[i]“Cassi. I’m sorry. You know I’m sorry. Why are you packing? Where are you going? You can’t leave!” She didn’t answer, only continued to gather everything she thought she might need until she was on her feet in a different town far, far away from here. When he realized that she was serious, he grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her away from the backpack she was filling. The action caused her to yelp involuntarily, both in surprise and in pain. He didn’t care. “You’re my wife. You stay here.”

This time, her eyes looked up at him and saw the fury on his face. It didn’t matter how sorry his voice sounded, his expression never showed any kind of remorse. That was the way he tricked you. It had taken her three years to learn, but now she knew. She fought the urge to place a hand on her belly, to protect their unborn child. If she did that, he would know. He must have already suspected that something had changed. Never before had she stood up to. She couldn’t bare it. Somehow, she needed to get out of his grip. Her eyes closed and she summoned every ounce of courage she had, her leg kicking forward.

He grunted in pain and bent over, looking like he might be sick. Cassidee grabbed the bag and hoped that she had not forgotten anything extremely important because there was no way she could stay and finish after what she’d just done. He would kill her. When she ran past him, she felt his hand brush her leg and panicked. If he got up before she could leave, she’d never get out. Somehow, though, she made it outside and to her car. In her rearview mirror, she saw him opening the door to come after her, and she gunned it.[/i]

The sound of the bus stopping snapped Cassidee out of her memories and back into the present. It was still unreal that she was so far from home, unreal that she was actually hoping to never see her [i]husband[/i] again. Grabbing the backpack from the seat next to her, she pulled her hood up and made her way off the bus. She was in the town of Lima, a place she’d never even heard of which suited her just fine. Cassi needed to be somewhere that no one would ever look for her. This place looked like just that.

It was hot and raining when she stepped outside, the two things she hated most. How she longed to be back up north where a jacket was required and everyone moved quickly. It meant that no one had much time for anyone else, but it also meant that it was easy to lose yourself in your thoughts and have no one interrupt you. She’d already had four people tell her their life stories. It was ridiculous. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten in a very long time. It also didn’t help that she had nowhere to stay.

Looking around, her gaze settled on an open sign, one of the few this late at night. [i]A diner,[/i] Cassidee thought with relief. It didn’t help with her living situation, but it was dry and it had food. So, without even considering another possibility, she made her way to the building just hoping that they wouldn’t mind that she was dripping wet.