The Billionaire Blackmail Bride

Melanie's POV.

A harsh knock on the door to the dressing room made me flinch and my heartbeat sped up. Oh no, it was time.

The door swung open to reveal Brad's six foot frame. His light blue eyes instantly fixed on me.

"It's time; let's go" he announced in his deep voice.

I rose slowly to my feet with wobbling legs. It didn't matter how many times this had happened; I was scared to death every single time and wished the ground would just swallow me up.

Brad placed his hand lightly on my back as we walked down the familiar dreadful hallway that led to the monster's room where I knew he was seated in the same armchair he always sat on. The one that was hidden in a dark corner of the room and allowed him to see everything.

I was dressed in nothing but a silk red robe with lacy underwear of the same color underneath because it was his favorite. Monty's favorite, the Devil's spawn himself.

This was how he forced me to dress whenever I was coming to his room and even though I absolutely loathed it; I had no choice but to do it because I was his pet and had to follow his orders no matter what.

We stopped in front of his door and my breath quickened. I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes tight.

"Mel," Brad called quietly. "He's waiting, go inside."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't know how much longer I can do this Brad, I feel like I'm dying slowly every single day. I can't live like this forever."

"You won't have to, just get through today like you have been doing." Brad murmured and I shook my head before opening my eyes that had welled up with tears.

"I don't have much strength left in me anymore," I whispered before pushing the door open and stepping into the dimly lit room.

I clenched my palms into fists in front of me before slowly lowering to my knees with my head bowed like I always did, like he liked me to.

I tried to keep my breathing as quiet as possible as I waited for him to move or speak. I knew he was in the room, there was no doubt. After three years, I liked to think I could sense his presence, the putrid cologne he wore also helped.

"Well hello there, pet."

I pressed my lips together to stifle the whimper that would have come out. No matter how many times I heard his voice, it always triggered the same negative response.

The sound of leather creaking filled the air and I stiffened instantly, knowing he was moving towards me. I had barely finished the thought when a warm hand wrapped tightly around my neck.

"On your feet, now" he growled and I scrambled to obey, rising as quickly as I could with shaking legs.

He hummed in approval while tightening his grip on my neck, making my lungs burn. He leaned closer to my face and used his other hand to run his thumb over my lips.

"You know, I had a really bad day today," he breathed against my skin as my eyes began to water from not being able to breathe properly.

"So you're going to have to be a good girl and make me happy tonight," he added before finally letting go of my throat.

I gasped for air while blinking severally to rid my eyes of the tears that had welled up.

"Strip and get on the bed, now!" he growled and I managed a nod but he gripped my chin roughly.

"What do you say after I've given you a command?"

I forced my mouth open "Y-Yes master"

He held onto my chin for a few more seconds before letting go with a grunt. I quickly lifted my trembling hands and untied the robe, letting it slide down and pool at my feet before doing the same to my underwear until I was naked.

I walked over to the king-sized bed in the room and lay down on it, grateful as always for the dim lighting in the room that hid the tears sliding down my cheeks.

"Good girl," he praised and I stifled another whimper as I heard him taking off his clothes.

"Now spread your legs wide open for me like the cheap slut you are!"

*****

After what felt like an eternity in hell, Monty finally had his fill and drifted off into a deep sleep, but not before ordering me to spend the night here.

I lay wide awake, staring blankly at the ceiling. I had run out of tears in the middle of it but I was sure the dried up marks were still on my cheeks.

The door to the room suddenly opened and I sat up sharply while making sure the duvet was covering up my nudity. My eyes widened when Brad stepped into view by standing at the foot of the bed.

"What are you..." I started but he cut me off by tossing some clothes at me.

"We don't have much time; put those on quickly. The sedative I gave him might be able to keep him knocked out for four hours but you still need to be halfway out of the country before then," he rasped and my eyes widened even more.

"What? I don't understand." I spluttered and turned to look down at Monty who had even begun snoring softly.

How had I not noticed that he was sleeping way deeper than he usually did? It definitely made sense that he had been drugged.

"You're wasting time, Mel," Brad hissed and I sprang up from the bed, not caring about my nudity. I quickly pulled on the clothes he had thrown at me which consisted of a gray hoodie and matching sweatpants.

"I'm done, let's go." I announced and Brad grabbed my hand. We raced out of the room, running as fast as we could down the hallway, and then towards the gate, it was still very much dark outside but I couldn't tell what time it was.

Brad opened the gate and guided me into the passenger seat of an SUV that had its engine running. He swiftly entered and drove off.

"I don't understand, why did none of Monty's men stop us? We weren't exactly quiet." I asked breathlessly as we sped down the deserted road.

"Because they were all drugged too." he answered with a shrug and my eyes welled up with tears but not from fear or pain this time.

"You did this for me, Brad?"

He glanced at me "I couldn't keep watching you go through hell here. You know the only reason I'm working for that sick psycho is because I owe him a lot of money. I don't agree with what he does and I don't want you to waste away here so you have to leave, Mel. Try and get as far away as possible from him."

"I know, but where will I go? He has connections everywhere in the country. He'll definitely find me."

Brad nodded "Which is exactly why you're leaving the country."

My lips parted in a silent gasp.

"Open the glove compartment." he added and I quickly obeyed, pulling out the contents which consisted of some papers that looked like the receipt of an apartment, an international passport with my name and picture on it and finally; a flight ticket to Canada.

I turned back to Brad "I'm really leaving? T-To Canada?"

He nodded without saying a word.

"Oh my god!" I breathed out and held all the documents to my chest.

It was happening, I was finally going to be free. Free from Monty, free of being nothing but his weak and obedient pet.

***

Minutes later, we arrived at the international airport and I watched with shock as Brad rolled out a traveling box which he had apparently packed for me.

He led me inside the airport and did all the necessary things that needed to be done and soon enough; the speakers announced that my flight had started boarding. We walked to the entrance of the passenger boarding gate where I stopped before pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Brad. I'll never forget this, I promise," I whispered earnestly and he remained frozen for a while before wrapping his arms around me and giving me a gentle squeeze.

I pulled away with a teary smile "Bye, Brad"

"Goodbye Mel, go and live a better life," he replied and I nodded once before turning on my heel and walking past the entrance, going further down the jetway before stepping inside the plane.

I was finally free and I would do as Brad says. I would do my utmost best to live a better life in the new country.

Melanie's POV.

It was like I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them again, I was standing in the middle of a very familiar room.

I gasped softly as I looked around the space. Everything was the same as the last time I had been in it.

The red-carpeted floors, black curtains and the familiar king-sized bed that I had been pushed onto several times.

It was a place that could be described as my own personal hell My breath began coming out in harsh puffs and I tried to move towards the door so I could run away but my legs refused to cooperate.

"No, I have to get out of here. I can't be here. I can't let him find me!" I gasped as I tried to move my stiff legs but ended up collapsing onto the floor weakly.

A dark chuckle from behind me made me freeze and all the hairs on my body stood.

"Trying to escape? You know I'll find you no matter where you run to, Mel." Monty's low voice uttered and I shut my eyes tight.

No, this had to be a dream.

I had escaped from him. It was not possible for me to be back here again.

I still had my eyes closed when a hand brushed my hair out of my face and my body tensed even further as I felt him lean in, the scent of his nauseating cologne flooded my nose instantly.

"You belong to me, Mel. You're mine. Now strip for me like the good girl you are." he whispered into my ear.

"No!!!" I screamed and sat up sharply.

I glanced around wildly in between heaving breaths and placed a shaking hand on my thundering heart when my surroundings dawned on me; I wasn't in Monty's room, it had indeed been a very bad dream.

I was safe in my small one-bedroom apartment that I had rented after arriving in the country two months ago.

"Thank goodness," I sighed as my body sagged with relief.

'Brrr, Brrr, Brrr!'

I flinched in shock at the sudden noise before turning to my bedside table where the device responsible for the sound, being my digital alarm clock, sat atop.

It was already time to get out of bed and start getting ready for work.

I reached out and hit the stop button on the clock to silence the annoying sound before stretching my upper body and sliding out of bed with a tired yawn. I dragged my feet all the way to the tiny bathroom where I splashed cold water on my face to chase away the lingering sleepiness in my eyes.

My getting ready for work was just as quick as any other day and in about half an hour; I was walking out the front door of my apartment while munching on a granola bar which was my breakfast.

I flagged down a taxi and hopped inside the warm car.

The driver met my eyes in the rearview mirror. "Where are you going, miss?"

"The Five Seasons Restaurant." I replied and he nodded before putting the car into drive.

"Isn't that the fancy five-star restaurant on Elmer Street?" The driver asked as I finished off the rest of my granola bar.

"The one and only" I nodded and he whistled lowly.

"I heard a plate there costs a fortune," he mused "Why are you going there this early though if you don't mind me asking?"

I smiled slightly "I actually work there... as a waitress."

His brows arched in surprise. "Really? Well, that's a very nice job. I hope you'll hold on to it."

"Oh, I plan to. Don't worry." I replied.

I had been lucky enough to secure such a high-paying job in a classy and expensive restaurant in my second month in the country. There was no way I was going to screw things up and lose such an amazing job. It was a hard and stressful job but the pay was good and the tips were even better.

The driver pulled over in front of the sleek entrance of the restaurant and I paid, thanked him before pushing the glass door open and walking inside. The restaurant was empty and the tables were unoccupied as it was still early in the morning.

I headed straight for the backroom and quickly changed into my uniform which consisted of a white button-down shirt and black palazzo pants paired with black flats.

I stood in front of the mirror in the backroom and tied my short, shoulder-length blonde hair up, applied light makeup consisting of lip gloss and mascara before stepping out of the room and nearly bumping into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" We both gasped at the same time and a smile formed on my face when I looked up into my coworker -Troy's green eyes.

His cheeks reddened slightly as he glanced away from me before meeting my eyes again and I resisted the urge to giggle at how cute he was. He made his crush on me so obvious that even the rest of our coworkers were all aware of it.

"Hi Troy, good morning." I greeted while smiling brightly at him and his blush deepened.

"G-Good morning, Melanie. How was your weekend?" He asked as he ran his fingers through his copper-colored hair -something I had come to discover was a nervous habit of his. It was strange to have someone being shy and stuttering nervously around me because I was usually the shy one who often found it hard to even look most people in the eye.

"It was fine, thank you for asking," I replied as I stepped around him before walking towards the kitchen and from the corner of my eye saw him trailing behind me. I grabbed a black apron from a hook and turned back to him "How was yours?"

"It was just chill." he replied while also grabbing an apron and fastening it on like I was doing.

Troy was a waiter like me and though I found him and his crush on me cute; I knew that I would never be able to return his feelings because Monty had completely ruined me for any other man.

I hid my dark thoughts and smiled up at Troy "Let's get to work!"

****

Six hours later, the restaurant was bustling and all the tables were occupied with diners dressed in expensive designer clothes, shoes and jewelry.

I set down a couple's entree dish on their table and straightened "Bon Appetit." I bode but they ignored me and continued their conversation.

I shrugged and walked back into the kitchen to collect another table's meal.

"Table 45" A senior chef informed me as he handed the platter of food to me and I nodded once before walking back into the main restaurant again, heading straight for the right table where a man and a woman were sitting.

As I approached the table, the elegantly dressed woman looked up at me and her eyes widened in shock.

"Emily?!" She gasped, rising to her feet and rushing up to me.

She stared from my face to the rest of my body with disbelieving eyes. "I can't believe it. It's really you, Emily!"

My brows furrowed deeply in confusion.

Who was this woman and why was she calling me 'Emily'?

"Emily, your parents and I have searched everywhere for you! They're almost going out of their minds with worry thinking you had fled to another continent entirely and yet here you are..." the woman trailed off as she looked me over once again. "Working as a waitress?"

I blinked. "I'm sorry but it seems you're taking me for someone else. I'm not Emily and I don't know you, ma'am"

What the hell was happening?