Choked To The Bone

Chapter 7

Shanna's POV

Eucharia yanked out my head immediately she saw Richard striding towards us. Drops of water raced from my damp hair and sneaked into my dress.

I blinked my eyes incessantly. And from my peripheral vision, I noticed Aurora, Derek's daughter must have gone in search of Richard to save me.

From the moment I'd first seen her at the dining table, I knew she was far different from the rest of them.

"Are you okay, Marilyn?" Richard was pulling me to himself while wiping the waters that ran down from my damp hair.

I was shivering. It had all happened so fast. Why hadn't I seen that coming?

Neither Eucharia nor Barbara had a streak of remorse stained on their faces. Barbara had stepped back like she hadn't aided Eucharia in all of this.

Richard turned on his sister. "What is the meaning of this, Eucharia? If anything happens to her," he shoved a finger towards her.

"If I do find out that you are the one responsible for Marilyn's accident - I will make you pay. I will make sure of it." He said to her.

"She was rude to me," Eucharia mumbled as we walked past her.

Eucharia's children, Alan and Alana were watching us, each having a smirk stained on their faces as Richard started to walk me up to my room.

I shrugged out from Richard's arms. "I want her gone!" I said furiously.

"Who?" Richard was momentarily confused.

"Both Eucharia and Barbara, especially your sister," I said.

"You know I can't do that to Eucharia." Richard reached for me.

Fury boiled within me. "Why can't you? She did this to me all because I wanted to make lunch for myself."

"But we have the maid, Marilyn. Why would you want to make yourself lunch?" Richard stretched out a fluffy towel to me.

I gasped. "Are you even listening to me, Richard? why can't you ask Eucharia to leave? I can condo Barbara but Eucharia? why can't she leave?"

"She has nowhere else to go. She had been married thrice and divorced thrice. Alan and Alana were from her second marriage." Richard explained to me.

"So can't you get her own quarters like you plan to do with Barbara? why must she live with us?"

"Eucharia is too fragile to live alone. She needs family and_"

Pissed by his flimsy reasons, I interrupted him. "I see why they easily manipulate you. You have your sister, her children, your brother and his daughter living here. Yet, I can't even go home to visit my family?" I laughed to myself ignoring the towel which he stretched to me.

"Marilyn, don't get me all wrong. This house has been a generational house that is a home to our extended families. It has never been altered, and I don't intend to change that." His voice was stern.

I scoffed, holding back my tears. He was clearly avoiding my very own questions. "I want my sister to come live with me then. Can you grant me that at least?" I finally gave up.

Richard dropped the towel by the mirror before he turned to face me. "I'm sorry, Marilyn. I can't grant you that."

I stood still, blinking back the tears that blurred my eyes. "Are you truly my husband, Richard? why won't you grant me that?"

"We haven't found the person who had tried to kill you_"

"Are you saying that my family tried to kill me?" I interrupted him, ignoring the tears that spilled from my eyes.

"It could be anybody, and I'm not granting that ever!" Richard shouted.

I shrank back when he reached for me. "I'm sorry, Marilyn. I didn't mean to let out on you like that. Please, try to be accommodating to my sister, she will grow to like you. And I'll let the maid know what food pleases you."

He reached for me again, and I stepped away. Maybe I should have divorced him. Agreeing to this arrant nonsense would probably cause me my peace of mind.

"I will be leaving for an appointment this evening. Don't wait up for me." Richard voiced, cast one last glance at me then left the room.

The reeking silence had me racing to the toilet as I let the tears fall. Reality was dawning on me. Richard planned to hold me a prisoner even as his own wife. I wasn't even his wife! I was only doing this because Jamie had asked......

Damn this whole household!

Didn't Richard say I was the woman of the house?

Yet my voice held no potent enough to break him. My hands flew to cover my mouth, muffling the sounds of my sobs.

The walls would probably hear my misery. And I wouldn't want to be mocked.

**********

I didn't know how long I was stuck in the bathtub. Far as I was concerned, nestling in the bathtub was better than scurrying in the house that still wasn't mine.

If this was what it felt like to be married, I rather remained unmarried when I become Shanna again.

It was a terrible way to live. But I still needed to do what Jaime had asked of me, however terrible the occupants treated me.

Moving towards my bed after I'd regretfully walked out of the bathtub, I noticed to my horror that the bed was soaked.

Try as I might, I couldn't remember spilling water into the mattress.

Had Richard returned and had accidentally spilled water onto my bed?

Then it clicked.

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the telephone. How long do I continue to endure this?

Both Eucharia and Barbara were at my neck. Probably their plan to get me out of the house was making sense to me now.

At the third ring, the person at the other end picked. My heart began to beat as I patiently waited for the voice.

"Hello."

"Hello, this is Marilyn." I spoke.

I remember asking Dane to scribble Jaime's number to me. I certainly didn't need it. But at a time at this, it came in handy.

"Marilyn?" Came the surprise. "Why? what's wrong?" He must have sensed something in the tone of my voice.

"I don't know why you choose to play the nice woman in this..."

"I'm not playing nice," I shot at him, interrupting him after I'd completely explained all that had transpired.

"Let me finish," his tone was harsh, "the woman I know as Marilyn will not give a single fuck. You will give to your oppressors the same aura. Why am I bringing this up?" I heard a smack at the over end.

My head reeled. "I needed some advice, and perhaps a consolation. Not an assessment of who Marilyn used to be," I reminded him.

"Then you wouldn't have called me hoping to give you one," he retorted.

"Do you suppose I divorce your brother then?" I shouted into the phone.

There was a brief pause. "Was that what you're hoping I would say to you?"

I swallowed. He didn't wish to see me divorced from his brother. I was already tired of playing Marilyn.

What was I hoping? Because of our shared kiss? I know, because I remembered everything. We didn't even make love, so what was I expecting? I spilled some vile contents from my mouth on his body which had forced him to undress me.

What could I be possibly thinking? was I thinking that he could possibly envelope feelings from a mere kiss? He had forced me into playing his sister-in-law for crying out loud!

"Listen to me, Marilyn. Nothing happened between us, didn't you say so yourself? Now this is what you'll have to do," he wasted no time laying out some advice quickly.

That was fast. I thought to myself when the call ended. I hadn't expected much from Jaime. Perhaps our kiss was purely accidental, and it will remain that way.