Chapter 78 – Breaking Point

Chapter 78 – Breaking Point
Trigger Warning Some scenes in this chapter can be triggering to those sensitive to domestic abuse. 

Kori’s lungs burned under the weight crushing her chest. Matt’s palm ground down against her mouth, smothering her voice, forcing silence where her screams begged to rip free. His face hovered above hers, twisted in rage, spit flying with every word he hissed.

“You think you can fight me?” His eyes were wild, unhinged. “You think you can escape me? No, Kori. You’ll always be mine. Even if I have to break you to prove it.”

His words sliced through her terror, igniting something inside her that had been buried too long—anger, sharp and hot, cutting through the fear choking her.

Her fingers curled into claws. She raked her nails down the length of his arms, leaving jagged lines in his flesh. He flinched but didn’t let go, only growled low in his throat like a wounded animal.

She refused to stop. Her legs kicked, thrashing against the bed, fighting to unseat his weight. When that wasn’t enough, she tilted her head just enough to catch the edge of his palm between her teeth.

And bit down. Hard.

Matt roared, jerking back in shock, the copper tang of his blood flooding her mouth as his hand tore away from her face. Air rushed into her lungs in a painful gasp, and she used it to scream—raw, ragged, and furious.

“GET OFF OF ME!”

Her fists pounded against his chest, her nails tearing at his skin, every ounce of fight she had left bursting free.

Matt reeled from her ferocity, eyes flashing between disbelief and rage. For the first time, he seemed to falter, as if the woman beneath him wasn’t the broken wife he had abandoned but someone new—someone dangerous.

And Kori wasn’t about to stop.

Kori’s nails found his face this time. She dragged them down hard, leaving four red lines slashing across his cheek. Matt bellowed, his hand flying up to clutch the bleeding scratches. She didn’t stop to think—her knee jerked upward, slamming into his side with everything she had.

The sound that tore from him was part snarl, part wounded growl, and for a heartbeat, she thought she had done enough.

But then his rage snapped like a whip.

“BITCH!” he roared, and his fist came down before she could even raise her arms to block it.

Pain exploded across her face, white-hot and blinding. Her head snapped to the side, the copper taste of blood flooding her mouth. Stars burst behind her eyes, her body reeling from the impact as her cheek burned like fire.

She gasped, choking on sobs, but the strike had stunned her too much to move.

Matt froze above her, his chest heaving. His bloodied cheek, her blood on his knuckles—it all seemed to catch up to him in the silence that followed.

“Kori…” His voice cracked, uncertain, horrified. His eyes darted from her split lip to the bruising already forming along her jaw. His hand trembled where it hovered above her, not quite reaching. “I didn’t—God, look what you made me do.”

The apology was there, hidden in his tone, but drowned under the accusation. His face twisted, shame and fury warring as his voice grew harder.

“You pushed me to this. Always fighting, always defying me. I told you what would happen.”

Kori’s vision blurred with tears, but through the pain, through the ringing in her ears, one thought burned bright—this man would never own her again.

Matt’s chest rose and fell in jagged rhythm, his eyes wild as he hovered over her. The fury in his face smoothed into something almost calm—dangerously calm.

“It’s time to stop fighting,” he said, his voice low, measured, but carrying that edge of obsession that sent shivers down her spine. “Get Megan. We’re leaving. We’re going to be a family again. Like we were supposed to be.”

His lips twisted into a mockery of a smile, and he added, “Hell, bring the King’s bratty little nephew too. I’ll help you keep him safe.” The feral gleam in his eyes betrayed every word. There was no safety in him—only madness.

Kori stared back at him, unflinching despite the ache screaming through her body. She knew lies when she heard them.

“No,” she whispered, her voice raw but steady. Then louder, stronger, cutting the air like a blade: “Jared is better than you in every way. And I would rather die than go anywhere with you.”

Something broke in Matt then. His face twisted into a mask of rage, the beast inside of him clawing its way to the surface. His lips peeled back from his teeth in a snarl, hot breath rushing over her face.

“So be it.”

The words came out guttural, primal. And then—his fingers shifted before her eyes, nails lengthening into sharp, gleaming claws. He drove his hand down, piercing into her abdomen.

The pain was instant, brutal. White-hot agony seared through her, stealing her breath, tearing a strangled cry from her lips. Warmth spilled across her skin as blood gushed around his embedded claws. Her body bucked beneath him, but his weight kept her pinned as if she were nothing more than a broken doll.

Her vision blurred at the edges. The room spun.

Matt leaned close, his voice a dark hiss against her ear as her strength slipped away. “I’ll kill the boy,” he swore, almost lovingly. “And Megan… Megan will come back with me. She’ll be mine again. My little girl. And the King’s future bride, as promised.”

The last thing Kori saw before the darkness swallowed her was the savage grin spreading across his face, blood—her blood—dripping down his hand.

Then everything went black.