Chapter 4 - The First Grab
Madison rushed toward the second door.
One cousin grabbed her forearm.
She twisted hard and drove her shoulder backward, breaking his grip for half a second.
The other man caught the lace near her waist.
Fabric ripped loudly.
Madison screamed.
Ryan shut the main door more firmly.
“Stop fighting.”
Gloria held the documents against the table.
“You are behaving like a child.”
Madison swung her bridal bag at the cousin holding her.
The metal clasp struck his cheek.
He recoiled.
She reached the handle.
Ryan seized her from behind.
His forearm locked across her upper arms, pinning them against her body.
“You’re hurting me!”
“Then stop.”
Madison looked toward Gloria.
“Help me!”
Gloria’s face remained cold.
“She must learn that marriage requires obedience.”
One cousin forced Madison’s right hand open.
The other pushed the pen between her fingers.
Madison kicked backward.
Her heel struck Ryan’s shin.
He released her with a curse.
She stumbled into the marble vanity.
Her shoulder hit first.
Then her mouth struck the edge.
Pain exploded across her face.
She dropped to one knee.
Blood fell onto the front of her wedding dress.
Ryan stared down at her.
He did not help.
He did not ask whether she was injured.
He only picked up the pen.
“Now sign.”
Madison looked at the man she had married less than an hour earlier.
Whatever love she believed existed between them died in that moment.
She grabbed the vanity stool with both hands and shoved it toward the doorway.
May you like
The cousins jumped back.
Madison ran.
