The Man I Couldn’t Escape Chapter 01
Inside the dimly lit villa atop the mountain, sweat had soaked the stray hairs at Lorelei Payne’s temples, while Rayden Weber pinned her beneath him.
“Not today… Rayden… Stop…” she whispered.
Rayden glanced at her, a cold laugh escaping him as he knocked the memorial photo of Conrad Maire off the nightstand. His rhythm grew faster, more forceful.
Lorelei couldn’t help moaning.
The knuckles of her hand gripping the bedsheet turned white from the pressure.
“Dare not look at him?” Rayden’s rough thumb pad pressed down on her eyelid. His eyes darkened as he worked harder on her, his voice husky. “Why cheat on me, huh? Ten cases of condoms. How many times did you two do it?”
The flicker of emotion vanished from his eyes. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to open her eyes. The next second, he thrust into her without holding back.
Her lips and tongue tasted the metallic tang of blood.
Tears slid uncontrollably from the corners of Lorelei’s eyes.
Three years ago, Rayden fell in love with her at first sight. Without waiting for her consent, he used his connections to get their marriage registered and kept her by his side.
Except during her period, he’d take her every night with insatiable lust.
She tried every possible means to leave him.
However, he caught her and brought her back each time.
Lorelei should hate him… but she couldn’t do it.
Rayden, who had never stepped into a kitchen, learned to cook her favorite food. Anything she looked at twice would appear in their home the following day. When she fell ill, even if he was on a business trip, he would rush back without hesitation, traveling back and forth just to stay by her side…
She couldn’t lie to herself. Her heart had indeed wavered.
That was how three years went by.
Then, just in the first month Lorelei had decided to stop running, the security guard Conrad approached her.
He said he wanted to make a deal with her.
If she helped get treatment for his son, he’d help her leave.
No matter what, she at least needed to go home and tell her family about her and Rayden.
On the appointed day, Lorelei got into a car, but ended up in a car accident.
When she came around, Rayden had pinned her directly against the floor-to-ceiling window, biting her lip viciously until it bled as he thrust into her with brutal force.
“You’ve always wanted to leave me because of him?”
***
The dim light died out in the last wisp of night breeze.
The sound of water came from the bathroom.
Lorelei’s body twitched uncontrollably.
She had explained countless times, but Rayden had never believed her.
Closing her eyes briefly, she put on her clothes and struggled to get out of bed.
Lorelei hailed a taxi at the door. “To the pharmacy…”
Before she could finish speaking, someone suddenly covered her mouth and nose from behind.
When she came to her senses again, a basin of cold water was splashed over her unexpectedly.
The man wearing a mask met her gaze.
“We’re just doing our job for the money.
“Sorry about this, Mrs. Weber.”
Lorelei’s face turned pale as she stumbled back, struggling against the iron chains binding her ankles.
Before she could utter a word to negotiate, a glowing red branding iron was suddenly pressed against her back. The searing pain ripped the voice right out of her throat.
However, it was still far from over.
The sizzle of burning flesh sounded one after another by her ear. Excruciating pain traveled from her back to her side, then down to her calf.
She lost track of how long it had been. The man in charge set down his tool and looked down at her, a trace of sympathy in his eyes. “Stop trying to run away again.”
Lorelei’s nails scraped across the concrete floor.
“I was just going to buy… W-what… does this mean?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
The man didn’t respond. He answered a call and walked off to the side.
She stared blankly at the floor.
The first time she tried to run away, the car she was in suffered a sudden tire blowout and plunged straight into the sea. The third time, the brakes failed without warning, and she nearly rolled down the mountain… The last time, a truck veered out of control and barreled toward them. If she hadn’t been sitting in the passenger seat…
The pain throughout her body echoed with her heartache.
Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. The scent of sandalwood filled Rayden’s room. Lorelei’s fingers curled slightly.
Just as she attempted to sit up, footsteps sounded outside the door.
“Mr. Weber, Ms. Serrano is back in the country.”
Rayden’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His back went stiff.
The butler glanced toward the bedroom. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke, “After Ms. Serrano went abroad, you married Mrs. Weber in a fit of anger. These past three years, every time Mrs. Weber tried to leave, you staged a scene and brought her back with great fanfare. I know you did it so the news would reach Ms. Serrano and force her to … come back to you.
“But things can’t stay hidden forever, especially this time… You used the whole condom thing to make an even bigger scene. Now that Ms. Serrano is back, Mr. Weber, why don’t you just let Mrs. Weber go?”
The color drained bit by bit from Lorelei’s face.
A long moment passed. Then Rayden’s voice came from the other side of the door, carrying a coldness and mockery she had never heard from him before.
“I didn’t spend so much effort taking care of her to run a charity.”
The corridor suddenly fell silent.
After a long pause, a low, raspy laugh sounded. “Natasha finally came back?
“What am I to her? Some pathetic fool she can summon whenever she wants and throw away whenever she’s done?”
His breathing was strained. Heavy footsteps retreated from the other side of the door.
Lorelei suddenly dry-heaved, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
She knocked her water glass to the floor as she gasped for air like a drowning woman.
After a long while, she suddenly laughed with red eyes.
Love at first sight? Irreplaceable beloved?
It turned out that from the very beginning, this was all just a lie.
Yet she had been like a fool, totally buying it…
Perhaps Rayden had left in a hurry and forgotten to reinforce the signal jammer. Lorelei’s phone lit up for the first time in ages.
Messages from her elder brother, Terrance Payne, popped up one after another.
“Still not done having fun in San Francisco?”
“Gone completely wild? Not even replying to messages?”
“This is the last month. Come home, or I’m coming to drag you back myself.”