Bleeding on the Kitchen Floor
1048 Words
Chapter 7
The next morning, I dragged my packed suitcase downstairs.
The smell of creamy mushroom soup drifted through the kitchen.
Nathaniel Hayes stood beside the stove, carefully ladling soup into a bowl while Hailey sat at the dining table wearing my silk robe, leaning lazily against the chair.
He even blew gently on the spoon before feeding her.
Like she was something precious.
When he heard my suitcase wheels rolling across the floor, Nathaniel looked up immediately.
The second he saw me, his expression shifted.
“Claire.”
He straightened quickly.
“Hailey wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I made her something light.”
The tone irritated me instantly.
Like he expected me to praise him for being considerate.
I nodded calmly.
Then kept walking toward the front door.
Only then did he realize I was actually leaving.
His brows furrowed hard.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re seriously leaving over a bowl of soup?”
He strode toward me and grabbed my suitcase handle.
“Claire Beaumont, you’re getting more unreasonable every day.”
I looked at him quietly.
Then my gaze drifted upward to his neck.
A dark red mark sat just above his collarbone.
Fresh.
Obvious.
Left there last night.
My stomach twisted violently.
I laughed softly.
“So the soup’s the only thing you were busy with?”
“Guess the mark on your neck came from kitchen steam too?”
Nathaniel’s face changed instantly.
His hand flew toward his collar.
“There were mosquitoes last night,” he said too quickly.
The excuse was pathetic.
Even he didn’t sound convinced.
But I didn’t bother exposing him.
And somehow, my silence only made him angrier.
“Enough!”
His voice exploded through the room.
“Claire, how long are you going to keep acting like this?”
“Hailey’s pregnant and emotionally unstable already. Do you seriously need to create drama every single day?”
Then he slammed my suitcase onto the floor.
Bang.
The sound made me flinch backward instinctively.
Pain suddenly tightened across my stomach.
I grabbed my belly immediately.
Nathaniel froze for a second.
Regret flickered briefly across his face.
Like, maybe he finally realized I was still carrying his child, too.
But before he could say anything, Hailey walked over holding her soup bowl.
“Nate, don’t blame Claire.”
“It’s my fault.”
She smiled sweetly at me.
“Claire, I know you’ve been upset lately.”
“Here. You should have this instead.”
Then she deliberately held the spoon toward me.
Bright lipstick stains still marked the edge.
Like some humiliating little reminder that my husband belonged to her now.
Nausea surged through me instantly.
“Get away from me.”
I knocked her hand aside.
The next second
Crash.
The bowl shattered across the floor.
Hot soup splashed everywhere.
Hailey gasped dramatically.
“Nate!”
“My hand!”
Tears flooded her eyes instantly as she lifted one finger with the tiniest red mark imaginable.
You could barely even see it.
But Nathaniel’s expression darkened immediately.
He comforted her first.
Of course, he did.
Then he turned toward me.
And for the first time in my life—
I saw real violence in his eyes.
“Claire Beaumont.”
His voice dropped terrifyingly low.
“I think I’ve spoiled you too much.”
Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist hard enough to make me cry out.
“Nathaniel, let go—”
He dragged me straight into the kitchen.
I struggled desperately, but at eight months pregnant, I couldn’t fight him off.
He shoved me against the counter.
“You really need to learn your lesson.”
Then suddenly
He grabbed my arm and forced my hand toward the still-boiling soup pot.
“No—!”
The second my skin touched the metal, agony exploded through me.
“AHHH—!”
I screamed so hard my throat tore raw.
The burn felt like my flesh was being peeled off alive.
I tried to yank away, but Nathaniel held me down viciously.
At one point, he even jammed a golf club against my shoulder to pin me harder against the counter.
“This is just a warning.”
His voice sounded inhuman.
“Touch Hailey again…”
“And next time I won’t go easy on you.”
The pain became unbearable.
Tears blurred my vision instantly.
When he finally let go, I collapsed onto the floor.
My right hand was already blistering badly.
Skin peeled white and red beneath the burns.
It looked cooked.
Ruined.
Nathaniel stood over me, breathing hard.
Cold.
Detached.
Like I wasn’t his wife.
Like I was just something that needed discipline.
My entire body shook uncontrollably.
And for the first time—
I became truly afraid of my husband.
Nathaniel stared at my face for a second.
Something unreadable flickered across his expression.
Maybe guilt.
Maybe hesitation.
He started to crouch down.
Then Hailey cried out from the dining room.
“Nate…”
“My chest hurts…”
Immediately, Nathaniel stood back up.
Immediately.
Without another glance at me.
The sudden movement caused me to fall harder against the floor again.
A sharp pain ripped violently through my abdomen.
My face turned white instantly.
Then I felt warmth spreading between my legs.
Blood.
So much blood.
Panic finally slammed into me.
“Nate…”
I reached toward him with trembling fingers.
“The baby…”
Nathaniel didn’t even turn around.
“Stop pretending.”
“Hailey needs me more right now.”
Then he picked her up and rushed out the front door.
The slam echoed through the entire mansion.
A few seconds later, I heard the engine disappear down the driveway.
And then
Just me.
Lying alone on the cold marble floor while blood spread beneath my body like a blooming red flower.
Pain swallowed everything.
Still, I forced myself to crawl.
Slowly.
Dragging my bleeding body inch by inch toward the couch where my phone had fallen.
By the time I finally reached it, my vision was fading in and out.
My hands shook so badly I almost couldn’t dial.
But eventually, the call connected.
“Please…”
My voice broke completely.
“Help me…”
“My baby…”
- Writer
