Chapter 2: Tired
"Don't come near me," he warned and went upstairs to his study with heavy steps, Mia could hear the door shut loudly.
Mia sighed in pain and slowly stood up, she removed a few fragments of glass that were stuck in her hands and thighs. She stood up and limped back to the bedroom, her condition worse than before.
When she got to the bedroom, she searched for the first aid kit and found it in the walk-in closet. She sat on the bed and treated her wounds and applied an ointment so there wouldn't be any scars. She went to change into clean clothes, again. She laid down on the bed on her back, her hands placed her hands on her stomach and her eyes closed. Asher wasn't going to come into the room because he had decided to spend the night in his study.
*****
Mia tried but she couldn't go to work the next day and she called to inform her assistant to bring a few documents to her house, claiming that she hurt herself and that she was indisposed as well.
Her assistant, Lily noticed that Mia was acting strange when she came to give her the documents and she decided to ask her about it.
"Are you okay ma'am?" she asked Mia as they walked into the living room after Mia let her in the house.
"Are there any problems at the office?" Mia asked, ignoring Lily's question as she sat down on a chair in the dining area, Lily sitting opposite her.
"No ma'am, everything is fine. We had a bit of an issue with the shareholders as they had expected the meeting to hold today but due to the fact that you're sick and you've never postponed a meeting before, they considered and agreed to do the meeting tomorrow." Lily explained.
"How is the new bracelet design coming and when will the team be ready to show me so I can know whether to make any more adjustments or not," Mia asked as she flipped through the pages of the document in front of her, her powerful CEO aura around her.
" The designs are coming great ma'am, and the design team said it would be ready to show in four days," Lily explained.
"Hmmm" Mia nodded in satisfaction.
Silence reigned between them for a few minutes, only the sound of pages flipping could be heard. This lasted for a while before Lily decided to ask Mia about her health again.
"Have you gone to the hospital, ma'am?" Lily asked.
"I'm fine now, it's not that serious. I just feel exhausted since I've not taken a break in months, that's why I decided to take the day off." Mia responded, talking slowly, her focus fixed on the document and not looking up to meet her assistant's eyes.
'she is obviously lying...' Lily thought before she replied with a faint smile on her face.
"Okay ma'am, try to rest well before coming back to work."
"Hmmm" Mia nodded in response. They discussed work for a while longer and Lily was about to go back to work when Jane came in.
"So I'll be back tomorrow and after the meeting, we can....." Mia's words were cut short as Jane's voice echoed in the living room as she entered through the front door.
"Mia!!" she yelled as she walked towards where Mia and Lily stood. She walked faster and reached where they were standing and she shot tons of questions at Mia.
"Are you okay? You didn't later call me, Are you sure you're alright?.." Jane asked.
"I already told you I'm fine Jane, I just feel a little ill. That's why I'm not going to work." she falsely explained.
Lily decided to excuse herself since she was already leaving "I'll go now ma'am, good day Miss Jane."
"Hi, bye.." Jane said and headed to sit on the couch.
"Okay Lily, bye, I'll be at work tomorrow." she walked lily to the door and went to sit beside Jane.
Jane looked worried and eager to hear what Mia had to say, She faced Mia and held her hands and Mia looked at her with a bored expression on her face.
"Mia, did Asher get too angry with you or do anything?" Jane asked, hoping that Asher didn't act badly to Mia again.
"No, he didn't do anything," Mia answered in a breath, not looking into Jane's eyes. She always looked cold and stiff but she was as soft as a marshmallow whenever she was with her best friend Jane.
Jane raised her hand and used it to hold Mia's chin as she made her face her.
"Mia, look at me and tell me he didn't do anything to you," Jane said.
"No, he was calm and only went to sleep in his study," Mia said, she was a very hard liar when it came to Jane.
Jane sighed and freed Mia's chin from her grip she stood up, putting her hands in her trouser pockets, she paced to and fro in front of Mia for a few seconds. She stopped walking and bent down in front of her. Mia was looking down so their eyes met.
"Mia?"
"Hmm?"
"For how long have we known each other?" Mia asked after keeping quiet again, not breaking their eye contact.
Mia didn't talk for a few seconds before replying " We've known each other since we were four." she replied in a low tone.
"Ever since we've known each other, didn't you always have my back?"
"Yes, I have,"
"Am I not your best friend?" she asked again.
"Jane stop asking me so many questions..."
"Then tell me what is wrong with you!" Jane's voice rose a few octaves as she spoke.
"He... He... He..." she stammered.
Jane thought to speak softly and persuade her "Tell me, don't hide anything from me, what did Asher do?"
"He forced himself on me..." Mia said in a barely whispered tone but Jane could hear her clearly.
Jane stared at Mia, her eyes widened. She stood up from her bending position and covered her mouth with one of her hands.
"You mean he slept with you without your permission?" Jane asked again, not believing it and she realized it was true when Mia didn't answer.
"Did you do anything to stop him?" She asked again, whispering and Mia started fiddling with her fingers.
"Oh my God Mia!" Jane exclaimed, wondering when Mia became so weak.
"What is wrong with you?!!!, what happened to you?" She started yelling, gesticulating angrily with her hands.
"I've known you since you were a child, you are strong and never proved weak, so what's happening now?! Seriously?!, he forces himself on you and you didn't do anything about it. When did you become like this, the Mia I know was never like this. Where is my Mia?" Jane yelled, frustrated.
"I don't know...." Mia replied in a shaky voice.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!, you've taken so many years and dedication to build yourself and to be who you are, now you're gonna crumble because of a man who doesn't treat you right, know your worth, or deserve you?!.... Geez, Mia!!" Jane was really upset that Mia was not going to stand up for herself or decide to divorce Asher, she has suffered too much.
"Look at you, you've lost so much weight, you're thinking too much... you think every fucking single time. Do you know the number of girls out there who look up to you and want to be the type of person you are?... Do you know the number of rich and influential men who would shower you with love and everything you want even after you divorce Asher?!... I have told you many times that staying in this marriage with this man isn't good for you. He's an unappreciative man! why don't you get that." Jane kept on lecturing Mia and tears started to drop from Mia's eyes.
"I don't know how you became like this, all I have to say is that if this is what love does to someone, then I don't ever want to fall in love. I mean, where is the strong Mia that I know, the Mia I knew would never allow a man to force himself on her, get yourself together!!"
Mia didn't say anything anymore and she kept sniffing and wiping her eyes with her bare hands. Jane sighed and sat down beside her and she raised her head and looked at Jane, tears dropping from her eyes.
"What should I do?... I'm married to him and I know I expected this but I didn't know he was going to hate me this much. I don't even know how I fell in love with him, I don't know. I keep loving him more as the day passes, I don't know what to do Jane. I feel miserable and angry at myself. This isn't me, this isn't Mia. I can't divorce him, what will I tell our families, I knew that I cannot back out of this when I agreed... " she didn't talk anymore but more tears dropped from her eyes.
Jane sighed and hugged her, soothing her with comforting words while patting her back " It's okay, just know that I'm always here for you, you shouldn't hide things from me. We'll deal with this together, I'm sorry for the way I yelled at you but you do know I prefer the harsh treatment." she explained while patting her back and squeezing her hands.
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