FOUR

Juliet

My hand clenched hard around the device. I scrolled down, vision blurring as I read the chats between Declan and ‘Parker’.

Heat burned through my body, rising from my chest until I started to shake. I could barely think.

I slowly turned to a peacefully sleeping Declan. And then I saw red.

The next second, I was over him, hitting every part of his body my fists could find.

“Declan you disgusting asshole! How dare you?!”

“What the fuck!” He sprang up.

I picked up anything within my reach. Luckily for him, it was a pillow. I continued to hit him, hot tears falling freely as I yelled.

“Juliet! What's wrong with you?!” He held me back, pushing me away.

My vision and head cleared a little. I looked at him, chest heaving.

Breathing to calm myself, I picked up the phone.

“What is this?” I asked, pointing the screen at him.

The angry and confused expression on his face fell for a moment, and then it was replaced by annoyance.

“What were you doing with my phone?” He asked, snatching it from me.

My eyes widened.

“Oh!” I laughed, as a fresh wave of anger burned through me. “Is that the question we're asking right now? Huh?!”

“Juliet…”

“I was at home. Preparing everything, getting ready. Trying to make your ungrateful ass happy! But you were out there fucking another woman!”

Declan’s jaws clenched. He looked away from me.

Of course. He had nothing to say.

“You promised you wouldn't do it again and I stupidly believed you! I’ve been trying my best to make you happy. To make this marriage work! What else do you want me to do!” My voice turned raspy as I cried out.

“Really Juliet? You've been trying your best?” He asked accusingly.

I recoiled.

“What exactly do you classify as best? Is it how you refused to lose weight? Or how you would just lie on the bed and barely pretend to enjoy the sex?!”

My mouth parted in shock.

“Well I’m just a man and I have needs, okay?!” He spat.

“Complain”, I said quietly. “All you do is fucking complain!”

“You complain about my body. You don't appreciate whatever I effort I make to please you”, I said, heart pounding as I remembered how he dismissed all my efforts.

“And you dare to rant about sex when sex with you has been terrible!” I yelled.

Declan's expression morphed into fury. “What did you just say?”

Usually I would recoil. But I was too far gone to care.

“It's so easy for you to put all the blame on me. You're not the only one who is unsatisfied, I have needs too Declan!”

The muscles on his neck and shoulders stretched taut.

“Maybe I should follow your footsteps and find someone whom I don't have to fake an orgasm with!”

The next moment, my body swerved to the side. I grabbed the bed for support, vision blurring.

I gasped as the side of my temple and cheek throbbed with pain. I turned slowly to Declan, the realisation of what he just did dawning on me.

Alarm bells rang in my head at the furious expression on his face.

“So you want to cheat on me, huh?” Declan asked lowly, crowding my space.

I tried to move, but there was nowhere to hide. My body shook.

I whimpered when he grabbed my chin in a crushing grip.

“Declan…”

“How dare you even contemplate it?” He asked, reddened eyes staring into mine.

“So you're the only one who can cheat?” I asked, hurt and anger taking over my fear once more.

His grip tightened, nose flaring.

“Listen to me, Juliet. If you ever dare to offer what is mine to another man…” he paused.

I braced myself for his threat.

“I will fucking ruin you”, he added.

Declan was completely unrecognisable. At that moment, I could not see the man I had fallen in love with. The man I had made vows with.

Like a movie, every terrible thing he had done, the hurtful words he had said played through my head.

And then him hitting me.

My body weakened as I turned slack underneath him. All I could do was let the tears fall.

“Fuck you Declan”, I said lowly.

Declan took in a sharp breath. And then he suddenly let me go.

Unable to hold myself up, I dropped down, grabbing the headboard for support. I heard him climb off the bed, footsteps loud as he stormed away.

The door slammed shut and everything inside me broke.

I began to cry out, as I thought back to the moment I first met Declan. I was in my second year at the University, attending a party with my parents.

I had been feeling nervous and out of place, and he had approached me, grounded and confident. I remembered him making me feel better and at ease.

Things took off so fast and before I knew it, I was madly in love. Just after my graduation, he proposed and we got married.

As I kept thinking of me and Declan, I realised there was no specific moment where things switched or changed.

Declan had always been a controlling partner who complained a lot. It had started from small, forgivable things. And I continued to give in.

Maybe it was my fault it got to this point.

I held on to myself as I continued to cry until my tears dried up.

At some point, bone deep exhaustion settled within me. Yet my eyes remained open all night.

Next morning …

I pulled the door of the bedroom open, to meet Mrs. Turner waiting outside. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

“What?” I asked dully.

“Mrs. Cooper is downstairs. She arrived thirty minutes ago”, she said, schooling her expression.

My dull headache intensified at the thought of dealing with Declan's mother. I was in no mood to tolerate her shit. In fact, I was in no mood for anything.

I felt so numb yet exhausted.

“Entertain her”. I shut the door on her face.

I stopped walking when I noticed my reflection on the mirror.

My head was a mess of tangled curly hair. My eyes were swollen, with a huge bruise at the side of my eye. No wonder it kept aching.

I kept looking at my reflection unable to reconcile the miserable woman in front of me with the person I was once. Sure, I had always been conscious of myself and reserved, but even with all my doubts, I used to be happy.

I couldn't remember the last time I smiled genuinely.

After dragging myself through a shower and putting on whatever I could lay my hands on, I pulled myself downstairs.

“And she finally decides to grace me with her presence”.

I couldn't be bothered at her condensing voice.

“What happened to you?” She asked, staring at me with a frown.

Looking at her, I could not help but think about how alike she and Declan looked. Same blue eyes, and features. It was irritating.

“Your son”, I answered, turning away from her.

She gasped behind me. “You mean Declan hit you?”

I ignored her, making my way to the kitchen.

“But why?” She sounded confused. “I’m sure you provoked him. Declan will never raise his hand without a reason”.

I paused.

The anger and frustration that had settled before, returned with full force.

I slowly turned to my mother in law.