MY TOXIC TAURUS

CHAPTER 28

Veronica woke up in her room alone. Chris was gone and she did not want to know where. The last thing she recalled was the beating, the unexpected blows and her cries in pain that he ignored as he kept punching and kicking her before she passed out.  The pain was still all over her and now that she tried getting up she felt it even more.

She needed to use that bathroom so she pushed herself up even though every inch of her body resist it. She could not ignore the pain she felt as she walked to the bathroom. The image she saw on the mirror was what startled her most. Her lip had bursted and she had a bit of dried blood on it. She had a big bruise around her eye that was a bit swollen and other bruises on her arms and legs.

She looked like a total wreck but that was the last thing on her mind. She knew Chris was not that good a person but even this was way beyond what she expected of him. He beat her up and left her there unconscious not even bothering to make sure she was okay.

Maybe she too had made a rash decision while exposing his relationship with Esther but at least he had no leverage over Ethan anymore. She thought she could finally leave this marriage and house but his reaction made her think otherwise.

She  was cleaning up her wounds in the bathroom when she heard the door open. It must have been  Cullhane. He should have stayed out just as he did when Chris was beating the shit out of her, but she also understood that he was an employee just trying to keep his job by staying out of his employer's business. Even if his boss was an actual devil in disguise. The last thing she wanted anyway was to be seen with those bruises and the awkwardness that would follow with him not knowing what to say.

"Please go away Cullhane."

He said nothing as always but he did not leave either. Instead, the bathroom door was opened and she jumped up startled by the sudden intrusion. Except, it was not Cullhane, it was Chris, and at the very sight of him, she shuddered in fear and swallowed the lump that had formed in her through.

He looked at her, at her bruises and at the bottle of disinfectant she was holding. He did not speak and he seemed more calm than he had been earlier. She had a look of fear when he moved towards her and she backed up to the wall. He did not stop. He went to her, took the disinfectant and made her sit before tending to her wounds.

Veronica felt the need to shield herself from him each time he made a move,scared that he might just hit her again but he did not.

She was relieved when he was finally done and without a word, he left her room. He was acting so weird. Why was he not venting anymore? Him being nice was worse than when he was wild and ruthless with her. She had no idea what was on his mind or when he would go crazy again and vent on her.
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The days following the incident of Chris' assault on Veronica were odd for her. Cassie was not allowed to see her probably to prevent her from knowing about what had happened.

Chris had not left for his business meetings or for work even once and from what she had overhead his guards talking about, he seemed to have controlled the news that had spread about his relationship. She had no idea how but it must have been his PR team.

He made her have her meals with him in the dining room yet still he did not say a word to her. It had already been three days of him tending to her wounds and being all nice to her. He had once again personally brought her downstairs for breakfast and back to her room when she turned down his offer to take her for a walk.

"I'm sorry," he said when they were in her room.

She was waiting for him to leave so she could have some time alone again when his words caught her by surprise. It was the first thing he had said to her aside from the usual 'pass me the salt', ' let's eat ' or the few words he would tell her only because it was absolutely necessary. The last thing she expected to hear from him was an apology. She sat staring at him not knowing what to say and also because she did not want to talk to him.

"I know you probably won't talk to me and I completely understand why but Vee,"he said kneeling next to her and holding her hand, " I didn't mean to hurt you. I would never hurt you. I was just so angry I wasn't thinking straight and what you did really got me mad so ..."

"So it's my fault you got mad and hit me for finding out you had an affair?"

"I got mad because of what you did after finding that out...and besides, the chats were from a long time ago. You should have asked me first before jumping into conclusions."

Veronica chuckled inwardly at the fact that Chris was openly lying to her face. He clear had no idea she knew about the baby too. The pregnancy that had been pinned on Ethan whom she had not seen in what felt like ages and had no way of letting him know the truth.

She wondered how he was, where he was...she never felt so locked away from the world like she did now and the man responsible for it was only apologizing for hitting her. He had a lot more to apologize for but it was not like she expected him to.

When he was done talking, he left, seeing that Veronica was not going to say anything to him and for once in the longest time, she switched on the TV in her room to distract herself from the thoughts flooding her mind. She began scrolling through the channels when something caught her eye.

It was a picture of Ethan and Esther with an announcement of their marriage. How in the world was Ethan marrying someone especially if that someone happened to be Esther? And since when was Ethan a public figure so much so his wedding was being announced on tv? It could not be true. Chris would have told her about it already to crush her hopes about Ethan. If there had ever been a worse time to not have a phone, this was definitely it and she desperately needed to find  a way to talk to Ethan, to find an explanation because she was not just going to believe that he was suddenly giving up on them.