That morning she had woken up in complete agony, her neck ached with very movement. Roger had wanted to make sure that she understood how serious he was but the issue was her injuries were getting harder and harder to disguise. Did he want people to know? Was he proud of what he had done to her?
Before, anytime he would lay a hand on her, it would be somewhere that was not noticeable or something that could easily be covered. There was a limit to Siobhan's talents and he knew that but had continued to harm her. He felt strong when he watched as he cowered beneath her, he wanted people to know how strong her was. His employees had grown far too cocky, he had known all about the nursery takeover for a while now and it angered him. Did they not realise how powerful he was? He needed to show them how much power he had over them and Siobhan would be his way of exhibiting that. If they saw how she cowered whenever he was around, the way she flinched at the sight of him, they would understand.
He had taken a strong-minded, commanding woman and turned her into a frightened, insecure little girl. The old Siobhan was gone and he had done that. Nobody else could've done that except for him in his mind. Watching as she slowly became more and more reserved, as she gradually stopped fighting back was pure entertainment for the twisted man. Ever since his children had left home me his wife had escaped he hadn't had somebody to control. Of course he had Mia but she wasn't enough, he couldn't control her every move or restrict what she did with her life. She had far too much freedom for his liking and he was itching to have somebody to control.
Nobody had warned Siobhan of Roger's abusive, manipulative tendencies and that was her downfall. Maybe if somebody had warned her, if she had known what he was like, then she would have reconsidered her situation but that was not the case. Everyone had assumed they were a perfect match simply because of her views. In reality none of those views were her own, as strong-minded as she was she rarely had a thought of her own. Everything had been drilled into her as child and now Roger was in her mind. She couldn't tell what was her own thought and what was somebody else's that had forcefully pushed its way into her brain.
As the blonde attempted to go back to sleep to escape the immense pain she was in she felt something cold hit her face. For a moment she was confused as to what had happened until she felt the water dripping from her face. Her eyes shot open as she sat up as quickly as she could, looking around the room to gauge what had happened.
His laughter echoed throughout their bedroom as he watched the young woman before him eyes dart around in panic. The moment she heard his voice she understood, their eyes locked, a grin plastered on his face. She wanted to scream in his face, argue with him, throw her own glass of water in his face but she couldn't.
"Get up now. You're going into work." the blonde went to protest "No arguments you will go in. Now get up and get dressed, i'm driving you in today. No funny business with that skank will be happening on my watch go it?" as much as she wished to protest further she gave in, wishing she had the fight in her to defend Vivian. Vivian would have defended her if somebody spoke about her this way so why couldn't she do it in return?
Her appearance was everything to her, the one thing she felt in control of, that was her own. Every morning she spent far too long straightening her hair, applying her makeup, choosing an outfit, everything had to be perfect. And now she was being forced to go into work with a broken nose, a bruised throat and barely enough time for her to fully get herself ready. The day had only just begun and she wanted it to end.
The front of her hair was drenched and her face continued to drip with water as she wiped her eyes to stop the liquid entering them. A prolonged sigh escaped her lips once the man had left the room, practically dragging herself out of the bed that they shared.
Once she had made her way to her en suite bathroom, she immediately noticed the dark purple hand prints that adorned her neck. It was like a necklace that had been permanently clasped on her neck, a reminder of what her life had amounted to. It was ugly and humiliating.
She desperately reached into her makeup bag for her foundation, applying it to her neck as quickly as she could. Aggressively tapping the blender against her neck she noticed it wasn't helping. The bruise continued to shine through and she didn't know how she could cover it. Panic rose up inside her as she pondered what to do. She continued applying more and more to see if that would help her but nothing was going to help.
In a fit of rage she brought her fist up and smashed it into the mirror before her. Blood dripped down her arm, a large piece of glass sticking out of the wound.
"Fuck." she whispered to herself, pulling the shard from her arm and cleaning up the injuries that had been caused. Luckily for her, Roger had not heard the smashing of the mirror but she still had the issue of covering up her injuries plus one more. This was a day to day task for the woman, it didn't bother her really, it was routine. Something about it brought her comfort, the familiarity. It seemed sick to anyone else but to her it was everything.
After she had finished her makeup, careful to avoid her nose, she could hear her partners footsteps ascending the stairs. She still hadn't covered up her neck and she knew that he would be furious if he were to see that. His footsteps so loud and aggressive that they practically shook the walls of their mansion.
Frantically she reached in her wardrobe and grabbed a scarf that she had stuffed away for the colder months. It wasn't the most appealing but it would have to do to prevent her from being caught.
The second he walked into the room he grimaced, looking at Siobhan with utter disgust. He looked at her the exact way that she felt, she thought she was disgusting and so did he.
"You look fucking ridiculous." he spat in her direction, anger prominent in his voice. The blonde cowered away, running a hand through her hair gently to soothe her whilst he belittled her.
"I know." she mumbled quietly, her eyes making contact with the floor beneath her, refusing to travel anywhere else.
"Maybe I need to be a bit more careful. Keep your punishments where they can be concealed. I can't bare to look at your face it's fucking ugly. Just get in the car now." part of her was relieved that he had this realisation, nobody would question her and bring back the memories if they could be concealed. She had prepared herself for the humiliation when she arrived at work.
Swiftly she made her way out of the room past the man, rushing down the stairs towards the door. She hadn't bothered to grab her bag, in truth she didn't really need it. The only thing in which she needed was her phone and that was safely planted in her pocket. She never ate at work, Roger didn't allow it so she didn't have to ever worry about packing a lunch.
All she wanted was to get in that car and get to work as quickly as possible. She knew that the day would be horrendous and humiliating but the one thing she could count on was Roger not being there. A few hours to herself.
Her partner followed behind her, snaking his hand around her waist as he snuck up behind her. He pulled her closer to him as she let out a small gasp. She awaited the insult, the threat of violence, anything but got met with silence as he pushed past her towards his car.
She dreaded that car drive but she had no choice
