Thirty Days To Marry: The Doctor's Escape

Amira didn't stop. She yanked her purse free and pushed through the door into the night air.

"Amira! Stop!"

Heavy footsteps pounded on the pavement behind her. Ethan grabbed her arm, spinning her around. His grip was bruising.

"What were you doing there? Spying on me?" he accused, his face twisted with suspicion.

"Let go of me," Amira said calmly.

"You're making a scene," he hissed, glancing around at the empty parking lot. "Get in the car."

His black SUV was idling at the curb, the driver waiting. Ethan dragged her toward it. She dug her heels in, but he was stronger. He shoved her into the backseat and climbed in after her, locking the doors with a click that sounded like a prison cell closing.

"Drive," he ordered.

The car merged onto the highway, the city lights blurring past.

Ethan turned on her. "You look like trash with that bandage on your face. You're embarrassing me."

"You caused this," Amira said, staring straight ahead.

"I saved Delisa. You were just in the way. You're always in the way."

Amira turned to look at him. "I heard what you said. About the dog."

Ethan paused. He shrugged, adjusting his cuffs. "It's true. You have no one but me. I pay for your life. I pay for your car. I made you."

"I'm a doctor. I made myself," she said.

"Without my money, you're nothing," he spat. "You're a nobody from Queens."

"Then I'd rather be nothing." She took a breath. "I don't love you anymore, Ethan. It's gone."

The silence in the car was deafening. Ethan's face twitched. A vein in his forehead pulsed. He couldn't handle rejection. He couldn't handle losing control.

"You don't get to stop loving me," he growled. He reached out and grabbed her chin, his fingers digging into her jaw, forcing her to look at him. "Take it back."

Amira stared into his eyes. They were empty. "No."

His phone rang. Delisa.

Ethan released her chin with a shove. He answered the phone, frustrated. "What?"

He listened for a moment. Then he looked at Amira. His expression shifted from anger to pure malice.

"Pull over," Ethan told the driver.

The driver hesitated. "Sir? We're on the highway."

"I said pull over!"

The SUV swerved to the shoulder, tires crunching on gravel, slowing rapidly.