Chapter 2

• Larry looks at his son Max, then lowers his guard, even though he’s like a devil.
• He gives Katerin a piercing look and then walks away without saying anything more.
• "Mommy?" Max says.
• "Go back to your room, Max," Emily orders.
• "Daddy is bad," Max says, and it hurts Katerin. She wants a family, but not like this. Living with Larry is hell.
• "We’re okay, sweetheart. Daddy’s just a little upset. Go back to your room with Danna, please. Emily, go with your siblings." Katerin finds strength she doesn’t have to stand up, and Emily obeys.
• Katerin, watching her children leave, falls to her knees on the wooden floor.
• It’s late at night. Katerin, with all the strength she can muster, gets up and walks to each of her children’s rooms. They are all asleep. Larry isn’t there, so Katerin understands that he must have gone in search of his mistress.
• The woman enters the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. She feels like a monster, especially with all the bruises Larry has given her.
• Katerin looks for a pill to ease her pain, but unfortunately, there’s none in the medicine cabinet. She considers waiting for dawn, but her body hurts too much. On top of that, Larry’s kicks have worsened the pain in her back and abdomen.
• She puts on an old black coat, even though it’s worn out. She has no other options, thinking that maybe she might find someone out at this time of night who will see the bruises and speak badly of Larry. Before leaving the room, she puts on Larry’s glasses because she doesn’t have any of her own.
• Katerin leaves the house, gets into her car, and drives carefully, though she can’t keep her back straight because it intensifies the pain in her spine.
• When she finally arrives at a pharmacy, which is far from home, she buys the painkillers and heads back to her car. Unfortunately, it started to rain. The woman can’t wait to get home and take the pills, so she swallows one without water, swallowing hard, hoping it will take effect. She feels as if her hips are splitting in two.
• The woman, seeing that it's already 4 a.m. and worrying that Larry might return and not find her at home, is filled with anxiety. She starts driving very carefully, the rain increasing and making it hard to see the road. Even though she turns on the windshield wipers, it's still impossible to see clearly. She drives so slowly because she wants to make it home alive, knowing her children need her, but she isn't patient.
• The worst part is that the car shuts off, and to her, that feels like torture.
• "This can’t be happening!" she yells loudly, then hits the steering wheel in frustration. She takes off her coat and glasses, needing to find a solution. She gets out of the car, and as soon as she steps out, she feels the cold raindrops running down her delicate and bruised body. Her skin tingles from the cold, and as for her breasts, they feel hard and firm.
• She opens the front of the car, and smoke comes out, meaning the car must have overheated.
• "What am I going to do now?" she looks around, completely drenched, and Katerin begins to cry. Her bad luck worsens. She closes the hood and then looks up at the sky, her tears of pain and despair mixing with the cold raindrops.
• She sits in front of the car and then slowly lies down, even though her body hurts, she feels vulnerable. The woman tries to look at the sky, though the rain is too heavy, she closes her eyes and can’t stop crying.
• "I'm so tired..." Katerin whispers.
• How much time has passed under the rain? She doesn’t even know because all she can think about is how miserable her life is.
• But she becomes alert when she hears about a car park next to her. She quickly tries to get up, her back cracking, and she bites her lower lip in pain.
• Even so, she holds herself together to see who it is. A black Porsche model is parked, but no one gets out. Her heart races. Katerin gets out of her car to at least protect herself from any harm, but her world stops when she sees the gorgeous Greek-God-like man stepping out of the car.
• Zac Ferrero, a 35-year-old man, was incredibly handsome, as if he were a model. He was tall, muscular, with black hair like the night and intense green eyes.
• Katerin could barely contain her excitement just by looking at such a magnificent man standing in front of her. She swallowed hard, and her gaze connected with his. An electric current ran through Katerin’s body, but a loud thunderclap made her snap back to reality.
• "Do you need help?" he asked politely, taking a step closer, which made Katerin flinch.
• "Please, don’t hurt me!" she pleaded, and he gave her a strange look.
• "If that were the case, I’d be going straight for the harm. Do you need help?" he asked again.
• "My car broke down, and I need to get home as soon as possible."
• "I can give you a ride, if you want." Zac said. She swallowed again, completely soaked.
• "I don’t want to get your car wet," she replied, noticing how careful he was, holding an umbrella to shield himself from the rain.
• "That doesn’t matter. Are you getting in or not?" he asked, a bit bitter, as he hadn’t had a good day.
• Katerin sighed and walked toward the man. When she went to open the door, he wouldn’t let her, as he was a true gentleman. He opened the door for her, and she stepped inside, her nerves only growing.