Chapter 1

Laura "I'm telling you, Laura, you will give me what I want, you will beg me to take it!" The monster said, dragging me across the floor. "Leave me alone!" I screamed, earning myself a hard slap. "You don't talk to me that way, I own you, Laura I own everything that has anything to do with you," he said, pulling my hair backward, making me look at his face. "I'm not yours, Jack and I don't want to continue in this relationship with you!" I said with all the courage I could muster. "What did you just say to me?" He asked, his eyes looking like there was a fire in them. "I am breaking up with you Jack, I don't want to ever see your face, and you want to break up with me? No baby, you are not allowed," he said, releasing my hair. "You don't take care of me, you take care of my parents, you know I've never taken anything from you," "I'm only in this relationship because my parents forced me, you know that too, you can stop taking care of them, I am no longer interested and that's it," I said glaring at him. He looked furious but I stayed strong, I couldn't afford to be weak. "You know what? I am going to go out now and when I come back, you had better be back to your senses!" "I am not changing my mind, Jack, I don't want to do this anymore," I said, determined to make him get the message. He raised his hand like he was going to hit me but I didn't flinch. When he realized that I wasn't afraid of him like I usually was, his hand dropped to his side and he left me sitting in the middle of the sitting room. I waited until I was sure he had driven out of the house, then I broke down in tears, crying my eyes out. I'd been in this forced relationship for about two years and all I'd gotten is loads of beating, tears, and pain. Jack started asking me out three years ago, but I always told him I was not interested he tried for months but I kept rejecting him. I don't know who gave him the idea, but someone did and it worked, he met with my parents, showered them with gifts and money, and in no time my greedy parents started pressuring me to accept him, they even threatened to disown me if I didn't accept him, foolish me, I did what they wanted and told Jack yes. Jack was ruthless. I knew this from the beginning of the relationship and he never tried to hide it, he always acted like he owned my body and soul and he expected me to agree to all his demands which always caused problems because he had a lot of them and they were very unreasonable. Jack wanted me to sleep with him but I didn't want to do that, I would always refuse and he would, in turn, beat me up. I always told my parents but they never did anything about it, instead, they would tell me to give him whatever he wanted, that it was my fault he beat me up. I slowly realized that to my parents, I'm just a ticket to money and luxury items, and Jack only sees me as a sexual object, he believes I have nothing else to offer. I realized none of them wanted the best for me, they were only interested in me for what they stood to gain and didn't care or think about much else. I put myself together, carried my bag and I left Jack's house, we didn't live together and my mission had been accomplished, I was free from Jack whether he liked it or not. I was off work so I went home, that was a bad idea because the moment I entered the house my parents didn't hesitate to tell me how displeased they were. "What did you say to Jack?" My mum asked the moment I entered. "That I am no longer interested in being in a relationship with him," I said folding my hands against my chest. "Look at your daughter! Can you see her?" The man I called my father said and I rolled my eyes. "As your mother, I say you text Jack right now, apologize to him and tell him you were out of your mind when you said those things," My mum said, as she got up. "I'm not going to do that, I'm no longer interested and that's it," I said petulantly, my resolve had hardened and there was nothing they could have said or done that would make me get back with Jack. "This man has been taking care of our family for years and you are saying you are no longer interested. We didn't know we raised such an ungrateful child," My 'father' said standing up too. "I'm ungrateful? That monster has been taking care of you and her, not me!" I said getting angrier each minute. "I see this is what I get for accepting a bastard," he said hitting the spot that hurts me the most, I knew he was not my biological father, he married my mum and she got pregnant with another man's child after they got married, he never ceased to remind me. "Do you see what you've done? Now you've got your father angry!" my mum yelled. "No, he said it already. I'm a bastard," I said, hurt but trying to act like it was not affecting me. "You will go now and apologize to Jack or we will disown you," she threatened and I chuckled, at that moment it felt like I was possessed by something. Something primal bubbled up from inside me and gave me the strength to face my mother, usually, whenever she threatened me, I cave in and do as she said, but not this time. "Let me save you the trouble Ma," I said coldly. "I'll pack my bags now and leave, I'm disowning you!" I continued, gaining courage. "Since you both love Jack so much then you can have him, go date him yourself!" I finished leaving them standing there, surprised. I went to my room and packed the little I had, I didn't have a plan but I knew I would figure everything out with time, I had no intention of spending another night in a place where I was not wanted. I dropped my luggage downstairs and my mum blocked my path. "If you leave now, don't come back again, I don't want to see you ever again," she said, warningly, She expected that I would change my mind if she made me think about the consequences of my actions. "That's the plan, Grace," I said, calling her by her first name to let her know I meant business. "Bye forever," I said moving past her. I could still hear her yelling till I was away from the house. It felt like I had just broken out of maximum security prison. I called my best friend to let her know I was on my way, then I flagged a cab that took me to her place.