A/N: I just had this story idea yesterday and couldn't help but write. I know you will have a lot of questions and I will try to address them in the coming chapters. Please, please, please review…they mean so much to me.

Chapter 1

I stand before the huge mirror inside my closet. I woke up this morning with a sense of excitement mixed with fear clenching in my stomach. My hands trembled lightly when I made coffee. My stomach fluttered while I showered and dressed and hasn't left me still. I have no appetite so I will skip breakfast. I run my hands through the black poplin pencil skirt, flattening the already smooth fabric for the hundredth time. I mixed it with a white shirt and black pumps and I am ready to go. Work! Finally after all these years I am actually going to work!

As I stare at the pale, but curvaceous figure smoothing the skirt, the image of Daniel comes into view from behind. Wearing a well fitted suit, my husband of four years is also ready to run to work like he did every day. He stands there staring at me, but I suspect if his stare holds any admiration for my appearance. He walks toward me slowly and I begin to panic.

Stopping behind me, he places his hands over my shoulder. At 6'2, he towers over me like a mountain, his face firm and grim. Daniel owns one of Seattle's largest brokerage firms. He does not definitely fall into the category of handsome businessmen. He is bald, has a slightly bulging tummy beneath the expensive suit and he is cold and calculating like a murderer. But, after four years, my mind is conditioned to be around him. I hold my breath.

"Anastasia, I hope you remember the conditions that I have put forward in order for you to work. I hope you remember about the NDA. One word and you know what happens to you and your family." Daniel's eyes gleam with cruelty. His lips twirls in a smile that's poles away from his spectacle covered eyes. He runs his hands through his bald head.

"Do not even for a moment think that I like this. I am giving this as a reward for you know what. This does not, I repeat, does not in any way suggest that you have earned your freedom." He leans in, his mouth brushing my ear. I gasp.

"I will have my eyes on you all the time. So, stay away from your male colleagues, married or not." He hisses in my ears. Slowly his mouth turns into a wicked smile as his hands finds its way into my breasts. I inhale deep in frustration which he obviously misinterprets for desire. He opens the first few buttons of my shirt with ease and yanks down my bra. I close my eyes but feel the slightly cold air perking up my nipples. His soft, fleshy thick palms massage them in circles. I don't feel a thing. He pinches my nipples hard and I jerk in pain. I feel his cheeks bulging in a smile against mine.

"Open your eyes", he commands and I oblige immediately. I see myself and Daniel in the mirror. His hands go round and round around the soft flesh of my breasts.

"Anastasia, these" – he holds my breasts in my hands and shakes them up and down- "were so small when I married you. But now these fit so perfectly in my hands." He smells my neck and places small kisses along the length. "Soon, Anastasia, I will have you. You are so delectably beautiful; I wish I could have you now." His face goes dark and cold.

In a sudden movement he pulls the cups of my bra upward and stands back. I stare at him with bated breath. The lust in his eyes has given way for cruelty again.

"You are a beautiful woman. I am sure that you could make anyone jump into bed with you merely by throwing a look at their direction. If you do that, you know what's waiting for you in my basement." The last sentence hit me hard. I tremble at one particular memory, when a guest at a party showed an unusual interest in me. When I recovered composure, Daniel was gone.

I finish readying and carrying my hand bag goes straight into the kitchen.

Miss Marie, our housekeeper has already placed my breakfast on the table; Toast, scrambled eggs and coffee. I am not in the right frame of mind to eat. I drink coffee but avoides the food.

"Ana, its your first day of work. I don't want you to faint, so please eat something. And you don't know how busy you are going to get in the office. What if you couldn't get enough time to eat lunch?" Miss Marie chides me.

Miss Marie is of African American origin. She could be around forty, I assume since I never asked her age. Daniel is not fond of her (he is not fond of anyone) because Miss Marie is not afraid of him, hell, she is not afraid of anyone and speaks her mind openly. I've known her for my entire period here as Daniel's wife.

I don't answer her. She stands behind the breakfast bar and eyes me suspiciously.

"So, I go home this weekend and come back to find you taking up on a job. That too as a lowly assistant! What the hell Ana? Why do you have to work? And how come Mr. Control freak let you work?"

I understand her curiosity for I have been pondering over the same question myself over the weekend.

"I don't know why Miss Marie. But I am really glad that he loosened his grip on me this time. I have been bothering him with my desire to work for some time now. He must have just got tired of my pleading." I shrug my shoulders.

"So where is it that you going to work?"

"A small publishing firm called SIP- Seattle Independent Publishing. I am the personal assistant to one of the chief editors, Elizabeth Garret. Her assistant quit suddenly and Daniel called in a favor. I was given the job without even an interview. I mean not a formal one, Miss Garret spoke with me on the phone."

Miss Marie lets out a sigh. I know she is going to miss me. For four years Miss Marie was my friend and confidante. We spent most days together. No one knows me like Miss Marie does.

"Miss Marie I want this. I want to get out of here. This is the only way I can escape from him at least for a few hours. I will have something to do, something to think about other than Daniel and our problems."

Miss Marie nods in agreement. I manage to consume a piece of the toast and half a mug of coffee. I don't have to hurry though, I have plenty of time.

"I heard Mr. West has bought you a new car." She looks at me questioningly.

I smile enthusiastically. "Yes, I haven't driven a car in…." I drift of "…four years. He offered me a driver too which I refused." I recover quickly. "I want to do this on my own."

"You know what I think?" Miss Marie cuts her voice into a whisper. "I think you should use this opportunity to find a nice young man suitable for your age and leave Mr. West" How audacious of her! She continues. "Mr. West is what? 40? 42? For god's sake Ana have some courage and leave him."

"You know I can't. Too many things, too many lives are at stake Miss Marie"

"I know sweetheart, but you are only 22. It hurts to see the wonderful years of your life burning out in front of my eyes. You need to live not merely exist."

"I am trying to survive Miss Marie" I get up and smooth my skirt again, ready to leave.

"See you in the evening"

"Bye Ana."

I head out of my palatial home, well, my husband's palatial home to find my blue Audi A8 parked in the garage. I hope I haven't forgotten how to drive a car. I scoot into it and start the engine. The car slowly rolls out into the pathway leading out of the house and on to the road. Wow! This car is a dream to drive.

As I ease into the Monday morning traffic, I look forward to a wonderful time at work and a few hours of freedom.