A Woman's Empire

XXXIII

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

Rain drops gently tapped against the window while Audrielle lied in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes stung and she had a headache from her endless crying.

An entire week had slowly passed since the catastrophe and Audrielle found it as torture. No matter how many times she begged Leo that nothing had happened between Tanner and her, he denied it all, choosing to scream at her and call her a liar or simply ignored her.

The ignorance Leo had towards her was what hurt Audrielle the most. She tried so hard to get Leo to even acknowledge her presence but most of the time she felt as if she was a ghost and Leo was looking straight through her.

The next morning after the ball, Audrielle woke up still cuffed to the bed all alone. Leo hadn't returned until after lunch, when he brought her some food and finally unlocked the handcuffs. The cuffs had left cuts and bruised her wrists from Audrielle tugging against them or from even moving in her sleep.

When Leo gave her the plate of food, she quietly picked at it while he watched with no expression on his face. By the time she had finished eating, she stood up and took a shower while using the bathroom.

Quickly night rolled around and they shared the bed, but when she accidentally bumped into him, Leo shifted to the edge of the bed as if she had burnt him. Audrielle cried.

It wasn't until she finally left the room when she saw Antonio. He hugged her and she cried some more, venting to him while he tried his best to comfort her. Antonio then suggested it was probably best that she stayed away from Leo so he had a couple of maids set up a bedroom for her down the hall. The bedroom wasn't as large as Leo's, but it was enough for her to feel safe and comfortable.

The bed sheets were white and the walls were painted a pale blue. There wasn't a walk in wardrobe but there was a bathroom connected to the room and Audrielle was glad that she didn't have to leave her bubble to shower.

Suddenly the door opened and Audrielle wiped her face from the tears. It was Leo. He stared at Audrielle, emotionless. "Dinner is being served." He said before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Sighing loudly, she rolled off the bed and walked to the bathroom, deciding that she should probably brush her hair before she went down stairs. Once she had finished dragging the brush through her knotty, brown locks, she splashed some water onto her face before patting it dry with a towel.

By the time she made her way downstairs, everyone was eating. Emma, Christian's wife, smiled sadly at her as Audrielle quietly took a seat next to Leo. It wasn't that she wanted to, but if she had her way she'd be eating macaroni and cheese in her pajamas upstairs. But when you live a luxurious life, where people are more in love with money than one another, you have to fake it, put on your bravest face and face your worst enemies.

In Audrielle's case, Christian and Leo were hers. She didn't eat much, just nibbled at the bread roll, occasionally stabbing the potatoes on her plate, trying to find the apatite to eat them.

"I never thought you'd have it in you, Audrielle." Christian suddenly spoke up, dropping his cutlery onto his plate before grabbing the napkin and wiping the corners of his mouth.

"That you would cheat on my son." He chuckled lowly, clasping his hands together underneath his chin Ashe cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing through the large room.

Audrielle bit her lip, she wanted to scream, to throw something across the room just so she could get her point across that she didn't cheat. "I-I didn't cheat on L-Leo..." Audrielle mumbled, her hands balling into fists underneath the table.

"Sure you didn't." Christian chuckled, picking up his knife and fork before resuming his food, as if the conversation they just had was non existent. The rest of them are dinner silently, not making eye contact with each other.

The sudden sound of a plate smashing echoed around the room and Audrielle gasped. Leo pushed back in his chair and stood up, walking over his now broken plate and glass that was on the floor from him aggressively wiping it off the table. Audrielle watched him storm out of the room as tears brimmed her eyes.

Just as she was about to excuse herself and run after her husband, Antonio grabbed her hand. "I wouldn't if I was you, he's not in a good head space and he'll just hurt you if he sees you." Antonio whispered and Audrielle slowly sat back down.

—————

The wind howled as the heavy rain battered against the window. Lying in bed with a book in her hands, Audrielle waited for sleep to take over but it never did. The bed was big and cold. She couldn't tell if it was only because of the storm outside or if it was more than that. That maybe she missed Leo.

You shouldn't, her inner thoughts snapped and deep down, she knew it was right. He had treated her so cruel that she questioned everything she did. Was she good enough? What will Leo think?

Maybe it was love? The only love that Audrielle had been exposed to was her parents and the ones in the books she would read. Her parents argued, they cheated and used each other, but every now and then, she would hear one mutter "I love you". Maybe the romance novels were lying? That every relationship is rainbows and sunshines. Besides, you always needed rain to have a rainbow.

Audrielle's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she heard someone cursing and mumbling outside of her room. Curiosity got the best of her and she placed the book down, quickly hopping out of bed and making her way towards the door. She was about to open it but then she stopped. The person was gone, the only sound was the rain outside.

Quietly as possible, she twisted the doorknob, only opening it so far that only one eye could peep through. There, in the hall was the devil himself. Leo picked up the bottle of scotch and brought it to his lips, taking rather large chugs of the alcohol. He dropped the bottle and it tipped over, the brown liquid pouring out. Audrielle held back a chuckle while she watched a tipsy Leo curse as he tried to clean up the mess but he eventually gave up. He threw his head back, hitting the wall behind him while he ran his hands over his face.

Audrielle caught a glimpse of his bloodshot eyes but then she saw blood. Leo had a blood nose. It looked like it had dried up and suddenly Audrielle had the sudden urge to go help him, as if she felt sorry for him.

But how many times has he pushed you over, and instead of helping you up, he walked away?

The answer was too many. Audrielle casted her eyes to the ground and fought the urge, deciding it was best to listen to her inner thoughts.

"Fuck! Why her?!" Leo suddenly screamed, and Audrielle watched him aggressively throw the bottle at the wall. The bottle shattered into a thousand pieces while the scotch created a great big pool around it. When she looked over at Leo, he had his hands over his face and Audrielle couldn't help but hear the little sob he let out.

Leo crying? Since when?

With shaky hands, Audrielle wiped a stray tear that fell down her face before quickly closing the door. The storm continued outside, the wind blowing, almost threatening to break the windows and the thunder roared. Leaning over the bed, Audrielle turned off the lamp and gripped onto the bed sheets as she silently sobbed herself to sleep.

It wasn't until a couple hours later when she was woken up by the doorknob rattling and a tall, dark figure entered the room.

"Leo?" Audrielle croaked out quietly, barely a whisper.

"Pack your things, you're leaving."