Chapter 1 The Beginning

ONE🎗

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Khloe saw his hand swung out, connecting to her stomach. The massive force of the blow propelled her down to the floor.

She writhed in pain and clutched her belly. He stood above her, angry as a raging bull and his hands still curled in a fist.

He bent down and grabbed her hair, yelling. "If I ever see you around that scoundrel again, you'll answer to me. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, " she whimpered and he let her go abruptly. He exited the room after that.

Hot tears were streaming down her face as she struggled to get back on her feet. Once she was able to grab a hold of herself, she carefully removed her clothes and climbed into the bath tub for a long shower.

She stepped out of the tub after what felt like an eternity and wrapped herself in a white bathrobe. She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she towel-dried her hair. Because of all the sobbing, her eyes were puffy.

Since he had twisted her arm a while earlier, it still hurt so bad. Her belly ached as well. For her painkillers, she combed through the drawers.She always kept them there and when they were finished, replaced them with new ones.

Dane's assault on her did not begin yesterday. Sometimes it was a hard slap, blows, or choking her to the point where she thought she was going to the other world. She nevertheless stayed with him for a few reasons even though it had not been an easy road.

She did not particularly love herself and believed she needed a man to make her feel whole. Dane, however, profited on her low self-esteem.

He would always reassure her that he was the one man for her and that no other man could ever love her as much as he did.And she completely trusted every word he said.

She had amazing physical attributes. Her dark golden brown hair always stood out against her caramel skin with a medium shade of brown.

She had the most beautiful, enticing brown eyes and a slim thick build. The only thing was that she was not totally slim thick. She had huge hips, thighs, and a bum, but her stomach was not flat, nor was her waist particularly small.

She was always under the impression that she needed to lose some pounds. She believed that she would appear more attractive if she shed some weight from her waist and around her stomach.

At least that was what Dane mentioned to her a few times. Approximately 5 foot 4 inches tall, she was on the shorter side.

She lived in his house and since he was barely home, the house felt like it belonged to her alone. And it got lonely sometimes. He had a nasty temper, was possessive and overly jealous.

He didn't even want any guy to take a glance at her. He was the reason she had low self esteem because he filled her head with so many lies that she became blinded and could not see.

He had also successfully driven away her friends and people around her so she was in her own little shell, away from the world.

The only person that really stuck around was Jessica, her best friend. Apart from her and her mother, she was not so close to anyone else.

Dane would always say, "You have me already and I take good care of you, so why do you need anybody else?"

After slipping some clothes on, she heard the door bell ring repeatedly. No one else came to visit her asides Jessica so she already knew who it was.

Jessica was waiting there when she opened the door, a box of chocolate in her left hand and a smile on her face. Her short bob hairstyle in cobalt blue looked incredibly lustrous and had slightly rounded ends. Her skin tone was immaculate, even, and as smooth as porcelain.

She wore a short leather skirt that looked excessively tight on her despite being slender and attractive. Her plump lips and intensely crimson lipstick looked great together, and her eyes glistened with happiness.

"Hi Mama," Jessica said as she let herself into the house.

"Hello to the most annoying best friend in the whole wide world." Khloe said shutting the door after her.

"You missed me, don't even lie"

"Yeah yeah whatever."

"Hope your man's not home?" Jessica raised a brow and looked around carefully.

"Nah, he's not," Khloe assured her.

"Where did he go?"

"You are aware that he rarely tells me," Khloe waved a hand and turned her head aside.

A little pause and then, "So what was little princess Fiona doing before I got here?"

Khloe rolled her eyes, "Stop referring to me like that."

"But I am not lying, am I? It is very similar to being imprisoned in your castle while being watched over by a fire-breathing dragon. That sleazeball you call a man is the fire-breathing dragon."

She was quieted by Khloe by placing a palm over her mouth. "Let's dig into these chocolates you brought , please"

"And who said I brought them for you?"

"Do you want to die?"

"No ma'am" Jessica laughed as she stood up and followed her to the bedroom.

Khloe sat on the dressing table, blow drying her hair while Jessica opened the box.

"My boyfriend got these for me you know,"

"Yeah of course. You can't afford something as expensive as that unless your boyfriend buys it for you" Khloe said without looking at her. Then she felt a sharp pain on her arm. It was Jessica pulling her.

"How dare you?" Jessica was giggling and it soon faded away when she heard Khloe yelp in pain.

She panicked. "What's wrong? Did I pull you too strongly?"

Worry was visible on her face as he knelt in front of her.

"No no no, it is not you. Its.... " she trailed off.

Jessica sat down on the bed again,understanding the situation.

It was then she realized, as she looked closely, that Khloe had been crying earlier.

"Dane hit you again, didn't he?"

Khloe nodded her head without answering. Jessica's face suddenly twisted into anger.

"What the hell Khloe? Why are you still with that bastard?"

"You know its not that easy,Jess. I would have, if I could."

"But you could. You just don't want to."

"Jess," she sighed."You know Dane is the reason why Mom's restaurant is standing there today. He literally helped build it from scratch and still supports it till today. I couldn't just leave even if I wanted to."

"Nonsense, Khloe. I'm pretty sure you can do just fine without him."

Khloe shook her head and continued,"I don't know if I can cope without him though"

"For someone who beats your ass at every chance he gets and then comes back with a dumb ass apology and gifts to make you feel better?"

She held her hands and went on, "Look, you were doing just fine before he walked into your life and you'd be very much okay without him present, trust me."

Just then, Khloe's phone that was on the bed beeped and Jessica took a glance before passing it over to her.

It was a text from Khloe's Mom. She hurriedly texted back saying she would call later.

"When would you tell her about the devil her daughter is dating?" Jessica was asking with a frown.

"Jess, don't go to the extreme. Dane isn't all that bad. And Mom loves him."

"She only does because she doesn't know the real person hiding behind that mask obviously."

"Dane is a good person. He just has anger issues"

"So you enjoy him beating you to a pulp? Would you tell your mother before its too late or you want your corpse doing the talking?"

"Jess!" She called in disbelief.

"What?" She snapped.

"Dane isn't that violent. Besides, he loves and he is very protective of me. I can't ruin the image Mom already has of him. She believes he is a good person."

Yes, her mother, Tara loved Dane to bits. He was always such a gentleman when he was around her. And more importantly he helped financially.

Khloe would have been able to support her Mom more because she ran a beauty blog.

But most of the money went into her aunt's treatment.

Khloe wished she had just told Jessica to spend the night over because Dane didn't return home that night. She called his number a few times but he ignored them.