Chasing

I give the driver the address and he drives off to the place that is in a more secluded part of the city. making a note to pay him extra for drenching his seat with my wet clothes.

We arrived there within a few minutes and I found my Landlord standing outside the house like he knew I was coming. I had planned to call him upon my arrival since he lives close to the house anyway. Right now, I can’t help the strange feeling curling inside of me as I get off the taxi, pay the driver and walk over to my landlord.

He doesn’t even let me speak before he says, “You can’t stay here.”

I can’t even hide my surprise at his words, “What do you mean? The house has been empty for a long time now and I am willing to pay to continue staying here.”

The man can’t even meet my eyes as he says, “I am sorry but your husband called already.”

Dread fills me at the mention of Kian.

“What has he got to do with this?” I ask.

“I don’t know what is going on between the two of you but I think it is best you sort it out as I do not want to be involved in whatever this is. You married a powerful man who threatened to get me locked up if I tried to rent the house back to you, I am sorry but you should turn back and leave.”

The man walks away after that, leaving me standing with a mixture of shock and fury. Kian called ahead to prevent me from getting a place to stay and I cannot believe the lengths that man will go to get what he wants.

And just when I think he can’t do worse than that, he surprises me even more when I make my first stop at a hotel and wasn’t allowed in. At the fifth stop, I am already exhausted and weak–willed after hearing the same words leave the lips of the receptionists at each hotel.

“We are sorry, ma’am but we have been requested not to let anyone with the name Leslie Winton in here.”

I nearly scream out my frustration at the receptionist at the last hotel, fully coming to the realization that I can only try to fight Kian, I can’t win. He is more than just a CEO. He is powerful and has tentacles that stretch through every corner in this city. Feeling defeated, I walk out of the last hotel, my body swaying from exhaustion.

My phone rings, Kian’s name flashing across my screen to show the incoming call is from him. Rage swirls inside of me, makes me answer the phone so I can give him a piece of my mind.

“You vile bastard!” I curse at him.

He reacts calmly to it as his voice flows into my ears, “You can’t win this fight, Leslie and I am sure you realized that already. Come back home while I am still being nice.”

I scoff, even more enraged by his words.

“You must be insane if you think this is enough to stop me. Go to hell, Kian.” I hang up and switch off my phone, breathing heavily as tears prickle the back of my eyes again. I realize there is really nowhere to go. I take out the card that was handed to me by the nurse as my last desperate attempt to find a place to

1. go.

I can’t tell if it is my realization that makes me dizzy or the fact that I walked in the rain with the risk of catching a cold. Either way, I can’t stop the way I sway and lose my footing just as my vision blurs. I fall heavily to the ground.

I black out at the same time I hear the sharp call of my name.