Chapter 5

5

The oppressive atmosphere of my home had taken on a new, sinister edge. My husband's suspicion had festered like an untreated wound, and the once-faint whispers of doubt had grown into a loud, insistent cacophony. The tension between us was palpable, and the shadows in the corners of the house seemed to loom with a darker significance.

It began one evening when he stormed into my room, his face twisted with anger and distrust. He had grown suspicious of my frequent absences and the pallor that had settled on my face from his frequent misuses of me, signs that he twisted into evidence of infidelity. The accusations began with harsh words and escalating threats, and I found myself caught in a maelstrom of his rage .

He was relentless, his eyes blazing with a fury that left no room for reason. "You think you can deceive me?" he roared, grabbing me by the arm and shaking me violently. "I know what you've been up to. You're hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is!"

I struggled against his grip, my heart pounding with fear and a growing hatred. "I'm not—" I began, but he cut me off with a furious glare.

"Lies!" he spat. "If you have nothing to hide, then you won't mind if I search every corner of this house."

He began tearing through the room with a wild, frenzied energy that bordered demonic possession, throwing my possessions aside as if they were worthless—mirroring how he felt about me. Books and trinkets flew through the air, crashing to the floor and scattering their contents. The once orderly space was quickly reduced to upheaval, a physical manifestation of his inner turmoil.

I never thought he cared this much about me, especially after seeing me as little more than an empty shell for so long. It was as if he was trying to free me from my own confines, even as he destroyed everything I had held dear. The contrast was jarring; this raw emotion felt foreign, and I struggled to reconcile it with the apathy I had grown accustomed to. How could he unleash this tempest now, after years of indifference?

"Where is it?" he demanded, his voice a growl of frustration. "Where is the proof of your betrayal?"

I stood in the corner, paralyzed by fear and helplessness, as he continued his rampage. Each broken item, each disheveled piece of clothing, was a reminder of how deeply he sought to destroy me. The house, which had once felt like a prison, was now a battleground of suspicion and rage.

His search grew increasingly frantic, and I could see the desperation in his darkened eyes. It was not merely about finding evidence; it was about breaking me completely. He was determined to reduce me to nothing, to make me suffer until I could no longer stand.

As he tore through my belongings, his anger seemed to reach a new intensity as he overturned furniture. The once-cherished possessions of my life were now scattered and trampled underfoot, each item a casualty of his wrath.

In the midst of his temporary insanity, he stumbled upon a small wooden box that had been tucked away in a hidden compartment of my wardrobe. His eyes narrowed with suspicion as he opened it, revealing a delicate pendant lying nestled within. It was an intricate piece of craftsmanship, a symbol that I had come to associate with Noboru's presence in my life.

My husband's eyes widened. He picked up the pendant, his fingers tracing its delicate design with a mixture of curiosity and malevolence.

"What is this?" he demanded, holding it up with a triumphant sneer. "What have you been hiding from me?"

A cold dread seeped through my veins as the significance of the pendant became clear. It was a hidden relic, a token of a moment when I had teetered on the edge of despair and had been pulled back from the brink of wishing for death. After our first union, Noboru had fashioned the pendant out of nothingness, his divine powers shaping its intricate design with a precision that spoke of both his skill and his care.

The vivid memory surfaced, pulling me back to a time when the world seemed far away, yet fraught with its own complexities.

I stood in the quiet solitude of the forest, where moonlight filtered through the trees, casting a serene glow around us. Noboru, now fully redressed in his armor, stood beside me, his eyes reflecting both the moonlight and a deep, reassuring warmth.

My cheeks flamed over what transpired between us out in the open as his eyes grew heated with desire. He ran a finger down my cheek.

"I have something for you, Matsui."

I clasped my hands in front of my chest, unsure of what I should be feeling.

He held the pendant delicately in his hands, the craftsmanship evident in every curve and line. With a soft smile, he placed it around my neck, his touch gentle and deliberate.

"This pendant," he said, his voice like a soothing balm against the chill of the night, "is not just a token of our bond. It is imbued with a fragment of my divinity. Whenever you feel lost or in need, it will call to me. Just hold it close and let its presence guide you."

I looked up at him, uncertainty clouding my gaze. This would create a new complication, but I couldn't bear to reject his gift. "But what if I'm afraid, or if the darkness feels too overwhelming? "

Noboru cupped my face with his hands, his touch warm and grounding. "Then let the pendant be your beacon. When you need me, it will find its way to me, and I will come to you. You are never truly alone, Matsui. Let me be your warrior."

His words were a promise etched into my heart, and the pendant itself had become a symbol of that assurance. Weighing it in my hands, its significance was clear. It was not just a beautiful artifact but a lifeline—a connection between us that transcended the barriers of our worlds.

And now it stood as evidence of my betrayal.

"That is nothing," I said desperately, trying to reach for the pendant, but my husband held it out of my grasp. "It's just a trinket I bought at the market."

He laughed bitterly, his eyes filled with a mix of rage and triumph. "A trinket? Then why did you hide it so carefully? Why does it mean so much to you?"

The realization that the pendant, which had once been a symbol of solace, because of my husband was now a source of more pain made me feel even more helpless. The object that had once provided me with a sense of comfort and connection was now twisted into another weapon against me.

He continued to scrutinize the pendant, his anger shifting into a deeper, more malicious intent. "You think you can play games with me?" he said, his voice low and dangerous. "You will pay for your deceit. I will make sure you suffer for every lie you have told."

The night stretched on with the echoes of his fury reverberating through the house. The servants were scarce, their whimpers could be heard through the thin walls. He showed no mercy as he continued to ransack my belongings, each broken item a testament to his relentless search for further evidence of my betrayal because a simple pendant wasn't enough to hang me with.

I felt like a marionette trapped in a cruel performance, my strings pulled by forces beyond my control. His wrath seemed to have no bounds, and I was left to endure the consequences of his fury.

I had no pleas for mercy, not when I was half dead, kept on a lifeline solely through my yearning for Noboru and his gentle touches.

As the night dragged on, the destruction of my home—and of my spirit—was total. My possessions were reduced to debris, scattered, and crushed underfoot. The house had become a battleground, a testament to the violence that had consumed it.

I felt a numbing cold seep into me, a void where emotions once resided. His anger and the wreckage of my life were so overwhelming that I was left in a state of detached despair.

"Do you think you are entitled to mercy?" he sneered, his fury causing spittle to fly from his mouth. His words barely registered in my foggy, numb consciousness. The pain and destruction had rendered me almost impervious to his threats, leaving me adrift in a sea of emotional numbness.

When I offered no response after more venom thrown my way, he grabbed my hair, dragging me across the floor. The bite of pain at my scalp threatened to bring me back to reality, making me grimace. But I pushed the pain away, the way I always did, suffering in silence.

"If I find out any of you were in on this, you will all be destroyed with her," he growled to the servants outside their door as he tossed me onto the bedding in his room without sliding the door shut.

His harsh hands tore at my clothing, leaving trails of welts along his makeshift claws as he forced me onto my knees, pushing the back of my neck against the floor.

"You are worth nothing but the quick reprieve you give my cock," he growled behind my ear while I began to dissociate. "Your worthless womb bears me no children…"

His voice faded into the background, growing distant and muffled as my mind wandered back to a different place, a distant memory of the forest and the overlook. In my recollection, the stars were vivid, hanging high in the velvety night sky. They sparkled with an almost ethereal quality, their light shimmering like tiny promises whispered in the darkness, as if they were guardians of my most intimate secrets.

The serenity of that night had filled me with false hope as wings as red as blood wrapped themselves around me from behind blocking the cool, gentle breeze of the forest. The rustle of leaves added to the serenity of the moment with words left unspoken. The overlook, where I had stood on the edge of everything, seemed a world away from the destruction and pain of my current reality.

In that tranquil space, I had felt a fleeting sense of peace and hope, a whisper of something greater that offered a brief escape from the tumult of my life. The stars had felt like silent witnesses, their twinkling light offering solace and understanding in a way that words never could. As I mentally revisited that moment, where Noboru's armor pressed against my back, the memory became a soothing balm to the raw wounds inflicted by the harshness of the present.

When dawn finally arrived, it brought no relief. The damage was done, my husband's actions had left me not only physically battered but emotionally and spiritually decimated. I was left to face the wreckage of my existence, with the haunting knowledge that my selfishness led to this.

An empty sensation settled in my chest, vast and gaping like a profound void. The nightmare of my life seemed to have reached a new and devastating climax, and I was left to confront the harsh reality alone without a warrior of the heavens by my side.