1 It hurts...

She tightly held her dress till it formed creases, her hands were shaking and fear was evident in her eyes as she saw a luxurious car pull up in front of the mansion. A tall figure stepped out of the car and came inside the house. She moved away from the window and tried to calm herself down.

"It's okay, calm down." She said and took a deep breath. She stood beside the bed, her hands beside her. She stiffened as the door opened and the man came in, he locked the door.

" w-welcome home Asher," she stammered and stared at the floor, rubbing her palms against her shirt and tightly holding it again.

Asher didn't acknowledge her, he dropped his suitcase on the couch, and his jacket followed suit. He loosened his tie and dropped it on the couch as well, and walked toward her. He stopped when he was in front of her, he folded his hands around his chest and called her name.

"Mia.." He drawled.

Mia didn't answer as she kept staring at the floor.

"You look at me when I'm talking to you." He said coldly and she looked up to meet his cold eyes that held in so much anger.

"What were the rules I gave you on your first night in this house?" He asked her in a relaxed tone but Mia knew well the way he was talking was like the calm before the storm.

"Why the questions, I don't see...."

"I ask, you answer. When I ask you a question, I expect an answer and not another question." He cut in between her words.

She trembled and answered his question, her voice trembling. "On my first night here, you gave me a few rules."

"Number one?" He cut her words short again.

"The public must not know about the fact that we're married."

"Two?"

"I should never call you."

"The remaining?"

"I shouldn't get involved in any scandals, I shouldn't seduce you, I shouldn't touch you." She stated quickly, her eyes starting to wander.

"What's the last rule?" He asked as he held her face to make her look at him, which she did.

She became more afraid of him as she stared into his eyes. "That-that I shouldn't make any findings about your girlfriend."

He gave her a devilish smirk and his face turned instantly cold back "Since you already know this, why did you go to Alyssa and push her down the stairs."

Her eyes widened as it seemed like Asher didn't understand what happened " I didn't do it, I swear...."

"Shut up!" He yelled and she whimpered and took two steps back.

"Why are you walking away?" He asked and took two steps forward as well, and Mia took two more steps back. This continued till Mia could feel her back against the wall, Asher smiled in satisfaction.

"Asher, I didn't do anything to her, trust me." she didn't know what to say as he thought she had pushed his girlfriend down the stairs.

"I don't trust you," he said, inching his face closer to hers.

"Why do you hate me so much?, what do you hate about me?, what have I ever done?" he asked with teary eyes.

"You want to know what I hate about you? your face, your eyes, your voice, everything." he declared, his hot breath fanning her face.

Mia's voice broke as she talked, blinking repeatedly to hold back her tears, she stammered "B-But I haven't done anything, I don't remember ever doing anything to you. I ...."

She gasped as he roughly held her hands, he used his hands to hold her wrists as he pinned them against the wall.

"You've decided to not listen to me, so I'll also do as I wish."

"I didn't push her down the stairs, you're misunderstanding..." she couldn't complete her sentence because he had sealed her lips and was kissing her roughly.

Asher started to fumble with her cloth as his hand made way through her dress and he squeezed her breast hard. She whimpered against his lips as she was in pain. He proceeded to kiss her neck and grazed her skin with his teeth. He unzipped her dress from the back and it dropped to the ground.

"Asher stop," she said in a whisper but it was clear enough for him to hear. He yanked her hand and pulled her to the bed and laid on top of her and he continued.

"Asher please stop," she begged again, tears slowly coming out of her eyes. He breathed heavily and ripped off the remaining piece of clothing on her which was her underwear.

"It hurts... Please," her voice was hoarse and more tears came out of her eyes.

He didn't listen but started kissing her again, pinning her hands above her head as he used his other hand to separate her thighs. He didn't wait and he thrust forcefully inside her, that was when he realized that it was her first time. He felt bad but his ego and all didn't let him back down as he continued stretching her insides, knowing she was in deep pain by the taste of salty tears which fell from her eyes and he could taste in his mouth due to the vigorous kissing act. He thrust harder and harder, and she cried and whimpered in pain

*****

Asher stood up from the bed, he looked to the side and saw Mia curled up under the sheets, her eyes were tightly shut and more than half of her head was covered with the blanket, he went to the bathroom. He came out a few minutes later after freshening up and he saw that Mia was still in the same position he had left her. He walked towards the door and opened it, he was about to step out but he stopped in his tracks.

"Mia I... I ...I ..." he repeated, not knowing what to say. He clenched his hands and left the room, slamming the door.

Mia remained on the bed for a few more minutes before standing up, feeling sharp pains in her stomach, thighs, and down there. She walked naked to the walk-in closet, (even though her movement was more like limping) and took a big towel to wrap around her body. She sniffed and wiped the tears on her face with the back of her hands as she went back to the room. She bent down to pick up her clothes that were scattered on the floor. She removed the bedsheet and changed it as well because it was stained with blood.

She returned to the walk-in closet that lead to the bathroom. She stopped in front of the full-length mirror and looked at her reflection. She had lost some weight, making her look paler. There were bruises and hickeys on her body... one could not fail to notice her swollen lips and she raised her trembling hands to trace them with her fingers and more tears dropped from her eyes.

She wiped her tears as she murmured to herself. "Don't cry, stop crying," she said as she sniffed. She brought her hands to her sides and took in a deep breath while still looking at herself in the mirror. She limped to the bathroom and proceeded to take a hot bath.

When she was done and had changed into clean clothes, she returned to the bedroom and picked up her phone from the dressing table. She saw that she had several missed calls and she called the person back.

"Hi Jane," she said in a tired tone after Jane picked up the call.

"Where did you put your phone? I've been calling you for hours. I even left voicemails." Jane said in a worried tone.

"I guess I didn't see them and my phone was on silent mode so I didn't hear."

"Are you okay? Did Asher do anything? he looked like he was really angry."

"I'm fine, he wasn't that upset so we're good. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Jane asked, suspicious of Mia's answer.

"Yes, I have to go to sleep now, it's past midnight. I'll talk to you in the morning." Mia said, wanting to end the discussion.

"Sorry, I didn't check the time. I'm glad you're fine now so I'll hang up, good night." Jane said and hung up the phone.

"Good night," Mia replied and she put the phone back on the dressing table. She went to sit on the bed, she winced in pain as she felt sore everywhere.

>>>

Asher left the bedroom to go to the mini bar not far from the living room. He took out a bottle of alcohol and started drinking. He walked around the living room, drinking directly from the bottle while his head was racing with many thoughts.

'I shouldn't have done that... No, she needs to learn not to disobey me.' He paced around the living room, his breathing getting heavier, frustrated by the numerous thoughts in his head and he threw the bottle of alcohol away, letting it crash on the floor.

He grabbed and pulled his hair "Arrrgh..." he groaned.

Mia heard the sound of glass shattering as soon as she opened the door to go out of the bedroom and she ran downstairs to see Asher pulling his hair while breathing heavily. She rushed to him in a panic.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" She asked while holding one of his hands, worried.

He removed his other hand from his hair and glared at her, anger flashing through his eyes. He jerked her hand away, pushing her to fall in the process. Mia fell and suffered cuts and more bruises due to the broken glass on the floor and she scrunched her face in pain.

"I thought I told you to stay away from me!!" He yelled, not helping her up.