Chapter 46 Letting Her Go Is Not An Option
"Do you know how long it takes to renovate a house? It takes on average eight months," Lilac said, turning back into the bedroom to find Eric seated on the bed. This house was odd. There is no way she would have shared her taste with Eric.
"I built it from scratch," Eric answered.
"It would have taken a few years then to achieve this design. You built this place long before we marriwd or after? You make it sound as though you were planning to bring me here," Lilac said and Eric smiled.
"Do you like it? This is the work of Sergei. His touch on Asian architecture and design are second to none. It's your house Lilac," Eric said.
"Why?" Lilac asked.
"Why what?"
"Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?" She asked and Eric frowned.
She suddenly had a thought. Eric had no intention of letting her go. Was he only satisfied after she had died? Was her offense of marrying him that great? Wasn't this just a very nice prison? After getting a second chance, would she still have to die again?
Eric could see she was thinking out of context and suddenly felt irritated.
"You should freshen up. Breakfast will be ready soon," Eric said before leaving quickly.
Lilac looked around the room, feeling suffocated. The sun was starting to rise and the light starting to flood the room. Lilac recalled the scenes back at Madam Lee, the body Eric said was in the car, everything from yesterday and even recalled laying in bed with Eric that morning and suddenly felt dirty.
She stripped and took a long shower. But no matter how long she scrubbed, she did not feel clean. She lathered the sponge and scrubbed madly, tearing skin.
But even though she could feel the pain of the constant scrub, it was not enough. She had just picked up the sponge again, when the glass for to the shower opened and Eric picked her off the tile with one arm and carried her out of the bathroom.
"What the hell, Eric?" Lilac shouted as Eric placed her back on the floor and wrapped a towel around her before throwing her onto the bed.
"Will you only stop when you have peeled your skin off?" Eric asked.
"Why would you walk in when I am in the shower?" Lilac all but shouted, trying to get off the bed, but Eric pinned her down.
"Anyone would be concerned if someone showered for two hours!" Eric scolded. It was at this moment that Lilac realized Eric was waiting for her to come out of the bathroom all these while.
Eric could not put his anger into words. He had waited an hour before checking on Lilac, but realized she was still in the shower. After waiting another fourth five minutes, he had walked into the bathroom.
The sight of Lilac scrubbing away madly, not even registering that he had walked in made Eric pause.
As he stood there, Eric felt his anger rise. Unable to take it anymore, he forcefully carried her out.
Now pinning Lilac down, his anger only got worse. Seeing Lilac struggle did not help Eric calm down.
"Why are you scrubbing off your skin? What exactly do you find so dirty that you want to scrub off that badly? Me?" Eric asked, restraining Lilac's arm above her head.
"What? You think you are clean? Are you living in some delusion?" Lilac sneered at him.
Eric' sanity slipped slightly at her words.
"Do you really think I won't deal with you, Lilac? Is that why your tongue is so sharp?" Eric asked, gripping to Lilac's jaw. Their relationship had degraded to this point. Yet there was no way to salvage it. Eric felt his irritation bubbling to the surface.
Staring at Lilac's lips only triggered him. He pulled away the towel, exposing Lilac's body which had been scrubbed raw.
"You think I am dirty?" Eric sneered. He felt he urge to punish her. He easily flipped Lilac around and in one swift motion he spanked her behind.
Lilac could not believe she had been spanked until Eric spanked her again. Humiliation tore though every cell in her body.
"You will be scrubbing again, then?" Eric asked as he spanked her again.
"Are you crazy? Let me go!" Lilac thrashed wildly, trying to escape, but Eric was stronger.
"I won't stop till I get an answer. Will you be scrubbing again?" Eric asked.
"No! Alright. Let go!" Lilac gave up. Only then did Eric spin her back around. Lilac was out of breath. The sight of her this vulnerable made Eric soften slightly. He got off her and walked over to the cabinet.
He easily took out a first aid box a mnd returned to the bed where Lilac laid limp. Lilac could not believe what had just happened. Tears stung her eyes. She may have doubted this before, but he was sure now. Eric was crazy.
It was hard to fight a crazy person or argue with one. Lilac felt that Eric's unpredictable nature made him more dangerous as the days passed. She was not sure what Eric would do to her if she offends him.
She had thought that after Eric got what he wanted, he would let her go, but things had changed. A house built years before she had brought up divorce or built when they had married by a mad man. She felt overwhelmed as tears streamed down her face. She needed to escape. But how?
Eric was not sure what Lilac was thinking about. He opened the first aid box and got out some cooling ointment, the started applying them around Lilac's red skin. Lilac had quickly covered up but he tried to stop her.
"Please! Please stop!" She begged. The sound her of her begging finally priced Eric's mind and he froze. His eyes finally took in how devastated she was. Tears pooled under her eyes as she begged. He was the villain.
Eric let go and stepped back almost as though escaping.
"I..." He begun to say, but found no words. Lilac gathered the towel to cover her body and crawled all the way to the headboard to escape him.
"I am sorry," he said.
"How long do you intend to keep me here?" Lilac asked.
Eric opened his mouth and closed it a few times. He had no answer. Amongst his many plans, letting her go had become one fo the many options since he had gotten what was in that safe and was only half way to gaining control of her actual inheritance. But for some reason, those options seemed to irritate him. Let her go? He really could not answer. He was not sure what he wanted from her.
"I will have them heat up the meal. Come down when you are done," He said and briskly walked out as though escaping.