The Woman They Threw Away

I had claustrophobia the severe kind.

The moment an elevator's doors slid shut, my palms would start to sweat. The second the lights went out, I couldn't breathe.

My fiancé, Adrian, said he would help me cure it.

Over the course of six months, he started by trapping me in a freight elevator stuck mid-air. I kneeled on the floor, crying until I was physically drained, while he recorded my breakdown from the security monitors.

Later, he shoved me into an MRI tube, locked me in a pitch-black escape room, and dragged me down an abandoned subway tunnel.

Every single time, I cried until I dry-heaved, huddled in a corner, begging him over and over to open the door. When it finally opened, he would rub his temples and sigh.

"Elara, the walk-in closet in our penthouse doesn't even have a window. If you can't get over this, how are you going to live there after we're married?"

I believed him. I thought he loved me and just wanted to help conquer my fear.

Until tonight. He blindfolded me, drove me to an abandoned underground bunker on the outskirts of town, cut all the lights, deadbolted the iron door, and walked away.

I ripped off the blindfold and completely lost it in the pitch-black confinement. Warm liquid ran uncontrollably down my legs.

Fumbling around in sheer panic, I found the Bluetooth earbud he had dropped.

The sounds of my brother, Ethan, and Adrian laughing drifted clearly through the tiny speaker.

"Did you get it on camera?" Ethan said. "She wet herself. She's shivering in the corner like a rat that fell in a gutter. Livia is going to be laughing at this for days."

Adrian's voice carried a casual, careless amusement. "Who's the reason Livia got dragged through the mud online? Elara losing a little face doesn't even cover the interest on what she owes."

The bunker's damp chill crawled up my soaked pant legs.

It finally hit me. All these so-called treatments were meticulously designed pranks to make Livia laugh. And I was nothing but the punchline.

I didn't know how much time had passed before the iron door finally swung open.

The beam of a flashlight pierced straight in, and I instinctively raised an arm to shield my eyes.

"Jesus." Ethan pinched his nose and took a step back. "That smell."

Adrian stood at the threshold, making no move to enter. His gaze swept over my soaked jeans. He frowned, turned to grab a shopping bag from his SUV, and tossed it at my feet.

"Change."

I clutched the bag, my voice trembling uncontrollably. "Can I change in the car?"

"No," he replied instantly. "I just got custom leather seats installed last week. Not a chance you're getting in."

He jerked his chin toward an abandoned guard booth at the edge of the woods.

"Go over there. Make it quick. Livia is still waiting for us."

The booth was so narrow it barely offered enough room to turn around. There were no lights, and the door hung crookedly off its hinges.

In the past, I would have rather stood in the freezing wind to change. But right now, I couldn't stand being in front of them for another second.

I squeezed myself sideways into the space, every breath feeling like I was swallowing sand. Gritting my teeth, I peeled off the wet pants and had just pulled the new ones up when

A large hand clamped down hard over my nose and mouth from behind.

A rough burlap sack was shoved over my head, plunging the world into darkness once again.

I was dragged backward. My spine slammed against the doorframe, and my heels scraped across the gravel path, burning with pain. I kicked wildly, my foot striking the corrugated metal of the booth. The loud clang echoed through the night.

I waited for Adrian to rush over.

Nobody came.

My attacker dragged me to the back of the SUV. The trunk popped open with a distinct click. He shoved my entire body inside, my knees jammed against my chin, my head smashing against the freezing metal.

The tailgate slammed shut.

It was tighter in here. Blacker. I heard myself screaming until my vocal cords shredded.

A few seconds later, the trunk popped open again, and the sack was violently yanked off my head.

A phone flashlight blinded me. Behind the glare was Ethan's face.

He held the phone high, currently on a video call, the camera pointed dead at me.

On the screen, Livia was laughing so hard she was leaning forward. "Oh my god, she's thrashing around like a cat getting dunked in a bathtub!"

"Just like I promised." Ethan brought the lens closer. "Specially prepared just for you. An exclusive."

"I have to save this clip," Livia said, her voice sickeningly sweet. "I'm going to watch it every night before bed."

Ethan's tone instantly softened. "As long as it makes you smile, it's worth it, Livia."

He had never spoken to me with that kind of tone.

Something exploded in my chest.

I lunged out of the trunk, snatched the phone out of his hand, and smashed it viciously against the bumper. The screen shattered into a spiderweb, and the call was abruptly cut off.

"Are you crazy?" Ethan roared. "That was brand new!"

Adrian, with both hands shoved in his overcoat pockets, strolled over leisurely and looked down at me.

"It was just a joke, Elara. Since when did you become so uptight?"

I gripped the back of the car to steady myself, blood trickling down my ankle.

I raised my bloodshot eyes and stared at the two men closest to me in the world.

"Whether it's a joke, or you're just producing a reality show for Livia every time you watch me break down... you two know the truth."

The composure on Adrian's face fractured, piece by piece.

"...You know?"