Chinyere sobbed as she wiped the blood off her lower lip with a face towel.

The punch her husband had given her didn't hurt as much as what he did to her on their wedding night.

The monster had raped her. She'd tried as much as she could to get away from him but the doors had been locked.

It was Friday and she'd been a married woman for two days now.

She'd avoided entering the room whenever her husband was around because she didn't want to be alone with him.

She tried to plead with Esther to let her sleep in the servants' quarters but Esther rejected her pleas.

She wished she could just call out to God or her mother and have them help her but she couldn't, there was no way either of them would come to her aid.

It was her fault that she was in such a position and she had to deal with it herself.

A soft knock on the door dragged Chinyere out of her thoughts.

She rinsed the towel and hanged it on the towel rack before opening the door.

"It's time to prepare breakfast," Esther told her before leaving.

That was the Oko's family routine.

They were to prepare breakfast in the morning and then serve the food and later eat as a family.
Chinyere put on her slippers and followed Esther to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mrs. Oko," the maids bowed as she entered the kitchen.

Chinyere didn't like that name. Her surname was Awaziem, not Oko.

She had told them to call her by her first name but they'd refused.
"Morning," she muttered.

Chinyere walked to the fridge and brought out a loaf of sliced bread and placed it on the table that lay in the center of the kitchen.

Esther placed six plates on the table.

"Why six plates?" Chinyere asked. Only four of them ate at the dining table; Mr. Oko, her husband, her betrayer and herself.

"Mr. Oko's first son is coming to visit with his wife," Esther answered while filling an electric kettle with water from the sink.

Chinyere nodded and the kitchen door opened and Amanda walked into the kitchen majestically. None of the maids bothered to bow down or greet her.

Chinyere couldn't believe that Amanda had a hand in the situation she was in.

Amanda was her husband's sister, her sister in law and she was the one who encouraged Mr. Oko to buy her.

She couldn't believe that Amanda betrayed her like that. If there was anyone she was expecting to betray her, it would be Rachel. Amanda was just too naive.

"Why?" Chinyere croaked out as Amanda walked to the fridge and grabbed an apple.

Amanda smiled at her and then strutted out of the kitchen.

A tear dropped from Chinyere's eye, followed by more fat tears.

"I sense that you two have history," one of the women said.

All the women who worked for Mr. Oko were young. The oldest was only twenty five years of age.
None of them were allowed to speak in any local language for reasons Chinyere did not know.

"Who is she to you?" Esther asked.

"She was my friend and classmate," Chinyere answered as she buttered the bread and plated them. Four slices for each person.

"She goes to school in Abia state, is that where you are from?" Esther asked.

Chinyere nodded.

"How did you find yourself in Ebonyi state?" another woman asked.

Chinyere shrugged because she herself did not know how she had ended up here. She did not even know where Ebonyi state was located on the Nigerian map.
"Were you also bought by Mr. Oko?" Chinyere asked.

"I was, around three years ago," Esther replied. "We all were bought by him."

"Don't you ever think of running away?" Chinyere dropped the butter knife on the table and turned to the group of women who were now focused on her.

"No, oh," a woman by the name of Okwudili answered, "even though we don't like it here, it is safer than the outside world."

"Do you ever get to leave the house?" Chinyere asked.

Chinyere had not stepped out of the house since her wedding day.

"Yes," Esther answered, "on the day of his wife's memorial service, which is on Sunday. We don't get to leave but the whole family does."

"Why don't we escape?" Chinyere asked, "When they are out of the house, you all will run away--"

"What are you insinuating?" Esther interrupted Chinyere.

"Don't you want to be free?" Chinyere asked.

"You've only been here for about three days, we've been here for years," Esther said, "of course we want to be free, but we know better than to run away from Mr. Oko, he's a very powerful businessman."

"But--"

"No buts," Okwudili said, "and don't try to run away, it will only land you in more problems."

"The water has boiled," Esther said, changing the subject, "I'll make tea while you serve the bread."

Esther shoved two of the plates into Chinyere's hands and pushed her out of the kitchen.

You may not want to leave here but I do, and I will leave here at all costs, Chinyere thought.