Aurora's POV

I struggled, did whatever I could to get hold of something or someone. Hands couldn't help but struggle to hold on to the water, which wasn't possible. Legs couldn't find the ground to stand. Eyes were closed and saw nothing but darkness, lungs burned without oxygen and the head filled with water through the nose.

It felt like my heart would come out of my chest and float in the water. My heart felt more pain than my body.

I was about to pass out but then a strong hand pulled me up. I clutched on the hand tightly and sucked in the breath, took in as much as I could, like I was not going to get air again.

My eyes opened as I kept gasping for air. Eyes were burning due to the water.

Those mischievous grey orbs mocked me. Rafael was holding me up.

"I have a phobia of water, please... Leave me!... I'll die!"

I pleaded and tried to get out of the water but he held me back firmly.

He was standing in the water like a king, and the water wasn't even reaching his chest while I was drowning.

"This fear!"

He grabbed my chin and caressed my cheek with his thumb.

"This fear should be of me only..."

I couldn't believe his words.

"You will fear only me, Angel... Not anything else..."

I looked at him in horror.

"What are you__"

"Let me tell you a few things about myself..."

He removed wet hair from my face.

"It will help you to make your life a little easier... "

I clutched on his arms tightly to get a better grip thinking why were we still in the water. He had something on his mind.

"Most important thing... I hate it when someone says no to me..."

I trembled as he kissed my head like he was a gentleman, but that wasn't the truth.

"Now tell me, will you be a good girl and listen to me"

"Let me go, please..."

I pleaded.

"You have chosen a hard way to learn..."

He sighed and my eyes widened when he removed my clutches from his arms.

"No!"

I screamed when he pushed me back in the water and refused to give me support.

I again felt the same torture, my lungs started burning again. It felt like an eternity when he finally pulled me up.

I cried for the air and clutched his shirt tightly.

"Please"

I sobbed with my eyes closed, not wanting to face him; these eyes were going to haunt me for decades for sure.

"Second thing, I take what I want and what I like... Now that you have grabbed my attention so you are mine now. No one has the right to take you away from me, not even you."

He caressed my head as if he were not drowning me in the water.

"Will you try to do that, Angel!"

He asked, and I looked at him blankly. I didn't answer. I just cried.

"Another thing, I don't like when someone gives me a silent answer... Your voice is mine now and I would prefer to hear it whenever I want... Now, answer my question"

He was telling me this in a soft and gentle voice but his actions were completely opposite. He had lost his mind, he was not normal.

I couldn't understand what to say, and he took it as disobedience, which ended up falling into the water again.

I cursed my life for that, for the things I am going through.

I held on to his leg and tried to come up but he grabbed my neck and pushed me back into the water again.

My soul was halfway out of the body when he pulled me up again. How is he pulling me out exactly when I feel like I am going to die? It felt like he had practised it. How many people had he killed like this? I couldn't help but wonder.

"I don't like when people disobey me and you won't be an exception, Angel... I am not going hard on you, it doesn't mean you can disobey me..."

He let me cough and breathe. What the hell did he mean that he is not going to be hard on me? He is trying to kill me, and he thinks it's not hard enough. Then what does hard actually mean to him?

I looked at him horrified.

"You need to understand that you are mine... Only I have the right to you and your attention. Your smile is mine and no one should be lucky enough to see that. It's mine, you will only smile for me..."

He was out of his mind.

"Understand?"

I was so shocked that I couldn't understand what to do. I was terrified of him. I had to do something to get out of the situation; otherwise, I wasn't going to survive.

But before I could answer, he released his hold and let me slide into the water again. My heart cried out loudly.

Water is my biggest fear and he used it against me.

He pulled me up at the exact time when I was going to give up.

Water ran down my body, and he was wet too, but he was standing like it was nothing for him.

"Think about it, you have the whole night and the swimming pool isn't going anywhere... I don't mind doing this the whole night..."

My eyes widened in horror. He was going to do that all night.

"No, No, No!... Please!"

He smirked at me.

"I'll ask again, Angel... Do you agree to___"

"I agree, please don't hurt me..."

I cried loudly.

"I agree, please take me out of the water.... Please!"

I never felt so pathetic.

"Good girl!"

He caressed my head and pulled me to his chest like a boyfriend who is treating his mad girlfriend. It felt like a nightmare.

"See, it wasn't that hard. Was it?"

I felt the urge to throw up.

He gently picked me up and walked out of the swimming pool and prayed that he wouldn't push me again into it just to satisfy his sick pleasures.

I was silently crying when he carried me inside. The warmth of the house washed over my wet body, but it didn't help at all with the fear my heart held.

He pulled me out of the water but I had no idea what he was going to do with me after that.

I was so scared that my voice was locked in my throat. I couldn't even open my mouth to scream.

His large arms were firm against me, promising me that they won't let me fall. He was looking ahead while carrying me, as if he didn't want to slip on the wet floor and drop me.

Our clothes were drenched and it ruined the floor also.

He placed me down and looked at me. I was wet and shivering while rubbing my arms. It felt like I had come fighting with death; this night was going to haunt me for sure.

My back, legs and throat were hurting. Anger was bubbling inside me, but I couldn't do anything; if I had reacted, then he would have hurt me more.

"Sit down!"

He ordered, and I looked at him, confused.

I wanted to change my wet clothes first but he was ordering me to sit at the dining table. I couldn't dare to protest.

My legs wobbled as I walked towards the chair and sat on it. He smirked at my obedience and opened the food bag which he had brought for me.

I looked at him in disbelief, he was really going to make me eat the dinner he got after almost killing me in the swimming pool.

What kind of a man was he?

"I don't want to see these fucking breads and this crap in the house again"

He tossed a peanut butter jar in the garbage bin. My living room and kitchen are connected so there wasn't much distance to cover.

He grabbed the plate and served the fancy food on the plate. It was pasta and it was hot as it was freshly taken out of the pot. The aroma roamed in the house but not faster than my fear.

"Finish it!"

He slid the plate in front of me and sat on the chair beside me.

I was dripping with water, shaking in the cold, my clothes were clinging to my body, and my hair was like an ice crown on my head, but all he cared about was his food.

I grabbed the spoon with a trembling hand and tried to eat it, but I was too cold and couldn't hold it strongly enough. All the food was slipping out of the spoon and my lips got covered with the sauce.

He was watching me. He sighed and grabbed my arms. My eyes snapped towards him in fear when he pulled me out of my chair and placed me on his lap. He is wet too and he didn't care about it at all.

"You are cold"

He rubbed my palms and grabbed the tissue. He gently wiped sauce from my lips and pushed my wild hair away from my face.

He placed the spoon on my lips and I had no option but to eat from his hands.

"Things would have been easy if you had directly eaten the food instead of wanting to struggle to swim in the pool..."

I wanted to smash the same plate on his face.

"Don't you dare disrespect the thing I get for you..."

He stated in a firm tone and fed me.

I didn't disrespect the food; I disrespected him, and he deserved that. I wanted to cry and scream that on his face but I stayed silent and never felt so helpless that I had to eat from his hand. The man who just tried to kill me.

He looked at me, amused the whole time he fed me like I was some new toy he had purchased from the market.

I was freezing but I managed to finish the food.

"Good girl!"

He gave me water to drink and I gulped it down. My throat was dry after screaming and crying.

He smiled and again picked me up in his arms. He was carrying me like I weighed nothing. But that wasn't the issue; the issue was that he was taking me to my bedroom, and I couldn't imagine what he would do to me after that.