Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

Jerlina watched the two dogs eating from their bowls. She figured why the two bowls were kept apart. These two are extremely hungry dogs and liked to steal the other's food resulting in fights.

From the bowls, she learned the names of the dogs. The bigger one was called Duke and the younger one was Earl.

"Earl, no!" she stopped the dog from getting close to Duke's bowl for the ninth time. The younger one was naughtier and more fearless than Duke.

Although these two acted like goofy buffoons, she could see they are extremely intelligent and very friendly. She was ashamed for getting scared of them the first time around.

Earl was with her the whole time and then brought her to the kitchen when he got hungry. He knew where the food is kept and in his own way asked Jerlina to let Duke in.

It was amazing how that dog could convey what he wanted in a way she understands.

She wondered how the other dogs would be fed and opened the door to have a look. She met eyes with a big guy holding a big pot of something and all the dogs circled around him wagging their tails.

Guess he feeds them!

She closed the door. The two huskies had their fill and they wanted to run out and she opened the door for them. Without the dogs, she got bored and she decided to take a tour of the house.

Contrary to her beliefs, all the doors were open; even the door to TJ's study. It was a very big house with six bedrooms, two studies, two kitchen and around eight bathrooms, a sauna, a laundry room, an indoor swimming pool, and a media room. One of the bedrooms was modified for the huskies.

From one of the balconies, she could see a garden area with a marble fountain in the middle. There were only weeds growing in the flowerbeds as it was not maintained.

The house was designed in a tasteful matter with expensive stuff without over-saturating. Even the color schemes were extremely pleasing to the eye.

If a house this big is in the city, it will be worth millions, but in this small town infested with gangs, the worth of the real estate would be dramatically low.

Still, it is a nice house to live in! Lucky is the one with who TJ starts a family if he ever finds one. But even Babyface Bobby found one; TJ will too. Or did he find his one already?

As she looked around, she realized that the guy who fed the dogs lives in the guest room. She also observed that every room except her bedroom had a framed picture of Peter Fitzgerald. There was nothing anywhere to suggest that a woman ever lived here. It made her lean to believe the rumors she heard that TJ likes men.

Well, I guess I can still hold a little hope of escape – if he doesn't kill me first.

After looking around, she became tired and ended up sleeping in her bed. She had weird dreams.

In her dream, she was running behind a couple of huskies and at a distance under a tree, a man was laughing loudly with two little kids – a boy and a girl. He was spinning with the kids hanging in his arms.

It was a very pleasant dream, but it made her wake up with tears. Except for the dogs, this is the future she imagined with Gerry. But now there is no chance for such a future in her life. She couldn't even say if she would live to see the next day. How could she think about having a family?

She had lost everything!

With tears streaming through her face, she walked to the balcony and sat by the planter.

"Don't worry, baby. Mommy will find a way to safely transfer you. I won't let him hurt you." She gently caressed the leaves. It was then she noticed a new bud forming and she sobbed unable to control her tears.

When she realized she was sitting on the floor for too long, it was already dark and she stood up. Her legs had gone to sleep and she staggered as she stood up. After enduring the pins and needles in her feet, she walked to her bed.

She was stunned to see three missed calls and a bunch of texts from her boss. There was one from her bank too.

She first checked the messages from her boss and her hands shook. The earlier messages were him pleading with her to answer his calls and then he begged her to talk to TJ to unban him from getting supplies.

The later few texts were about his transfer of the severance payment as she asked and after that he pleaded her to get him the supplies by the next day. He begged her that he had sought the help of a loan shark for her payment and he couldn't give her any more than that amount.

Jerlina checked her bank account and she had received $100,000. That was a lot. It is almost twice her annual income. No way anyone would receive this amount as severance pay. Her boss only gave $1000 to someone who worked in the company for ten years.

The only reason she received this high amount is because of her entanglement with TJ.

Isn't this extortion? I did that? And with all the texts... there is evidence that I extorted my boss using a ganglord. What should I do? Should I send the money back?

Jerlina froze wondering about the ramifications of this crime. She is not a saint, but she has never broken the law.

-----

When Jeremy returned home, his legs went straight to her room. The Huskies were oddly cheerful and he ordered them to stay in their room. His heart clenched seeing her sitting on the floor once again, staring at the plant. He closed the door carefully and went to his room.

Standing under the shower, he sighed. The warm water made little streams down his chiseled body. His hair covered his face as he stood under the shower fisting his hands. His eyes stung as the warm water mixed with shampoo got in them.

On his way back, he paid a visit to the auto repair shop. Joe, the mechanic, said that there was a fault in the Camry and that's why the airbags deployed prematurely. He said with the impact faced by the Camry, the airbags shouldn't have deployed.

Jeremy knew that. He carefully nudged her car away from the road to stop her from blindly rushing to the road not even noticing the 18- wheeler. Her car didn't even have a dent but only a few scratches made by his bumper. The airbags shouldn't have opened.

But it did. It's like the universe was against her that day; him too. Or..?

He believed the airbags caused her miscarriage. And he blamed himself for not being careful when he stopped her. But it seems like it is not his fault, but the fault in her car.

Or is it still my fault? If I weren't there... if she didn't run away from me scared, she would have noticed the 18-wheeler. She would have stopped and would have safely got on the road. The airbags wouldn't have deployed and her baby would still be alive.

Oh, Jerlina...what have I done!

He stepped out from the shower and stood on the rug. With his rugged hands, he wiped the mist off the mirror. He didn't like to see the reflection of the man staring back at him.

He heard the bedroom doorknob clicking and walked out.

"Earl, are you at it aga-"

He paused seeing the petite hand holding the doorknob.

"Jerlina?" Why is she here now?

As the door swung open, a gust of cold wind blew making his body cold.

Ah, right! I am bare naked!