Linda ran out of the banquet hall with fear written all over her tender face. Her hands gripped the hem of her clothing as she fearfully ran away like she had seen a demon. She saw a black Rolls-Royce parked at a corner near some trees and hid behind it under the shade of the trees. She sat on the ground and rested on the car.
"I'll just stay here until that demon leaves the surroundings." She muttered to herself as she tried to garner her energy.
The door of the backseat of the Rolls-Royce soon opened and Linda fell down on the floor.
"Running away from me, you landed in my arms." She heard his monstrous voice and attempted to run away but it was futile. His bodyguards had surrounded her, and they threw her into the back seat of the car, so that she was seated near him.
She tried to shift near to the door so that she would be far away from the monstrous man at all cost.

Linda was a twenty-three year old young woman. She was beautiful and graceful. A stunning woman, one that always warranted a second look. Her mother had died a long time ago, and her father who was an irresponsible drunkard was also dead. She was adopted by her aunt, Stephanie after the death of her parents. So she was brought to live with Stephanie and Stephanie's husband, Jackson.
When she was eighteen years old, she walked into her boyfriend's room and found him entangled with another woman. There and then, she ended the relationship and made her way to the bar at night to drink away her sorrows. She drank herself to stupor and was unconscious of her whole environment. When she woke up the next morning, she found herself in the hands of a man, on the bed, without any clothes on. She discovered that she had lost her virginity to the strange man. Turning to look at him, she was frightened. The man who had deflowered her was Jayden, her aunt's stepson, the one who hated her! She immediately ran away from the room, and very far out of the city of New York. Upon her arrival in Orange County, she informed her aunt about her departure. Her aunt was shocked to learn about this, and begged her to return but Linda did not yield. For four years, she stayed very far away from her family and from the city. However, her aunt called her a few days back and begged her to come back home in order to celebrate her birthday with her. Though Linda was reluctant, she knew she could not continue to stay away from her aunt so she yielded. She was exceptionally happy when her aunt, Stephanie, told her that Jayden would not appear. However, a few minutes after she made her way into the banquet hall, and exchanged pleasantries with her aunt, Stephanie, and her aunt's husband, Jayden's father, Jackson, she sighted Jayden making his way into the hall. Immediately, she ran out of the hall through the conspicuous exit but unfortunately for her, she found refuge in the enemy's lair, where she was caught.

Tears rolled down her eyes at these reminiscences.
Jayden's dark eyes scanned her petite body and she shivered. His large palms held her jaws tightly.
"Haaa! " She whimpered in discomfort.
"So you ran away, huh? " He laughed at her.
"Let me go! " She tried to protest.
"No! "
"I have nothing to do with it all! "
"But she's your aunt, so you'll suffer for her sins."
"Why do I have to? My aunt doesn't have anything to do with it! "
"She killed my mother!"
"No Jayden! She didn't!"
"Shut up!"
He dragged her into the premises of his mansion and threw her on the floor as the servants looked on. Jayden opened her handbag and took away her passport and identity card. Without these, she could not leave the city. It was all torture.
"You'll be living here from now on and I'll ensure you suffer till you wish you were dead, till you begged for death."
"Then just kill me!" Linda said with tears.
"No, I won't. Death will be too easy for you. You cannot kill yourself and no one has the right to kill you. Your life and death are in my hands!" Jayden declared, domineeringly.
"Lead her to the room where she'll be staying! " He barked at his servants.

Sitting in her room, Linda sought for ways to escape from the mansion. Jayden was an overly powerful man. He was domineering to the extent that his father feared him too. No one in the city could oppose him so Linda had no one to help her get out of Jayden's grip.
Jayden had always called Stephanie a mistress who caused his mother's death so he hated her, Linda and his father, Jackson. He felt that it was the affair between Jackson and Stephanie that led his mother to commit suicide. Jackson, Jayden's father was a successful business man, who had inherited his father's business empire. As Jayden was his only son, he desired to ensure that Jayden led the empire in the future. However, Jayden did not want to have anything to do with Jackson, his father, talkless of the business empire. On his own, Jayden built his own group of companies, acquiring wealth and power that led him to be the most powerful man in the city, more powerful than his father.
After building his business empire to an admirable height, Jayden became the richest and most powerful man in the city and beyond. He controlled the length and breadth of the whole city and was highly respected at such a young age. He was twenty eight years old and it had been more than ten years since the demise of his mother, but he could not forget his mother and he was out to take revenge on Linda because of the sins that he claimed her aunt committed.

One day, Linda left the room that was alloted to her in Jayden's house. She walked without much strength due to the torture she faced day by day. Her eyes were dull, her hair scattered, her veins were bulging, and she was staggering while walking. She stood in front of the terrace and looked down. The distance was terrifying but she was not frightened. She was determined to end her life once and for all. She believed that there was no use in living any longer. She climbed on top of the terrace and was about to jump down when a firm hand dragged her down into his embrace.
“Don't you dare, Linda!!!” He whispered into her ears, domineeringly.
“Let me go!! Just let me die!!” She struggled in his embrace but it was to no avail.
Jayden carried her away from there and went to her room. He laid her on the bed and headed out.
“I hate you so much, Jayden!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Jayden stopped in his tracks, his body stiffened. He turned to look at her as he took in her appearance. After a long time, he stepped out of the room, and closed the door with a loud bang.
After the first futile attempt to take her life, Linda decided to try once more. On this particular day, she made her way into the kitchen and took the sharpest knife in the kitchen. She sharpened it more with the edge of the cupboard and stabbed herself. It was a slight cut on her waist because before she could fully harm herself, Jayden had made his way into the kitchen and snatched the knife from her hands. He picked her up and took her into the room and then called his doctor. When the doctor was done with the stitches, he fed her food. Afterwards, he took ropes and tied her hands to the bed.
“Day and night, you'll be here! Your freedom is taken!”
“I'll still kill myself!” Linda shouted even though her voice was feeble.
“And I'll kill your aunt, and your little cousin!” Jayden threatened her.
“But he is your brother!” Linda was shocked.
“And do I care? Kill yourself, and I'll murder your family members too!” Jayden was angry as he exited the room. As Jayden threatened her, Linda became very scared and helpless because she knew that he was capable of doing what he said.

Linda lived her life in torment for many months. She had no means of leaving the city. Apart from the fact that her hands were firmly tied to the bed post, (and were only released whenever she needed to serve Jayden), her identity card and passport had been seized by Jayden. He had even given orders at the airport and seaport to prevent Linda from leaving the city. She became nothing more than Jayden's sex toy. He controlled her in all aspects of her life. Infact, without his permission she could not breathe. He was so obsessed with torturing and punishing her. Every night, he would recklessly have sex with her and leave bite marks on her body. Due to exhaustion, Linda would faint and would not wake up for days. Though Jayden had a fiancee, he did not have any sexual intercourse with her. He was so obsessed with Linda's body and with the torture he gave to her that he did not have time for any other woman. He hated when she was out of his sight. He disliked when she was speaking to other men. He hated when her attention was on any other thing or person that was not him. He was totally obsessed with having her under his control.
"You have your fiance, why can't you leave me alone?" Linda had summoned courage to ask one day.
"You belong to me!!!" He had roared. The truth was that Jayden himself was ignorant of why he wanted her when he had his own fiancee.
The torture continued and Jayden's obsession grew. He made Linda work in one of the subsidiary companies he owned in order to monitor her movement, when she had relented and begged him to let her work.
Jayden would cuff her hands to the bed and keep her indoors for days. He would tape her mouth and torture her to the extreme. Whenever he tortured her to the extent that she cried or fainted, his body would stiffen and he would release her. Whenever she said that she hated him, his eyes would go cold and he would get angry. Why? Regardless of these, the torture continued, his obsession grew and his possessiveness was unbreakable.

Then, a day came.
He walked into the room that Linda lived and found out that she was not there. His heart raced as he kept searching for her. The household staff and bodyguards had no idea of her whereabouts. Jayden was on the verge of madness as he could not find her. Days turned into weeks and still Linda was missing. Jayden's handsome face was adorned with dark circles. He searched for Linda day and night, but he could not find her. He was totally obsessed with her to the point that he could not do a day without her. He wondered if she was dead or she ran away. At all cost, he must find her. Was it still punishment or something else?

Linda sat in the garden behind the house that she lived in, in Cambridge with her lover, Noah. She had met Noah while she was in Orange County during her college days. Even though he knew of her past experience with her exboyfriend and the things that occurred after their breakup, he still loved her wholeheartedly. He was also a very influential man, but he was not as powerful as Jayden was. He was the one that had helped her escape from Jayden's home and took her away from the city, after getting her a fake passport and identity card. Though for the past few months, she was living in fear as she was afraid of Jayden getting a hold of her, she was still happy that she could be free from his control. Her eyes scanned her lover's handsome face. Though he knew that she had been invaded by the powerful Jayden, he still loved her endlessly.

The two of them had planned to run away from the country and start a new life. Linda was happy that she would finally be free and far away from Jayden. Everything they had planned seemed to be going well.
"Let's get…" Noah, Linda's lover, was saying before his statement was cut off by the sound of an incoming helicopter. Their eyes shut up as they looked up at the helicopter. Noah and Linda held hands and ran towards the ocean in order to get into their ship. But they were too slow. They were intercepted by Jayden's bodyguards who blocked all routes.
Linda and Noah stopped in their tracks as they faced the well trained bodyguards that surrounded them.
"You ran away, again!" They heard the voice that always sent shivers down their spine. "I thought you were dead." He mocked Linda. "From the grave or on the surface of the earth, I'll hunt you down. You are not permitted to die without my will." He dragged Linda away as she protested.
"Silence him!" That was the command Linda heard before the sound of a gunshot that took Noah's life. Turning around, she saw her lover on the floor and he was greatly soaked with blood. Her heartbeat faster, her body trembled, and her legs weakened. She let out a loud cry as Jayden continued to drag her away.

Getting back to the mansion where Jayden imprisoned her, Linda became mentally unstable. The doctor had said that too much pressure on her could make her lose her mind but Jayden was not going to hear that. She was his, now and forever more. Jayden was in love with Linda but he was too obsessed with her to realize so. He would make out with her violently and terrifyingly that she would not be able to wake for weeks.
"You are mine now and forever more." He would always chant in her ears as she looked on at him weakly. "I'll hunt you till the end of the earth if you ever try to run away again.”


© Haiza.