It didn't feel right that she was standing in a bedroom as big as most people's living quarters, standing atop marble floors and under the warm glow of the chandeliers up ahead.

It didn't feel right that she was wearing a dress that could pay off a person's college tuition. It didn't feel right that she was here.

It didn't feel right that getting beaten was something that she had grown accustomed to.

It didn't feel right that she was with him. Nothing felt right.

"A fucking disappointment! Nothing but a stain on my legacy!"

Hannah swallowed hard and focused her gaze on the floor. She hated her reflection. She didn't recognize that person.

"Did you see those other women, Hannah?"

She knew what was coming next, the comparison.

"Did you see how amazing they looked? How perfectly their bodies fit in the dresses?"

When she did not respond he shoved her and she almost lost her balance.

"Answer me!"

"I saw them" she responded quietly.

"Did you see how you could not compare? See how your ugly self did not even stand a chance next to them?"

"Yes" she replied as her lower lip quivered.

"Ugly thing" he spat.

Her husband was quick to compliment the beauty of other women and even compare her to them but never acknowledged her looks. If anyone else did he would beat her and tear whatever confidence she had in stock.

She hated it. Hated how she had grown accustomed to the situation and how sometimes, when she hit a particular low she would agree with him.

Tonight he hit her because his business partner's wife dressed better than her at a company dinner. Hannah did not understand why that infuriated him.

She didn't even want to be there but she tried to look good and even got compliments on her outfit from the woman in question.

Why wasn't anything enough? She lived in a mansion but woke up every morning feeling suffocated and desperate to escape her gorgeous prison. Theodore had broken her and she knew in time that she might be pushed to take her life.

The blow and the words that followed flooded her mind and spirit with an intense amount of pain. But the pain carried anger that was foreign to her.

Anger born from years of mistreatment. It had begun to blossom in the shadows of her broken heart and watered by the fear that she had lived in for so long. Taking in a deep breath that seemed to hurt her lungs, she pushed the hair from her face and looked up at her husband.

She struggled to fathom how he had changed so much. How did he manage to go from a man she was willing to spend forever with to a raging monster?

What changed? What did she ever do to him?

Theodore continued to rant about how she was a disappointment to him but she couldn't hear him. The world seemed to disappear and all she could think of in that moment was how badly she needed to leave this man.

Fear began to give way to resolve. She was going to leave, dead or alive but she would. She'd had enough. But first, she needed to pacify him.

"I'm sorry " she said meekly.

"You'd be nothing without me, do you know that?"

Hannah nodded. How could she forget when he had a habit of reminding her.

"I know"

"I picked you from the gutters and cleaned you up. You owe your life to me!" He inched closer, "you owe me your obedience and submission!"

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