𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒

𝟎𝟐| 𝐈'𝐦 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞

Iʋσɾყ
Aρɾιʅ 5ƚԋ
Mαɳԋαƚƚαɳ, NY

In the dimly lit living room, I sat on the couch pressing a bag of ice against my bruising face as my mother's words weighed heavily on my heart. I called and confided in her about what my anniversary night consisted of, every gruesome detail, I cried over the phone, still sniffling as I listened to her, yet no concern lingered in her voice as she spoke. Only frustration, yet the frustration wasn't directed towards the man who she just learned had abused her daughter, it was directed toward, you guessed it. Me.

"You need to stop upsetting him Ivy, he's your husband. Whatever he says must go, and you need to learn how to abide by who you chose to be with for the rest of your life. Stop acting so insecure and jealous and harming him in the process, that's why he does what he does to you. Did you ever stop and think about how your actions have affected him?" she ranted.

I lowered my gaze as tears welled up in my eyes, Her words echoed my own thoughts, the ones I tried to keep buried deep inside me. Jayce's harsh words and fists had left scars not just on my body but on my self-esteem as well. And my mother practically repeating those words to me over the phone was not helping.

I was being insecure and jealous, yes I saw him with a woman but it wasn't like they were doing much, I'd only saw them drinking together and talking. I wasn't supposed to put my hands on him either, that's another place that I slipped up, and it's why he hit me back. The more my mother talked, the more it started to settle in that all of this was mostly my fault in the first place.

"No, I didn't." I answered her question, swallowing a lump in my throat.

I heard her scoff and let out a small sigh, "Exactly because you're being selfish and unreasonable, you took specific vows-"

"He took them too!" I interrupted, tired of it all being put on me. I realize part of it was my fault, but why couldn't he take some responsibility?

"Don't interrupt and yell at me when I'm talking to you Ivory!" she yelled back, scaring me a little.

I muttered a small 'sorry' to her and kept talking. "I just can't believe you're taking his side, you always do this whenever I tell you anything, did you not hear what he did to me?" I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as a flicker of anger burned inside me thinking about all the times she'd done this.

Whenever we had problems, it was my fault, and I was the one who did something wrong and I was the one who had to fix myself. Jayce didn't have to do a damn thing except wait for me to be at his beck and call and act like the perfect little housewife.