Just Give Me A Reason

4. "You're Not Broken Just Bent"

"Every little girl dreams of finding that one person that makes them whole, the person that they feel completes them in every single way. I thought when I had met Sebastian Caine that I had found the one. He was handsome and charming, and the way he looked at me made me feel like I was the only l in the world. I couldn't have asked for a better man to fall into my path... or so I thought."

Emma felt her eyes begin to glisten and she tried to make the unshed tears stay in her eyes. She didn't want Greyson to see her be so weak. When Emma looked in Greyson's eyes she saw concern and understanding, and it only made her want to cry even more. Greyson pulled Emma from her position on the couch and into his lap. He tucked her head underneath his chin and just held her.

"You don't have to do this; you don't need to explain yourself to me."

She shook her head. "I may not need to, but I want to."

Emma took a moment to collect her breath and began to speak again.

"When we first started dating he was the perfect gentleman, he always asked permission before he kissed me and treated me like a crown jewel. He was the type of guy I could bring home to my mother and father, one that they approved of and they encouraged the relationship between us. Sebastian had a perfect social standing he was the only son of the richest banker in all of New York, he was going to take over an empire set up by his father. Sebastian used to tell me that 'all he ever wanted was a loving wife he could come home to after a long day at work', and gosh darn it if I didn't want to be that wife."

"When we were dating, he was always jealous of the attention that I gave anyone else, even my own family. He was possessive and he wanted me all to himself. I thought it was cute and I took it as a sign that he loved me, so I didn't mention it to anyone. At that time, I didn't realize that it was him trying to drive me away from my family and everyone that I loved. We began to stay in more often, and when I mentioned going out, Sebastian lost it. He would yell and scream and ask me why he wasn't good enough for me. He said if I needed to go out to have fun that we should just break up, that the relationship wasn't going to work if I was so reliable on other people. I would appease him and tell him that I only needed him, that we could stay in. I'd always make plans with friends or family and then cancel them, just to make him happy. I was so stupid and naïve."

Emma let the collection of tears in her eyes fall and she felt Greyson's fingers on her chin. He pulled Emma's face to look at him, eye to eye.

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen, you loved him. We look past the faults in the people that we love Emma."

Emma sniffled and looked at him. He smiled reassuringly and she took that as her cue to continue.

"Things got worse when he put a ring on my finger. I was so elated to be married to the 'man of my dreams' I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten until it was too late. We had been engaged for about three weeks the first time he hit me. I think I had forgotten to buy milk at the grocery store and when I told him he went ballistic. He smacked me so hard I saw stars. I was so shocked that at first I didn't feel the pain. As soon as he saw what he had done he rushed over to me and told me it wouldn't happen again. He said he had lost his temper and that things had gotten out of control. He said he loved me. I told him it was okay and that I forgave him. Then he hit me a second time, and a third and a fourth and fifth and then after that I lost count."

"I tried to leave him several times, but each time Sebastian found me and begged for me to take him back, and stupidly I agreed to do so, and each time I got punished for it. About two months after the abuse started I began to smell the other women on him. He would come home and have their perfume all over him, sometimes there was even lipstick on his collar. I never said anything to him, I was afraid that I would be punished."