Chapter 1 - THE NIGHT SOMEONE FINALLY SAW
I was five months pregnant when my husband dragged me into the yard in the middle of the night, soaked me with cold water, and forced me to scoop water from our well with a tiny basin again and again as punishment.
By the time my back gave out, my clothes were dripping and my knees were buried in the dirt.
Our neighbor saw me collapse.
He called 113.
The second my husband realized someone had witnessed what happened, he changed.
He lowered his voice.
He told the neighbor I had slipped.
Then he crouched beside me and ordered me to tell the same story when help arrived.
For months, I had survived by agreeing, apologizing, and staying quiet.
But that night, something inside me changed.
“No,” I told him.
When the neighbor asked whether I wanted him to stay, I said yes.
And for the first time since my marriage had become a prison, another person stepped through the gate and stood between my husband and me.
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I thought that was the moment I was finally safe.
I had no idea my husband had already begun planning how to make everyone believe I was the dangerous one.
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