My Perfect Marriage

Chapter26

Sophia storms out when she can't find anything else to lay to ruin and heads for his study needing more. Swiping the desk clean so his computer, desk organizers, and books fly in a crashing crescendo in every direction and make a harmonious noise. The breaking of things mirrors the breaking of her.

She repeats the same hysterical motion of emptying every drawer and cabinet she can. She's lost her marbles, and yet she doesn't care. She's lost inside a whirlwind of her own making, wreaking destruction in her path and finding the energy that surpasses logic.

"Sophia, stop it." Leon's voice comes at her from the doorway, yet she blanks his presence. He must have followed her, although now he's wearing his clothes, and somehow it only makes her worse. Laughing like a crazy person through her wash of tears at seeing his shirt and jacket. That he took the time to go back into that house with Celine and retrieve his things after their dirty deed so that he could chase his wife.

"Get out, get out!!" Sophia screams at him, stalking towards the doorway and shoving him out of her way with all the strength she possesses, which actually moves him. She heads into the main room, swerving her chaotic pile, and starts swiping down every picture of them she can find on the walls and bookcases and throwing them against the opposing surfaces. Smashing debris and flying shards litter the floor, yet it's not enough. She wants to hurt him, m**m him, take out her anger on all evidence he was ever a part of her life, for being so stupid ever to hold on and give her heart to him.

Sophia reaches for the bridal picture of their wedding day over the mantel. A mocking image put here by her mother that she has always hated to look at for all its fakery and emptiness. The picture-perfect smiling couple in love on the most important day of their lives.

Struggling to reach it, Sophia stands on her tiptoes and extends her arm, but Leon intercepts her from behind, securing her wrists together and restraining her while her arms are raised. He clasps her hands with one of his and encircles her waist with the other, lifting her up and drawing her away from the large, framed artwork.

"Relax, please relax. Sophia, please stop," he whispers into her ear with a tone filled with regret and concern. As she squirms and resists, he only tightens his grip, pulling her into a firm embrace. He crosses her arms over her chest and holds her still, using his strength to keep her under control.

"Release me, release me. I despise you. I absolutely despise you," she cries out through her tears, frantic and desperate. She continues to resist him, but it's pointless. He's larger and stronger than her, and her energy, though not completely depleted, is waning as the exhaustion of her body becomes apparent through her anger. Physically, she's completely drained.

"What on earth is happening here?" Her mother's voice pierces the room with a sharp accusation from the open bedroom door. The commotion must have drawn her from downstairs. She stares at the chaos around them, her gaze icy and directed at Sophia.

"Nothing, Mom. Please just give us some space. I can handle this," Leon pleads with her for privacy, but Sophia thrashes and kicks, aiming for his knees while suspended in his grip. She detests his touch, his proximity. She detests him and the fact that he's restraining her.

"How can this be nothing? What the hell?" Johnny appears behind her, his voice soothing Sophia slightly as embarrassment washes over her at the sight of him witnessing her state. Johnny has always relied on her, expecting her to be his stable older sister, and now he's seeing her at her worst. She's mortified and momentarily pacified by his sudden presence, turning her face away so he doesn't see her disheveled appearance.

"Leave. Don't see her like this. Get out. We can sort this out without you two here, please. Give her time to calm down and clean herself up," Leon turns them so Sophia is facing away from Johnny, understanding her well enough to guess at her sudden silence, and her resistance fades. Seeing the confusion and fear on Johnny's face, the shock that she, of all people, would react this way, his steady, cool older sister who keeps his world stable.

"What did you do to her? What have you done? She's covered in cuts and blood. If you've hit her......." Johnny's accusatory tone cuts Sophia to the core, his anger and hatred growing by the second, and she breaks down and starts to sob once more. Leon's tightening embrace is almost suffocating, yet he doesn't let go.

"It's not like that. She did this to herself. I would never hit her or hurt her in that way," Leon's body is trembling too, with adrenaline, with who knows what. Sophia despises him so much at this moment that his mere presence and touch are stoking her inner rage, her nausea, and her inability to calm down.

"Release her, right now. Leon...NOW!" Her mother orders him, and after a moment of hesitation, he slowly sets Sophia on her feet and loosens his grip slightly. Sophia doesn't wait for him to fully release her and breaks free from his arms, turning on him and start pounding his chest with her fists. But she has no more energy or strength, and her attempts are feeble and choked with tears, and she ends up collapsing in a pitiful heap, sobbing uncontrollably. Her brief assault doesn't move him an inch.

Leon takes it without reacting. He stands there and braces himself while Sophia hits him, but it doesn't help her. She doesn't feel any better, she doesn't despise him any less, and she's still just as shattered.

"Is someone going to explain what the hell is going on? What this mess is? What exactly has happened?" Her mother's cold and biting tone brings some sense back into the chaos. Her stern, no-nonsense attitude comes out in full force, and Sophia flinches and withdraws into herself. Closing her eyes as the words fall out weakly against her better judgment.

"Leon's having an affair." The words hang in the chaos around them, producing a heavy silence so intense Sophia can hear the birds chirping in the distance. A moment of pause as they digest her words, Leon hangs his head and stays still.

"You bastard. You absolute bastard." Johnny's voice snaps Sophia out of her trance, and she looks up just in time to save her.