Page 57 of Taking Adalisa

My heart starts racing as I pin my gaze on the front door. What am I going to do? I am not prepared for something like this. How am I going to figure out who it is and how they found me?Maybe it’s just a drunk who’s come into the building. Whoever it is will leave when I ignore the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Or maybe not. I clench my jaw as I look at the door and stand. I shouldn’t be doing this, but they are clearly not going away, and I need them to go away. Matthias can’t have found me that fast or known I was trying to leave him.

Quietly, I walk to the door and place my ear against it.

“Open up,” a deep voice calls out.

Not the next apartment, and it doesn’t sound like Matthias. Taking a deep breath, I open the door and gasp.

“Hello, wife,” Matthias says, smiling.

CHAPTER 22

ADALISA

As I slam the door, Matthias places his foot inside at the very last second. I take several steps back as I stare at him wide-eyed. He can’t be here. How did he find me so fast?

“Did you really think you could get away from me?” Matthias opens the door. “Did you really think you were keeping it a secret that you were trying to leave?”

I rush backward. Maybe I can open the window and jump before he can get to me. But as I look at the window and back at Matthias, I know I won’t be able to make it. I don’t know how the window opens, which will waste precious time that I don’t have. What am I going to do?

I should have opened the window before or at least checked it out before I went to bed, but I didn’t. I should have checked it. I should have made sure everything was okay. Why didn’t I?

Because I was exhausted and wanted to rest. I didn’t think he would find me so soon.

“Adalisa,” he growls. “Answer me.”

“N-no,” I stutter, not really remembering the questions he was asking. Hopefully, it is the right answer and I haven’t shot myself in the foot.

“So why did you run, wife?” he asks. “Why did you try to leave me and hide?”

Wife? What is he talking about?

“I see you’ve caught on to what I was saying, wife.” He repeats the word again.

“Are you trying to insinuate what is going to happen next?” My voice is shaky from nerves.

Matthias takes a step toward me. “No.”

My eyebrows pull together. No, he isn’t. So what is he talking about? I know for sure we haven’t gotten married. I haven’t gone to the courthouse, said I do, and signed the paperwork. I would have remembered that.

He takes another step toward me, a smile blossoming across his face. “We’re marriednow.”

“I think I would remember going to the courthouse,” I tell him, taking another step back.

My eyes dart around the room quickly, trying to see if I can come up with any sort of exit plan. But Matthias is closing in on me, backing me into a corner, and I don’t have anywhere to escape. What am I going to do? How am I going to get out?

Matthias takes another step toward me, cornering me, and the smirk on his face shows me that he knows it as well. Shit. This is not good.

“You don’t remember since you weren’t there,” he replies, still advancing on me. “But the marriage certificate is real, and a judge was present when we got married. We are legally married, and there is nothing you can do about it. No divorce lawyer will help you, no judge will reverse it. You are legally bound to me like I am legally bound to you.”

I shake my head. “No judge would do that.”

Matthias makes a tsking sound. “A lotof judges would do it, especially when there is incriminating evidence againstthem. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish with evidence.”

He closes the distance between us. My heart sinks as I stare at him. He is telling the truth; I can feel it in my bones, and I don’t know what to do now. How am I going to get out of this?

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