Episode 1

My name is Elizabeth Marie Davis, and I am 26 years old. I come from a family of religious zealots from which I fled a long time ago. Over the span of two years, my life changed radically; there was no way of knowing what would become of me or the surprises that fate had in store.

I was born and raised in a small Ohio town. The daughter of parents who believed nearly everything was sinful. They loved and feared God above all else.

I couldn't say that I was physically abused but psychologically, I was.

I finished my studies with the hope of attending college, something that was exceedingly difficult because according to my father, "women should stay at home, raise their children, and attend to their man"—a thought too chauvinistic and outdated that I grew to detest passionately as I matured.

I was a victim of bullying and a myriad of mockeries because of my attire; as expected, I had to dress like someone respectable and not like a woman of ill repute as, according to my parents, all people my age tended to do.

My figure was hidden beneath enormous shirts and ankle-length skirts that were too wide, or long-sleeved dresses with collars reaching down to my ankles. Our religion mandated wearing skirts, forbidding us pants— not even in this were we free.

At a young age, I looked like an old woman, though with the face of someone very young.

My father worked, and my mother and I did the household chores, and I also had to learn a myriad of things to be a good wife.

I had strict schedules and military-grade surveillance; that was my life. The only friends I could have were church members, but I didn't want that; I did not feel part of that place, no matter if I knew nothing else.

Girls were raised with chauvinistic and outdated concepts, forced into marriage between eighteen and twenty-four years, with church members chosen by their parents. They were supposed to have children and continue the cycle with them.

My older sister followed my parents' orders, and I saw her suffer too much from it until she couldn't take it anymore and ended her life. She was married virginally to someone a bit older than her but not by much; she didn't love him and would never come to love him. She had fallen in love with someone else and planned to escape, but when her plans were discovered, they only hastened the wedding.

Her husband subjugated her to his will, took her virginity, and furthermore destroyed her soul. She got pregnant and suffered a miscarriage, but her husband believed she ought to have more children, so he did not stop his abuses. She couldn't take it anymore; she never loved him and wasn't ready to have a family. She was trapped and saw no way out other than death.

This event only made things worse, but it gave me time because they were looking for a marriage for me and just postponed it due to the loss of my sister. I also wanted to flee but had to plan what to do to avoid meeting the same fate.

I saved up over a long time, penny by penny, from the little that my father gave me and from tips for helping a lady from the church. Her name was Julia; she thought it was all absurd and disagreed with several members and their ways.

Even her children made their lives away from the church because they chose to.

When Marcos asked for my hand after mass and the wedding started to be planned, I had to hasten my escape plans. Mrs. Julia gave me money and asked her daughter to take me to New York, where she was living. And so, one early morning, I managed to escape.

I arrived there, and Julia's daughter gave me some of her clothes that no longer fit her due to weight gain; it was my first normal attire. I found a boarding house to live in and began working as a waitress in more than one place. I also did cleaning, babysitting, whatever was necessary.

I worked like that until I saw an advertisement in the paper that a major security company needed employees. I went without thinking, and the only available position was in cleaning. I accepted without hesitation because the pay was much better, in addition to having health insurance.

Months later, I found a new place to live, a small apartment close to my job which, although more expensive, had more amenities and, above all, was safe.

What I never imagined was that someone was watching every one of my steps and that later on, he would seek the opportunity to claim me as his...

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