forcing her to do what she didn’t want to do.
She’d run away to escape that kind of treatment, not to face it again at the hands of her sister. If she had to run farther and with fewer things, she would. Now that she’d had a taste of freedom, she wasn’t going to go back to being controlled.
No one would tell her what to do again. Ever. Those days were done. Somehow she’d find a way to start over and make something of her life. Rita had managed. Bella would do the same, butbeforebeing forced into slave labor. If Neil married her, she would have even less freedom than she did with her parents. At least they let her go to college.
He would put a stop to that. Men like him didn’t want a woman who could think for herself. And they knew how to domineer. It was their specialty.
She shuddered at the thought. Her friends at church who’d already been married off — some had already ‘celebrated’ their fifth wedding anniversaries — whispered their horror stories to her. They were all terrified of their husbands. Most had chronic health issues that couldn’t be explained by doctors.
It was the stress. Living in fear tore the body apart.
Bella knew that all too well. Even in the short time she’d been away from her father’s house, her stomach was already starting to feel better and her headaches were improving. All her ailments would get worse if she had to live under Neil’s thumb. No one would care. Their church encouraged men to be cruel to their wives. They taught that women were nothing more than property, even though they would never use that language. They didn’t need to. Not when everyone lived that way.
Acid churned in her stomach just thinking about it. She was starting to feel better, but then Rita had to go and start making demands of her. Why was her sister reverting to their old ways? Did she think she owned Bella now?
It sure seemed like it, the way she was demanding Bella pack her things and leave the Jones’s house.
Over her dead body.
She would rather suffer death than become a slave to Neil. Every time she thought of the night he came over for dinner, an icy chill ran down her back.
That would not be her future. One way or another. She would either avoid him by freedom or death. There was no other option. Not that her parents would give her.
Bella pressed her ear to the door again.
Everything was still quiet outside.
The shed wasn’t the ideal place to stay, but at least nobody could tell her what to do while she was out there. Damon had described it as being full of Halloween supplies before, but now it was packed with gardening tools. Barely left any room for her, but at least she had the corn on the cob costume. She could lie down when she got tired.
Luckily it was clean, unlike her father’s many sheds. Those were dirty and gross, filled with mud and grass clippings. Everything had appeared new when she opened the door and the daylight had lit everything.
Maybe what she needed was somewhere else to stay. If somebody opened the door, she had nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape. The person would block her only way out.
Bella cracked open the door, the bright daylight nearly blinding her after so long in the dark. She blinked a few times until her vision adjusted, then she peeked outside. The pool house blocked most of the home, but someone had obviously opened either a window or door, as festive music blasted from inside.
Leaving now would be too risky. With so many people inside, someone could easily look out at just the wrong moment and see her taking off.
No. She’d wait until darkness covered everything.
Then she would make a run for it.
Hopefully nobody would discover her hiding spot before then.
ChapterEighteen
Ariana caught up with Rita outside Bella’s room.
Rita spun around. “Where is she?”
“How would I know? I’ve been with you.”
“You’re supposed to be keeping her safe. That’s what you promised!”
Ariana drew a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time to lose her cool. Not when her friend was worried and pregnant. “I’m sure she’s in the house somewhere. She’s really excited about helping with the party. Why don’t we go downstairs and have a look?”
