𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | +𝟏𝟖

𝟣𝟪

—

He hit her.

She tried hiding it, but I'm not stupid.

She's not even wearing the right shade of concealer. Up close, you can tell.

I debated on telling the other two. I don't know for certain how they'd react, as even though I felt like killing him for hurting her, I couldn't. At least not yet. There's no way in hell I'd be letting him touch her again.

I needed to talk to her first.

She sat across the table from me, quietly eating. She hasn't said a word since she came down for dinner.

As Elijah and Alessandro left with Elliot, I waited for the room to be only occupied by Marella and I.

And a few maids, but they never paid attention to most things. They prefer to mind their business.

As I stood up she didn't even look my way. She stared at the bowl in front of her. I pulled out the chair beside her and checked my surroundings for Elliot before I sat down, "Marella."

"Hm?" She hummed, though kept her eyes down.

I lifted my hand and hooked my finger under her chin to tilt her face toward me. "Are you hurt?" I asked. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. My hand moved to her cheek, my thumb gently stroking it.

"No," she replied hastily. I gave her a certain look, telling her, you can talk to me. You're safe with me. "A bit."

No matter how much I wanted to beat the shit out of Elliot in this moment, I kept my composure for her own comfort. I didn't want to scare her.

As I opened my mouth to speak, I heard footsteps near the hall. I stood up and moved back to my original spot. Whilst Elijah and Alessandro walked back in with Elliot, we made eye contact, and they could tell through my expression that something was wrong.

"You three can go now. Marella and I have things to discuss." Elliot spoke.

With a clenched jaw I nodded and headed upstairs, knowing that the other two were following me. I made sure to keep myself on alert, listening closely to their conversation at the best of my abilities just incase.

"What happened?" Alessandro asked by the time we got to the top of the stairs, his tone was low but concerned.

As I thought of what I was about to tell them, I felt my frustration rise at the mere thought. "He hit her."

Alessandro didn't look surprised. In fact, his expression almost stayed the same, other than the deep furrow of his eyebrows and jaw tightening. His silence let me know that he was just as angry as I was.

Elijah's eyes were slightly wide, lips ajar. "How do you know that?"

"I saw the mark on her face. And she has been silent ever since." I replied. Her, "A bit." was all I needed to know what happened. The gloss of tears lining her eyes and her slightly flushed cheeks told me that she had been crying.