Haven

Chapter Nineteen

"Isabella, my prize. I knew I'd find you."

Hugh stood over Isabella in a place she didn't recognize.

She looked around and found no windows or a way out.

"Don't be afraid. I will be kind, though you deserve to be marked forever as my own."

He was sinister.

He was terrifying.

He was a nightmare.

"Did you really think that I'd be okay with letting what I've claimed as mine live without me?"

He placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed it tightly.

Isabella's eyes shut in fear as her heart went into a panic.

This wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

She prayed it wasn't real.

"I would've set fire to your parent's house the night you and that thief visited. You flaunted around as if you were free. You will never be free. You are my own. All who see you will know that you belong to Hugh Gardener."

He spat venomously.

His hand shot around her throat and gripped it tightly, making her lose strength.

It was too much.

"No!" She cried while struggling to breathe.

"No? You dare to defy me again, woman!" He slapped her roughly and pulled her up to his face. "You will never defy me again. You are mine. Property. You will do as I say. You will forget that thieving creature and only think of me."

Her eyes filled with tears, but her heart bore all the pain.

To never see her beloved again would break her.

It wasn't right.

"Andrew! Andrew! An-"

She cried desperately.

It was the most devasting cry.

Andrew shook Isabella, trying to wake her.

Her body was constricted, and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Bella, baby, I'm here. Wake up, please wake up!"

"No!" She screamed in horror, and her eyes flew open.

She felt around the bed in search of something.

"Andrew!"

She cried out.

Fear strangled her.

Andrew's heart broke as his wife called out to him.

She was blinded by terror.

He wrapped his arms around her, and she flinched.

"Isabella, listen to me, love. You're with me. I have you. Andrew has you. You are home." He said calmly, though his heart raged as he wondered what instilled such fear within her.

Isabella's body grew still.

She looked around and found that she was home.

She was with Andrew.

He was holding her.

He was with her.

Hugh wasn't here.

"Oh my God, Andrew." She collapsed in his arms from mental exhaustion.

She was okay.

She was with Andrew.