Creed of the Leviathan I

60 | M + E

"Ry—" Hearing him utter this outrageous statement set off a bomb inside of me. "DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF? I ruined your relationship with Rylee? Have you ever stopped to think about what actually happened?" A mix of emotions rushed through my veins which was presented on my face. "Are you delusional? Is that it. Fuck, Marco! What's not clicking up here, huh?" I tapped the side of my head, only causing myself pain. "Sexual molest. That's the reason why you would've been in jail if it wasn't for me. She was fucking underage! Do you realize that? Underage! And then you're abusive ass had to put her in the hospital when YOU got her pregnant. You think she would've defended you against the James'? You think she would've stood by your side after what you did to her? You should be grateful that they accepted my deal." My voice only became louder. At this point I stopped caring about who could be hearing me.

"I— I cared about her." He mumbled.

"And then you have the nerve to come in here and blame me." I wiped my mouth, "You think I like having to look over my shoulders anytime I leave the house? You think it's easy for me to keep Marissa from being with James? Because of this internal fear that he might hurt her the way you hurt Rylee." I wet my lips. My eyes became wet from releasing what I had been carrying around in my heart throughout the years. "Tobias was my best friend and Rylee is like a sister to him. Your selfishness not only ruined our friendship but also the relationship we had with his family. Yet, for your sake I sacrificed this company by letting them have a say in the way we run our business. I even sacrificed my own reputation for letting them believe that I was the one who did those horrible things." The words were sliding of my tongue in a fast pace. "But, looking at you now I realize that I should've let you gone to jail."

I let out a deep breath and left him standing there, not wanting to continue the conversation. When I opened the door I came face to face with James who by the look on his face had heard enough of what I had said. Lana sat behind her desk, nervously looking down but I could also tell that she had heard me. James did not stop me nor did he ask anything and I was glad that he did not. I could not change what had happened, but whatever would happen next between him and Marco was for them to decide. I was done intervening.

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Emmanuelle

I called Anthony to pick me up from work that day, once again not telling anyone that I was leaving, whom I was leaving with or where I was heading to. He picked me up at around three, about two hours earlier than I usually left work. Both, Marco and Rosie were not back yet when I left. I did not want to go home and pretend as if everything was alright. The thought of having to share a room, a bed, even a life with Marco was causing me more pain. How was it that this man who claimed to love me could hurt me so badly?

"So, how is everything at home?" Anthony asked after we had been driving in silence for a while.

"A warzone."

"Marissa?" he asked with much hesitation.

I shook my head, "She hasn't been out of her room since you left. Hasn't been to work. Isn't speaking to any of us, I think. I'm not sure about Marco."

"How is Marco? Is he treating you alright?" His face turned towards me.

The moment he asked this question I took my lower lip between my teeth and I felt my eyes leak.

"What happened?" Anthony's face hardened.

I shook my head again, "Nothing. I'm just stressed about everything else."

"Well, cheer up. We're getting food and then we're watching a movie at my new place." He sounded exited.

"That sounds great." I smiled, playing into his excitement. On our way to his place we got burgers and fries that were almost completely finished by the time we reached the apartment complex. On our way up the stairs we ran into an elderly couple who Anthony introduced to me as Ben and Elaine.