Humiliation

Aria ~

Two days of absolute hell in this marriage.

Every morning I forced myself out of bed at 6 AM sharp despite the bruises that still throbbed from that nightmare punishment, racing downstairs to prepare what Damien demanded as his "perfect" breakfast by exactly 8 o'clock.

Sunny-side up eggs with runny yolks, bacon cooked extra crisp but never burned, black coffee strong enough to wake the dead.

Yesterday he complained the toast was too crumbly around the edges.

Today the eggs were a touch overcooked even though I triple-checked the timer.

No matter how hard I tried to meet his impossible standards, he always found something to tear apart.

This battle is completely unwinnable. He'll never accept anything I do.

This morning while I carefully plated his usual meal with shaking hands, he barely glanced up from scrolling through his phone.

"Listen carefully, Aria. Tonight my parents and brother are coming here for family dinner.

I expect you to actually cook something edible for once instead of the garbage you've been serving me.

Don't you dare embarrass me in front of them. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

I nodded quickly, setting his coffee down beside his plate as my hands trembled.

"Yes Damien, I completely understand. I'll make absolutely everything perfect for your parents and brother tonight. You have my word."

He grabbed the mug without another word and walked out, letting the door slam hard behind him.

I stood frozen staring at the empty doorway, stomach churning.

His parents and brother coming tonight. No room for even the tiniest mistake.

Sweat dripped steadily down my back as I chopped vegetables alone in the massive kitchen—no Martha, no other maids, just me against the stainless steel counters and industrial stove.

Damien had specifically ordered all the staff to stay completely away tonight so I could "prove my worth as a proper wife."

The long dining table groaned under perfectly arranged platters of rosemary roast chicken, creamy garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus spears with fresh lemon zest, warm buttery dinner rolls, and for dessert I'd prepared individual chocolate lava cakes that I'd practiced making three times already just to be completely safe.

My hands shook violently as I arranged the final garnish plates.

One single wrong move tonight and he'll destroy my entire family.

But what if perfection still isn't enough for him?

Upstairs I changed frantically into the only decent dress I still owned—a simple but tight black sheath that clung to my body in all the wrong places.

The mirror showed exhausted hollow eyes and the faint ugly remnants of paddle bruises peeking just above the neckline.

I caked on thick layers of makeup to desperately cover every trace of damage, then forced my lips into a smile that never reached my eyes.

Have to look completely perfect tonight. Can't let his family see even a hint of weakness or damage.

Ding-dong. The Blackwood family had arrived.

My heart pounded like a trapped animal as I opened the massive carved front doors.

Damien's father strode in first—silver hair perfectly combed back, custom Italian suit fitting like armor, eyes sharp enough to cut through steel.

His mother Evelyn followed—blonde hair coiffed into flawless waves, diamond earrings the size of acorns dangling from her ears, blood-red lipstick slashed across a permanently judgmental mouth.

His younger brother Caleb came last—tall and broad-shouldered with that same smirking arrogance as Damien, but his eyes raked over my body far too slowly, lingering in places that made my skin crawl.

"Good evening everyone, please welcome to our home," I managed to say, my voice trembling slightly despite my best efforts to sound warm and composed.

"Dinner is completely ready whenever you'd like to sit down and eat."

Evelyn gave me a slow, deliberately critical examination from my carefully styled hair down to my high heels, her lips pursing into a thin disapproving line.

"Aria dear. How perfectly quaint. Please do lead us to the dining table."

**Marcus** barely acknowledged my existence, grunting as he brushed past me toward the dining room.

"Smells acceptable enough I suppose."

Caleb grabbed my offered handshake and held it two seconds too long, his thumb brushing inappropriately across my knuckles while he winked.

"Well hello there sister-in-law. Damn, Damien completely failed to mention you'd be this fucking gorgeous."

Damien materialized suddenly right behind me, his arm snaking possessively tight around my waist as he shot his brother a death glare.

"Enough with all the bullshit pleasantries already. Dinner's getting cold. Everyone sit down so we can actually eat like civilized people."

Martha had pulled me urgently into the kitchen earlier while I frantically chopped vegetables, her voice dropping to a nervous whisper.

"Mrs. Blackwood please listen carefully tonight because you need to know exactly what you're walking into.

Damien's mother Evelyn finds fault with absolutely everything and everyone—she'll tear you apart no matter how perfect everything actually is.

His father Marcus couldn't care less about you personally, he only notices business deals and social appearances.

And Caleb... well he's completely spoiled rotten and genuinely believes he owns every attractive woman he lays eyes on.

Just breathe steadily and try your best to survive them all."

Now as I served steaming plates to the long polished dining table, Martha's warning echoed painfully in my head with every step.

I smiled tightly through gritted teeth while Evelyn picked delicately at her chicken portion with a silver fork, her expression somewhere between bored and actively disappointed.

"The seasoning is adequate I suppose, though hardly what I'd serve at a proper Blackwood family dinner. But it'll do in a pinch."

Marcus grunted around a large mouthful of mashed potatoes, barely chewing.

"Needs significantly more salt. Good food should stand up on its own without babysitting."

Caleb grinned wolfishly across the table at me, his eyes locked far too intently on the neckline of my dress.

"Personally I think every single item on this table looks completely mouthwatering from where I'm sitting."

Then Damien finally spoke up, his voice dripping with that familiar calculated venom that always made my stomach drop straight through the floor.

"Well at least she managed to cook actual recognizable food tonight, which is honestly more than I can say for the complete dogshit garbage I had to force down the first two days—rubber eggs that bounced, bacon swimming in grease, toast so hard it could've doubled as a weapon.

Real progress wouldn't you agree, Mother?"

My face immediately burned bright crimson with raw humiliation as polite laughter rippled around the table at my expense.

Right in front of his entire immediate family. Treated like I'm not even human sitting at my own dining table.

Evelyn suddenly flashed me a smile that appeared far too sweet and completely artificial, like a predator shark finally scenting blood in the water.

"Aria dear you've managed adequately enough for your very first family dinner I suppose.

The whole perfect wife performance definitely still needs substantial work though."

She turned smoothly toward Damien and Marcus, her voice suddenly crisp and commanding with zero room for argument.

"Tomorrow night there's the Blackwood family gathering at the villa—only immediate relatives but absolutely everyone who matters in our direct circle will be there.

Aria attends looking completely flawless from head to toe, properly dressed and behaved, and under no circumstances embarrassing any of us. Is that clearly understood by everyone here?"

"Yes Mother, completely clear and understood," Damien replied smoothly without missing a beat, though his fingers dug warningly into my thigh under the tablecloth where no one else could see.

They finally finished coffee and departed after what felt like an eternity of judgment.

Caleb deliberately brushed way too close to me as he passed through the foyer, winking again.

"Looking forward to seeing much more of you tomorrow night at the family gathering, beautiful."

Unable to resist the temptation, I lingered just long enough in the upstairs hallway to overhear Evelyn's hushed vicious whisper drifting up from below as they headed toward the front doors.

"Damien that girl is completely wrong for our family—completely vulgar background, absolutely zero class whatsoever.

You need to keep her at arm's length always.

Tomorrow at the family gathering just dress her up properly enough to look acceptable for appearances, but never ever let her forget for one single moment exactly what her proper place actually is around real Blackwoods."

"Yes Mother, message received loud and clear," Damien replied in that same flat toneless voice.

I fled immediately to my bedroom, hot tears already burning angry tracks down my heavily made-up face.

Even his own immediate family sees me as nothing but trash pretending to belong.

How the hell do I ever become perfect when they've already decided I'm worthless garbage?

Damien burst through my bedroom door just minutes later, his face immediately twisting with pure disgust at the sight of my tears.

"What the fuck, crying again already? Jesus Christ Aria, can't you control yourself long enough to stop sniveling like some pathetic little child for even five goddamn minutes?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—" I choked out through the fresh wave of tears.

"I saw the way Caleb kept winking at you and practically undressing you with his eyes all through dinner.

Already throwing yourself at my own brother on two days of our marriage?

What a completely predictable little whore you've turned out to be.

Real wives don't flirt so openly with their brother-in-law right in front of their entire family like common trash."

He grabbed my chin so brutally hard I physically winced in pain.

"Stop pretending like you're some innocent victim. Sluts like you were born spreading their legs wide open for any man who even glances twice."

Those vicious slurs hit me like actual physical blows—the very first time they'd come straight from my own husband's mouth.

I recoiled backward as if physically slapped across the face.

He just laughed that same cold merciless laugh.

"Tomorrow night's the big Blackwood family gathering at the villa all the immediate relatives coming together.

You better dress like you actually belong there without humiliating me further, or I'll personally make damn sure the entire family knows exactly what kind of low-class trash I unwisely ended up marrying.

Now go clean up that ugly crying mess of a face before I lose my patience completely."

The heavy door slammed shut behind him with finality.

I slowly sank down onto the cold marble floor, thick black mascara running in ugly rivers down both cheeks.

Tomorrow his entire Blackwood family waits at the villa dozens of cold eyes ready to judge every move, every word... when they can already smell the broken girl beneath the makeup, the replacement who gave up her dreams just to become their favorite punching bag.