Marriage Made In Hell

Chapter 3. Inner Conflict

“Where am I?” That was the first question on Karen's lips when she finally opened her eyes the next morning.

“How did I end up in bed? The last time I checked, I was with Dominic,” she paused to recall how things went wrong before she passed out.

Like the pages of a new note, her head is blank. She can't possibly think straight to save her life.

She felt a sharp pain around her waistline and neck region. It's as though she just rose from the dead.

Karen scanned the four corners of her spacious room as the rays of morning sun flickered inside her room.

“Why do I feel so much different now? I can't even feel my legs anymore,” The questions didn't stop coming to her head.

She wants to assume that everything happening to her is a dream and nothing more!

Quietly, she strolled to the mirror stand and examined her body. To her biggest shock, her lips are swollen already.

“How did I end up with my lips swollen?” She screamed her lungs out.

“This isn't magic! I need answers please,” she asked no one in particular.

“Karen, can you stop shouting already? You are disrupting my sleep and I don't enjoy it,” Dominic scolded Karen for causing a scene with her lousiness!

Karen felt disturbed and frightened to let Dominic get closer to her.

She faced the opposite direction, hoping that Dominic wouldn't see her swollen lips. She is gradually losing confidence in herself.

“Are you searching for something? Do you need me to get it for you?” Karen started a baseless conversation with Dominic.

Dominic wasn't even paying attention to her. All that mattered to him was lying on the bed.

He had just returned from the kitchen to get himself a glass of chilled water.

"Dominic, please wake up,” she tapped his legs. “Did you kiss me while I was asleep?”

“Don't lie to me because I'm definitely gonna find out,” Yet again, Karen lashes out at Dominic!

She never considered that Dominic might slap her face out of frustration.

Dominic finally tossed off the bed. Her yelling is messing with his head, making it difficult for him to concentrate on his sleep.

“Are you sent by my enemies to kill me?” Dominic clapped back at Karen.

Despite his level of rage, he stood and sounded calm. He is trying his best to avoid a repeat of what happened last night when he almost sent Karen to an early grave.

“You're my wife, and I'll kiss you whenever I wish to. Are we clear?” He issued the warning to Karen.

That was the last thing he said before heading to his wardrobe.

He was about to change into a decent outfit when Karen threw a pillow at him in retaliation.

“You disgust me, Dominic!” She fumed. “How did I even agree to marry you from the onset?”

There's this sudden change about Karen that got Dominic confused.

This wasn't the same lady who was begging for her life at the altar when she was caught trying to flee from her wedding.

Dominic didn't respond. He still maintained his anger. He has sworn not to lay his hands on Karen ever again.

The same thing can't be said about Karen. She was so ready to engage in a fight with Dominic.

She left the bed and walked towards Dominic, pulling his shirt. “Have you suddenly become a weakling? Hit me if you are a man,”

“Karen, get your hands off me,” He warned her.

The veins around his neck are already popping out. Karen is pushing him to the wall, forcing him to do something that may make him spend the rest of his life in jail.

“No, I won't! I dare you to hit me in the face,” Karen threatened him.

When she saw that he wasn't ready to hit her, she pushed him on the chest and ran away from the room.

She nearly bumped into one of the maids in the process of running away from Dominic.

The maids weren't surprised to see Karen run out of the room in that manner.

From the first day they saw Karen walk inside the mansion, they knew the marriage would be on the verge of collapsing.

The next morning, Karen woke up and realized that Dominic wasn't sleeping next to her.

“Where could he be?” She wondered.

She looked pretty worried. This hasn't happened before. And she can tell that it has everything to do with the fight they had the previous day.

She rushed to the living room only to find Dominic seated on the couch with a newspaper in his possession.

Karen heaved a heavy sigh and held her chest. “That was close!” She nearly had a panic attack.

She was already harbouring negative thoughts in her head.

With a calculated move, she motions to Dominic while wearing a fake smile on her face.

“Hey,” she waved at Dominic to get his attention, but it wasn't working.

More like Dominic doesn't want to have anything to do with her anymore.

“Won't you apologize for kissing my lips and making them swell?” She triggered Dominic with the annoying question.

“Coming from someone who seduced me? You're quite hilarious!” Dominic mocked Karen with wicked laughter.

“But you knew I was vulnerable at that point, Dominic! You are a big disgrace.” She blasted him without fear.

“I'm not surprised that you dropped out of school,” he continued to speak badly of Karen as though she were a total stranger.

“Then why did you marry me when you knew I dropped out of school?” Karen defended herself just to score a cheap point against Dominic.

“Let's strike a deal, Dominic,” Karen proposed.

Dominic raised his brows at her audacious request. He can't help but imagine what's running through.

“Bring it on, Karen,” Dominic accepted her offer.

“I want us to call off this marriage secretly. But it's going to be an open marriage. Our parents don't have to know about it.” Karen highlighted the conditions of her deal to Dominic.