LUCIEN'S POV
"What's wrong with her?" Leon asked, glancing up at her retreating figure.
I ignored his question and sat down.
"Are you seriously ignoring me?" He sat across from me.
"Don't talk while eating." I warned.
"Ok, ok, geez you sound just like my mother." He grumbled.
I glanced up the staircase.
She wasn't sick last night though and now she looks like she is dying.
The sound of Leon chuckling had me looking up.
"What's making you so happy?"
"Just something." He grinned.
I curled an eyebrow.
Leon, Taylor and I had been friends for ten years now.
We had met a year after I had moved here from Hollow Creek.
The only reason I had stuck with them was because they were less annoying than the rest of the other people.
Everyone else clung to me, always praised me, and it was annoying but with them it wasn't like that.
We were so different yet similar.
I was quiet, calm and reserved. Leon was loud, a brute and a playboy. Taylor on the other hand was like a little puppy, always following us around.
"Aren't you going to work today?" I questioned watching him smile like an idiot.
He shook his head, his grin growing wider. "No,no,no not today."
"Stop slacking off." I grabbed my car keys.
"I am not." He pouted.
"Get out of my house. Taylor left yesterday but your sorry ass is still here." I ran my fingers through my hair.
"What? No. No. I don't want to."
I curled an eyebrow.
His eyes widened and he let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head wildly.
"Ok," he whispered.
"I am leaving." He grabbed his car keys and marched out the door.
I scoffed at his retreating figure.
Before leaving I went up the stairs to check on Olivia but her door was locked.
I didn't like that but I had to go to work so I would talk to her when I came back.
*************************
"The current proposal, I don't like it." I placed the file down.
"Y-yes sir, I will t-tell them to c-change it." Ronald stuttered.
"Be done by tomorrow."
"T-tomorrow? But we hav..." one look from me was enough for him to shut his mouth.
He excused himself and scurried out of my office.
I grabbed my phone and checked the texts I had sent her.
I glanced at my wrist watch, it had been over two hours since I had sent them and she hadn't replied or opened any of them.
"Reschedule the rest of my meetings for tomorrow." I ordered.
I quickly proceeded to my car and headed home.
The house was quiet, no singing or humming.
I hastily climbed up the stairs.
Her door was wide open. She wasn't on the bed and her room was quiet.
I walked in looking around. "Olivia"
Silence.
Where was she?
So she was awake and ignoring my texts.
I didn't like that.
"Mr Hale." Her weak voice came from behind me.
I turned around and she stood in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her body.
Her breath hitched,words stalling on her tongue as she stared at me.
She stood there for a second unmoving her mouth ajar before her hands scrambled to cover her up.
But it was too late.
I had already seen the marks all over her body.
"Feeling better?" The question rolled off my tongue.
"Y-yes." She bowed her head.
"Mmmh. Do you have a boyfriend?" I tilted my head.
She lifted her head, her lip in-between her teeth and her eyes glossy.
She kept her mouth tightly sealed.
I nodded my head and walked towards her.
"So, you don't have a boyfriend yet you're covered in all these love bites?" I placed my hand under her chin making her look at me.
"Olivia. Why didn't you answer my messages?"
"M-messages?" She stuttered.
"I..iwasinthebathroomididn'tseei'msorry." The words tumbled out her mouth.
"Don't lie to me Olivia. You know I don't like that."
"I'm not, I'm not lying." She sniffled, shaking her head.
I grabbed a fistful of her hair, a yelp escaped her lips.
"No matter where you are, answer my messages and my calls. Even if you're dead you get up and answer, ok."
She nodded her head.
"And the love bites?"
"I-i just. I…" She bit her lip, tears flowing down her cheeks.
I sighed letting go of her hair.
"Olivia, why do you do this to yourself?"
I folded the sleeves of my shirt.
Watching her, waiting for her to tell me, but she said nothing.
She never listened to me when I talked to her nicely and now she was lying to me.
Holding back information from me and sneaking out to meet men.
She was straying in the wrong direction and someone had to stop her.
The strike was sharp, clean. Enough to shock, not enough to break. I wasn't cruel.
"The love bites?" I repeated.
"N-no…" her voice shook.
She was forcing my hand.
My fist drove into her stomach. The sound she made was small, unladylike.
I watched her fold, her hand tightly gripping the door frame.
"You don't wanna tell me," I said. "So now you'll feel the weight of holding back information from me."
She gasped trying to move back, I kicked her legs out from under her. Not hard enough to break just hard enough to put her where she belonged.
On the floor. Quiet and obedient.
I crouched beside her, covering her with her towel that had become undone.
"This is for your own good," I whispered. "I can't have you lying to me in my house. And doing stupid things."
Her breath was uneven, pain visible on her face.
I straightened, satisfied.
She would remember this. And next time she wouldn't make stupid mistakes like this.