Chapter 1: Two Words Before the Dark
My husband b3at me unc0nscious while I was six months pregnant, and his family laughed while his sister recorded every blow.
They thought I was completely alone—but seconds before Victor destroyed my phone, I sent two desperate words to the one person his family had spent years fearing.
It was just before five in the morning when Victor kicked open our bedroom door and ripped the blanket away from me.
"Get up," he ordered.
"My parents want breakfast."
My back ached, my ankles were swollen, and the baby had kept me awake most of the night.
"Please," I whispered.
"Give me one minute."
Victor seized my wrist and dragged me upright.
"Being pregnant doesn't make you important."
I said nothing.
He had always mistaken my silence for surrender.
When I reached the kitchen, Victor's parents, Helena and Raul, were already seated at the table.
Helena wore a smug smile.
Raul watched me like he was waiting for a show.
Victor's sister, Nora, held her phone in my direction.
She pretended to scroll, but I could see the camera recording.
Helena sneered.
"She carries one baby and suddenly thinks she deserves servants."
Victor pointed at the stove.
"Eggs.
Bacon.
Pancakes.
Try not to ruin them like you ruin everything else."
I opened the refrigerator, but the room suddenly spun.
The floor seemed to rise beneath me.
My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the tile, both arms wrapping around my stomach.
Raul laughed.
"There she goes again."
Victor walked past me without offering his hand.
Instead, he reached into the corner and picked up his father's heavy wooden cane.
"I told you to stand."
The first strike landed across my thigh.
Pain tore through me.
I screamed and curled tighter around my unborn child.
Helena clapped once.
"Again!
Maybe she'll finally learn some respect."
Nora never stopped filming.
Through blurred vision, I spotted my phone beneath the table.
I dragged myself toward it, inch by inch.
"Stop her!" Raul shouted.
My fingers closed around the phone.
I opened a hidden contact and typed the only words I had time to send.
*Help.
Please.*
The message went through.
Victor snatched the phone from my hand and hurled it against the wall.
The screen shattered.
He grabbed my hair and forced my face upward.
"You really think someone is coming?" he whispered.
"No one would dare challenge this family."
The cane came down again.
Darkness swallowed me.
When I opened my eyes, my cheek was pressed against the freezing floor.
Helena was laughing.
Nora was still recording.
Victor raised the cane above me once more.
Then tires screamed outside.
One vehicle arrived.
Then another.
Then several more.
Car doors sl@mmed.
Heavy footsteps surrounded the house.
The laughter died instantly.
A single knock shook the front door.
Victor's face drained of color.
And despite everything, I smiled.
May you like
He had no idea who I had messaged.
But his father did.
