The King’s Prisoner

Chapter 17

Tori

The look on Catherine’s face is more than comical. I actually pity her right now. She sat next to me awkwardly toying with her hands. This lady, the former Queen was nervous.

“Mother?” Adrian spoke. She look up at him slowly.

“What did you have to say about Tori?” He asked. She straightened up her back and took a deep breath.

“Well, Tori, has announced that she may be carrying your heir and the press now wants an interview.”

“Actually, I do not want to be interviewed,” I cut in. Catherine squinted her eyes at me.

“You don’t have a choice. You are the face of this kingdom,” she replied in a snarky tone. “If I was still queen, I-“

“But you’re not,” I barged. “Unfortunately, something happened to your husband-“

“Yeah, you killed him!” She shouted. I will not be pushed over by her old ass. Adrian noticed the tone in his mother’s voice and he didn’t like it one bit. He frowned at her as he was about to snap at her, but I grabbed his hand. Catherine finally looked at him and noticed him standing gazing at her. I gave him a knowing look letting him know that it was okay. He took a deep breath and sat back down.

“Catherine, I didn’t kill your husband!” I said. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, but you killed yours, didn’t you?” She smirked. My heart dropped as I saw Adrian frown. I definitely underestimated her conniving ways.

“What is she talking about?” Adrian asked me as he stared at his mother.

“Did you tell my son how you killed your ex husband? No?”

“Tori, is this true?” He asked. I didn’t answer him. I didn’t know how. My mind went back to that horrific night. The night I was trying so hard to forget, but Catherine clearly reminded me that I would never forget it as she laughed at me.

“I believe you two have a lot to talk about, but make sure you watch this one. Sleep with one eye open.” She stood and dusted her self before exiting his office. I couldn’t say anything. Adrian sat there with his finger tapping his chin and I only wondered what was really going through his mind.

“Tori?” I glanced up at him with glossy eyes.

“Is what my mother said true? Did you kill your husband?” I wanted to tell him what happened, but the words wouldn’t come out. No one understood how relieved I felt knowing that he was gone. I just my daughter didn’t have to pay with her life in the process. When I felt like I had enough strength, I stood.

“I-I have to go.” I ran out of his study and passed the guard outside of his door. I ran all the way to my room and locked my door. I fell to the floor as I let out a scream. I haven’t broken down since she died. Just been having the nightmares. I never faced the fact that my daughter was gone. Taken too soon and her father, the man who swore to love and protect me and her was the cause of it. I tried really hard to keep us both safe. I’ve done everything that I could possibly think of.

Flashback......

Two years ago...

“Livie! Dinner is ready,” I yelled. A few moments later, she ran as far as her little legs would let her. It was so amazing at how she fast she was growing. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant. I told Alex and he was just as excited. We didn’t exactly have a plan, but we vowed to love and raise this baby together. We were in love with each other and we created this Olivia out of it. We decided to get married but that’s where everything went wrong.

“Mommy?” She called as I set her plate in front of her.

“Yes, baby,” I answered.

“When will we go back home from our vacation? I miss my room and I miss daddy.” My heart broke into pieces because I knew how much she loved him. He was great with her, but with me on the other hand, the only he was good at was abusing me. I wore long sleeved clothing even on the hottest days of the year.

“Sweetie, we still haven’t been around the world yet. There is so much to see,” I smiled as I moved her hair out of her face. Her face fell and I knew she was tired of moving every few months. I felt like I was taking away the start of her childhood, but I just wanted her to be safe. We have been gone for months now and Alex doesn’t know where. He called my parents and they said that I took Livie on a vacation for a few weeks. That was six months ago.

“I’ll tell you what, how about we go to one more place and then we can go back home.”

She smiled and I wanted to cry. My daughter happiness meant everything to me. If she would be happy to be home with her dad, then I’ll take every slap, punch, and kick as long as she’s safe.

“Really?” She asked with excitement.

I nodded my head. “Yes, sweetie. Eat your dinner while I pack our things.”

“Thank you, mommy. You’re the best,” she smiled. I return her smile and kissed her forehead as a tear slipped down my eye. I got up and walked into her room and packed her things and then headed into mine. I can hear Livie singing excitedly as I packed up all of our essential needs. Suddenly, I hear a banging sound on my door and before I can get to it, Livie had already opened it.

“Daddddyyyy,” she screamed excitedly as I began to lose my breath. He found us. How?

“Look mommy, daddy’s here,” she said in the happiest tone.

“Alex? I-I didn’t expect to see you.” I tried to sound surprised. He smirked and it wasn’t the flirty one.

“I’m sure you didn’t, my darling wife. I missed you both so much. Especially you, my sweet Olivia,” he tickled Livie causing her to laugh uncontrollably. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I watched him play with her. He was good at hiding his emotions. That’s exactly how he fooled me into marrying him.

“Olivia, baby, why don’t go into your room and get ready for bed while mommy and daddy talk,” he said in a falsely calm tone.

“Are you going to stay, daddy?” She asked.

“Oh believe me, princess, I’m not going anywhere.”

He glared at me when he said that. Livie got off of her dad’s lap and ran into her room. Once her door was closed, Alex walked towards me. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place as he leaned down and hugged me. He squeezed me so tight that it was starting to become difficult to breathe.

“A-lex, I c-can’t breathe,” I coughed. He held one hand on the back of my throat, squeezing so hard that it was causing my head to hurt. He had his other hand around my waist.

“You thought you could get away from me,” he seethed. I kept tapping him as darkness started to surround my vision.

“P-please,” I begged. My head began to spin as my eyes could no longer hold themselves open. In that moment, the only thing I felt was my body falling to the floor.

I coughed as I scrambled to my feet. I looked at his hands. They were balled into tight fists and I remembered how powerful his punches were. I remember the pain he inflicted upon me. He raised his fist and met my jaw. The pain was sharp and causing me to fall back down. I glared at him through blurry eyes as I rubbed my face.

“All you had to do was stay. You had me searching for you and our daughter for six months. Six months, Victoria! You made me look stupid in front of our friends and our families.”

He strolled close to me, trapping me against the wall. I got back up, willing to fight him until I couldn’t anymore. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Livie. I didn’t want her to see us fighting, so I did the unthinkable, I kissed my husband. It took him by surprise, but he roughly kissed me back.

Suddenly, I can feel my throat closing as his hands were again wrapped around my neck. “A-Alex, L-liv-vie is-“ I tried to tell him. I repeatedly tapped my hand on his shoulders, but he only squeezed harder.

“You ruined everything for us, Tori! We were supposed to be happy.”

He was so enraged and wrapped up in harming me, that he wasn’t paying attention to her. I tried to fight back. All I could hear was my daughter running out of the room to grab her dad.

Present.....

I don’t know how long I stayed on the floor crying. I grabbed my neck as I recalled that night. I could only hear Adrian’s voice on the other side.

“Tori, please talk to me. Open the door,” he knocked.

I got up from the floor, unlocked the door, and swung it open.

“What!” I yelled. He walked in and I closed the door behind him.

“Tori, come here.” He tapped on his lap. I reluctantly walked to him and sat in his leg. He tipped my chin up and kissed my lips. Please talk to me. “Please talk to me,” he begged again. He didn’t have the judgemental look that I have seen in other people’s eyes. He was concerned, worried that his mother words had hurt me. I also knew he wanted answers.

“Yes, your mother wasn’t lying when she said I killed my husband. I did and would do it all over again if I had too.”

His eyes opened wider as he didn’t expect that answer. He said he wanted to get to know me and in order for him to do that I had to tell him about one thing I wanted to forget. My past.