Chapter 2 â Thirty Minutes of Silence
Chapter 2 â Thirty Minutes of Silence
The first five minutes passed with hope.
The next five passed with panic.
After that...
Time no longer moved in minutes.
It moved in contractions.
Each one stole another piece of my strength.
Each one reminded me that my daughter refused to wait for a wedding.
I pounded on the bathroom door until my palms burned.
"Help!"
"My water broke!"
"I'm locked in!"
The thick oak absorbed every desperate scream.
Outside, the music grew louder.
The string quartet flowed effortlessly into the bridal march.
Guests applauded.
Somewhere beyond those marble walls, Lucinda Vale was smiling for photographs.
Inside...
I slid to the floor, soaked in sweat.
Another contraction hit.
It wrapped around my stomach with crushing force, forcing a cry from my throat.
I instinctively reached for my belly.
"Easy, sweetheart..."
"We're okay."
The words sounded hollow.
Even I didn't believe them anymore.
The bathroom was enormous.
Larger than the living room of the apartment Caleb and I had shared before moving into the Vale estate.
White marble.
Gold fixtures.
Crystal sconces.
Fresh orchids arranged beside the sink.
Luxury everywhere.
And yet...
Not one thing inside that beautiful room could help me.
No emergency phone.
No medical kit.
No window large enough to climb through.
Only polished perfection.
A prison disguised as elegance.
I tried the door again.
Twisting.
Pulling.
Throwing my shoulder against it.
Nothing.
The brass lock didn't rattle.
It simply refused.
Eleanor had made sure of that.
Outside...
The minister's voice drifted faintly through the walls.
"We are gathered here today..."
A wave of bitter laughter escaped me.
Gathered.
Hundreds of people gathered less than fifty feet away.
And not one of them knew I was trapped.
I looked toward the mirror.
My reflection startled me.
My face had become ghostly pale.
Dark strands of hair clung to my cheeks.
My lips trembled.
Another contraction bent me over the sink.
When it finally passed, I noticed something that froze my blood.
More red.
This time there was no mistaking it.
Blood stained the hem of my pale blue maternity dress.
Not much.
But enough.
Enough to remember every warning my obstetrician had repeated during my last appointment.
"Any bleeding after your water breaks requires immediate evaluation."
Immediate.
I whispered the word to myself.
As if saying it could somehow summon help.
I closed my eyes.
Think.
Panicking wouldn't save my baby.
There had to be another way out.
I searched every cabinet beneath the vanity.
Towels.
Cleaning supplies.
Hair spray.
Nothing useful.
I opened the linen closet.
Extra soap.
Perfume.
Bathrobes.
Still nothing.
Then my eyes landed on a heavy porcelain vase filled with white lilies.
It weighed at least ten pounds.
I picked it up with shaking hands.
"I'm sorry."
Whether I was apologizing to the flowers or the bathroom, I didn't know.
I hurled it at the doorknob.
The vase exploded.
Porcelain shattered across the marble floor.
The lock didn't even scratch.
The effort triggered another contraction.
This one dropped me to my knees.
I cried out so loudly my own voice frightened me.
For a second...
I thought I heard footsteps.
Hope surged.
I banged on the door again.
"Please!"
"I'm in labor!"
Nothing.
Only the distant sound of applause.
The ceremony had reached the vows.
Downstairs, Hawthorne Manor glowed beneath crystal chandeliers.
Lucinda stood at the altar in an ivory gown that shimmered beneath candlelight.
Guests smiled through happy tears.
The photographer captured every perfect angle.
Caleb stood proudly beside his sister.
His tie sat perfectly straight.
He glanced once toward the entrance.
"Mara should've been back by now."
Lucinda squeezed his hand.
"She's probably fixing her makeup."
Eleanor smiled serenely.
"Pregnancy tires women quickly."
Caleb frowned.
"She said she wasn't feeling well earlier."
Eleanor touched his arm.
"Don't worry your sister today."
"After the ceremony, you can check on your wife."
The minister asked,
"Who gives this woman in marriage?"
The moment passed.
Caleb answered automatically.
"I do."
Back inside the bathroom...
I felt something change.
Pressure.
Heavy.
Relentless.
My body was pushing.
"No..."
"It can't be time."
I remembered my childbirth classes.
Don't push until you're with the doctor.
Don't panic.
Control your breathing.
I laughed bitterly.
There was no doctor.
There wasn't even another human being.
I crawled toward the only window.
It sat high above the soaking tub.
Decorative.
Beautiful.
Far too small.
Still...
I climbed onto the edge of the tub and pushed against it.
Locked.
Of course.
I searched desperately until I found a metal hairpin lying beside the sink.
For nearly three minutes, I fought with the window latch.
Finally...
It clicked.
The window opened four inches.
Only four.
Not enough.
I looked around again.
My eyes settled on the large mirror stretching across the vanity.
Solid.
Thick.
Heavy.
An idea formed.
A dangerous one.
But better than waiting to die.
I grabbed the small brass trash can.
Raised it over my head.
And swung.
The first strike cracked the glass.
The second sent fractures racing across the surface.
The third...
The mirror exploded.
Glass rained across the counter and floor.
The crash echoed like a gunshot.
Outside, a groundskeeper trimming hedges near the bridal suite froze.
He looked toward the second floor.
"Did you hear that?"
Another employee nodded.
"It sounded like broken glass."
The wedding planner frowned.
"Probably one of the bridesmaids."
"Go check."
The groundskeeper hurried toward the manor.
Inside the bathroom...
I used one trembling hand to pull away loose pieces of broken mirror.
Ignoring the cuts slicing across my fingers.
Ignoring the blood.
Ignoring everything except the opening growing wider.
Cool evening air rushed inside.
I screamed with every ounce of strength left in my body.
"HELP!"
"I'M LOCKED IN!"
"I'M HAVING MY BABY!"
Outside...
The groundskeeper stopped.
He looked upward.
There.
Faint.
A woman's voice.
Again.
"HELP!"
His eyes widened.
He ran.
Not toward the chapel.
Toward the bridal suite.
Back downstairs...
The minister smiled warmly.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife."
The guests erupted into applause.
Lucinda kissed Adrian.
Champagne corks popped.
Music swelled.
No one noticed the groundskeeper sprinting through the hallway.
No one except Caleb.
"What's wrong?"
The man barely slowed.
"I think someone's trapped upstairs!"
Caleb's smile vanished.
Something cold settled into his chest.
"Who?"
"I don't know!"
"But she's screaming!"
Caleb was already running before the man finished speaking.
He took the grand staircase two steps at a time.
His heart pounded harder with every stride.
The bridal suite door stood open.
One bridesmaid pointed toward the restroom.
"I think it's in there!"
Caleb reached the door.
"Mara?"
No answer.
Thenâ
A weak voice.
Barely audible.
"Caleb..."
His blood ran cold.
He grabbed the handle.
It wouldn't move.
Locked.
"Mara!"
"I'm here!"
"Open the door!"
A sob answered him.
"I can't..."
"It's locked..."
"...she locked me in."
Caleb stared at the brass deadbolt.
His mind refused to accept what he'd heard.
"Who?"
A long silence.
Then three words that shattered everything he believed about his family.
"Your mother..."
Another contraction ripped through Mara before she could say anything else.
She screamed.
Not from fear.
Not from anger.
But from the unbearable pain of labor.
And on the other side of the locked door...
Caleb finally realized his wife hadn't disappeared during the wedding.
She had been imprisoned.
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End of Chapter 2
Next Chapter: Chapter 3 â The Husband Who Came Too Late
