I want to rile the people up, but getting caught is the last thing on my mind. Can’t change the system if I’m silenced, so I need to rescue myself before things get out of hand.
But where is Emmy? I can’t find her even though I’m looking around the area. She’s nowhere to be seen.
Then I spot her … getting dragged back to her hut by her own husband.
My heart sinks into my shoes, and I bolt after them as fast as I can.
He’ll punish her for what she did. I have to save her.
I burst into their home, slamming the door open like a crazed warrior. “Let her go!” I yell.
My sudden entrance catches the guy off guard, and his grip on her loosens for a moment … but that moment is enough for Emmy escape.
She runs off into the kitchen and grabs a big pot roast that was on the fire. Screaming out loud, she hits him with it in the back of the head.
I gasp in shock, and I cover my mouth as he drops to the floor, a red, bloodied wound on his skull.
Chapter 24
Natalie
“Oh my … oh no, no, no!” she yells, and she drops the roast immediately. “What did I do?”
I carefully step over his body and grab her to keep her from fainting. “Calm down.”
“I killed him!” she yells. “I killed him, right? I killed him! Oh God …”
“Shh …” She falls apart against me, crying her eyes out. “It’s okay,” I say, petting her back.
“No, I killed my husband!” she yells. “I’m a horrible wife.”
“No, don’t you say that, Emmy.” I lean back and make her look at me. “He deserved it. He hurt you.” I grab her arm and point at the bruise on her hands. “Look. Look what he did to you.”
Tears well up in her eyes. “But this is not what we were taught … I’m so confused.” She jerks free from my grip. “I hate him, but I’m supposed to love him. And now he’s dead because of me.” She starts pacing around the house. “What do I do?”
I quickly close the door and examine the body. “He’s definitely dead.”
She covers her mouth with her hand and shakes her head. “Oh God, what have I done?”
“You did what you had to, to protect yourself,” I say. “You deserve to live without pain, Emmy. And he’s caused you so much pain.”
“But that doesn’t make it right to murder him!”
I grab her and make her stop. “Listen to me. He was an awful man, just like all the others who hurt their wives.”
“A good wife takes care of her husband,” she mutters, in complete shock.
“A good wife is a wife who lives. Who’s happy,” I say. “And you deserve to be happy. There are other men out there who want someone like you. Who would treat you with dignity and respect.”
She pauses and really looks at me for the first time since she killed him. “Really?”
I nod.
“No, wait, we shouldn’t even be talking about this. I’m married.” She closes her eyes and sighs.
“Not anymore. He’s dead now,” I say, placing a hand on her cheek. “He can’t control you anymore.”
She breathes out a sigh of relief, and the warmth of my hand is starting to have an effect on her. “What do we do?”
“Get rid of the evidence,” I say. “And the body.”
She grabs the roast she used and looks at the blood dripping from the bone. The look in her eyes changes. One second she’s crying, clearly upset at her own actions, and then … poof. Gone is the meek, scared little lamb, and out comes the chilling, merciless wife with no remorse.
I knew she hated his guts; it was clear from the very first day.
She was born to do this.
And she marches straight back into the kitchen and stuffs the roast straight back into the fire.
Noah
“What the fuck is going on out there?” the president barks as he stares out the breakfast room’s window.
“Ah … I have no clue, sir,” I reply, trying to calm him down while also playing it cool by munching on an apple. “Maybe there was a celebration of some sort?”
“No, there’s something going on,” he says, and he marches straight for the door.
I quickly get up from my seat, leaving the apple. “Where are you going?”
“Out. Someone has to check,” he replies, heading straight for the exit.
“Hold up, we have guards for that,” I say, running a bit faster so I can catch up and get in front of him. “If you show yourself now, the people might think we don’t have the situation under control.”
“I am in control,” he growls back. “And I have plenty of guards to back me up. Now get out of my way.” He stares me down until I have no choice but to step away before he gets his guards to pin me down.