Chapter 1 - THE NIGHT MY HUSBAND TRIED TO BREAK ME
“Learn to obey me.”
Those were the last words my husband whispered before he pushed me under freezing water.
And the worst part?
He smiled.
I was seven months pregnant, standing barefoot on a frozen stone patio in the middle of a mountain storm, begging the man who promised to protect me to open the door.
“Diego… please.”
My voice shook.
“Please let me inside. I can’t feel my hands.”
The wind cut through my soaked clothes like knives.
I pressed one hand against my stomach.
Our baby was moving.
Too much.
Like she knew something was wrong.
But Diego just stood behind the glass door, staring at me.
Cold.
Silent.
Almost satisfied.
“Are you finally ready to listen?” he asked.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Listen? Diego, I’m pregnant. I’m freezing.”
He tilted his head.
“You always make everything about yourself.”
My heart cracked.
The man standing in front of me was not the man I married.
Or maybe…
This was the real him.
Six hours earlier, I was sitting across from him at our dinner table, believing it was just another normal night.
The fireplace was warm.
The wine was expensive.
The mountain house looked like a dream.
I had no idea I was sitting at the beginning of a nightmare.
Diego placed a folder in front of me.
“Sign these tonight.”
I looked down.
“What is this?”
“Business paperwork.”
I smiled slightly.
“Since when do you need me to sign business paperwork without my lawyer?”
His expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
A flash of anger.
“I’m your husband, Elena.”
“And I’m a shareholder.”
The room went quiet.
My father had given me company shares before I married Diego. They were mine. Protected.
I knew exactly what they were worth.
And I knew exactly what Diego was trying to do.
I turned the page.
My stomach dropped.
A transfer agreement.
Control rights.
Ownership changes.
And then I saw the name of the company receiving the assets.
A company connected to Sofia.
The woman everyone pretended not to know.
The woman whose perfume I found on Diego’s shirts.
The woman who always smiled too confidently whenever she saw me.
I slowly closed the folder.
“No.”
Diego stared.
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’re refusing your husband?”
“I’m refusing to sign something that could destroy my future and my child’s future.”
His mother, Brenna, who had been sitting quietly beside him, laughed.
“A wife who fights her husband is a wife who has forgotten her place.”
I looked at her.
“Is that what you taught him?”
She smiled.
“No.”
She leaned forward.
“That’s what happens when a woman thinks she has power.”
I stood up.
“I’m calling my attorney.”
That was when Diego smiled.
Not an angry smile.
A calm one.
The kind that made fear crawl up my spine.
“Maybe you need to remember something, Elena.”
“What?”
“You only have power because I allow you to believe you do.”
I walked away.
I should have left that night.
I should have trusted my instincts.
But I didn’t know the monster beside me had already made a decision.
After dinner, the guests left.
The mountain house became silent.
Too silent.
I walked toward the bedroom.
Then I heard the lock.
Click.
I stopped.
I turned around.
“Diego?”
No answer.
Another lock.
Then another.
My heart started racing.
“What are you doing?”
He walked toward me slowly.
“You embarrassed me tonight.”
“I protected myself.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“You challenged me.”
I stepped back.
“Diego, don’t do this.”
He grabbed my wrist.
“Maybe you need a lesson.”
Fear exploded inside me.
“Let go of me.”
He didn’t.
He dragged me through the house.
Outside.
Toward the pool area.
The freezing air hit my face.
“Diego!”
He opened the outdoor shower.
The metal pipes shook from the cold.
“No.”
I knew.
I knew exactly what he was about to do.
“I’m pregnant!”
He looked at my stomach.
Then back at me.
“You always use that baby as a shield.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“How can you say that?”
He turned the valve.
Ice-cold water crashed down.
I screamed.
The shock stole my breath.
My clothes became heavy instantly.
I fell against the wall.
“Diego!”
He watched.
He actually watched.
“Say you’ll sign.”
I couldn’t believe him.
“Please…”
“Say it.”
“I won’t.”
His face changed.
For a moment, I saw pure rage.
Then he stepped closer.
“Learn to obey me.”
And he pushed me.
My feet slipped.
The frozen ground hit my knees.
The water kept pouring.
I wrapped my arms around my stomach.
My baby kicked violently.
“Help me…”
Nothing.
Only the sound of water.
And my husband walking away.
But Diego didn’t know one thing.
My father had installed cameras everywhere.
May you like
And that night…
Someone was watching.
