Without touching her, he drew her scent deep inside him. His hand rose toward her chest — and the next instant, a powerful kick to the gut sent him sprawling backward. For a little while he couldn't make sense of what had happened. Wincing with pain, he slowly lifted his head and looked.

She had sat up on the sofa and was staring straight at him. Vic looked at her as though seeing her for the very first time. This was nothing like before. In the eyes fixed on him there wasn't a single speck of fear — instead they were red with fury. For a moment he even wondered whether this was really Elena. The memory of her kick came rushing back, and with a snarl of "You—" he lunged at her. Without even rising from where she sat, she took aim at his ankle and kicked, and he went down nose-first onto the floor. Already only half-conscious, he now lost what little awareness remained and lay sprawled on the ground. She got up and came over to him. With her foot she nudged him onto his back. Her face was twisted with loathing for him. A contemptuous smile on her lips, she picked up the bed sheet lying there and tore it down the middle. With one half she bound his legs, with the other his hands. She took a length of tape and pressed it over his mouth as well. Then, with one last look at him, she picked up her phone and stepped outside.

"Maya… how did it go… over there…"

"Mm… tell them there's nothing to fear…"

"No, everything's fine here…"

"Don't worry… I'll take care of it…"

"I'll call you… bye."

Even after she hung up, she stayed sitting on that balcony a while longer. As she gazed out into the darkness, a face with cat-like eyes and dimples rose up in her mind. His smiling face filled her with a spreading chill. Closing her eyes, she drew his face into her heart. Her right hand pressed against her left chest, just below the collarbone. Softly, her lips whispered—

"Aaron… 😍"

As the syllables fell from her lips, her eyes kept them company, letting fall drop after drop of tears. The dark memories of the past came flooding into her mind, and she pulled her eyes wide open. There was no pain in them now — only the all-destroying fury of one ready to lay waste to everything.

After a while she went into the room. Vic was trying to get up, struggling with all his might to free himself from the bindings. She locked the door and stood leaning against it, arms folded, watching him. His helplessness spread a smile across her face. Seeing it, he glared at her sharply. With the tape over his mouth, he couldn't say a word. Lying on the floor, he writhed and twisted.

"Don't strain yourself so hard… all you'll get is pain, you can't do a thing. And I'm not going to untie you. So be good and lie still…"

And with that she stepped over him, went to the bed, and lay down.

He couldn't bear that it was she who was defeating him. It sharpened the edge of the vengeance inside him. But unable to react just then, and worn down by the liquor in him, he could think no further. For the first time in his life, he drifted off to sleep on the bare floor.

✦

She stood with her eyes fixed on the sea. The beauty of the setting sun lay on her face too. Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Instead of alarm, it brought a brimming smile to her face. She closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and leaned against his shoulder. The arms that held her she clasped in her own.

He tilted his head and pressed his lips to the side of her forehead. At the coolness of his lips she opened her eyes and turned to face him. In his cat-like eyes she could see his love for her surging like the sea. She raised her hand and touched his eyes. His eyes closed of their own accord. Slowly a smile that could entrance anyone bloomed on his lips, and as if to heighten its beauty, deep dimples appeared in both his cheeks. She watched the expressions crossing his face with wonder and a great deal of fondness. Her fingers flowed down from his eyes and came to rest in his dimples. His trimmed stubble tickled her fingertips. Her gaze went to his faintly orange lips, and her fingers moved there with it. The moment she gently stroked his lower lip with her thumb, he caught that hand and opened his eyes. With his other hand he held the back of her neck and drew her close. Pressing his forehead to hers, he stayed like that a while.

"I love you, Ellie ❤️"

The instant his tender voice settled into her ear, she woke with a start.

The moment she realised it had been a memory coloured by a time long gone, the happiness she had felt until then gave way to pain.

She should never have woken from that dream… If only it had been an eternal sleep, she would have been so glad. Why did you leave me, Aaron… Didn't you know your Ellie can't manage without you… I'll come to you. After I've given those who tore us apart the answer they deserve, I'll come back to you. When I stand before you, I'll have a fistful of answers ready for you… I won't spare a single one of them… I'll make them suffer every moment. As her eyes tried to wash away the pain in her heart, she shut them tight by sheer will — refusing to let that pain ease, melting it in the furnace of her mind and reforging it into the shape of an unquenchable vengeance.

With a sigh she opened her eyes and climbed down from the bed. It was only then that she noticed Vic, curled up against the cold.

"Why so much anger, Ellie… You don't even know yourself what you do when you're angry…"

Aaron's voice rang in her ear… Did I overdo it…? But he did come to harm me, didn't he… Still, I could at least have given him a blanket… No — there's no reason at all to feel sorry for him… I only have to remember how this marriage came about.

As her mind began to sway this way and that, she gave her head a shake, knelt down beside him, and quietly, without waking him, undid the bindings on his hands and feet… and gently the tape over his mouth too. He gave a squirm and stretched out flat. With a glance at him, she went off to the washroom.

When she went downstairs, Vic's mother was in the kitchen, along with the woman who had come in to help with the work. The moment she saw her, the older woman smiled.

"You're up, dear… Janet, get her some tea…"

"No need… I'd rather have coffee… I'll make it myself…"

She made her coffee and carried it outside. Out in the garden, Richard sat on a bench reading the newspaper. The moment he saw her, he beckoned her over. She went across and sat down opposite him. By then Catherine had come out too.

"Yesterday I couldn't get the chance to talk to you, dear… I know how he behaves toward you… We old folks can't stop him, child… He's a child we were granted very late, after much praying and many tears… and so we raised him with rather too much love and indulgence… While we got him everything he ever wished for, we failed to see the obstinacy and arrogance growing in him… By the time we realised our mistake, it was far too late… From the moment we began to oppose him, he started to drift away from us… Now we only share this house, nothing more… there isn't even a word spoken between us…"

As he said it, his voice was breaking… Catherine gripped his hand tightly.

"His temper and his stubbornness may run high, but if you love him he will never let go of your hand… Even when he's angry, all you need do is treat him with love… Through love he can be changed…"

She could sense a mother's anguish in Catherine's words… At that, with a smile, she set the coffee cup down and looked at them.

"Since you both already know everything, let me say my part… One way or another, once your son's purpose is served, I'm out… He married me only to win in front of his friends, didn't he… But he will not win against me… I will not let him subdue me… And quite apart from that, I know how to get out of this bond… To bear everything… to wrap him in love… to wait for his mercy — I don't think I'm willing to do that… So don't expect any of a daughter-in-law's duties from me… Just think of me as a paying guest who could walk out of here at any moment…"

"Dear, he's the one who put the wedding ring on your finger… Won't you give this bond a chance?"

"The wedding ring… A wedding ring and all its sanctity are things both people in a marriage are meant to honour… This marriage, for me, is a transaction… a transaction struck over me without my consent… Beyond that, this bond holds nothing sacred enough to be worth giving a chance…"

"But…"

Catherine was getting ready to say something more when Richard stopped her.

"All right… dear, no one here will force you into anything… Whatever help you need, you can tell us… It's only being a daughter-in-law that's the trouble, isn't it… Until you go, you can live here as our own daughter…"

"Thank you so much for understanding me, uncle…"

She said it, clasping his hands in hers.

Saying she had to step out for a bit, she rose. She had walked a few steps past them when she turned back.

"By the way… in self-defence I may sometimes have to hurt your son, all right… It's only because there's no other way…"

Catherine was startled to hear it, but on Richard's lips there was a smile.

"What are you smiling about…"

Once she had gone, Catherine asked her husband.

"Until now I'd been afraid for my son's life… Not anymore… She's a clever one… Only she can set our boy right… You needn't be afraid now… everything will turn out fine… A girl exactly like this is the one I dreamed of for a daughter-in-law…"

Hearing that, the smile on his face spread to her as well.

✦

Vic slowly blinked his eyes open. His whole body ached. His head felt as if it were being split open. Pressing a hand to it, he got up off the floor. Everything that had happened the night before came back to him. He looked at his hands… no bindings at all… Had he only imagined it in his drunken stupor…? When he cast his eyes around, he saw the bed sheet that had bound him lying there in two pieces.

Seething with rage, he was about to head over to her when his phone rang… It was Stephen… calling to find out how the night before had gone.

He drew one deep breath and took the call.

Just as he'd expected, it was the previous night's doings Stephen wanted to hear about. Could he say she had beaten him down…? Wouldn't he lose face… So he dressed it up in his own fashion… In the end he got rid of him by saying he was worn out after a sleepless night.

"The bastard… the things he wants to know…"

Cutting the call and turning around still muttering, what he saw was her — leaning against the wall, arms folded, looking straight at him.

To be continued…