Shortly after we were married, we moved into a gorgeous two-story home with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. I let him convince me to quit my job and stay home to be his loving and doting wife. At first, life was perfect; he was perfect. He brought home surprises for me on every business trip he went on: jewelry, clothes, even a puppy; a golden retriever whom we named Goldilocks or Goldie for short. I was beyond the moon happy and then, one day, he did something I never thought he'd ever do.

I remember that day as if it were yesterday. We had been married for about a year and he had just gotten home from a trip to California- he went there on business more than anywhere else. I was in the kitchen when I heard the latch on the door click. I came bounding out to greet him. He seemed cheerful, relieved almost, to see me. I ran into his arms and he wrapped them around me, picking me up off of the ground, spinning me around.

"Darling!" I squealed. "I'm so glad you're home!"

Drew chuckled and grinned at me as he pulled away slightly to kiss me. "I missed you too my love!"

He set me down and gathered up his bags, heading up the stairs into our bedroom to put them away as I followed closely behind him. We had a tradition when he would get home from a long trip. He would plop his suitcase on the bed, spring open the latches and pull out a gift.

"Here you go, my love!" He said as he pulled out an incredible set of sapphire earrings.

"Oh, my Gosh! They're beautiful!" I gushed as I immediately went to my vanity to swap out my current earrings for the new ones.

Drew came up behind me and held my shoulders gently, placing a kiss in the crook of my neck. "Not as beautiful as the one wearing them."

I smiled brightly at his words. "I have something for you, too," I told him as he continued to place kisses up my neck.

"Oh...yeah?" He inquired in between kisses. "What's...that?"

I pulled open a drawer to my vanity, pulling out a necklace box. "Here," I told him as I handed it to him.

Drew looked down at the box, a smile spread upon his face as he accepted it from me. "You didn't have to get me anything, my love," he told me pulling off the lid.

I'll never forget how his smile faded, turning into a scowl as he pulled the positive pregnancy test from the box. His eyes grew dark; the air about him changed- warped into something twisted, something sinister and unfamiliar.

"What is this?!" He growled, snapping at me like a wolf cornered in the wild.

I backed up some and furrowed my brow in concern. "I...I..." I stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence.

"You're pregnant?!" The question was very much rhetorical, as he had the proof in his large hands. "How did this happen; why did this happen?"

I backed further away as I stared at this feral man in front of me. "I...I quit taking my birth control."

"What?!" He barked. "Why would you do that without consulting me?!"

For every step I took backward, he took forward.

"I didn't think..."

He cut me off. "That's the problem; isn't it? You didn't think." His eyes flashed red as he pursued me.

"I...I thought you would be happy. I...I thought you wanted children with me?" I asked, confused, as my back finally reached the wall.

"You thought wrong," he replied through gritted teeth.

Drew snatched me by the arm and drug me out into the hallway, heading towards the stairs at rapid speed. His grip on me was so tight that I could feel my pulse pounding against where his fingers gripped it.

"Where are we going?" I panicked.

"You're not going to have this baby," he hissed as we approached the staircase.

Before I was able to do or say anything, he turned me around to face him.

"Don't ever do this again," he commanded.

Then, he let go of my arm, put his hand to my chest and pushed. I fell down seventy-five stairs before crashing to the bottom. I broke two ribs, my left wrist and fractured my left ankle. Not to mention, I lost the baby, but that was his goal; now wasn't it?

I laid there in that hospital bed, trying to decide what to do next. I never told a soul what really happened. I just played it off as if I had simply fallen down the stairs.

He brought me flowers and smothered me in kisses, even when no one was watching. That man was hot one minute and cold the next. I never knew whether he was coming or going.

"I'm sorry, my love. I don't know what came over me; nerves I guess, but I promise it won't happen again. Do you forgive me?" He pleaded while I laid there, tears brimming my eyes.

"Yes," I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

He kissed my forehead. "Good. I thought about it and decided we could try again."

He decided. He had just gotten on to me for deciding things on my own, but here I was, broken and in pain lying in a hospital bed, and he decides that it would be fine now. I learned that day, that nothing was an 'us' decision; everything was up to him.

❇❇❇❇

It wasn't long and I was pregnant again. This time, he was loving, kind and understanding- rubbing my belly, helping me up out of my seat, massaging my sore feet and back. He was everything I dreamed he would be. I waited for him to hurt me again, but he never did. I thought maybe it was a fluke, a one-time occurrence.

However, slowly, he contorted me to his liking. It was so subtle that I didn't even notice it.

"Hey, baby," I called out as I approached him from behind while he sat at the breakfast table. "I'm going to take Sara to my mom's today and go to dinner with Julie."

Sara was our firstborn child and Julie was my best friend. Once I married Drew, I saw Julie less and less as time went on, before I didn't see her altogether.

Drew looked up at me from his paper as I kissed him on the cheek. "No. I need you to go to the grocery store and pick up food for the meeting I'm having here in a few days."

"Ok," I smiled at him, going to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, completely oblivious to what he was attempting to do. "I'll just go to lunch with Julie instead and then, go get the food."

"No; I need you to make sure this house is suitable for guests. I don't know what you do all day, but it sure isn't cleaning and you're always going somewhere."

I stood there with my cup in my hand and mentally eye-rolled at him. I did plenty of things. I took care of his child, his dinner, his house, as much as I possibly could. I did the grocery shopping and went to all of the doctor's appointment. Did he do any of those things? Very rarely, but what did I say back to him?

"Yes, dear. I'll get started on it right away."

"Good, " he stated, standing up from the table and walking over to me. "I'll see you tonight." Then, he kissed my cheek and left, shutting the door loudly behind him, waking Sara up.

❇❇❇❇

When it seemed as if I was going to become a problem for him, he'd make sure I fell pregnant, stopping me from fighting back against his wishes. I had four kids in four years. It had become so much for me, that we had to hire on a part-time Nanny to help me out.

One day, Drew was in the shower and the Nanny, Delilah, was entertaining our older children while I had the baby. I took him into our room, with Goldie following at my heel and placed him down on the bed so that I could change my shirt that he had just spit up on. He was only three months old so I didn't fear him rolling off. Suddenly the phone rang; so naturally, I went to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the receiver to the corded phone on my nightstand and placing it against my ear.

"Hello," came a lady's voice from the other end of the line. "Is Mr. Montgomery available?"

It wasn't unusual for him to get business calls at home, so I thought nothing of it.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "He's indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"Is this Mrs. Montgomery?" She inquired.

I hesitated, but only for a moment. Something about the call felt off to me.

"Y-yes? How can I help you?"

"It's about your son, Connor. He has been acting up lately and I think it might be due to his recent move to our school. Is there any way you could come to the school for a meeting? Both of you?"

My mind started reeling, my heart pumping faster, as what she said sank in.

"I'm sorry, but I think you might have the wrong number. We don't have a son named Connor and we have lived in the same house for almost six years now."

The lady paused a moment before speaking again. "Oh, ok. I'm so sorry about that. I'll, um, re-check my file and remove your number."

I hung up the phone and stood there a moment. My gut was telling me something wasn't right. Quickly, I pulled out his lockbox, stole his keys from on top of his dresser and opened it up. What I found, made my stomach hurt. Drew had a whole other wallet, equipped with pictures of a different family and a different Driver's License- from California.