𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔶-𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢(**) (***)

this chapter is gonna be disturbing. but it's a driving force for her actually wanting to get out. dw yall, she's getting rescued very soon.

tw for elio being an asshole, forced oral sex, and katina being a heartless bitch

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

age: 47

     That morning, I was making our bed while Elio dressed for the day. As I tucked the fitted sheet, a crease formed between my brows. I reached behind the bed, my fingers searching the narrow space between the mattress and the wall.

     What I found was a pair of earrings, unfamiliar and certainly not mine. In that moment, an icy wave of hurt surged through me, and I felt the air in the room grow thin.

     With a jaw set firm and hands shaking, I confronted Elio as he emerged from the closet. The earrings flew from my grasp to his feet. A momentary look of confusion crossed his face before he looked down and realized who they belonged to.

"Get out."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Her earrings are in our bed!"

"You're such a hypocrite. What about Eden?" he demanded. "You were fucking her for years."

"And you nearly killed me for it," I reminded him, tears stinging my eyes. "But could you blame me? You're turning into your father."

      His hand was a flash, tangling in my hair with a swift, cruel motion. My head was slammed against the wall with a force that left me reeling. A sharp cry escaped my lips as pain radiated through my skull, and just as quickly, he let go.

"You know I've been stressed lately," he reminded me as I held a hand to my throbbing head. "You slept with my sister and got her sent away. My own children hate me."

"They don't hate you, they just hate the way you treat me," I said, wincing as I massaged the pain away.

"The way I treat you? I give you everything you could ever want," he snarled at me. "I put up with you and your bitching and whining. I take care of you. I protect you. And what do I get in return? Nothing but bullshit."

"You get nothing in return?" I seethed, my voice scary to even me. "I've treated you like a fucking king. I've let you fuck me, even when I don't want to. I've spoiled you. I make all of your meals. I do your laundry. I keep the house in perfect condition. I put up with your horrible friends. I gave you childten and raised them almost entirely by myself. I've let you take your anger out of me."

"That is what's required of a wife," he glared. "Not that you'd know anything about being a good wife."

"And you don't know the first thing about being a good husband," I snapped back.

"So you're the victim here? It's all my fault, right?"

"Yes."

"Nothing is ever your fault, is it, Eve?"

"If I'm so horrible, let me go home," I pleaded. He smacked me across the face. I didn't let it affect me. I just stared at him. "What makes you any better than your father?"

"Excuse me?"

"You despise your father for beating your mother, you, your siblings. But you do the same to me. You did the same to Gideon."

"It's different."

"How?"

"My father beats my mother because it amuses him. He sees breaking her down like an art. He loves knowing that he's destroyed her. You think I like seeing you cry? I do it to teach you the consequences of your actions."