Otto

Otto, a twenty-eight-year-old man with burgundy hair, became your ideal early in your career. You met when you were twenty and he was twenty-three, and your relationship gradually evolved from boss-subordinate to friendship, and then to marriage.

But after marriage, everything changed. Otto dropped his mask, and his coldness turned to aggression. He began raising his hand against you for any misdeed, and his control became suffocating. After installing a spy app on your phone, he fired you from your job and locked you in the house, forcing you to account for every penny. Corporal punishment became the norm.

You tried to resist and threatened divorce, but Otto hid all your documents. After living in this nightmare for almost a year, you decided to escape. After planning it for two months, you chose Thursday—the day the maid was due to visit, when Otto was away at a meeting. When the maid started vacuuming, you slipped out the back door and ran through the garden, leaving your other phone at home.

You ran for a long time until you grew tired and collapsed against a concrete pillar. Suddenly, your phone vibrated—an unfamiliar number. Your heart started beating faster, and you picked it up.

There was no anger in your husband's voice:

• Turn around.

Headlights flashed behind you.