Runaway
September 2022
Matt’s Story – Book 5
Runaway - Chapter 1
Friday - 16 years ago
Matt.I squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine back. God I loved him so much. And waking up next to him had quickly become my favorite thing. In a few months, I’d be his wife. Our wedding day couldn’t come soon enough. I couldn’t wait to be Brooklyn Caldwell. Matt squeezed my hand again. It was the most comforting feeling in the world.
Especially after the crazy nightmare I’d just had. I’d dreamt that I’d played a horrible prank on my evil half-sister Isabella. Matt had been furious with me. And I could see why. Isabella had fallen through the ceiling in my nightmare. The prank had gone way too far.Such a crazy dream.
But then I felt a sharp pain in my side. I winced. And everything suddenly felt…wrong. Like the room was spinning. I felt like I was going to be sick.
This didn’t feel like the bed I shared with Matt. The mattress was hard and the sheets were thin and itchy.
The room didn’t smell like him either. It didn’t smell like anything at all.
And that was most certainly not Matt’s hand holding mine. It was all wrong.
I opened my eyes and had to blink because the room was blindingly white. My dad was sitting next to me holding my hand. His eyes were closed and he was in a wheelchair, his armattached to an IV in the corner. For just a second I was alarmed by how sickly he looked. For just a second…I was worried about him. Which was ironic. Because he certainly wasn’t worried about me. He didn’t give a shit about me.
It felt like my heart stopped beating. None of it was a dream.
No.
Never.
Nunca.
Tears started welling in my eyes. The prank had happened. Matt did hate me. He’d left me. He’d called me a liar and just walked away. He didn’t answer any of my calls or texts. He just…ignored my existence. Just like he had when we’d first met. Like I meant nothing to him. My chest ached. Like my heart was ripping in two.Matthew Caldwell hates me.
And yet…none of that was the worst thing. The monster sitting next to my bed topped everything else. And I needed to get the hell away from him.
I pulled my hand out of my dad’s grip.
That startled him awake. “You’re awake, princess,” he said, his voice hoarse and groggy.
I was not his princess. That was his name for my evil half-sister. And I wanted no part in it. I wanted no part of this family. “Don’t call me that.” My voice sounded even hoarser than his. I lookeddown at the IV that was attached to my wrist and tried to pull it out.
“What are you doing?” He reached out to stop me.
“Don’t touch me!” My stomach rolled as I sat up. I was definitely about to be sick.
“Princess, calm down. You need to rest.”
I pulled out the IV and grabbed my wrist as the blood dribbled down my arm. I needed to get out of this room. I needed to get away from the man that called himself my father.That sick fuck.
“Brooklyn, you need to calm down,” he said more forcefully.
“You stole…you stole my…” It was like my mind was all jumbled. Everything was blurry as I tried to climb out of bed. And my side hurt so damn much. When I pushed myself off the bed, I fell to my knees. My foot hit the metal pole the IV was attached to, and it fell to the ground with a clang.
“Brooklyn, stop.” He reached out for me again.
I cringed when he put his hands on my shoulders.Ow.I grabbed my stomach. I wasn’t going to be sick. I was just in pain because my dad had tried to kill me.
“Shit,” my dad mumbled.
