Chapter 3

Edwin woke very early that morning, roused by the call to prayer drifting from the nearby mosque. He washed quickly in the en suite bathroom then stepped out to look for a prayer mat. He searched everywhere but could not find one. His gaze fell on the bed where Jasmin still slept soundly.

He wanted nothing more than to leave this place. Everything about it made his skin crawl. He felt like a prisoner held captive while his mother's safety hung in the balance.

He opened the door to check outside. He told himself the guards must surely have gone. They could not have stood there all night. He was wrong. The same two men who had threatened him the night before stood fresh and alert, scrolling through their phones. When Edwin glared at them one smirked.

"It is far too early for you to be leaving." The man looked him over from head to toe, taking in the polo shirt he wore. His smile felt mocking. Back at his own company hundreds of employees bowed respectfully when he walked past. No one would have dared look at him this way. Yet here none of that mattered. He was nothing more than a prisoner trapped in a room with a stranger, all because he had been forced to marry Jasmin.

If she had been innocent he might have accepted it. He had spoken the marriage vows. She should have been his wife in every true sense. But the truth was nothing like that. He had been married off to a woman carrying another man's child without his knowledge.

"You are up early."

Edwin turned. Gunadi stood there dressed in nightclothes. The tall man with the thick mustache twisted it slowly between his fingers, watching him with an unreadable expression.

"Have you not done enough keeping me locked up all night?" Edwin said coldly. "Let me go now."

Veins stood out on his neck. He had not forgotten how Gunadi had struck him in the stomach when he tried to resist the day before.

"Without Jasmin?" Gunadi glanced toward the open bedroom door. His daughter lay asleep beneath the covers. He noticed immediately they had not shared the bed. A cruel smile touched his lips.

"Take Jasmin with you if you insist on leaving."

"Why should I take your daughter?" Edwin challenged. If this were a fair fight he would not back down even if it cost him his life. But this was not the time. His mother's life was at stake.

Gunadi's expression hardened. He took it as a personal slight.

"Is she not your wife?" he snapped.

"A wife. You call this a marriage? You know full well she carries another man's child. By every law of faith this union is invalid. Why do you force me to take responsibility for something that is not mine?"

Gunadi lifted his chin. He had not expected Edwin to speak so boldly. He took a long breath and softened his tone.

"I do not care about any of that. They were married yesterday. Whatever her situation is now she is your responsibility."

He turned to leave but Edwin's voice stopped him.

"How can you treat me this way and then demand I take responsibility? I am nothing to your family. I had no part in her condition."

"You…" Gunadi's jaw tightened.

"Have you forgotten your mother's life rests in my men's hands?" he shouted back. Their eyes locked in fierce anger.

"You hold a defenseless woman hostage just to keep me here? That is the act of a coward."

"Think what you will. It makes no difference to me. If you want to walk out of here you take Jasmin with you. Then your mother will remain safe."

Edwin pressed a hand to his chest. He knew anger would not change anything. He believed his mother would be safe if he simply obeyed. Once they were gone from this house he would wash his hands of Jasmin entirely.

He saw Gunadi reach for his phone. Edwin raised his hand.

"Fine. I will do as you say."

"Wake your wife. Eat first. Then you may leave."

Edwin turned away burning with resentment. He slammed the bedroom door shut behind him. Arguing with Gunadi was useless. The man knew only how to exploit weakness.

"Tell your family I will come to your home next week," Gunadi called from the hallway. "And remember this. You are part of our family now. You will not harm a hair on Jasmin's head no matter what happens. Do not forget it."

Edwin pulled the door open wide. He stared back at Gunadi whose eyes blazed with equal fury.

"There will be no more refusals or…" Gunadi held up a finger and drew it across his throat.

Edwin felt small and helpless. He stood powerless before this man and his armed guards who smiled with cruel amusement.

"I told you it would not be so easy to leave," Jasmin said from the bed. She sat up resting her head on one hand while the other stroked her rounded belly.

"When did you ever say such a thing?"

"Last night. Perhaps you were not listening," she replied calmly.

"We had no such conversation," Edwin snapped. "Do not lie to me."

He needed somewhere to direct his anger and she seemed determined to provoke him.