Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoy the 2nd chapter. I've been a bit busy with midterms and life so it has taken me a while to update. I hope to update more frequently in the future. Thanks for reading!

The former Isabella Linton had now become Isabella Heathcliff was not only Heathcliff's wife under law but his servant through trade. Heathcliff saw their marriage is an acquisition of property rather than the forming of a familial bond.

Heathcliff found his marriage to Isabella to be of the most convenient nature. He had not only gained a wife in the process but also a cook and a maid. Wuthering Heights had lost its former luster after Nelly had been forced to leave. However, since Wuthering Heights was now under Heathcliff's care and possession he put Isabella up to the task of making it a suitable dwelling.

Within a few days of living at Wuthering Heights, Isabella's lovely golden locks that had once shined from care and radiance had become dull and lifeless. Similarly, her attitude had taken a similar blow.

Every morning, Isabella woke up to the sound of Joseph's blaring voice yelling at Hareton. She had to rise early before sunrise to prepare breakfast for her husband. After eating a quick breakfast she would then have to go straight to work. Heathcliff expected her to maintain the cleanliness of the house, cook all the meals and also do all the laundry.

Long ago, Isabelle had dreamed about her life after marriage. She had pictured herself as a blushing bride with a handsome groom. She had spent hours dreaming up of her wedding and her life with her own home. For her wedding she had pictured herself in a long white dress as she walked down the aisle in the church. Her family would be smiling and her dashing groom would be entranced by her beauty. Then her groom would sweep her off her feet and make her life magical. She would have her own home and a devoted husband. However, at the present instead of living in her dream she was living a nightmare. When she had married Heathcliff she had given up her dream wedding because she thought he would make all her hopes and dreams of being loved and cherished come true. However, she was sorely mistaken.

Heathcliff seemed delighted by her crestfallen face and her squalor appearance. He took great pleasure in seeing her in the demeaning position of scrubbing his floor like a common maid. Edgar sister, a lady of proper manners and breeding, was now reduced to a scullery maid.

Isabella tried to make the best of her situation but it was done with great difficulty. She was not used to laborious tasks of maintain a household as large as Wuthering Heights. It would take several hands to do all the work that Isabella had to do on her own.

She wiped the sweat from her face as she took a brief break from scrubbing the kitchen floor. She was breathing heavily from her exertion just as her heart stopped in her chest as Heathcliff walked into the room.

He surveyed the kitchen floor,

"Hurry up, quit lounging around, you need to start preparing supper"

He continued to stand there for several minutes as he watched Isabella scrub the floor.

Isabella's face grew red from both the labor and his intense gaze. It was difficult enough to do the work without his presence. In her nervousness, she accidently knocked over the bucket of water and soap.

Heathcliff shook his head in disdain as he exited the kitchen.

Suddenly, Hareton came running into the kitchen tracking mud into the kitchen floor.

"Hareton! I just finished cleaning the floor and now you have made it all dirty again." Isabella cried. She felt exasperated and overwhelmed with emotion. She had spent over an hour on the kitchen floor and now she would have to clean it up again. Her back and knees ached and her arms were sore from the hard work. She felt her vision grow blurry from her tear filled eyes. She couldn't control herself and soon she was sobbing. She had tried her best to please Heathcliff in hopes of earning his approval but nothing ever made him happy. Now all her hard work this morning had gone to waste and she would have to start all over on the floor.

Hareton stared at her in a mixture of regret and surprise.

Isabella quickly tried to compose herself. She quickly got up from the floor and wiped the tears away with her apron. She couldn't let Heathcliff see her like this.

Joseph walked in and he immediately stopped when he saw the mess.

"What t' bloody hell have ye been doin here boy!" he yelled as he grabbed Hareton by his ear. He dragged Hareton outside by his ear as he started to beat him.

"What a miserable house" Isabella thought to herself. Heathcliff had brought here to be his maid. He had little contact with her other than to chastise her. Hindley was constantly in a drunken stupor. When he wasn't unconscious in the kitchen or his room he was creating a mess. Hindley would sometimes vomit on the floor or knock over a bottle of wine. In next morning, Isabella would have to clean up his mess before Heathcliff woke up and saw it. Joseph was unpleasant and was always making snide remarks about her inability to maintain the household. And poor Hareton was neglected by his father and beaten within inch of his life for the slightest transgressions.

Oh how she missed her old home and her brother. She had been willing to give it all up for Heathcliff. A man who had no regard for her feelings or wellbeing. A man who took joy from seeing her miserable and humiliated.

Isabella did not know what to do about her situation. She knew Edgar had not forgiven her for marrying Heathcliff. The only person she could contact was Nelly Dean. Perhaps Nelly could inform Edgar about her wellbeing.

Isabella composed a short message to Nelly. She wanted to pour out all her feelings and emotions in the letter but she limited herself. She could not let Edgar or anyone know about the realities of her marriage to Heathcliff. Still, she was curious and since Nelly had spent many years caring for Heathcliff perhaps she had some information about his nature.

She wrote:

"Dear Ellen,

I hope everyone is well, I know that my brother is either too angry or too distressed to answer what I send him. Still, I must write to somebody, and the only choice left me is you.

Inform Edgar that I'd give the world to see his face again—that my heart returned to Thrushcross Grange in twenty-four hours after I left it, and is there at this moment, full of warm feelings for him, and Catherine! I can't follow it though (they need not expect me, and they may draw what conclusions they please; taking care, however, to lay nothing at the door of my weak will or deficient affection.

The remainder of the letter is for yourself alone. I want to ask you two questions: the first is,—How did you contrive to preserve the common sympathies of human nature when you resided here? I cannot recognise any sentiment which those around share with me.

The second question I have great interest in; it is this—Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? I sha'n't tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain, if you can, what I have married: that is, when you call to see me; and you must call, Ellen, very soon. Don't write, but come, and bring me something from Edgar."

-Isabella Heathcliff

Isabella sent the letter to Nelly and hoped she would quickly respond. She desperately hoped that Nelly would not discount her letter and that perhaps she could get some information about Heathcliff that could help her understand him.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. I really appreciate any suggestions or comments about the story. They help encourage me to keep updating and writing.