Chapter 1: It's not my fault
"It's not my fault."
There were struggles, she didn't know why she was so confined to do anything. She was keen to lift her hand and fight back but her whole body felt detained by an unknown force. She wasn't feeling numb, she just couldn't fight for herself and all she could do was whisper that it wasn't her fault.
However, the woman facing her, pinning her to the wall and strangling her whispered back, "I'll kill you," her voice sounded just like what Claire had always assumed to be devilish. It suddenly began to feel heavy around Claire.
Breathing became difficult, causing this discomforting yet ticklish feeling in her belly while her heart beat faster, not only in fear but to survive.
Why couldn't she hold the woman's hand and push her away? What was this force taming her? Claire managed to wonder.
And why couldn't she see the face of her attacker? It wasn't blurred, it was clear but it felt like her eyes didn't want her to know who she was seeing. Claire grunted and coughed as the grip around her neck grew tighter.
And again she coughed, leaning her head down because of the pressure she needed she let out that breath as she was still being strangled by a being she couldn't see.
When Claire lifted her head, she saw a pair of dead eyes and a pale face, smiling hideously at her.
"Ahh!"
With a shivering body, Claire gasped out of her sleep. For a moment, she stared at the ceiling feeling numb all over. Her breathing was ragged, her body was on fire when she had her eyes closed only to view images that didn't favour her in any way.
She swallowed. Although her body was still recovering from the nightmare she had, she used her hands to touch her hair and then gripped her hair tightly because the feeling surging up inside her wasn't comforting.
Claire eventually sat up, still in her recovering state. She turned to the lamp by her side and switch it on to feel a bit safe in her room.
What was that dream? Why on earth will she have such a dream? She wasn't only questioning herself, she was giving herself up to reluctance as she hugged her legs close to her chest. Who was that woman? She wondered and now she didn't remember the face she saw, it was bizarre but why?
First of all, why would she have that type of dream? Too many questions popping into her head didn't help, she just needed to calm her soul and go back to sleep.
Claire pushed her shaky legs to the ground and walked steadily out of her room.
Opening the refrigerator, she got the jug of water and filled a glass. Claire gulped gradually until she had the glass empty. Now she pressed her palms on the counter, causing her back to hunch.
Suddenly, this image flashed in her head. When she closed for the day at work today and walked to her car, she noticed an older woman watching her and when she faced the lady face to face. That same smile she saw in her dream appeared on the lady's face before the woman walked away by passing through a car.
Claire had found it suspicious at first but decided to ignore it because it might just have been her assumption but now, her nightmare said she was in danger.
Trying to solve the situation or get a hint she recalled how she stood keen on her word saying she wasn't at fault but the one strangling her blamed her and promised to kill her.
What did that mean? Claire didn't mind using the whole day to think of it but her soon-to-be husband suddenly came to her mind so she ran you the stairs to her room.
She had sent a good night text message to him before going to bed and now she wanted to know his response. And she got a thank you as usual.
The feeling that settled in her pushed her to sit on her bed and slowly pressed down to curl up. Donald hadn't been so nice to her since the beginning.
It started in college, they were the VIPs. He was a cool guy. She admired how he usually donates to the normal students and the scholar. He supported a lot of activities that were advantageous to every student.
She fell in love with him and never kept it to herself. Claire knew it wasn't a crush but true love. Her imagination goes wild every night. She was a book lover and was addicted to books.
Her room had a shelf for books but was now too full. The girl had too many to read books but never stopped buying books. Books were her moment of happiness ever since she was five. And she loved fantasy more as her childhood was beautiful because of the little fairytale she believed in.
But Donald didn't like books. Nothing about her impressed him. Her smile didn't, her presence didn't, her grades didn't, nothing did!!
He liked everyone except her, his friends bullies her because she confessed her feelings to him and they considered it as her being cheap, causing their disrespect.
They request her nudes and edit pictures of her into nudes to embarrass her and Donald did nothing about it.
However, everything he did was already forgiven that was why she accepted to marry him. Her parents had strictly told her that it wasn't necessary but she insisted.
Her parents had discussed their business thriving more if they partnered with the Tiffins and because she was in love with Donald, she accepted to get married to him.
Although her parents didn't find it necessary, they warned her that it was an irreversible action if she stamped the deal and it was all fine with her.
Her parents' business was stronger and more successful than the Tiffins'. To get more exposed to the world, the Tiffins were glad to have been chosen for the partnership.
At that moment, Donald just took his father's position as the CEO. He rebuked the marriage at first but his father only had to say a few words to him to get him to accept Claire and the deal.
His father challenged him to prove himself and show him that he didn't make a mistake by putting him in that position.
Actually, the main reason he promoted his son was to partner with the most successful company in State AD.
However, ever since the marriage had been concluded, she hadn't set her eyes on Donald. He doesn't call and he never cared, causing her to wonder what it would be like after marriage. Was it really a bad idea to marry a man who didn't love her?
Claire stayed curled up with thoughts swallowing her up when suddenly she got a call from her mother-in-law.