Loved; A Christmas Special

CHAPTER 1

Mira sat beside him, her hands running over him. She allowed herself to take him in. His dark hair, beautiful face, and body. She placed a kiss on his lips as she called the cops.

Mira had been married to Mike for five years. Five terrible years of her life. Every day she was abused; physically, emotionally, sexually. Mike was the definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing. She could still remember when they'd first met. It was the annual church harvest, and Amanda had forced her to attend. "You have a lot to be thankful for." She'd said. And she did... at that time. She just graduated with a first class after so many challenges. Also, her designs were bought by a reputable fashion house. Everything was going great, so she'd agreed. Wearing one of her designs, she'd shown up looking beautiful and feeling thankful for everything. At the end of service, while Amanda was greeting everyone and being the social butterfly she was, she stood by the car going through Instagram when Mike approached her. He was handsome, to put it simply. He had a beautiful face, sharp accessing eyes, a pointed nose, a sharp masculine jawline. Mira was awed by his beauty. They got talking and she found him a more beautiful person. He had a sharp mind, appreciated humor, recognized sarcasm, and was able to hold his own in any conversation. Mira wasn't interested in church, but after meeting him, she became a churchgoer. Three months later, he proposed, she said yes and before anyone was the wiser, they were married.

However, marriage brought out a different person. The first shock had been when she'd denied him sex, due to her monthly flow. Long story short, he'd forced it out of her. Mentioning how a wife was to be submissive to her husband, and how couples weren't supposed to deny themselves. She'd felt empty watching him please himself without a care for her sexual satisfaction. She laid in bed that night, the sheets soaked with her flow and her face soaked with her tears. It had progressed to her being beaten at the slightest provocation. He'd transformed completely from the sweet, caring Mike to a monster. She watched him lead prayers on Sunday after beating her to pulp the previous night, and she couldn't reconcile the two people.

Mira had confided in her family, and their only advice was to pray and make her marriage work. A bitter laugh escaped her whenever she thought about it. She was always the one at fault. Mike had cost her so much. The babies she'd lost, job opportunities, friendships, the life she had. He'd taken enough from her, and she was fed up with him. She asked for a divorce. He'd come home to meet divorce papers and had taken to beating the life out of her. Muttering about how he'll not allow her to destroy his reputation, his ministry and how she'd get a divorce over his dead body. Well, it was over his dead body. He hadn't been prepared for her to fight back. She'd reached out for the thing closest to her and had stabbed him in the stomach. He'd bled out quickly. Dying before she could muster her strength to sit up. It wasn't up to a week since her last miscarriage. She began taking pills after her second miscarriage... after he'd beat her baby out of her. He'd found them where she'd carelessly left them and had beat her up for opposing God's gift to them. She'd taken in again, and he'd beaten the child out of her. At this point, she knew she was done. She got divorce papers, and he still beat her up for wanting out. She could see his eyes, filled with rage. His punches came hard and fast with no plan of slowing down, so she'd felt around for something to defend herself with, and without a second thought, she'd picked up the knife and had plunged it into him. She watched him fall to the ground and was sure he wouldn't survive the blood loss.

Mom had come into the police station that night, saying how her God will not let her down, how her daughter was only a victim, and all Mira did was laugh. Laugh because God was asleep when it came to her. She knew because Mike's prayers were still answered. After all, God turned deaf ears to her prayers, the way everyone had turned a blind eye to her beatings. She'd lost all her faith in God. No father would allow his child to experience what she had. As far as she was concerned, God played favorites, was unjust and unfair.