The Final Chapter

Chapter Six

ELENA'S POV:

I walked downstairs the next morning, seeing Mattia lying on the couch in the kitchen. His hair was messy and he was still in the same clothes he worse last night.

I poured myself a cup of coffee, trying not to wake him but his eyes fluttered open when I placed a glass on the countertop. He glanced at me but then turned on the TV. I bit the inside of my cheek, sitting on the other side of the couch.

"Can we talk?"

"Nothing to talk about" he shrugged, keeping his eyes on the TV. His morning voice used to give me butterflies, but he only sounded bitter today. I held onto the cup in my hands, wondering how I was meant to fix the situation.

"Is this about-"

"You destroying the last picture we had from Vegas? Yeah, yeah it is"

I pressed my lips together, doing everything I could to stop myself from calling out Kairi.

"Mattia we can just get another frame"

"That's not the fucking point!" he said loudly "the point is you hid it from me, it might not be a big deal but why the fuck couldn't you just tell me?"

"It's just a picture!" I fired back, becoming annoyed. Mattia ran a hand through his hair, forcing out a laugh.

"If you hid that from me, what else are you hiding?"

My head jerked backwards when he asked me that. I couldn't believe he'd accuse me of hiding things from him when he was the first person I'd tell things to.

It felt like he was slipping further and further away.

"What? Mattia how can you say that?" I said. A tear slid down my cheek but I quickly wiped it away.

"I'm sorry for ruining the picture and not telling you, I didn't think it'd bother you this much" I said, but he looked out the window, folding his arms across his chest.

"I think we should take a break"

It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Not once. Several times. Winding me more everytime their fist impacted with my skin. It was becoming hard to breathe, as if all the walls were closing in on me. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was powerless, defeated.

"I don't want a break"

"It's not about what you want" said Mattia, turning to look at me "it's what's best for us, for the kids"

I shook my head with every word that came out of his mouth, I didn't want to hear it, I didn't want to believe it. I knew he was being like this because of the miscarriage, it had clearly impacted him. But I never knew it had hurt him this much.

"We can work it out, the kids won't want that" I said, but he stood up, rolling his sleeves back. I placed my coffee on the table, standing up too.

"Don't you dare mix our children up in this" I said, more tears falling down my face. But he started walking towards the door, his lips in a thin line.

"I'll take Mia, you keep Axel"

"Mattia!" I screamed, running after him. I grabbed his arm but he shook me off, waking into our room. Vic and Alejandro came rushing out to see what all the noise was about.

"Papa?" said Mia, waking up. Mattia picked her up and walked towards the door but I stood in front of the door, blocking his exit.

"Move" he said blankly, holding the crying girl in his arms. I stayed put, watching as he became angrier.

"Put her down" I said. He ignored me, pushing me to a side as he opened the door.

"Mommy!" shouted Mia, reaching out for me. But I sunk down to the ground, holding my head in my hands as I felt Vic wrap her arms around me. I heard the front door open and close and sobbed harder. Mattia was capable of many things, I just didn't think he'd go this far.

"I can't believe he did that" whispered Vic, keeping her arms around me.

Neither could I.

"Kairi's coming over" said Alejandro, appearing at my side "everything's gonna be fine, El"

I felt myself becoming irritated whenever I heard his name. This was all his fault. He was the reason my daughter was no longer in my arms. He was the reason my marriage was falling apart.

It was all on him. And he was loving it.