My Murderous Finale - ✔️

Chapter 4

***trigger warning: physical abuse ***

I arrived home later that day to an empty house. I wasn't surprised at all but I was definitely glad that Evan wasn't home. I walked into the closet and shed my brother's clothes, making sure to stuff the sweatpants in a piece of luggage to hide from Evan. it wasn't that he didn't know whose they were, he just hated the reminder of any man in my life, relative or not. That was why he had made me stop working. But my brother was the one person he knew he could never take from me.

Over the last 2 weeks, I'd hardly seen Evan at all. He'd usually come home around 3 or so In the morning then leave again for work around 6 am. I wasn't sure how he wasn't dead from exhaustion but that was the hours he kept lately. I spent more and more time with my brother and his friends. It had been years since I had friends and I realized how much I had missed it. Kellan and I had two weeks before we left for our trip to Miami. I was surprisingly very excited. It had been years since I'd been on a vacation of any kind. And I was so glad to be spending my first vacation with my brother.

Kellan was heading to the house in a few hours to pick me up so we could all hang out at the diner tonight. My heart sank when I heard the front door slam. I knew it was Evan and considering it was before 3 am I was very concerned as to what was going to happen. This would be the first time we'd talked since the dinner incident. My heart was pounding as I put my mascara on in the bathroom, my shaky hands making it almost impossible. The door to the bedroom opened so hard it hit the wall behind it. I Waited until he Finally burst through the bathroom door and I held my breath.

" Why is there no dinner ready?" He yelled

" Evan, I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd be home earlier than 3 am. Even if I knew you'd be home at 9:30 I'd figure you already ate."

" What do you even do here all day? Absolutely, fucking, nothing." He spat as he reached out and slapped the mascara out of my hand, sending it flying across the room.

I wanted to do anything but cower. I wanted to be better than the weak human he portrayed me to be. I couldn't be scared of what he might do anymore.

" Even if you had called and let me know you'd be home then ..." I tried but my words were quickly silenced.

Evan landed a powerful blow from his fist into my left arm. I wasn't prepared at all and the force of it sent me crashing into the hard porcelain tub along the back wall of my bathroom. Pain erupted in my side as it took the brunt of the collision, knocking the air out of my lungs. I was gasping for air as my head hit the tile floor. Evan chuckled and came to stand over me as I struggled to catch my breath again. Tears pooled and clouded my vision as he lowered his face inches from mine.

"I didn't really want dinner" he spat " I just didn't want you going anywhere tonight." Then he stood, straightened his tie in the mirror, and headed for the door " don't wait up darling, I don't know when I'll be home again" he chuckled again and flicked the light switch as he left leaving me in a broken mess on the floor.

After what felt like an eternity, I gathered the strength to pick myself up. I didn't want to. I wanted to lay there and never get back up. I hated this feeling that blossomed inside me after a fight with Evan. He made me feel worthless and it took everything inside me to not believe it. Sometimes it took days to overcome it. To overcome the thought inside that told me that I shouldn't expect anything different since I hadn't tried to leave him. And god I wanted to leave. I just had this overwhelming feeling that I was stuck. I'd feel like a burden to my brother if I left and moved in with him. He's my younger brother, he deserves so much more than taking care of his sister who had no college degree and no prospects.

I slowly limped back into my bedroom holding my side trying to hold in the pain and failing. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and saw I'd missed two calls from Kellan and a text from Milo. I ignored both and sent a quick vague text to Kellan.

Not feeling up to it tonight, I'll call ya tomm.

He would know, he always did. But the last thing I wanted right now was to try to explain anything. I didn't even feel like texting Milo back. Thinking about this new friendship with him, right after my husband just went out of his way to make me feel worthless, made me feel sick. I never wanted him to know about this side of my life. I could barely explain it to my brother, I was unable to explain it to myself and most definitely couldn't begin to explain it to someone like Milo.

I climbed in bed making sure to be careful of my side. The pain was so intense I was certain I had a broken rib or two. As I tried to lay on my left side I winced again knowing I'd have a large bruise on my arm tomorrow morning. Finally, I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I heard my phone vibrating every few minutes knowing it was Kellan and I'd have to explain things to him eventually. But not right now. Tears clouded my vision again and spilled down the sides of my face. I wasn't sure how long I laid there silently crying but eventually, I drifted off to sleep.