Maya
“Hey, baby doll.”
The sound of his voice makes my skin crawl.
“You told me to call you. I am calling. What the hell do you want?” I hiss.
“Now, now, be nice, Maya. As I mentioned in the letter, if I can’t have you, neither can Conrad.” He snaps.
I roll my eyes, “He already has me. We are getting married, remember?” I say smugly.
He must hate the idea of me becoming someone else’s wife.
“No, you aren’t getting married. Listen carefully because it is important.” He warns.
“Are you so damn stupid that you think you can make me call off my engagement, Callum? Aren’t you bored of your shitty games and childish behaviour?” I snap.
“I don’t think. I know. Here is the deal. You leave Conrad and disappear. You don’t tell him where or when you are going.” He states firmly.
I scoff, “And please, share with me how you plan on doing that. What makes you believe I will leave him because you tell me to?”
“Do you think I was kidding when I said I would go after Conrad’s family? I meant every single word of it. Not only will I go after them, but I will get what I can from Conrad because he is stupid enough to pay a lot of money to keep you safe, not realising it won’t help any. I know where his parents stay. I can easily find out where Chelsea stays, too.” He laughs.
My grip on my cell tightens, “You realise the more you stick around, the higher the chance you will get caught, right?”
“I haven’t been caught yet. The fact that it could be a possibility, don’t you think that makes me even more unpredictable and dangerous? I am not messing around, Maya. You won’t come back to me, so I will make sure you leave him too. Do you really want to be responsible for all the terrible things happening to his family, Maya? I didn’t think you were a selfish person.” He says.
“Callum, you will leave them the hell alone. This has nothing to do with them.” I snap, angry tears rolling down my cheeks.
“No, I won’t leave them alone. I got to Conrad; I can get to them. And if that isn’t enough, I will go after him again and make sure the job is done right. You say you love him, but I don’t think you do because if you did, you would have left way before now before ruining his life.”
“Callum, why can’t you just leave us all alone and move on with your life?”
“He took what is mine. I don’t like people taking things from me. Here is what you are going to do. You can take a couple of days to think it over; if you care for any of them, you will leave. You have two days to tell me your answer and a week to disappear.” He laughs.
“And how do I know you will leave them alone if I disappear?” I ask.
“Because without you, I have no reason to go after them. You should look into some flights to somewhere far away. You have two days. I don’t hear anything; I will make my first move.”
“Callum, you can’t make me do this.” I whimper.
“Yes, I can. If you want to keep them safe, you will vanish. Don’t pretend like you do. I will have people watching and know if you stay close. Two days, Maya. You are lucky I am giving you any time. Don’t tell Conrad of our conversation either because if I find out you have, there will be severe consequences, and you will have no idea who I will go after first.” He threatens and hangs up.
I break down the second he does. I wish he were lying, but he isn’t. He will do what he said. The only way to stop all of this is if I disappear unless I can find a way to get him caught. I could arrange to meet him, but he wouldn’t fall for that. He would know something isn’t right.
I don’t want to leave Conrad, but I may not have a choice. I don’t want anyone else hurt because of me. I have caused Conrad and his family enough pain. I should have left before I got in so deep. This is all my fault. The tears continue to fall, and my heart breaks into a million pieces.
How can I break the man’s heart who has cared for and loved me so purely? The man who changed my life and showed me I am worth something. He will never forgive me, but I would rather him hate me than anyone get hurt. It doesn’t need to be permanent. I can leave until Callum is caught.
Where do I go? I don’t have anyone. I would rather stay on the street than return home to my family. How am I going to manage being away from Conrad? This is all too much. I need to act like everything is okay until I work out what to do. I needed to lie to him, which I promised I wouldn’t. I got mad at him for lying to me; now I need to do the same thing to him.
Why am I not allowed to be happy? Have I not suffered enough in my life? What did I do to deserve all of this? I am not a bad person. I don’t hurt anyone or cause problems. I need a way to make sure I don’t need to go anywhere, but it needs to be safe for everyone involved.
I could go back to Callum, but I know if I do, things will be worse than before, and I will end up dead one day when he goes too far. I know more than ever what he is capable of. He would make sure I was punished for leaving if he got me back. It is not an option, and I don’t want it to be one. I may need to disappear, and if I do, I will. I would do anything to protect Conrad, his family, his business and his money. He will find someone else, someone without baggage, someone more suited for him.
I pulled it together because Conrad will be back soon. I gathered everything that came in the envelope and put it all back in. I rush to our bedroom and hide it in a box of my things at the back of the closet. Conrad can’t find it.
I crawl onto the bed, lying on my stomach and bury my face in the pillow, screaming into it. How am I going to do all of this? I can’t disappear without a word. I will leave a letter and try to explain why. Callum would never know.
I sigh and sit up. I can’t keep doing this. I need to find a distraction. I pull myself off the bed and head to the kitchen, trying to use my cookies as a distraction. I can’t be in a state when Conrad comes home because he will know straightaway something is wrong.
I could tell him, but what if Callum finds out? I can only imagine what Conrad would do if he found out. He would search for him, and if he gets his hand on him, I worry he will end up killing him or seriously hurting him. I don’t want Conrad ruining his life because of me. It is safer this way. I hate how it is, but for the moment, I don’t have a choice unless I come up with a better plan. It will be best if I leave Conrad and his family to return to the life they had before I showed up and ruined everything.