43 Too Late

TW : Domestic violence

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Melanie was currently sitting on a couch in the middle of a fairly nice home.

Derek was currently in the other room sleeping and she could not be more grateful for the moment of peace.

She hated everything about the man, from his attitude to the way he treated her, but she especially hated that she could not escape him.

As Melanie absentmindedly scrolled online, she soon saw a poll asking a very popular question.

Who was more attractive, Malachi Saint or Alex Heller?

She'd seen this debate circulating online quite a bit since Malachi first stepped into public eye.

'Although I'm certain he wouldn't care about something like this.'

Melanie's eyes became weary and sad as she pressed the button to vote for Malachi.

She was rather unsurprised to see that 85% of the voters agreed with her and her ex was winning by a landslide.

'I've always found him cute but now…'

Melanie shook her head to free herself from dangerous thoughts.

Things were over, it wouldn't do any good to go fantasizing about him now.

She scrolled a little further and saw pictures of Mal kissing an older woman.

The internet had of course done a deep dive on the woman and found that she was a small restaurant owner and a single mother.

Young girls all over the country were devastated to learn that they were not Mal's type.

'Is this my fault for calling her that night?' She wondered.

She'd only called because she didn't want Mal to lie out in the street unconscious and she knew he didn't have the money for medical fees.

The only other contact in his phone was this woman and Aisha and since she did not want the white haired war princess to stomp out her skull, she figured this woman was the safer option.

'Should I expect a wedding invitation? They are together because of me after all.' She joked with a silly grin.

"What do we have here?"

Melanie's eyes widened in horror and she quickly tried to tuck away her phone only to have it snatched away before she could.

She quickly spun around to see Derek looking through her phone with a displeased expression.

"You're fucking pathetic. Were you actually thinking about going back to this bastard?!"

Melanie knew she had to choose her words carefully.

Ever since Malachi had been blessed, Derek had been incredibly afraid and irate.

The worry that Mal would come to take revenge, accompanied by the inferiority that rose inside whenever he saw his handsome new face on tv, was more than enough to erode his sanity.

"H-He wouldn't take me back even if I got on my knees and begged after everything you said." She finally said.

"Oh? Having second thoughts are we? It was you who agreed to sleep with me for money but now you're feeling guilty?"

Melanie swallowed her regret and didn't say anything.

How could she?

While there was more to the situation than Derek had said, it's true that she had indeed betrayed Malachi.

"Y-You know I wouldn't have done that if you had given me any other choice." She had only come to him originally to ask to borrow some money since she knew he was well off.

Things were never supposed to come to this.

Her words only served to infuriate him and he grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled her close.

"You slut! You think you're too good for me?"

Tears welled up in Melanie's eyes.

Not because of the pain from having her hair pulled, but because of his words that seemed to taunt her.

She no longer believed she was good enough for anyone.

The fact of the matter was that she had sold her body like some prostitute.

The reason didn't matter, what mattered was that she felt disgusted with herself every time she looked in the mirror.

Seeing that his question wasn't being answered, Derek became even more furious and struck Melanie hard across the face and sent her tumbling backwards.

Melanie was so stunned, the pain barely registered.

Derek had been violent with her, but he'd never hit her in the face before.

She wondered just how much worse things would get when her world went dark as she hit her head on a nearby table.

Her abuser seemed unconcerned with her condition and prepared to take his belt off to give her a few good lashes.

He would ingrain respect for him into her very bones.

Or so he intended.

As soon as he raised his hand to deliver the first strike, dark mist swirled around in front of him and out of it stepped an enraged Malachi.

All he'd seen was Melanie get hit and he immediately teleported here.

He was furious with himself for being too late.

He was even more furious for not stopping Melanie earlier in the day.

'Idiot, I'm such an idiot!'

Derek continued to back away until he was against a wall.

Malachi's appearance could hardly be seen as something human.

His hands had long turned into sharp, dark claws that looked like they could cut through metal.

His eyes were glowing so brightly that his dark sunglasses no longer concealed them.

"M-Mal, look I-"

Malachi raised a single clawed hand and activated his telekinesis.

Derek's body immediately floated up and flew towards his outstretched hand.

"Gah!"

The man could do nothing but cry out in pain as Malachi's claws dug into his neck.

He attempted to struggle and even fight back but each blow he struck against Malachi's blessed body only served to injure his own fists.

"I don't know why I waisted so much time, I should've come to kill you a lot sooner." Malachi growled.

'I'll maim him.'

'I'll string him up with his own intestines.'

'I need to see the life drain from his body!'

'I'll-'

Malachi lost his train of thought when a thick metallic scent entered his nose.

He looked behind him and his eyes widened in horror when he saw a scary amount of blood pooling around Melanie's head.

"Mel!"

Malachi forgot all about his anger as he threw Derek over his shoulder and scooped up Melanie.

Her breathing was faint and she was growing even paler by the second.

He forgot all about his hatred for Derek as he once again became enveloped in black mist before he disappeared.

Derek stayed on the ground for a while as he held his neck to stop the bleeding.

Luckily Malachi's claws had just missed his carotid artery so his bleeding wasn't nearly as bad as Melanie's.

Eventually, he scrambled to his feet and ran to his bedroom.

Quickly grabbing his suitcase, he began to fill it with clothes, money and anything else of value he owned.

He had to run away.

He had to run very, very, far away.