Her Purpose - Soulmates - Book 1

SUNSET BEACH SERIES

HER PURPOSE - SOULMATES

BOOK 1

CONTENTS

Copyright

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Holding On For Dear Life

Chapter 2 - The New Professor

Chapter 3 - Accidents

Chapter 4 - Dreaming Of Her

Chapter 5 - Awesome Breakfast

Chapter 6 - Seeing Her Again

Chapter 7 - Fire

Chapter 8 - The Encounter

Chapter 9 - The Visit

Chapter 10 - Walking Around The Beach

Chapter 11 - The Storm

Chapter 12 - The Aftermath

Chapter 13 - The Date

Chapter 14 - Thanksgiving

Dedication

D0mestic Violence

Hurricane Maria - Anonymous

Hurricane Maria - Irma

Tornado - Enid

Attribution

Thanks

Author

COPYRIGHT

© Rosa Enid Cruz Roque - 2024

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, unless otherwise specified. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

    No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

    The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Written by

Rosa Enid Cruz Roque

English Edition

Amy Peace

Jovani Velazquez

Rosa Enid Cruz Roque

Cover design and format

Rosa Enid Cruz Roque

Translation in English

Rosa Enid Cruz Roque

Spanish Edition

Irma Nydia Torres Meléndez

Rosa Enid Cruz Roque

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Her Purpose

Sunset Beach Series

Book One - Soulmates

A Christian Christmas Romance Book

    Melinne Martin is a beautiful 32-year-old single lady. After her failed 10-year-old marriage, she decided that she was never going to fall in love again. She was going to dedicate her life to study, work, and achieve her goals. She knew that God had a perfect plan for her, and after her painful divorce, she did not believe that plan included a man in her life. During the day she was going to work, and during the late afternoons she was going to take college classes to finish her degree as a doctor.

    Her decision to never fall in love again was suddenly challenged as she met her college Professor, Michael Redson. Meeting Michael has set her heart afire. He had the most beautiful baby blue eyes she had seen before. When she looked into his eyes, she got lost in them in a way she never thought possible. Was she going to be able to resist the strong attraction to Professor Redson? Can she focus on her plans and ignore her professor's interest and very intense attraction?

CHAPTER 1

HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE

Melinne Martin

    It was very dark. Melinne was feeling confused; did not know if she was dreaming or if she was awake. She tried to move but was unable to do so. Her body was hurting so much; the only thing she was able to move were her toes. She could not open her eyes, and she felt hopeless. "God, please help me." She was desperately trying to wake up. After trying to open her eyes a few more times and praying to God for help, she finally was able to do it. The light was so bright it immediately caused a horrible headache. "Ouch, this hurts so much! What is going on with me?" She did not remember what happened.

    She heard a horrifying sound that aggravated her headache. Was somebody knocking on her door? She put her hands on both sides of her head as if that could take away her pain. Her cell phone rang, and with a lot of effort, she reached into her pants pocket and grabbed her phone. "Hello," Melinne said.

    "Hi honey, we have been knocking at the door for about five minutes without any answer." Her dad knew something was horribly wrong. "Where are you sweetheart?" her dad said.
    

    "Dad, please help me! I am in so much pain, I can't move. I don't know what is happening. Dad, there is a key under the dolphin statue; please open the door; help me, daddy," she said, crying. "Love you, dad," she whispered. Melinne dropped the phone to the floor. She did not have strength to even hold it for one more second.
    

    Her older sister Marianne looked for the key under the beautiful and costly glass dolphin statue. She found it quickly and opened the expensive mahogany door. The scene they saw after opening the door was horrifying. "Oh no," her dad said, "my baby." Marianne took her vital signs to be sure that Melinne was stable and told her Dad not to touch her yet.

    "Dad, call 911, and let me take some pictures for the police as evidence of what had happened; they will be very useful."

    Marianne worked as a nurse, and she knew she was staring at a crime scene. She had seen cases like this before. Her sister Melinne lay on the floor. There was a pool of blood around her. Her eyes were swollen, and her face was disfigured with different colors: tones of red, black, and purple. She had blood on her lips and mouth, and she had cuts and bruises all over her body.

    Marianne's heart dropped to her feet, and tears started running down her face. She quickly took photos for the police. Mark's fingers flew over the touch-sensitive screen of his cell phone as he dialed 911. His voice trembled with terror as he spoke to the operator.

    Mark and Marianne sat beside Melinne. They both touched her lightly, trying not to hurt her. They did not want to move her because they didn't know the extent of her injuries. Her dad caressed her hair carefully while Marianne took her sister's hand, at the same time, as she was praying for her.

    "Sweetheart, what happened?" Her dad asked her with agony.

    "Dad, I do not remember; my mind is fuzzy right now. It is hard for me to keep my eyes open, and I cannot move. I tried to drag myself to the door to open it, but I was not able to do it. Everything in my body is hurting so bad." She answered struggling and closed her eyes.

    A few minutes later, they heard the distant sound of sirens getting closer to the house. They heard footsteps and knocking at the door. Marianne opened the door and thanked God because the paramedics, the firefighters, and the police officers finally had arrived. The paramedics quickly started assessing Melinne's injuries and giving her medical care while the policemen took more pictures. They placed her on a stretcher to transport her to the Pebble City Hospital. The Pebble City Hospital was a great hospital and had a trauma center where they could give the required medical attention and care to Melinne.

    Chief Gerard, the police officer in charge of the investigation, approached Melinne and asked her, "Honey, do you remember what happened here?"

    While she was trying to think about it, she suddenly felt a terrible pain in her lower stomach and her back. She started to scream. "Oh no, my baby, my baby, my baby!" Every detail of what happened came like a whirlwind to her mind, and at that moment she knew she had lost her baby. The pain that she felt in her body was unbearable, but the worst pain was in her heart. She felt her heart broken in thousands of pieces. She sobbed until she didn't have any more strength. She felt lightheaded, like she was going to faint.

    Chief Gerard, an older man with gray hair and sweet eyes, asked her. "Sweetheart, I know this is difficult, but we need to know who did this."

    With tears streaming down her face and brimming with emotional anguish, she answered, "It was my husband, Travis Chennett."

    The police officer opened his eyes wide and looked at the other police officer that was standing by his side. The Chennett family was well known in the surrounding areas. They were multibillionaires with great power. At that moment, Melinne fainted, and the paramedics took her in the ambulance. Her father went in the ambulance with her, and her sister followed in her dad's car.

    When she opened her eyes again, she saw the fluorescent lights in the hospital room ceiling. She could hear the beeping sound of the heart monitor. Melinne felt a hand covering hers, and when she turned her head, she saw her dad. Mark Martin was holding her hand. His eyes were sad and teary. She was surrounded by her beautiful, lovely family. She looked at his father's tender face and at the beautiful faces of her siblings, Jonah, Marianne, Simon, and Leann, all of them with concerned looks on their faces. She loved them so much.

    "How are you feeling, my darling?" She started to weep again, remembering her baby and everything that happened.

    "I will be fine, dad."

    Nurse Judy Chayel walked inside the room and checked her body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure. "Melinne, there are two police officers in the lobby waiting to speak with you. Do you feel good enough to speak with them?"

    "Yes, Judy, they can come in; thank you." When the policemen entered her hospital room, they asked the family politely if they could clear the room for a bit until they took her statement.

    

    "Mrs. Chennett, can you tell us what happened to you?" Chief Gerard asked.

    With effort, she began to recount what took place. "I was making breakfast when my husband Travis entered the kitchen. The way he spoke to me sounded a bit off. I thought it was because he needed to sleep; he didn't come home during the night. I smelled alcohol in his breath.

    He asked me what I was cooking, and I told him that I was making chicken sandwiches and coffee. He said he did not want to eat a chicken sandwich and that he wanted me to prepare him something else to eat. I told him respectfully and with hesitation that I was really tired since I had been awake all night, praying to God that nothing bad had happened to him and hoping that he would arrive back home safely. I told him I was not going to make something else and that he had to eat what I had already made.

    He got incredibly angry and slapped my face violently. I told him I was going to call the police if he did not stop, and he hit me again harder. I ran and tried to go to my room and close the door behind me to hide, but he grabbed me by my hand. He punched my face, and I felt blood in my mouth. He threw me to the floor, and I hit my head on the counter. He dragged me by my hair from the kitchen to the living room, then he started to kick me. I tried to cover my face, and he kicked my arms and legs. Then he started kicking me in my back and then my stomach. I started to scream and begged him to stop hitting me because he was going to kill my baby. When he heard me saying the word baby, he stopped and left the house. It was too late for my baby; he kicked me so hard a few times. I was not able to protect my baby." While she was telling the police officers what happened, her voice sounded broken, and tears were running down her face.

    

    "Had he been violent before, Mrs. Chennett?" The chief police officer asked.
    

    "Yes, sir, but he always said that he had money, that he was very powerful, and that nobody was going to believe me if I accused him."

    "Our relationship started out so beautifully; we were in love, but discord grew into something bigger, and bigger, then the abuse started. He started verbally abusing me and then he started hitting me. He had hit me before, but it wasn't so hard like he did today."

    "You should have reported him to the police," Chief Gerard said.

    "I never reported him because I thought nobody was going to believe me." Chief Gerard looked at her with teary eyes.

    "I am so sorry this happened to you, Melinne."

    "Thank you for caring, Sir."

    He finished taking the statement and left the room. Officer Gerard found Melinne's family in the waiting room. "You can all go back to the room; I finished taking the statement." Everybody went back to Melinne's hospital room except her dad.

    "Chief Gerard, can anything be done about this?"

    "Mark is not going to be easy because Mr. Chennett is an enormously powerful man, but I will do anything in my power to bring justice to your daughter."

    Mark Martin entered his daughter's room, and she was asleep. His children left the room, except Marianne. Mark was exhausted and fell asleep on the chair beside his daughter's bed. He woke up when he heard people talking. Doctor Maggie Murphy, Melinne's best friend, was speaking with his daughter.

    "Maggie, what is the diagnosis?" Melinne asked.

    "I am so sorry this happened to you, honey. I am going to be honest with you like I have always been." With love and patience, her friend told her that she had lost her baby, something Melinne already knew. "Also, you have two broken ribs, a concussion, cuts and bruises throughout your body, and a broken wrist. You will have to take it very easy and rest for the next couple of months until you heal. Also avoid stress as much as possible. Melinne, can you please do that?"

    "I will definitely rest, but the stress is going to be hard to avoid. I need to get a restraining order, and I am going to divorce Travis."

    "I know it's going to be hard, love," Maggie said, "but try to rest as much as you can. I will keep you here a few more days until you are stable enough to go home. I will come back to see you and talk to you after my shift." Dr. Maggie Murphy left the room.

    Three days later, she was released from the hospital. She went to her home with two police officers, her dad, and her older sister to get her belongings out of the house. She looked around, and she realized she didn't have much. Everything in the house belonged to Travis except her clothes, shoes, and jewelry. After she picked up her belongings, they stopped at the courthouse to request a restraining order. The secretary told her that they will send her the emergency protection "restriction order" from an abuser (PFA) within ten days. She went to live at her dad's farm, about two hours away from Pebble City.

    After moving back to her dad's farm in Sunset Beach, she talked to one of her best friends, Lawyer Alexander Henry, to get a divorce from her husband. They filed a divorce petition with the court to begin the process of terminating her marriage. Ten days later she received the restriction order, as they had indicated. They set up a day for her divorce, and when they went to the court for the divorce, Travis was there with his mother and his lawyer. She did not want to see him again; he was a wicked man that had caused her a lot of suffering. She wouldn't have imagined as charming as he was to be so evil. Seeing him in front of her was very unpleasant, to the point that she felt nauseated and dizzy. His mother looked at her with anger in her eyes, but Travis looked at her with fear and something else she was not able to identify.

    After they signed the divorce papers, Travis was able to get close to her without anybody noticing. With a menacing voice, he whispered to her ear. "This is not over; I love you, and you will always belong to me." With a palpable sense of fear, she shivered as he drew close, her wide eyes revealing the terror that consumed her.

    Alexander, her lawyer, noticed Travis approaching her and immediately walked straight to them. Alexander told Travis in a firm voice, "Stay away from her unless you want to be arrested."

    His mother looked at him with exasperation and told him, "Travis, let's go!"

    They finally left the courtroom, and she felt that she was able to breathe again. I am finally divorced; thank You, God, yes! she thought. Even though she did not want or ask anything from him, the court awarded her one billion dollars. She accepted the money because she needed it to start a new life and finish her career. Travis didn't let her study while she was married to him, and now she was going to have the freedom to study and fulfill her dream of being a doctor.

    The city officials and the Chennett family tried to keep the situation quiet because the Chennett's were powerful and influential people in the city, especially his mother. Travis' mother was a member of the city council; she was prominent and believed she was better than anybody else. She never loved Melinne because she saw her beneath her. She always treated her terribly and tried to break her marriage. Everybody kept quiet because they did not want Travis' reputation to be ruined. The court sentenced him to only six months community service even though he killed their baby, and he almost killed her. He did not do jail time.

    She left with her family, finally able to breathe and did not take to heart the words Travis said. She thought everything was finally over.