Rushing to get my mom’s asthma medication, my husband’s secretary, Chloe, insisted I take her to the salon first. I explained the emergency and refused. Before I could even start the car, Damian yanked me out. “You know Chloe just started, she’s clueless about the local roads. What if she misses her appointment at the salon?” I stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. “A salon appointment can be rescheduled, but if someone’s life is on the line, you can’t bring them back. Are you trying to kill my mom?” Damian quickly tried to placate me. “Of course not! I’ll take you there myself, right now.” But the car drove further and further into desolate territory until it stopped on a gravel road. Damian kicked me out of the car. He made Chloe ride on my back, then grabbed a whip and urged me forward. “Didn’t you say if someone’s life is on the line, you can’t bring them back?” “Hurry up and crawl, or your mom is going to die!” My knees sank into the sharp gravel, a searing pain making me almost cry out. Chloe’s hands pressed into my shoulders, her grip tightening with every second. She even chuckled, saying, “Slow down a bit, I’m still riding here, you know.” I bit down hard, trying to inch forward, but as soon as my knees lifted off the ground, the stones beneath them scraped painfully again. All the strength drained from my body, leaving me sprawled on the spot. Suddenly, Damian raised the whip and lashed it across my leg. A burning, fiery pain shot up my thigh. The black skirt instantly ripped, revealing a swollen red welp. I trembled uncontrollably. “What are you dragging your feet for? Isn’t your mom about to die?” He stood over me, whip in hand, looking down with contempt. “You cried and begged me to marry you, swearing to repay my kindness. Now you won’t even take Chloe to the salon. What good are you to me?” The humiliation and terror finally broke through, tears streaming down my cheeks. I looked up, my vision blurred by tears. “I really need to take my mom’s medication… Damian, please, just let me go, okay?” “I promise, as soon as I deliver the medicine to my mom, I’ll take Chloe to the salon. Please?” Chloe leaned down, wiping away my tears with her fingertips. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re crying again! Damian, how are we supposed to have fun with all this sniffling? What a buzzkill!” Her fingertips were icy cold, and a shiver ran through me as they brushed my cheek. Then, she suddenly leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I froze, wanting to recoil as if bitten by a viper, but she just giggled. “Why are you so upset? Damian sacrificed so much for you, even his own self-respect. What’s wrong with playing a little game with us? ” “This is just normal fun, relax, you’ll find the pleasure in it soon enough.” Damian’s lips curved into a cold sneer when he heard that, and he raised the whip again. “Hear that? Chloe’s more reasonable than you.” “If you don’t start moving, I can’t guarantee your mom will get her medicine.” At his words, my tears flowed even harder. I knew Damian was a man of his word. But the searing pain in my knees and the crushing weight on my back left me without the strength to crawl even an inch forward. I could only lie there, letting my tears fall onto the gravel road, silently screaming inside: Mom, just wait for me, please just wait a little longer…
Chloe’s fingers idly played with the stray hairs around my ear, her nail grazing my sweat-soaked skin. “Skylar, I almost forgot to ask, dressed so nicely today, are you *really* just going to deliver medicine?” Before I could protest, she pressed harder on my shoulder, her voice hissing in my ear like a snake’s tongue. “Damian thinks it’s strange too. You’re not using the medicine as an excuse to meet someone else, are you?” “I’m not!” I tried to lift my head to deny it, but she held me down tightly. My mouth hit the gravel, and I tasted blood. Damian’s whip cracked again, but this time it landed on the empty ground beside me. Small stones flew up, leaving tiny cuts on my arm, making me flinch in terror. “Chloe’s right,” his voice was as cold as ice. “If you have nothing to hide, why are you so dressed up?” “Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson. You need to remember whose wife you are.” With that, he moved closer. Seeing this, Chloe released me and stood up, smiling. “Don’t be scared, Skylar. This is just a game Damian and I play all the time. It’s just a small punishment.” “Since you can’t carry me, I won’t make it hard for you.” “See that small dirt mound up ahead? Just crawl up there.” “If we’re satisfied, we’ll let you go deliver the medicine to your mom, okay?” A faint spark of hope ignited in my heart, but before I could move, Chloe walked over to the car and pulled out a black cloth bag. She squatted beside me and opened it. What was inside made my pupils shrink: several strange, unsettling-looking toys with a cold glint that made my skin crawl. “What are these…?” My voice trembled. I tried to pull back, but Damian stepped forward and pressed his foot down on my ankle. His shoe heel dug into my flesh, and tears instantly welled up in my eyes from the pain. “For your entertainment.” Damian squatted down, pinching my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Since it’s a game, we might as well make it fun.” Chloe leaned in too, her fingertip tracing the whip marks on my thigh. I flinched from the pain. “Be a good girl, Skylar, just relax. It’ll be over soon.” She said, then, ignoring my desperate headshakes and struggles, she forced the device into my body. A sharp, alien sensation coursed through me. I trembled as if struck by electricity, shame and agony overwhelming me like a tidal wave. I wanted to scream, but Damian covered my mouth with a handkerchief. I struggled fiercely, so he bound my wrists with a rope. Chloe held her phone, the camera focused squarely on me, the screen’s light reflecting on her face as she smiled, dazzling and cruel. “Alright, now you can crawl.” Damian removed the handkerchief from my mouth, his voice laced with mockery. The device vibrated inside me. A strange thrill mixed with bone-deep humiliation, making me feel like I was losing my mind. “Skylar, if you don’t move, we might be stuck here all day.” I bit my lip, my knees bleeding on the gravel path as I slowly, painfully inched forward. With every movement, the vibrations inside me intensified, tears mixing with sweat as they hit the ground. Chloe kept snapping photos, the shutter clicks echoing like each one was tearing away a piece of my dignity. I don’t know how long I crawled before I collapsed onto the ground, utterly spent. I was completely drenched in sweat, the device still vibrating inside me. My bruised and cut skin stuck to the scorching earth, a mix of throbbing pain and numbness. Chloe turned off her phone and laughed. “See? Even the ‘good girl’ can be tamed.” Damian finally looked satisfied. He reached down and pulled the device out of my body. I felt all my strength drain away, collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath. He stood above me, his voice devoid of warmth. “Don’t worry, Chloe already sent someone to deliver the medicine to your mom.” Chloe squatted down and patted my face. “Thank you, Skylar. You put on such a good show, we were thoroughly entertained.” “Next time, make sure to perform well too, okay?” After they finished, they turned and got into the car. The car sped off, leaving me alone on the gravelly dirt mound.
By the time the car wheels finally hit the last stretch of familiar asphalt, dawn was breaking. No GPS, my phone confiscated. I relied on blurry memories, taking countless wrong turns. Just as the gas tank neared empty, I finally spotted the familiar streetlamp outside my house. Pushing open the car door, the scabs on my knees tore open, a sharp pain shooting through me. Every step felt like walking on knives. I crept into my mother’s room. Seeing her lying peacefully in bed, the worry that had gnawed at me all day finally eased. After tucking her blankets in, I dragged my exhausted body towards our bedroom. The moment I reached the doorway, the sounds from inside froze me. It was Chloe’s soft humming, laced with laughter, and Damian’s low gasps. My heart pounded, and my fingers trembled as I pushed the door open just a crack. The sight before me made my stomach churn. Chloe sat on Damian, her fingers twisting a black leather chain. The other end was fastened around Damian’s neck. She leaned in, whispering something into his ear. Damian’s head rested against the headboard, his eyes half-closed, a look of submission I’d never seen on his face. Chloe seemed to sense my gaze. She turned, and seeing me, she didn’t even try to hide. Instead, she smiled and raised the chain in her hand. “Skylar, you’ve come at just the right time.” Damian opened his eyes, his gaze on me as cold as ice. “Why are you standing in the doorway? Come in.” My feet felt like lead, utterly unable to move. That was our bedroom, our bed, now a place for their sordid affair. Nausea rose in my throat. I covered my mouth, wanting to turn and run, but Damian’s sharp voice stopped me. “Stop! Who told you to leave?” Chloe slid off Damian, straightened her wrinkled skirt, and walked over to me. She reached out and patted my face. “Skylar, Damian wants you to stay and serve us. You can’t be disobedient, can you?” As she spoke, she handed me a silver tray holding a glass of iced water. The chill of the ice seeped through the silver to my fingertips, making me shiver. “If Damian gets thirsty later, you’ll feed him water.” I clutched the silver tray, my fingertips turning numb. Damian leaned against the headboard, looking at me with a sneer. “What? Not willing? I saved your life, and you won’t even do this much for me?” His words pierced my heart like needles. I remembered the car accident three years ago. He’d thrown himself over me, pulling me from the mangled car, only to have a falling steel plate crush his lower body. I remembered crying as I called off my engagement with Liam, saying, “I owe him my life; I have to repay it.” I remembered my father, before he died, grasping my hand and saying, “Damian is a reliable man. I trust him with the family business.” For three years, he had indeed done well, managing the family company my father left behind, tripling its size. I thought that by giving him my marriage, my submission, and our family’s resources, I had repaid him enough. But when did he become like this? Was it when he took over the family business and Chloe appeared by his side? Or was it when he started mocking me more and more often, always bringing up the ‘debt of gratitude’ to torment me with my own guilt? I looked at him now, his eyes filled with nothing but harsh judgment for me, and my heart ached as if being torn apart. I could only stand by the bed, holding the silver tray. Chloe returned to Damian’s side, picked up a feather, and gently ran it across his chest. “Damian, want to go again?” Damian’s breathing grew heavier. Chloe occasionally glanced at me, her eyes full of provocation. I don’t know how long passed, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Leaning against the wall, my head kept drooping. In a daze, a splash of icy liquid suddenly hit my face. “How could you fall asleep?” Chloe laughed. “Damian’s waiting for his water.” Damian sat up, looking at my soaked appearance, and sneered. “I saved your life, and you can’t even stay awake for a bit? Or are you thinking about someone else?” He paused. “Liam’s back, aren’t you happy?” I snapped my head up, looking at him in disbelief. “What, nothing to say?” Damian watched me, the sharpness in his eyes deepening. “Did I hit a nerve? The moment Liam came back, you just couldn’t wait to see him?” “No, that’s not it.” I finally found my voice. “I haven’t even seen him.” Damian scoffed, then abruptly swept the water glass off the nightstand, sending it crashing to the floor. “Still lying! Look at this!” Damian didn’t listen to my explanations at all. He stood up, walking towards me step by step, his tall frame casting a shadow over me. “Believe me, after marrying you, I haven’t had any contact with him.”
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