3: 3

"Haha, I've got to film this."

Someone shoved to the front, phone raised, the lens pointed straight at me.

The others laughed and called out, "Now Gabriel's got the new bride tied down for good."

"That's right. Once the wedding night's been had in front of everyone, they all know she's been pawed over. No man would take her after this. She'd be filthy goods."

"Gabriel, stop standing there. Get on with it."

Tears running down my face, I looked at him. "Are you really willing to let them humiliate me like this?"

Something flickered across his face. Hesitation.

It didn't last. The hesitation hardened into something cruel.

He said, cold, "You won't eat the slop because you look down on me. On my whole family. That's it, isn't it?"

"Renata, you're the one who insulted me first, in front of all these relatives. Don't play the victim now."

Everything in me went dead and hopeless. "Fine. I'll eat it. Make them go away."

He watched me, suspicious. "You'll really eat it?"

I gave a bitter smile. "I'd rather eat slop than be humiliated in front of all these people."

He nodded. "See, wouldn't it have been easier to just do this from the start?"

"Renata, you just never listen. If you had, this would've been over long ago, and we'd still be one happy family."

He drove the others back and told his mother, "Get her some slop. She's willing to eat now."

Selma slapped me hard across the face. "One minute you'll eat, the next you won't. You messing with me?"

A few minutes later, someone carried in a bowl of slop.

Selma grabbed a fistful of my hair and hissed, "This is what you get for turning down the nice way. Now you take the hard way."

"You're finishing this slop today. No putting on a show. I want to see you mean it."

I took the bowl in my hands. Everyone stared, waiting to watch me eat.

Then I lifted the bowl high and smashed it down on Gabriel's head.

He screamed, blood pouring down his head, the big porcelain bowl shattering.

Alden and Selma shrieked curses and lunged to hit me.

I snatched up the biggest shard and swung it around like a knife, wild.

I cut Selma across the arm. Blood ran everywhere.

I caught Alden across the face and nearly opened his throat.

I put on a look that said I had nothing left to lose, and it scared them off.

The Hensons stumbled back, shoving each other out of the way as they fled the room.

I threw the bolt behind them.

Out in the hall they kicked at the door and screamed curses. I ignored them.

I pressed my back hard against the door and pulled out my phone.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I could barely hit the keys.

I dragged in a breath, forced myself calm, and called my father. "Dad, come save me, I'm at—"

I didn't get the words out. The door came down.

The whole thing toppled and pinned me to the floor.

The pain took my breath away. I felt bodies stepping on me, so many that my ribs felt ready to snap.

"She's here, under the door," a villager shouted, giddy with it.

Then a hand seized my hair and dragged me out from beneath the door.

The phone had fallen beside me, the call still going.

Through the pain I called out, "Dad, I'm at Gabriel—"

Crack!

A foot in a leather shoe came down hard on my phone, and it shattered.

I looked up. It was Gabriel.

He had a stool in his hands, and he brought it down on my head without mercy.

Everything went black, and I passed out.

4: 4

When I came to again, I was sitting in a chair.

Rope wound around my body, knotted tight.

I strained against it, but it was useless.

Gabriel had a bandage wrapped around his head, blood still seeping through.

The moment he saw I was awake, he started slapping me across the face, hard.

He was completely changed. This wasn't the gentle, attentive Gabriel anymore. This was a brutal man.

He poured every bit of his rage into me, made me his outlet.

While he hit me, I didn't feel like his wife. I felt like some animal he kept, cattle or a pig or a dog, something he could punish and abuse however he pleased.

The villagers laughed. "Now that's more like it."

"Gabriel's got real backbone. That's how a man acts."

Finally, Gabriel wore himself out.

He dropped into the chair across from me, breathing hard.

He told his cousins, "Strip her clothes off. Feed her the slop."

The men snickered and came toward me, worked up.

Gabriel held up his phone himself, filming.

I couldn't accept it. I asked him, "I already married you. Husband and wife are one."

"When they humiliate me, aren't they humiliating you too? How can you just stand there?"

He only looked at me, cold. "You humiliated me first. You made me lose all my face today."

"My mom was right. If I don't break you now, you'll act up later and shame me even worse."

Just then his mother came over and patted his shoulder. "Make sure you save that video."

"Don't worry, Mom," Gabriel said. "I'll send you a copy."

Selma smiled, satisfied. "With this video, we've got her right where we want her."

"Once she's finished the slop, she buys me and your dad a car each. Right away."

Gabriel nodded. "No problem."

His cousins spoke up. "We put in work today too. How about a car for us?"

Gabriel laughed. "Sure. The Swansons have money anyway. A few cars is nothing, easy enough."

They all laughed, delighted.

I stared at him, stunned. "What are you saying?"

Gabriel said, slow and low, "Renata, you hurt a lot of people just now. Think of this as your apology."

"You buy everyone a car, and they still treat you like family."

"If you won't, then we're enemies."

His mother picked it up from there. "And if you're our enemy, we won't be saving that video for you."

"We'll put it online. Let everyone see the rich little princess from the city, naked, eating pig slop."

"You wouldn't want to disgrace your mom and dad, would you?"

My head buzzed, and it hit me all at once. This was a trap.

From the moment I set foot in this village. No, from the moment Gabriel first came near me, first started dating me, I'd already walked into it.

They wanted to humiliate me, film it, use the video to squeeze me dry.

His father drew on his pipe, smiling. "Son, this Renata's an only child, isn't she?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah."

Alden smiled, pleased. "Good. We'll haul all her family's money over here, then, and live the good life like rich folks too."

The whole Henson family broke into smug laughter.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "All right, enough wasting time. Get her eating the slop."

The villagers were on me then, some yanking at my clothes, some prying my mouth open, one holding a bowl, ready to pour the slop down my throat.

That was when a huge roar rose up outside.

Then a crash.

A car smashed straight through the Hensons' gate and came roaring into the main house.

The Hensons scattered, screaming, scrambling for cover.

A tall man leapt down from the car, his face dark as iron.

The sight of him broke me. I sobbed, "Dad. You're here."