Chapter 2 - The Deceptive Prey
To understand why Ethan Vance thought he could physically dominate his wife, one had to look back at the carefully constructed lie Maya had fed him for the past eight months.
Ethan was the arrogant, spoiled heir to the Vance Shipping Corporation, a multi-million-dollar logistics firm operating out of Miami. He was infamous in elite circles for his aggressive temper, his gambling debts, and his history of psychologically abusing the women he dated.
When Ethan met Maya at a charity gala eight months ago, she presented herself as a quiet, timid freelance librarian. She wore conservative, oversized clothes, kept her eyes downcast during arguments, and always agreed with whatever Ethan said.
To Ethan, Maya was the perfect target: beautiful enough to parade at corporate events, but seemingly submissive and isolated enough to control completely.
He rushed the engagement, eager to secure his family's inheritance trust, which stipulated he must be married before his thirty-fifth birthday to access a fifty-million-dollar payout.
Ethan's plan was simple and cruel. He intended to marry Maya, isolate her entirely on their three-week luxury cruise honeymoon, and break her down psychologically and physically until she signed a post-nuptial agreement granting him total control over their marital assets and shielding him from any future divorce payouts.
He packed the aluminum bat in his golf bag, fully intending to use fear as his ultimate weapon.
He had no idea that the "timid librarian" he had just married was actually Staff Sergeant Maya Thorne, a highly decorated, honorable discharge veteran who had spent four years training elite infantry units in close-quarters combat.
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And she hadn't married him for love. She married him for justice.
👉 Read Part 3 to learn the devastating secret Maya was hiding.
