Painful Deception

Jacqueline sighed softly as she got out of bed and looked over at her husband; she felt her heart lighten at the fact that he was still asleep. Maybe she could get out of the house before he went down to have breakfast and go to work. She allowed herself a small smile as she imagined this. Wincing a bit at the pain in her hips, she quickly put on her robe and walked over into the bathroom to take a shower. As she took off her clothes, she looked at her body in the mirror. She had a slight, developing bruise on her hip in the shape of her husband’s hand and there were red marks on her neck and shoulders-- all a result of her husband’s appetite for rough sex.

Not letting herself cry, Jacky quickly stepped into the shower and washed herself off, disgusted at the dried semen on the inside of her thighs. As she washed her hair, she thought about her plans for the day. It was Saturday, so she had French lessons with her tutor Harry. Harry was one of her closest friends; he had been her tutor even before her marriage, and so he knew her anguish. After their lessons they often got coffee and talked about their lives. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the toilet seat getting put up and the sound of someone peeing. She groaned silently. It seemed that she wasn’t going to have a peaceful morning after all. She finished rinsing out her hair and was about to wash her body again when the glass door to the shower opened and she was face-to-face with her husband, Mark. She took in his lust-filled gray eyes and stepped closer to the wall.

“Why didn’t you wake me Jacky, you know I love showers,” he murmured as he stepped in.

“I’m going to be late for French, “she said quietly. He looked down at her and put his hands on her hips, he smirked slightly at the hiss she let out when he put on his hands on her bruise, and at her words he spoke with contempt.

“Oh yes, I forgot, you can’t be away from your dear tutor. Tell me Jacky, are you fucking him?“ he said, his voice dangerously low. Jacqueline knew that voice, she knew that there was trouble if she didn’t answer the question correctly.

“Mark, you know that’s not true. You are the first man and will be the last man I have ever been sexually involved with,“ she beseeched, sick at the pleading tone in her voice.

He smirked at her and whispered in her ear, “And keep it that way sweetheart. You were made for me.” Jacqueline felt relief that his anger had ceased and forced a smile on her face for him.

One hour later, Jacqueline sat in the backseat of the black Mercedes that their chauffer drove as she reminisced, back to the beginning of her marriage. The wedding was in the beautiful country manor that her parents owned. Her dress was a stunning strapless white dress with a brocaded corset with silver accents and a large train. She snorted at her naïvety on that day; she really thought she would live happily ever after.

She had known Mark for a few months after her parents introduced them, and he and his parents had put in an offer for her hand in marriage and her parents agreed. She didn’t dispute it because he seemed a good man at the time; he was charming, intelligent and handsome. In the pre-nuptial agreement it stated that she was to be allowed to continue her education as far as she wanted and could be in any profession she chose. The assets from her parents in the event of their deaths would go to her and only her since she was an only child, and if she and Mark were to get divorced, she would still keep them. However, it also stated that Mark would be the one to name all male children and that he had the power to choose what she did while she was pregnant, since the first child was his heir. But the second could be the heir to either estate.

She was a virgin on their wedding night. And when the time came for consumating their marriage, she thought that he would be as gentle as the kisses they had shared before.

It was one of the worst experiences of her life.

He had taken her roughly and she bled heavily. After that night, their relationship only got worse. He raped her at least two dozen more times and and abused both her body and her mind on a regular basis. To make matters worse, her parents died last year. Both of them were in their car driving when they crashed. They stayed in the hospital for a few days but later it seemed that they had just given up. His comfort to her was sex, gentler than usual but still horrible. What she really wanted was for someone to hold her and let her cry and help her through her grief.

Harry was the one who gave her that comfort and she appreciated their friendship even more because of it. She smiled as she thought about him, the way he would smile whenever he saw her, the way his mouth moved when he spoke French and the way he would touch her arm reassuringly when she stumbled over her words. She blushed a bit as she wondered how his lips would move if he kissed her.

“Mrs. Pewter, we’re at your lesson. I will pick you up at 1:30 per usual, correct?“ Richard the Chauffer asked.

“Yes, thank you,“ Jacqueline replied as she got out of the car and walked up to the steps of Harry’s flat. She pressed the bell at the door and a few seconds later Harry opened the door. She smiled at him as he beckoned her inside; she also noticed that he had very noticeable stubble. He saw her looking at his face curiously, and answering her before she could ask, “I had a long night and I’ll tell you at coffee.“ Jacqueline just nodded and stepped inside his warm living room.

Harry closed the door after Jaqueline walked in and returned quickly to help her settle in. She was wearing brown tweed trousers and an ivory turtleneck with a small autumn colored vest that had brocaded leaves on it. “You look nice today…and tall?” he said noticing that she reached his shoulder, while usually she just reached his upper arm.

He felt his stomach flop when she smiled at him,“I’m wearing heels today. I haven't had a growth spurt since I was fourteen.”

He laughed softly at her, “Well let’s get on with our lesson shall we?“ he joked as he offered her his arm and led her to the study.

Mark groaned as his mother asked if Jacky was pregnant. “No, she isn’t mother. We’ve only been married for a year, neither of us need children now. Besides, she hasn’t started school yet. Remember what it says in the pre-nup,” he spoke angrily.

“Well dear, you aren't getting any younger. You’re thirty-eight, the reason you married her was to produce an heir. So what exactly are you waiting for? I suggest you start working on it now. Jacqueline is in her best years for child-bearing,” his mother said briskly.

“Yes mother, now I have to go into the office. Tell father I said hello,” he said and quickly walked out the sitting room. When he reached his car he told the driver he would stop by Jacqueline’s tutoring session on the way to work. The only reason he had not gotten Jacqueline pregnant was because he enjoyed the sex. If she was pregnant, he would have to stop because the obstetrician would notice the bruises and it might hurt the fetus. But his mother had a point. He was thirty-eight and he needed children. And Jacqueline was at the child-bearing age of sixteen. He smirked to himself as he thought about dropping in on her lesson.

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A/N: I'll explain why she hasn't divorced him in the next chapter. I promise I'll update soon. Sorry the first chapter is such crap, this is my first writing. & Sorry about the grammar & spelling.