“My mess? You’re still the same piece of shit.” I stomp my foot against the concrete floor and throw my arms in the air. “When will you stop treating me like I’m incapable of making decisions? I’m not stupid, Jason. I’m suicidal and depressed. You can be as disappointed in me as you want but don’t you fucking dare try to control me again.”
“I’m not trying to control you, Aoi. I only want to protect you,” he says, reaching for me but I slap his hand away.
“Lie after lie. You can’t stop yourself, can you? It’s exhausting to hear you lie constantly just to manipulate me. I’m not your pretty little doll. I’m a grown man who knew exactly what he was doing when he got into that fucking lake.”
Yes, I admit it was a mistake, but there’s no way in hell I’m telling him that. I’m gonna be as petty as I fucking want to since he’s never truthful with me either.
“Enough with the tantrums,” he snaps and I almost flinch. “You’re unfit to make decisions in your current state, so be quiet and let me handle this.”
“You keep saying that but what the hell are you talking about? What is there to handle? Why are we in this weird place and why do you keep acting like that?” I question. “I want to go home. I want to see the girls and apologize to them. Bring me to them now. I want to leave. Why aren’t you answering me?” I shove him again until his back hits the wall. “Answer me!”
My head spins to the side as his palm collides with my cheek and I stumble back. The stinging of my assaulted skin doesn’t even come close to the shock of having been slapped byhim.
I blink, astonished, and cover my aching cheek with my hand. He reaches for me, lips parting to utter an apology I doubt he even means.
I step back. Away from him.
“Aoi,” he murmurs and grabs my shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I lost my composure. It won’t happen again.”
When a man you know hits you, you think it may have been merely on impulse, that it stems from anger he couldn’t control. You hope it wasn’t actually directed at you and that he was only externalizing his feelings.
But you’re not that dumb.
I certainly am not.
A man hits you once, and that’s when you pack your shit and get the fuck out as soon as you can because it means you’ve ignored every red flag that led to this moment.
One slap.
The first and the last.
“I’m done. I’m not putting up with this anymore.” I turn toward the door but before I can even take one step, I’m slammed against the wall so hard the air is punched out of my lungs.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
57
Aoi
He grabs my arm and squeezes around my freshly mutilated flesh.
It’s only when I cry out that he realizes the reason and yanks the sleeve up, his brows creasing with every passing second. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“No, why areyoudoing this? What the fuck is so wrong with you that you need to hurt yourself? Couldn’t you have let me help you? Our life together was perfect until you decided to ruin everything. No, the stupidest thing you’ve done is get into that lake.”
“Let go. I don’t want to talk about this with you.” I struggle to spin around, and stare at the faded paint on the wall.
I don’t know where I am, but I doubt he managed to drag me out of Pennsylvania so fast. I have to get out somehow. He said he owns the property, but when did he buy this place?
“Is it because of that boy? He broke your heart, so you cut yourself again? Explainthis to me.”
My head snaps back and I scowl at him. “How do you even know about him?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions, Aoi. I know everything about you.”
I scoff. “Apparently not.”
