Chapter 96 Finally, He Is Here
Iva’s P.O.V.
Daniel stands in front of me, scanning me with a hunger that made me want to claw my skin off.
“Strip,” he commands, making me shiver.
I move back until my back hits the wall, my eyes filled with fear as I stare at him. What he has asked me to do, I can never do. I can never expose myself to anyone except my husband, Will.
“No.” I shake my head. “Daniel, please… You said I just had to stay. I’ll do anything else. I’ll cook, I’ll clean, I’ll be your prisoner… but not this.”
His face darkens. The fake gentleness has completely disappeared from his expression, as if it never existed.
He bends down and picks up the fruit knife from the floor, the same knife I tried to attack him with.
Before I can move, he lunges forward and grabs my forearm before pressing the knife against my skin.
The blade cuts into my arm, and I gasp as pain burns through my skin. A thin red line appears instantly, blood slowly dripping down my arm. The sting burns like fire.
“I won’t ask again, Iva.” He glares at me, dragging the bloody knife lightly over the cut. “Take off your clothes. Now.”
I stare at the blood on my arm, then slowly lift my eyes to his face.
“You can cut me a thousand times,” I say with tears in my eyes. “You can kill me. But I will never give you the right to see my body. That belongs to Will. Only Will. Even if he isn’t here… I am his wife. My soul and my body belong to him.”
“His?” Daniel roars, slapping me so hard that my head snaps to the side. The sound echoes through the room. I lose my balance and crash to the floor.
My head spins and I taste blood in my mouth.
He steps over me and grabs my hair roughly, yanking my head up so I’m forced to look at him. “What did I tell you?” he spits angrily. “You don’t get to choose anymore. You belong to me now. Every inch of you. Your breath, your skin, your thoughts… everything is my property.”
He presses the cold edge of the knife against my throat. “Follow my orders. Or do you want me to call my men and have them put a bullet in Will’s head right now?”
My heart stops beating for a second.
“Don’t forget, his life is in your hands. If you want him to keep breathing, you will stop being his wife and start being my toy. Now… get up.”
I lie on the floor for a moment, trembling.
The image of Will’s smiling face appears in my mind.
I have already lost my baby. I cannot lose him too. Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to us? Why did our baby die? What was his fault? Why is God making us suffer like this? I feel like I’m losing my strength now.
But the only thing keeping me breathing is the thought that Will is out there waiting for me. My heart is still beating because his is, too. I have to keep us alive, because deep down I know we will find our way back to each other. Somehow… everything will be alright.
Slowly, painfully, I push myself up from the floor. My body feels empty, like my soul has already left me.
“Okay.” Daniel pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I’m calling my men to shoot him now.”
“No!” I cry out in panic. “No, please! I’ll remove my clothes. Please don’t kill him.”
My hands shake violently as I grab the hem of my top, tears trickling down my cheeks.
Then I pull it over my head.
I stand there in front of the monster, half-naked, feeling colder than I have ever felt in my life.
Daniel’s eyes slowly scan my body. The look on his face makes my stomach twist with disgust.
At that moment, I hate my own body.
I wish the ground would open and swallow me whole so I can disappear from his sight.
But I can’t.
I don’t want to lose my husband after my baby.
I couldn’t even protect our little one. A sob rises in my throat. I’m such a bad mother. Such a bad wife.
“What’s that?” Daniel suddenly takes my waist in a tight grip, his eyes fixed on the tattoo below my chest.
His eyes are burning with anger. “Will’s desperate bitch,” he sneers. “No… not Will. You’re my bitch now.”
The knife in his hand moves toward the tattoo.
My eyes widen in shock as the blade hovers over Will’s name.
He’s about to cut it.
But suddenly, the door bursts open.
“Drop the weapon.”
My breath stops.
My eyes lift toward the doorway.
And there he is.
Will.
Standing there with the police behind him. For a second, the world goes silent. I finally see what I was praying to see in that hospital room.
My Will. Finally, he is here.
But it’s too late.
The moment my eyes meet his, my chest breaks completely.
Tears pour down my face uncontrollably.
I start crying harder than I ever have before. I have lost everything. The happiness I waited years for… my baby… our child.
How am I going to tell him that I couldn’t protect our baby? That they took our miracle away from me?
I can’t even think anymore. I don’t notice what is happening around me. I just stare into Will’s eyes.
His face is pale. His grey eyes are wide with shock as he looks at me. At the blood on my arm. At my half-naked body.
He looks like someone has taken his soul away.
And I know the moment he learns what Daniel did to us…
Everything will burn.