Drake told the sheriff to lock me up, “as law demands”.

My cellphone was seized, my bank cards frozen, I was stripped down to my panties and thrown into a cold, damp prison.

I didn't shout, didn't beg. I just absorbed the entire cruelty even though I was losing it inside.

The media went crazy with the news that I killed Ava.

Drake went in front of cameras, shedding tears about how much he cherished his daughter.

“If not for my investigative prowess, I would have blamed the wrong woman. Elena acted so calm from the outside. I may not recover from this in a long time.”

Sandra wept like a baby too. She presented a small baby cloth.

“I made this with my hands for my niece. I… I don't even know what to do with it now.”

Her cries touched every heart that heard them. Drake took her in his arms, shielding her from the cameras.

The curses and hate on me were unimaginable and endless. No one cared to know the truth.

I was in the prison for three days, eating and drinking nothing.

Each day, a cop would drag me out and press hot metals on my skin, persuading me to withdraw the case from court.

I wept until I lost my voice. I begged to speak to Drake but the officers said he was very busy.

They also claimed he wasn't behind these “persuasion measures”.

“If I were you, I would lay low, accept my punishment and withdraw that case,” the sheriff repeatedly said.

Finally, when I was at the verge of death, I remembered my hopeful father and my brother in critical condition.

Then I whispered I wanted to withdraw.

The next minute, Drake arrived. He wasn't busy anymore.

He stood very far and held a scarf over his nostrils.

Sandra was perched beside him, his right hand shielding her from…me.

“Are you sure you can stand this? It's pretty… disgusting,” he said.

Sandra shrugged.

“She's my cousin. Even though the whole world has seen her for who she is, I would still care for her.”

Drake looked at her with admiration.

“I've never had a woman as kind as you are. Even at the risk of losing your child from the bad stench, you still chose family. It's just so bad I'm married and loyal to… her.”

I laughed through broken lips. If this was what marriage and loyalty meant, then it was better being married to the devil himself.

His eyes turned cold when they fell on me.

“I've been sending food and medications to you, why aren't you using them?”

I had checked the “drugs”, they were expired for several months, and the foods were bought from street sellers.

He shook his head and brought out court documents. Then he smiled.

“I learned you've made the right decision. Now sign this and make a video that you lied against Sandra all this time.”

I closed my eyes and remembered the incessant torture every night, the hunger, the stench. I recalled my sick brother, he was in cancer grade 4, and only the facility in Drake's hospital could treat him.

So, with tears streaming down my face, I signed. Then I made the video, denouncing that Sandra was the culprit.

Drake deleted it multiple times saying I wasn't convincing enough. He made me beg for Sandra's mercy, like a street dog begging for crumbs.

Then Sandra walked into the shot and hugged me.

“I forgive you,” she said.

Then leaned in to whisper, “What do you think I should call my baby? Maybe Ava?”

I almost tore her apart.

Drake, satisfied, took her back to his side. “Now that you've officially admitted to the murder, I'm sure you know the legal implications. I'll have my lawyers sue you.”

Something shattered in me.

So after all these… he wanted to sue me?

“Drake…” I tried to speak.

Sandra interrupted. “Cousin, look, Drake here has suffered greatly from your actions and stubbornness. His business is starting to crack. Yet he finds time to care for you.

“Even his influence cannot affect this. I'll beg on your behalf for a lighter sentence.”

Drake sighed and touched my face. This touch, which I once melted into, was now like hot iron pressed to my chin.

“You can come home tomorrow morning. I'll have a nurse look at you. They're pretty busy in the hospital so don't waste her time.”

Sandra hugged him. “You're just too kind.”

He poked her playfully. “I need your child to be born in a positive environment, full of love and care.”

Their words of hypocrisy dug excruciating holes inside me, leaving me gasping.

As they left, Sandra looked over her shoulder, her eyes full of mockery and triumph.

The next morning, I was released.

I walked out and there was no car from Drake. I flagged a cab only to discover my cards had been blocked.

I called Drake about my cards.

“Sandra needed all the money for her antenatal drugs. See this as compensation.”

“I need a fucking cab, Drake!” I snapped but the line had gone cold.

The cab driver was kind and brought me home.

I could barely walk with the bruises covering my skin, but I dragged myself through the mansion gates.

Drake stood at the front door, disgust on his face. “How did you pay the cab driver?”

Before I could speak, he slapped my face. Drake had never raised his hand on me.

“After all I do for you, you still whore around with cab drivers! You should have walked home rather than pay with sex!”

I wanted to cry, wanted to fall and weep so loudly.

But what would it solve? Just a few more days and Drake would beg me on his knees.

The nurse arrived an hour later.

Drake hovered around her.

“Are you not done yet? Your services are needed at the hospital!” he snapped every two minutes.

“Sir, her condition is critical. She needs to be admitted,” the nurse begged.

Drake scoffed. “I know my wife. She's strong. If she can't stand bruises, what would she do when she's in jail?”

So I was left with incomplete procedures. The spirits seared my wounds. The bandages were loose.

I kept whimpering and asking for painkillers.

But none of this compared to the agony in my soul.

Later, Drake left with Sandra for her antenatal checkup.

An hour later, I forced myself out and went to the hospital to see my brother.

I made his favorite porridge and imagined his smile when he would see me. I'd wipe his tears and make sure he didn't know what I had gone through.

When I reached his ward, I froze.

It was empty and sealed.

A doctor immediately took me aside.

“Last night there was a power malfunction in your brother's ward. He suffocated to death. I'm sorry.”

My knees buckled. The flask shattered. I slammed against the marble, my eyes blank, staring into space.

For 20 years, this hospital had never had a power malfunction, not for one second.

Why now?

Why only my brother's ward?

Why last night after I had signed the case withdrawal?

It was clear as daylight.

Drake wanted to break me so badly that I would fall and beg for his mercy.

He knew he had killed my brother, yet he made me withdraw the only case I had against him and Sandra.

As I sat there crumpled against the wall, the images of my brother flashing across my mind, the doctor touched my shoulder.

“Whatever problem you have with Drake, solve it quickly. You cannot stand him.”

Later that day, after seeing his corpse and scheduling a funeral, I drove back home.

The house was quiet and cold, just like my heart.

I staggered to the bedroom door only to hear intimate sounds from it.

Sandra's voice rang out, reeking with bliss.

“Even in my pregnancy you still find me attractive?” she moaned.

I immediately pulled my phone to record.

Drake's sweaty growl made me shiver with rage.

“Don't ruin this moment. I never loved Elena,” he said. “I only kept her close because she somehow made my life easier.”

“How would she feel if she discovers we've been having sex for a long time? The night I drowned Ava, you fucked me so hard I felt proud.”

Her laughter tore a large shred of my heart. I almost collapsed with pain.

“Ava was the only thing she used to hold me down. Good thing you got rid of her.”

“Why not just divorce her already?” Sandra moaned.

“Soon, baby. Once she's thrown into jail, no one will blame me for marrying you. But I need to keep her as an option.”

I immediately sent the clip to my father.

His call came in seconds.

I explained everything that had happened to him. He was furious that I'd kept this from him.

He broke down when he heard my brother was dead.

My brother, in order to support my marriage with Drake, had fallen out with my father.

Now he had been killed by the same man he lost his family for.

I sniffed as more tears poured down.

“Dad, I want Drake so ruined that there's nothing to fall back on. Destroy the very air he breathes!”

Just then, the door burst open. Drake was sweating.

“How long have you been here?”

I wiped at the tears. “Just came up.”

Sandra appeared behind him. A flicker of guilt flashed across his eyes.

“Sandra complained of back pain due to the pregnancy. So I gave her a massage.”

“Sure,” I said.

They expected a reaction from me. An outburst of jealousy.

When they got none, Sandra suddenly began to cry:

“I understand that you're angry, Elena, but please don't blame Drake. He's just been kind to me since my boyfriend left me.

“I can go if you want me to. Please blame me, not him.”

Drake rushed to hold her. His eyes darted to me, fierce and impatient.

“Your presence always ruins things for everyone! How long will you be jealous and unreasonable?”

I stared deep into his eyes.

“You killed my brother, Drake.”

His eyes stopped.

I didn't speak from pain or helplessness. It was something he had never seen before.

My fingers twitched with muscle memory of handling high-end guns.

“He became enemies with our father because of you,” I said. “He pulled every string to make you who you are. Yet you unplugged his life support.”

I wasn't done talking when Sandra walked up to me and slapped me hard.

“Because you're hurt shouldn't make you accuse an innocent man. He has kept your useless brother alive for months even though he's worse than dead vegetables. Well I pulled the plug myself!”

I couldn't hold it.

I struck her so hard she slammed against the wall.

Drake wasted no time.

He kicked me in the stomach, sending me hauling down the stairs. The sharp tiles of each step pierced my skin and broke my bone as I fell.

My world went dark.

He rushed after me, not to pick me up or check my pulse.

He began to stomp down on my belly and chest. Each stomp came with a word:

“Your brother was already worse than dead, Sandra only did him a favor. Yet you hit her!

“What if she loses her pregnancy? Are you doing this because you couldn't raise a child yourself?”

He didn't need to hit me again.

I screamed till my voice cracked.

In just a few days I had lost two of the most precious people in my life.

All for a man who we sacrificed everything for.

“Drake,” I whispered, “you'll pay dearly for this…”

Seeing the sheer damage he had done, he panicked and rushed me to the hospital.

“She can't die like this. If she wants to die, she has to be in prison first. So I don't take the blame.”

He warned the doctors. “Do everything to keep her alive. The police will come for her arrest. They must meet a strong Elena.”

I was in-between death and life as these words droned in my ear. They would be one of a thousand reasons I won't forgive Drake.

Just then Sandra walked in. Our eyes met and I saw a deadly smile on her lips.

She suddenly screamed and fell.

Drake ran to her and without hesitation ordered the doctors to let me go.

He touched her over.

“She looks pale. She needs blood.”

His eyes fell on me. Guilt flickered in them.

But when Sandra moaned again, every guilt vanished.

“Draw blood from Elena. Sandra can't lose the baby.”

This time the doctors stopped.

“Elena is at the point of death, lost so much blood, yet you want the little she has left taken from her?”

“Is she complaining?” Drake fired back. “I know my wife. She'll sacrifice anything to save her cousin.”

I wanted to protest but I had lost control of my body. I lost it long ago, the day I allowed myself to fall in love with a monster.

I laid there, helpless and dying.

The doctor, the same who saw my deep sorrow when I saw my dead brother, came up with another reason.

“They're not a match, sir. We can't do it now.”

Drake looked like he'd die. “Draw out the blood first and check later. Look! Is Elena refusing?”

“She can't even move, sir!”

“If anything happens to Sandra, this entire hospital will be shut down and every single person here jailed.”

The finality in his tone was horrifying.

“Sir, what about your wife? Don't you care about her?”

His gaze shifted to me, cold and resolute. “She has never complained before. She won't now. Take the blood.”

I was still conscious as the needle was inserted and the essence of my life rapidly sucked away.

Tears streamed down my face as I begged Drake with my eyes, muttered with my lips that I was dying inside.

He stared at me through it all, feeling nothing.

The monitors screamed loudly, the doctors glanced at Drake, hoping he'd notice I was going.

Drake didn't blink.

“Is that enough? Take more.”

When the third pint was being taken, Drake touched my forehead.

“I admire your strength. Nothing ever gets to you. I can see in your eyes you can give one more pint.

“Sandra will be forever grateful. You can even name her child if you want.”

He said those words as if they would erase everything.

The inside of my body felt like I had swallowed larva, I squirmed in pure agony as I fought to stay alive.

I forced myself to speak.

“Drake, nothing on earth will stop me from destroying you. Nothing…”

He laughed and leaned close.

“Says an orphan whose life revolves around me. See this as paying Sandra back for your allegations.”

He turned to the doctors. “You mustn't all cluster here. She can be monitored by just a student nurse with no expertise.

“Remember, my wife has to be strong enough to be arrested. Give her a strong injection to boost her strength.”

He supervised as five pints of blood from me were taken to Sandra's ward.

I laid there, shivering and forcing myself to keep breathing, through sheer will.

Everything in me was dissolving. I couldn't understand how a man could be so heartless. Not just any man; the one who had got down on one knee and declared eternal love for me.

When my eyes closed, I thought I had died.

I woke up hours later to a doctor staring down at me.

“Sandra didn't want the blood, said she was just overwhelmed and thought she needed blood.”

I stared back at her, feeling nothing.

“We tried to put it back in you but Mr Drake refused. Said Sandra might need it later.”

The only blood running in my veins now was hatred, in its darkest, deadliest form.

“Due to the force, many of your internal blood vessels burst. You need to be here for at least a month —”

It wasn't the blood that caused the injuries. It was Drake stomping down on my stomach and chest because I slapped his lover.

The doctor was still speaking when two cops arrived.

They halted when they saw me.

“Are you… Elena Hallwood?” they asked with confusion.

I nodded and quietly put out my hands.

“Go on. Do your job.” My voice was barely audible.

They fidgeted with their notes. “There must be a mistake somewhere.”

Just then, Drake burst in she the room became hotter. When our eyes met, he jolted, as though he didn't expect I'd be alive.

He saw the paleness of my face, the redness of my eyes, the bones poking out of my collar and cheeks.

And for a moment I thought his heart had softened.

He sighed and turned to the cops.

“I wish there was a way I could prevent this, but it's off my power. Take her away.”

“You filed the arrest yourself, sir,” one cop sharply countered.

“We can't arrest a woman in this condition. She'll die on the way to the van,” another said.

“It's fine,” I said.

Drake smiled widely. “If you continue in this good behavior, Elena, I'll plead for a lighter sentence for you.”

I ignored him.

My throat was parched, my lips still bleeding.

“Doctor, I need water,” I whispered.

“And who's going to pay for it?” Drake snapped, halting the doctor.

The entire room froze.

He approached me. “All you do is to waste everything I have built with my sweat and blood! You contribute nothing to me. You're useless yet I care about you. Now you want water?

“Do you even care how much that costs me? Do you know how hard Sandra has to work as the new manager to raise that amount? Yet you want to gulp it down in a go.”

Sandra walked into the room at that moment, caressing her pregnant belly like a trophy.

She showed Drake the picture of a gold-rimmed maternity gown which cost $100,000.

Drake immediately softened. Right there, he placed an order for 10,000 pieces of that dress, different shades and colors, from exquisite word-class designers, one for each day of her life.

The doctor fell down on her knees, tears in her eyes.

“Sir, you took over five pints of Elena's blood when she was unconscious, she sustained multiple internal injuries because of it. Yet you think a cup of water is expensive?”

“Sandra is fragile. Do you want her to lose her baby because of a mere billion? She needs it. Elena is just faking this to exploit my generosity. I won't allow her.”

He threw me a disgusted look and turned to the cops. “If you don't have this murderer arrested now, I'll make sure you lose your jobs and end up in jail!”

With no choice, they slammed cold, toothy handcuffs on my wrists. My hospital gown was covered in blood from the poorly done bandages.

I dragged my feet across the floor because every movement sent intense pain across my body.

Drake took Sandra in a hug, as though shielding her from me.

But she came and touched my hand.

“Don't worry, Elena, I'll visit you every day in jail. Here's the water you asked for.”

She shoved a half empty bottle of premium water into my hand. I let it fall.

The moment Sandra winced, Drake hauled the bottle at me.

It split my left eyebrow.

“Sandra decides to show you kindness and this is what she gets?” he barked, checking for an inexistent scratch on Sandra's foot.

As the blood gushed down my face, I was pushed into the police van.

Sandra gave me a device and whispered:

“In this are plenty of… steamy videos of your husband and me. In case you get lonely and need to cry…”

It was her triumphant laughter which brought hot tears to my eyes. And reminded me that I wouldn't have any pity on them when I strike back!

And while all of this went on, Drake made sure no camera saw it. So my father was kept in the dark at all times.

I was jailed without trial. Drake didn't show up one bit. The device Sandra gave me was so nauseating that I smashed it.

But tonight was the last night I had given my father.

Like a dream, it struck 12:00am.

An armoured jet landed in front of the prison.

With a single call from my father, I was released.

Soldiers poured out, escorting ten top doctors who placed me on a stretcher and into the jet. Three cops were shot dead at the spot.

My father had tears in his eyes when he saw my dying state. He hugged me, apologizing bitterly for not coming sooner.

From tomorrow, Drake, I will make you pay for everything you did. And when I start, dear heavens, do not say I am too cruel!