Contract Marriage: From Vows To Vengeance

Somewhere on Earth. 10:14 pm

'You vile, useless, and stupid woman! How dare you take the life of my unborn child!' A man's voice replayed in her memory. "You're nothing but heartless."

Amelia Hudgens tottered from side to side, the blare of the car horns around her doing nothing to pull her from her memories. Her cheeks still stung from where Daniel, her husband, had hit her. Despite their lives tied together in marriage, she knew one thing was clear.

He held no love for her.

Even her last memory of her mother was equally as cruel. 'Amelia, what more do you want from me?' she spat. 'You are an ungrateful witch. I wish I had never given birth to you!'

Her feet continued to move, acting as though they had their own mind. She needed to find a quiet place where her death would go unnoticed.

Or at least, a place where she wouldn't traumatize onlookers. She had considered the train tracks, but the sight of the many children traveling with their parents had erased that idea from her head.

Children.

If her child had survived, she would've been a beautiful baby girl. Her marriage could've been whole.

With that in mind, Amelia finally found herself by a bridge. Even from a distance, she could hear the quiet roll of the waves as they splashed against the shore.

Her whole life replayed in her mind like a depressing movie. Her breathing became unstable and her knees wobbled at each abusive memory she recalled. Even the wind seemed against her, biting and nipping with chilly cold as time passed.

Amelia halted and looked at her surroundings.

"Finally," she muttered to herself and moved towards the bridge.

The rough stone scratched at her palms, but Amelia paid them no care. Finally, she could end it all. Her knees went up first, then the rest of her body. In no time, she stood on the railing. One step and she would plunge into the icy waters.

Amelia took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

"Trust me, you shouldn't be doing that," a gentle voice suddenly echoed behind her, causing her eyes to jolt open in shock.

Her body tensed, her stomach lurched with nerves as panic slowly swelled within her.

When she whipped her head around to peer over her shoulder, she saw a man standing behind her. His face was shadowed by the night, and with the bridge set on the outskirts of town, the lights here were sparse.

"Who are you?" she asked, glaring at the speaker. "What right do you have to lecture me on what I should or shouldn't be doing?"

"My apologies, Miss," he said. "But if you don't mind, I could keep you company as you think it through. Whatever troubles you have, you needn't end it all like that. Take my hand."

He took a step closer with an outstretched hand, and Amelia shot him a frown. Her eyes squinted, trying to catch sight of his face, but she still couldn't recognize him.

"Don't come any closer," she warned, moving a little closer to the edge. Instantly, the man halted in his steps, quickly obeying.

"Look," he said. "If you jump, I'll jump with you." With that said, he began to take off his suit jacket, tugging at his necktie. To prove his point, he even began to remove his shoes.

Amelia watched with confusion, shaking her head as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"You don't know me," she all but screamed, pain edged in her voice. "I want to go as my child went. Please don't torture me this way."

The man's brows quickly knitted together. He wasn't sure why he was doing this; he had only been passing by on a quiet night, but it felt wrong to watch a stranger end her life like this if he didn't stop her.

He let out a low sigh, reaching up to comb his hair backward. His hand, however, remained reached out toward her, ready to hold her at any given time.

"You're right," he said. "I don't know you, but I am ready to listen. I won't interfere after you've taken things off your chest. If you're still thinking of ending your life after, I won't stop you."

He then added, "If you let yourself die just like that, your child won't forgive you."

Amelia whimpered. Her fingers were trembling as she stared down at the dark sea and then back at the mysterious man.

'What could you possibly have to say in defense? You're nothing but a murderer!'

Even her own husband hadn't been willing to listen to her explanations. Yet, this stranger whom she had just met was willing to spare her a few minutes of his time. In recent years, all Amelia wanted was someone who could offer her a listening ear. Her mother wasn't willing, her husband played deaf, and everyone else turned a blind eye to everything she was going through.

She nodded, a small smile making its way onto her face without her realizing it. The man smiled back, warm and comforting, like a home she always wanted but never had.

However, right as their fingers were about to touch, she hesitated. She didn't know this man, and Daniel had many connections. This could be one of his ways to drag her back to that hellhole.

"But why would he go through all that trouble if he doesn't even care if I'm dead or alive?" she muttered to herself.

Her eyes met with the stranger's again, and now that he stepped a little closer, she could see his features a little better— especially his pale blue eyes, akin to a beautiful wintry morning. His gaze was oddly comforting, and Amelia banished all thoughts of her husband from her mind.

She held herself together and reached for the man's outstretched hand. Seeing that she was willing to step away from the ledge, the stranger cautiously stepped forward as well.

However, their fingers were inches apart when a strong gust of wind suddenly blew at them. Amelia's frail body began to wobble, and in her horror, her feet slipped from the thin ledge, sending her plunging into the freezing waters below.

~welcome.