The Runaway Wife

Chapter 27

As soon as she saw that little angel stumbling toward her from her bedroom, calling her name with her arms outstretched, Jacelyn started to cry with joy. She knelt down and pulled Angela into her embrace, running her fingers through her hair and whispering that she was sorry. She didn't even notice when her husband entered the room behind her, happy to bring them back together in his own way. After about a minute of hugging, the child started to get a little weirded out and pulled away, trying to figure out why her mom was crying.

"So, you finally decided to return."

Jackie picked up Angela and got to her feet before turning to look at her mother-in-law, who stood behind her in an apron, her arms crossed. The fake smile she normally had plastered on her face was completely gone, revealing her true feelings of disgust towards her son's plain wife. It was clear that any hidden hostility of the last two years was about to finally rear its ugly head.

"John, your father would like to speak to you in the library," she announced, angrily waving him away, still glaring at Jackie. When her son had left, she began walking toward her daughter and started to speak harshly. "I know what you've done, young lady. John tried to convince us that you were just taking a break but we knew better. You were trying to run away and turn on us, weren't you?"

Jackie pulled her daughter closer and stared at the woman, refusing to offer an answer. Her silence was met with a group of vulgar, hurtful words that made her cover the child's ears. She'd never heard such things come out of Mrs. Hadley's mouth and it really surprised her, showing where John had inherited it.

"After everything we did for you, bringing you out of that miserable, pathetic little life you'd made for yourself, you have the audacity to just leave it behind! YOU--!"

Just shut up. Jackie frowned and looked away, Angela clinging to her neck. Her grandmother's tone frightened and confused the little girl, who had never known she was like this.

Just shut up, she desperately wanted to say. Leave me out of your insanity! I shouldn't have to listen to this! John's told me all about the skeletons in your closet and I shouldn't have to put up with your abuse like he does! As the woman rambled on, growing meaner as she went, Jackie's rage piled up. Shut up! Shut up! "SHUT UP! Don't yell at me about being flawed and evil when you've hurt more people in a day than I ever could in a lifetime!" she finally screamed, silencing the woman.

Mrs. Hadley was completely surprised to see the meek lamb yell, then she recovered and started to provoke her, spouting more cruel things that shouldn't be written on paper. She ended her rant by slapping Jackie in the face, barely missing Angela as she did so. This was the last straw.

Jacelyn took the hit, then started breathing heavily. Caressing her child's head, she pointed at the front door and spoke. "Get out of my house," she whispered calmly. When the monster didn't answer she repeated it. "Get out!!! And don't ever return, do you understand me?!" Infuriated, she shoved the old lady toward the door, ready to grab a nearby decoration as a weapon if she needed to. This had gone on long enough. If she was going to stay here, she wasn't going to put up with these cruel beings anymore.

Mrs. Hadley eventually left and Jackie took a moment to catch her breath, the adrenaline tiring her out. As she fell to her knees and put Angela back down on the floor, the child touched her hair softly, trying to comfort her. She didn't understand what exactly was going on but seeing her mom get hit had scared her. Neither Jacelyn nor John had ever laid a hand on her, so she was confused about why her grandma had hit her mommy.

"I'm okay," Jackie whispered, touching the offered hand and smiling for the first time that day. "Thank you. I'm sorry for leaving. It won't happen again." Hearing her father-in-law yelling from the other room, she picked up Angela once again and headed toward the library to see what was going on, though she had no intention of defending her husband against his dad. That was his problem, not her's. Stealthily, she tiptoed to the door and listened in on their conversation.

"I thought we told you to kill that girl and find a better one. It's not like you need her to take care of Angela and she's distracting you from your work! How are you supposed to bring justice and peace to this world if you're too busy recapturing some useless ********?" his father was yelling. She cringed when she heard him knock over a vase. "And what's with you allowing some woman to become your second in command just because she returned your stinking wife? What is wrong with you?!?"

As he continued on about how much of a failure John was and how he wasn't able to control the country like they'd hoped, Jackie stepped back and covered her child's ears again. You'd think the parents would be mad at him for all the people he'd indirectly killed but, instead, they were telling him that he hadn't hurt enough. What was wrong with them? Did they think they were so above normal people that they had to rule them with an iron fist?

A few more decorations were destroyed and then the father stomped out of the room, spitting in her direction as he left. For emphasis, he slammed the door on his way out, making the windows shake. Sighing with relief, Jacelyn turned to see what her husband was doing. He was leaning on his desk, looked down angrily, arms crossed. A long cut, probably from some of the broken pottery now lying on the floor, stretched across his face. He'd told Jacelyn about this kind of abuse before but she'd assumed it was just him attempting to get sympathy by lying. She'd never gotten to see it first hand before.

"Daddy?" Angela ran over to her father and reached up for him, begging to be held. He complied but got some blood on her clothes by doing so. With a cold expression on her face, the wife walked toward him. This didn't change much. She still disliked the guy, though seeing some of his motivations made her understand him a little better.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked quietly, refusing to look at her. When she shook her head, he looked at her to confirm it. "That reminds me, I lied when I told you the scars on my back were from fighting with gangs," he added, chuckling. "But you probably never believed that story anyway."

"Why do you put up with them?" Jackie whispered, sitting down on the desk next to him. "They obviously don't care about you or Angela."

"Nah. They can have their moments of kindness. It's rare, but it's there. Heh. That rhymed." He pulled Angela closer and sighed. "I figured that if I became the president like they wanted, they'd start to approve of me more. It gets a bit depressing when the only time you see your parents happy is when they're in public."

"Well, I'm . . . glad you weren't like that with Angela," she said quietly, swinging her legs back and forth under the desk in nervousness. "Though I wish you'd treat everyone else as well as you treat her."

"What have other people ever done for me?" he asked angrily, staring off at the wall. "They've never bothered to help me or care about me. The only time others speak to me is when they want something."

"That's not their fault--"

"I only punish people when they deserve it!" he continued, his voice rising with every word. "That way, they'll be an example to others never to commit such crimes and it'll make the world a better place for everyone. They'll understand one day. They'll see."

"Crimes like stealing a loaf of bread shouldn't be punished with death," Jacelyn whispered, talking about her parents. "You never know what was going on inside that person's head or how their past affected their future. Murder, on the other hand . . . ." She stopped, referring to him and his "partner" Naomi, who had just killed every person she'd ever cared about. "Taking away another person's life is a far worse crime. No one should have that sort of power."

Knowing that she wouldn't be getting anywhere with this depressing subject, Jackie walked out of the room. Even if she did change John's mind, it didn't matter because she had no one else left to go home to. Winning the war was pointless now because everyone was dead or in hiding. At least, that's what she thought until she heard Jylie's voice echoing from the radio they'd installed in the back of her head, hidden where her husband hadn't been able to find it.