Page 42 of Isabela

I didn’t mean to say anything about the mayor. Shit. I’m usually more careful than this. Dropping my clutch and shoes in a corner of the room, I change out of my clothes into a sleep shirt and shorts. I use the bathroom to get ready for bed, and after brushing my teeth and washing my face, I crawl into bed.

Sleep doesn’t come easily as I stare at the wall and let the tears flow. Tonight can’t happen again, and what I didn’t tell Gael, is that I’ll hold these memories closely to me in an effort to ignore whatever Mayor Markship has planned for me next week.

The dread taking hold inside of me grows, because I know this is just the beginning. Uncle Eli is an evil man, who is stooping to selling his niece.

I don’t know what he needs the money for, but this isn’t the only shady thing he’s up to. Money laundering through the company for others means he’s getting a cut of it somewhere, and he’s still skimming from my parents’ company. My thoughts continue to torture me for hours until my eyes get heavier and heavier…

Banging on the door wakes me, and I gasp as I sit up. I’m disoriented as I look around, my eyes feel gritty from crying. Blinking hard, I remember I’m in my apartment.

“Who is that?” I rasp. My throat is sore from Gael’s cock fucking it, and my body aches. It’s a good sore though, completely different from other times my body has hurt.

Standing as the banging gets louder, I hear my uncle cursing outside of my door as I walk toward it.

Dammit. I can’t ignore him, so I quickly open the door, stepping back without appearing as if I’m running from him.

“What the fuck took you so long?” my uncle complains as he walks inside, slamming the door shut. “Why are you still in your pajamas?”

Last week was Spring Break, so I used the week to get caught up on the things I’ll be missing. It seems so pointless with what’s looming over my head, but it helped to do something normal.

“I was up late last night reading,” I lie. My uncle snorts in derision, because in his eyes, I’ve always been the odd child who enjoyed reading.

“The mayor is coming to pick you up early tomorrow. He asked me to check on you, make sure you’re ready for tomorrow,” he says as he begins to pace. “He’s impatient after what happened last semester, and warned me he won’t be restrained from fucking you. Charles is feral.”

“Yes, Uncle,” I whisper with wide eyes. I don’t understand why he’s here. He could have called me or something, right?

“I got worried when I couldn’t get you on the phone,” he continues, and I give an inaudible sigh. This explains it. “The guards reassured me you were inside your apartment, so I decided to make sure you weren’t doing anything stupid.”

“Like?” I ask, confused.

“This is happening no matter what. He is not above fucking your half dead corpse, is that understood? Charles is paying me a lot of money to fuck you?—”

“Why do you need money?!” I cry out. “The company pays you a salary for acting as the CFO, you’re skimming from the coffers, I don’t understand.”

“It’s not enough,” he growls, his hand yanking on my hair as he turns me and shoves my face against the wall. His foul breath is hot against my cheek as he speaks to me. “I owe people money for bad debts. Unspeakable amounts. You’re an expensive little bitch with your fancy school and apartment.”

“My trust is paying for that,” I argue, grunting in pain as he grinds my face harder against the wall. I don’t know if it’ll be better if he beats me again. Somehow I doubt he’ll be stupid enough to fall for that again.

“Ha! There’s no money, girl. You’re poor. I drained those accounts the moment I could,” he chuckles. “You’ll live and die at my hands. Don’t piss me the fuck off. Pack a bag for tomorrow, he’s coming to pick you up at eight in the morning sharp. He will break down the door if you’re not ready, Isabela.”

My uncle tosses my body to the side, making me gasp as I hit the hard ground, rolling until I hit a table. Uncle Eli is gone by the time I push my hair out of my face to look up. Fuck.

My mind reels as I stand up and I realize I can’t do this. I thought I could but…

My feet start to move faster as I feel bile rising from my stomach. Gagging, I start to run, barely making it to the toilet before I lose it.

My knees hit the tile as I puke, but since I haven’t eaten yet today, the acid burns. Gasping, my fingers tighten around the sides of the toilet before I look up to see a black card.

I meant to toss it, I swear I did. I didn’t want anyone to catch me with the card Gael gave me. Swallowing hard, I stand up, flushing the toilet with a grimace. I wash my hands and rinse my mouth as I stare at the card as if it’s going to bite me.

“You can’t just do nothing,” I whisper to myself as I dry off my hands. Picking up the card, I drift to my bedroom and find my phone. Thankfully it still has some power, so I take a deep breath and call the number on the card.

“Hello?” Gael answers the phone, taking my breath away. It’s not fair to drag him into this. Maybe I’ll just listen to him for a second longer before I hang up.

Fuck, I’m so weak. This is wrong, right?

“Isa? Baby, is that you?”

I sob as I cover my mouth, bending at the waist. “Gael,” I rasp. “I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I don’t want to go. Please don’t make me.”

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