The New Beginning

G. K. Sidhu

Copyright © 2015 by G. K. Sidhu

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Publisher's note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

Edited, formatted, and interior design by Kristen Corrects, Inc.

First edition published 2015

Chapter 1

Their fairytale all started with one look.

Derek Will fell in love with Samantha Moore. Everyone envied their love story. He was the perfect gentleman and she was the beauty with class.

Six months after dating, Derek proposed on one knee with a 5.36 carat yellow cushion cut micropavé halo diamond. It was stunning to the eyes and left Samantha in awe. But that was far from important.

After the honeymoon phase ended, things started to settle in—and that's when Samantha realized who Derek really was.

The night took a sickening twist in the home of Derek and Samantha Will.

Derek came home, aggravated about something unclear to Samantha. It's not like Derek came home, had dinner, sat down, and exchanged the traditional preliminaries—he had changed slowly after marriage. There were no more late-night conversations, handholding, or even the conventional husband-wife types of things. Derek expected Samantha to clean, cook, and keep the house well-maintained without any kind of help. It was unusual to find a housewife who lived in Pool View not to have a maid. With the kind of money Derek brought home, there was no question as to why they couldn't afford a maid, a butler, and a gardener. Derek's intentions were to keep Samantha locked in the house as long as he could and it was exactly how it panned out. He went to work and was successful at his job, while Samantha stayed at home and made sure the house was tidy and in order before Derek came home. But today, it wasn't the diurnal routine Samantha was prepared for.

Samantha had been throwing up all morning, so as like any other human being, she rested. Samantha slept all through the afternoon, only waking up half an hour before Derek's arrival. She started on dinner, hoping Derek wouldn't arrive earlier than usual, but it seemed that the universe was not on her side. Derek arrived home, pissed about something—it had to be something work related she figured, but it wasn't Samantha's place to ask. According to Derek, it was none of her business.

Derek walked into the kitchen only to find dinner wasn't set on the kitchen table like it had been every day for the past five years. Automatically, Derek jumped to the assumption Samantha was out in the city having a good time, or having an affair. He glared at Samantha, not looking for an explanation. Even if she attempted to explain herself, he wouldn't believe her. Instead he'd believe whatever he made up in his mind because that was what he believed to be true.

The silence frightened Samantha. She had no idea what to expect.

Derek took the pot of boiling pasta and watched the water drain in the sink, only to throw the pasta all over the kitchen floor. Samantha backed away slowly, not wanting him anywhere near her. The farther she was, the better. But where could she possibly go? She watched his every move, like a hawk. Her heartbeat rang in her ears.

He stood still for a moment, looking around. Shadow eyed the knife that lay on the counter, which she had been using to cut the lettuce. She sensed Derek knew what she was thinking. His eyes followed hers, but then once again Samantha quickly became his center of attention. He inched forward, looking at Samantha directly in the eye. She saw the anger, rage, and frustration in his eyes and knew in her gut he was going to take it out on her. But it was just a matter of how.

"I thought I made it clear. Dinner should have been on the table by the time I walked in through that door," he howled. His voice only rose from this point on. "You take me as an idiot, don't you?"

Samantha shook her head.

"I work my ass off every single day to make a life for us," he continued. "All I ask from you is to clean this house, and put food on the damn table! But you can't even manage to do that, can you?!"

The corner of his mouth lifted as he unbuckled his belt and admired the thickness of it.

Samantha moved but not quickly enough. She knew all of it would be over sooner if she just took the beating. If she tried to escape, it would only anger him more. Derek came at her and whipped her across the back and then across her chest.

Samantha's loud crying pleas didn't stop Derek. He continued to slash her with his belt until he felt satisfied, but the beating didn't end there either. He gripped his hands tight around her neck until her face turned pale, then shoved her to the ground. A mischievous grin crept up on his face as he stared at Samantha struggling. She lay there coughing; uttering the words "I'm sorry." But Derek didn't care if she was sorry or if she was sick. He was going to make her miserable until she bled.

Derek continued to whip Samantha across her back, only to turn her over and continue the lashing across her chest and stomach. Her cries became louder. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the kitchen, into the living room where he continued to severely lash Samantha on the face. She covered her face in agony. He forced her hands away from her face, then slapped her once, twice then a third time before he brought the brutal beating to an end. He stood bearing over her as she lay on the floor.

Samantha's eyes, red, began to swell. By the end of the night, her eyes would be swollen shut. Her lips were cracked. Her pearly white teeth were covered in blood. Her back and chest ached in torment. She could see the blood on the white carpet, through her blurry vision. Her mind began to slowly shut down.

Derek turned her face over with his foot so he could see the pain in her eyes. He looked at her and shook his head in disgust.

His voice was calmer now."None of this would've happened if you made dinner. When will you learn?" He scoffed. "I'm tired, so don't waste your time in the kitchen…but I do want this mess cleaned up before you go to bed," he said, fanning his index finger over the blood on the carpet. "This all better be spotless by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, do you understand?"

Samantha gave no response. She merely couldn't. It hurt to move her lips, and had no energy to speak.

"I didn't hear you. What did you say?" he said, expecting a response he knew he wasn't going to get, but he was going to force it out of her anyway. "I can't hear you, Samantha. It's not that hard to say yes."

Samantha used all her strength to nod, agreeing to do what he asked her.

"I need to hear you say it. Say the word, Samantha. I know you can do it. I need a verbal agreement." He crouched near her.

She could hear Derek breathing over her. Again, with all her strength she had left in her, through her swollen and bleeding lips, between sobs, Samantha uttered the word "Yes."

Satisfied, Derek went upstairs, leaving Samantha on the living room floor.

There was really nothing she could do. She had no money. She didn't have a way of making her own living. Derek, the clever man he was, gave her the option of leaving. But where would she go? To her family? She was too ashamed to ask them to take her in, when they warned her for marrying Derek in the first place. Did she listen? No. She dropped out of college and gave up everything to be with this man and…now he'd taken her life. It came as a shock to Samantha that after all this, he still continued to let her breathe. Why not end her life instead?

And then…