Under Your Scars || Sebastian Sallow x MC

Flashback - One Year Earlier

TW: domestic violence

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I'm not your princess, this ain't our fairytale

I'm gonna find someone someday

Who might actually treat me well

White Horse

-Taylor Swift

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October 3, 1898

Juliette POV

I tugged at the cuff of my sleeves, stretching the fabric to cover the fading purple blotches from the last time he got like this. 

His fits were growing more and more frequent, the bruises from the last barely faded before new ones arrived to take their place. Still, it was just enough time for me to forgive him.

Every time.

We were in his office at the French Ministry, but that did not seem an adequate deterrent for his rage.

"Unbelievable! INCONCIEVABLE!"

A silencing charm he had placed ensured no one would come to investigate the cause of his shouting. It also meant no one would come to my rescue if I called out.

I stood near the door anyway, ready to walk out if he refused to see reason.

The more I watched him, the less I recognized him. His face was flushed with fury, his long black hair unkempt and shooting wildly in all directions, his fists were clenched at his sides as he paced between me and his desk. His deep brown eyes were practically bulging out of his head.

I wondered if the Ren I fell in love with was in there at all.

"Ren, I don't understand. I've told you about my parents!"

I was begging him, pleading with him. I yearned for my Ren to come to the surface and simply listen to my words. 

I had told him about my muggle parents, at least a handful of times. It was something we had discussed in the first months of our courtship, as I knew how pure-blood families could be about that sort of thing.

It was as though he was pretending those conversations never happened.

"Ren, I—"

"When were you going to tell me?" he interrupted, aggressively pointing a slender pale finger at me. "When you popped out filthy half-breed children? Or a squib?"

He spat on the floor at my feet.

I raised my chin, tensing every muscle in my body to keep myself from trembling.

"And what would be so bad about half-blood children?" I challenged him, arms folded over my chest. "Or a squib for a child?"

That was my greatest mistake.

He crossed the room in two quick paces and, before I could react, he had me pinned to the wall with an ice-cold hand around my throat. Air quickly became scarce as he slid me up the wall until I was eye level with him; My toes barely touched the ground.