The babysitter

Leaving

Lucy had always thought she could handle the storms in her life. She had grown up learning how to keep calm in the face of chaos, how to stay composed when things felt like they were slipping through her fingers. But nothing had prepared her for the whirlwind that was her marriage to Louis.

At first, things had seemed perfect. The wedding had been grand, the ceremony beautiful, and Louis, with his charming smile and easygoing demeanor, had seemed like the man she had always dreamed of. He had been attentive, thoughtful, and kind, and Lucy had believed, perhaps naively, that this was what love was supposed to look like.

But soon after the vows were exchanged, the cracks began to show.

It wasn't obvious at first. Louis's temper was subtle, a sharp edge that would appear only in moments of frustration. At first, Lucy chalked it up to stress, to the weight of their new life together. But soon, the flashes of anger became more frequent, more intense.

She learned quickly to tread carefully around him, to avoid certain topics, to act in ways that kept him from becoming upset. But no matter how hard she tried, there were moments when the smallest things set him off. She could never predict when it would happen. Sometimes, he'd snap at her over something trivial, like leaving a book out of place. Other times, he'd become agitated over something she said, twisting her words into something they were never meant to be.

And when he got angry, he would stay angry. The silence between them would stretch for days, and Lucy would be left wondering what she had done wrong, even if she didn't fully understand why he was upset.

It was during one of these silent stretches that things took a turn for the worse. Louis had been particularly irritable for weeks, snapping at her over the smallest things. That night, she had forgotten to pick up the beers he had asked for—a simple mistake, one she had every intention of fixing the next day.

But that wasn't how Louis saw it.

When he found out, his anger exploded in a way she hadn't expected. He didn't yell at first. No, instead, he had cornered her, his eyes filled with that dangerous, simmering rage she had learned to fear. The room was eerily quiet, save for the sound of her breath catching in her throat.

"You were supposed to get me more beers," Louis had said, his voice low and controlled, but there was something dangerous behind it.

"I'm sorry," Lucy had whispered, trying to stay calm, her hands trembling. "I didn't mean to forget. I'll get them tomorrow."

But Louis wasn't listening anymore. His eyes flared with fury as he grabbed her, shoving her hard against the wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her, and her vision swam.

"That's it," he had spat, his voice rising. "You always do this. Always messing things up."

Lucy's heart pounded in her chest, the room spinning around her. Her mind screamed for her to escape, to fight back, but her body was frozen in place. She had tried before, but it always ended the same—her pleading, him ignoring her.

He was beyond reasoning now.

In the next instant, he had hit her—hard, a slap across her cheek that sent her crashing to the floor. She tasted blood, the sharp sting of it mixing with the bitterness in the air. The pain was sharp, but it was the helplessness that hurt the most.

"Stop! Please!" Lucy had begged, tears streaming down her face as she curled up on the floor. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry! Please just stop!"

But Louis didn't stop. His eyes were wild now, consumed with rage, and Lucy could see the coldness in his gaze. This wasn't the man she had married. This wasn't the person she had trusted.