Seven Kidnappings My Husband Arranged

For three years of marriage, the Wifes Seat decal on the passenger side of Preston Moores car had been a permanent fixture. It was a brand, a claim, a lie.

I found the prenatal exam results tucked in the glovebox. It wasn't mine.

When I confronted him, Preston didnt even look up from his tablet. He was as cool as the marble countertops in our kitchen. "Its a prop, Nora. My parents are breathing down my neck for an heir. Dont read into it."

A few weeks later, at a high-stakes business gala, I watched him peel shrimp for his assistant, Lacey, with a tenderness he hadn't shown me in years. He didn't offer a word of explanation.

"Shes an employee," hed said later, dismissing my hurt with a flick of his wrist. "I was being a good boss. If youre that insecure, just fire her."

But the next time I saw Lacey, she wasn't filing papers. She was standing in my hallway, her hand resting on a slight swell in her stomach, a triumphant smirk on her face. In a fit of blind, white-hot rage, I pushed her. I didnt mean for her to fall so hard. I didnt mean for the hospital trip to end the way it did.

Preston didn't yell. He didn't even mention the "accident." He stayed devotedscary devoted. He pampered me by day and was relentless, almost feral, in bed by night. I thought hed forgiven me.

Then the kidnappings started.

Seven times in a single month. Seven times I was snatched from the street, dragged into basements, and broken. My own pregnancya tiny, flickering life I hadn't even told him about yetwas lost in a blur of blood and concrete floors. My parents, desperate to save me, poured their dignity and their fortune into the hands of shadows, only to die in front of me when the ransom wasn't enough.

When I finally crawled back to our estate, covered in grime and dried blood, the front door was ajar.

I heard laughter from the living room. Prestons inner circlethe elite, the untouchableswere gathered around the poker table.

"Ive got five million on the wife," one of them chuckled, throwing a chip into the center. "Nora is obsessed with Moore. Even when she finds out the truth, shell crawl back. Shes addicted to him."

"Im in for twenty million," another countered, his voice dripping with malice. "Forgiveness? Shell be on her knees thanking him. Preston arranges a disappearance every seven days like clockwork, and she still looks at him like hes her savior."

I clamped my hand over my mouth, the taste of copper filling my throat. Tears carved tracks through the filth on my face.

It wasn't bad luck. It wasn't the city's underbelly. It was Preston. Every bruise, every scream, every drop of my parents' bloodit was all a tribute to Lacey. It was his way of balancing the scales for her lost child.

Leaving him would take a lifetime of courage, but I only needed seven days to disappear.

I stood in the shadows of the foyer, a ghost in my own home, watching Preston lift Lacey from the sofa. He carried her upstairs with a reverence that made my skin crawl.

"Prestons too good to her," one of his friends remarked, watching them go. "Lacey so much as coughs and he starts shaking. Look at himshes just a little lightheaded and hes acting like the world is ending."

"Remember when she lost the baby?" another whispered. "Preston nearly leveled that hospital. The surgeon who performed the procedure is lucky to be walking."

When Preston came back downstairs, there were fresh red marks on his neck. The men started to tease him, but he held up a hand.

"Keep it down. Laceys sleeping. Is the facility ready?"

"Top of the line," his associate replied. "The private care wing is finished. A hundred-million-dollar project, just like you asked."

Preston nodded, his expression hardening into something cold and crystalline. "From now on, you refer to her as Mrs. Moore. Im moving her in permanently in a few days."

"And... what about Nora?"

Prestons voice was a whetted blade. "The moment she forced Lacey into that surgery, she signed her soul over to me. Every ounce of pain Lacey felt, I want Nora to feel a hundredfold."

I swallowed back a sob, my lungs burning.

"The cycle is almost up," the man continued. "When do we rescue her this time? If we leave her out there too long, she might get suspicious."

Preston let out a short, mocking laugh.

"Suspicious? She spends every second of those kidnappings praying Ill walk through the door. By the time I save her, shell be more in love with me than ever."

I leaned against the wall, my vision blurring. I should have known. Our estate was a fortress, guarded by the best security money could buy. Yet, every time I was taken, the guards had been elsewhere. My parents had found me so easily because Preston had left breadcrumbs for them to followall the way to their graves.

A sharp scream from upstairs shattered the silence.

Prestons face transformed into a mask of pure panican emotion he had never once wasted on me. He sprinted up the stairs.

I stood there, frozen, as a team of on-call doctors rushed past me. Lacey had simply had a nightmare. That was all it took to move heaven and earth in this house.

After a long while, I heard Prestons voice booming from the landing, raw with misplaced fury. "Tell the next crew to move the date up. Laceys trauma is too deep. Nora needs to hurt more. Now."

I stared down at my arms, at the mottled purples and yellows of my skin. This was the man who used to fret over a mosquito bite on my ankle. My agony had become his therapy, and my husband was the architect of my hell.

I tried to turn, to run, but my legs gave out. I hit the floor, the grit from the street digging into my open wounds.

The noise drew him. Preston appeared at the top of the stairs and froze when he saw me. In an instant, his "loving husband" mask was back on. He ran down and gathered me into his arms, his touch making my stomach turn.

"Nora! God, youre finally home! Ive been searching everywhere. Tell me who did this to you. I swear, Ill make them pay."

Tears fell from his eyes onto my cheek. I felt nothing but a cold, hollow vacuum in my chest. I marveled at the performance. How many years had I been blinded by this acting?

I let out a broken whimper, my lips trembling.

He carried me to our bedroom, but his eyes flickered nervously toward the closed door across the hallLaceys room.

"I... I turned that into a nursery for the baby," he lied, his voice thick with fake emotion. "I had to lock it. I didn't want you to see it and be reminded of what we lost."

I stiffened in his arms. Another lie. I looked at his handsome face, and all I saw were the flashes of my fathers dying eyes and the blood on the clinic floor. The nausea surged. I couldn't stop it. I retched, a dark, bitter bile spilling onto the expensive rug.

Before I blacked out, I heard his voice, stripped of all warmth, whispering to someone nearby. "Take her back out. Just make sure you don't damage her womb."

This time, perhaps fearing hed pushed too far, the "kidnappers" only kept me for a day.

Preston held me again when I "returned," his voice a masterpiece of heartbreak. "Im so sorry, Nora. They intercepted the car on the way to the hospital. Who are these people? Talk to me, honey. Let me protect you."

I looked at him and felt a hysterical urge to laugh. He didn't want to protect me. He wanted to preserve my body so he could witness the death of a thousand more of my children.

"The doctor is coming," he whispered. "Just hold on."

But the doctor never came to my room. I heard the frantic footsteps in the hallway all night. Every medical professional in the house was in Laceys room. I lay in my own blood, my clothes fused to my skin by dried plasma, shivering until I passed out from the pain.

When I finally managed to limp downstairs the next morning, Lacey was sitting on the sofa. When she saw me, she feigned a violent shudder of fear.

Preston was instantly at her side, shielding her from me. "Nora, don't start. Lacey is staying here for a while. Shes fragile. Don't go near her."

I didn't say a word. I walked past them, out the front door, and drove myself to the crematorium.

When I went to claim my parents' remains, the attendant handed me a small plastic bottle filled with a clear, caustic liquid.

My heart stopped. "What is this?"

"A woman came by," the attendant said, looking uncomfortable. "She said the deceased died with 'bad energy.' She brought a priest and a gentleman. They insisted the bones be dissolved in this solution to... clear the aura, they said."

I hit the wall, my breath hitching in my throat. The world tilted.

I dialed Prestons number with shaking fingers. The call connected, and for a second, I heard the low, rhythmic sounds of intimacy. I pushed past the disgust.

"Preston... my parents' ashes. Why? Why would you do that?"

"Lacey was having nightmares about them, Nora," he said, his voice dropping into that calm, gaslighting tone. "The medium said their spirits were restless because of the 'accident' with the baby. We had to neutralize the remains. Its for the best, really. Even for them."

I hung up. I went home, walked straight up to Preston, and slapped him across the face with every ounce of strength I had left. When I turned to Lacey, Prestons hand caught my shoulder and shoved me back.

"Have you lost your mind?!" he roared. "They were two dead people, Nora! Get over it!"

Lacey dropped to her knees, sobbing. "Its my fault, Nora! Don't be mad at Preston! Hit me if you have to!"

The sight of herthe woman responsible for the erasure of my familysent the blood rushing to my head. I reached for a heavy crystal ashtray on the side table.

CRACK.

Preston was faster. He grabbed the ashtray and slammed it into my forehead.

"I won't let you hurt her again!" he snarled, pulling Lacey into his chest.

Blood poured down my face, blinding me. He didn't even look back as he led her away. I sat on the floor, found the first aid kit, and stitched my own skin while my world burned.

My phone vibrated. I answered, and the sound of the voice on the other end broke the dam. I sobbed until I couldn't breathe.

"Silas... I couldn't even keep their ashes. I'm done. I don't want him anymore."

The man on the other end was silent for a beat, his voice a low, vibrating rumble of controlled rage. "Nora. Ive booked you a flight for tomorrow night. Get to the airport. Im ending the Moore dynasty. Its time for the sun to set on that house."

Suddenly, a pair of large hands wrapped around my waist. I froze.

Preston stood behind me, frowning. "Who was that?"

"Nobody."

"Baby, Im sorry about earlier," he whispered, kissing my temple. The smell of Laceys perfume clung to him. "You have to understand, I love you. Ive always loved you. But Lacey lost a child because of you. Im just trying to help you atone."

I nodded numbly. Atone. What a beautiful word for torture.

He sat me down and opened his laptop, scrolling through designer catalogs. He ordered dozens of high-fashion piecesall in Laceys size. Then, almost as an afterthought, he picked out two plain wool coats for me.

"Lacey is delicate," he said, not looking at me. "She needs the best to feel safe. Youre stronger than her, Nora. You don't need the labels."

I looked away. He had forgotten that I was the one born into old money. I had spent my life in silks until I met him and lowered my standards to match his ego. He had mistaken my sacrifice for a lack of taste.

A scream echoed from the garden.

Preston bolted. I followed slowly, arriving to see a black viper coiled on the patio, hissing at Lacey. Preston didn't hesitate; he lunged, snapping the snakes neck with his bare hands.

Lacey collapsed into his arms, weeping. When she saw me, she crawled to my feet, her eyes streaming.

"Nora, I know you hate me for being with him, but I lost my baby too! Why would you put snake pheromones in my foundation? Why would you try to kill me?"

My heart hammered against my ribs. Before I could speak, Prestons hand blurred. The slap sent me reeling. He picked Lacey up and walked away, his eyes looking at me as if I were a piece of trash on the sidewalk.

Hours later, two of Prestons "security" men grabbed me. They dragged me to the back of the estate, to the pit where Preston kept his exotic reptiles.

They threw me in.

The door slammed shut, plunging me into darkness.

Hiss.

I clawed at the door until my fingernails tore. Snakes slithered over my boots, their cool, dry scales grazing my skin. I screamed until my throat was raw.

The intercom crackled. Prestons voice filled the small, humid room. "This is for your own good, Nora. You need to learn discipline. You can't keep attacking Lacey. Consider this a cooling-off period."

I slumped against the wall, the darkness pressing in. Then, the audio changed. The sounds of Preston and Lacey in bed began to play over the speakersa deliberate, psychological flaying.

A heavy weight settled on my shoulder. A viper struck.

When I woke up, the world was black. Not the darkness of the pit, but a flat, hollow nothingness. I reached out, tumbling from a bed onto a hard floor.

I was blind.

A familiar scent entered the roomsandalwood and expensive tobacco.

"Nora, why won't you just bow your head?" Prestons voice was soft, almost pitying. "Just apologize. Lacey is so kind; shed forgive you in a heartbeat."

I shoved his hand away when he tried to touch my face.

His tone sharpened. "The venom wasn't lethal. Your sight will return in a few days. Ive already punished the person who put the poisonous snake in the pit."

I let out a jagged, cynical laugh. "Oh? And how did you punish her, Preston?"

"Shes grounded," he said, his voice turning defensive. "No TV, no phone, no shopping for a week. Shes learned her lesson. What more do you want, Nora? She didn't mean for it to go that far."

He stormed out.

On the day I was "released" from his private medical wing, my vision was still a milky blur. I fumbled my way through the house to find the bottle of my parents' dissolved remains.

Lacey met me at the door. With Preston gone, the mask vanished. She grabbed a handful of my hair, her face twisting into something demonic.

"Youre still here? Why don't you just go die like your parents did?"

I wrenched myself away, grabbed my bag, and headed for the airport.

Lacey watched me go, a cruel glint in her eyes. She pulled a small pill from her pocket and swallowed it. Within minutes, she was slumped on the floor, blood pooling beneath her.

Preston returned to a bloodbath and went insane, racing her to the hospital. Lacey sobbed in his arms, "Don't... don't be mad at Nora... she didn't mean to..."

At the airport, I was barely out of the taxi when I was dragged into a blind alley.

"Nora Whitlock, right? Someone paid us a lot of money to make sure you never walk again."

My brain felt like it was exploding. I fumbled for my phone and hit speed-dial.

"Preston! Help me! Please!"

"Lacey just lost her second child because of you, Nora," Prestons voice was like ice. "Shes in surgery. Youre really going to try the 'damsel in distress' act now? Go to hell."

He hung up. The men took my phone and smashed it against the brick wall.

As the lead man unbuckled his belt, I closed my eyes.

"Preston," I whispered to the empty air. "Youre going to wish you had died in that pit with me."