Kyle, Jack and Ryan - LeAnn Ashers

Chapter One

Chrystal

I clench my eyes closed, wanting to go back to the dreams because my reality at the moment is shitty.

Cool air seeps into the vehicle, bringing me further and further out of my sleep, and my back is absolutely killing me. I have been sleeping in my car for the past three months. I drove and drove until I ended up in the small town of Raleigh, Texas just a few weeks ago.

I sit up and rub my eyes, dragging the blanket up to my neck, trying to conserve what body heat I can. Fog is covering the windows, but I can see the sun barely peeking out over the mountains.

I need to settle down and find a place to stay for a while. I feel my baby kick inside me. I smile, running my hand over my stomach. I’m pregnant, five months to be exact. I found out when I was eight weeks along, and ever since I have been on the run.

I’m working in a garage at the moment, as a receptionist. I’ll stay here in my vehicle until I have a down payment for an apartment—I spent all my savings on gas and gas station food—then I’ll start to get settled.

I’m sleeping in the back of the garage; it’s chained, which makes me feel safer. I have keys to the building, so I can sneak inside and shower and use the kitchen. At least I can warm up in the shower if it gets really cold outside.

It’s honestly heaven compared to what I’ve been used to. Heck, I’ve slept on the floor in front of my desk. The one thing that does worry me is that they don’t know I’m sleeping back here. But I am safe; that’s what matters most to me at the moment.

I am twenty-two years old, and I’m in this situation because I left my husband.

I started dating him when I was just sixteen. My mom kind of set it up because we lived in a trailer in the middle of nowhere and this guy was rich. I was her ticket out.

I didn’t want that. I wanted to be independent and go to college. I wanted to make a life for myself. And, at twenty-eight years old, he was way too old for me. But I didn’t want to disappoint my family.

So I married him two weeks after I graduated from high school. All my friends were living their best life and partying, and I was buying decorations for my wedding.

This was essentially an arranged marriage. The day of the wedding, I walked down the aisle with tears in my eyes because I was so miserable, but I had to plaster on a fake smile. My mother cried in the front pew, in her new dress that my husband had bought for her. He gave her a credit card, and she’s now living in a new apartment with new clothes and a new life. All she had to do was give him me. My dad has tried to be happy for me, he’s tried to be there for me, but my mother is completely impossible.

I said my “I do,” and he took me to our new house, where I had sex for the first time. It was not horrible, but I didn’t enjoy one single second of it. The first few years of our marriage were bad, but it was nothing compared to the last year. That’s when his temper came out. It started when I accidentally spilled his plate of food in his lap as I brought it to the table. The next thing I knew, a fist was planted into my face.

In that single moment, my world changed. I went to my mom with the full intention of leaving him, because I couldn’t stay with a man who was abusive. That was not me.

My mother all but slammed the door in my face and told me that I needed to be better at serving my husband. It was my job to take care of him and I pretty much deserved what he had done to me.

I realized in that very moment I was so alone. I felt sad, but I was not defeated. I hatched a plan to get out, but I couldn’t just run with nothing. So I suffered. He beat me, hurt me, and broke me every single day. That one punch to my face changed my life.

So it took a whole year. I had to buy a vehicle