Chapter 123: Family Loyalty

Ethan gave Naomi a confused look. He took Missy’s hand and guided her toward the car.

"Aunt Diana, what’s going on?"

Diana didn’t answer until both children were inside before she turned on Naomi. "You keep your husband away from us, do you hear me?"

"What?"

"Your husband beat up Richard and landed him in the hospital."

That took a second to process.

"Oh..."

It was all she managed.

Naomi’s thoughts scrambled. "Why?" she asked.

"Why? Does it matter why?"

"Well..." Naomi shifted awkwardly. "A little?"

"You told your husband Richard hits you?!"

Ah.

Naomi rubbed her forehead. "Well, he was asking and..."

"So you asked him to beat Richard up for you?"

"No! I didn’t. I would never ask him to do that. I guess he just... decided to?"

Even to her own ears, that sounded bad.

Diana’s eyes narrowed. "You don’t even look sorry, Naomi."

This was where she was supposed to produce the correct facial expression. The problem was, she didn’t know what that expression was.

Was she horrified Dorian beat Richard?

Yes.

Was she shocked?

Absolutely.

Was she secretly a little less devastated than she probably should have been? She had no idea.

"I..." Naomi swallowed. "I... I’m sorry?" She immediately regretted the tone. She really couldnt fake it. "I mean, I’m sorry he’s hurt. I didn’t know Dorian was going to do anything."

"You stay away from my husband and my kids."

"Right," Naomi muttered.

Diana turned away and started back toward her car.

Naomi refused to let the conversation end there. "So you can defend him when he gets hit?"

Diana stopped. "What?" She turned back around.

"When he gets hit, you speak up. You are angry, you make demands." There was hurt underneath her voice. "But when I get hit, you’re quiet. Why is that? You don’t question his actions. You just sit there while he humiliates you, cheats on you, insults you, abuses you. You say nothing. He does the same thing to me. He does the same thing to Ethan."

"He doesn’t hit Ethan."

"Are you waiting until he does? You have never spoken up. He treats you like garbage. He makes Ethan feel like he’s constantly disappointing him." She shook her head. "But now, because Richard gets a couple of blows, you lose your shit? Why can’t he get hit and we can?"

"We are family," Diana snapped. "We stick together. We accept family’s shortcomings. Family stays family!"

"Even when it kills you? Because I see what it does to you. Everything he does to you, it kills you every day. Something dies inside you every day, Aunt Diana."

"You’re married now. You think you’re protected." Diana walked back toward her. "Marriage is divine in the beginning. Everything feels exciting. Your husband wants you around every second. He listens to everything you say. He notices when you’re upset." She gave another faint smile. "You start believing you’ve found something special."

"Give it a few years. The intensity fizzles out. People get tired. Men get bored. Life gets in the way." She looked sadly at Naomi. "After that, be grateful for what you get."

Marriage slowly became endurance. Love eventually became disappointment. Women survived by lowering expectations until whatever remained looked acceptable.

Naomi shook her head slowly. "I thought so too, Aunt Diana. And for that reason, I never wanted that. Why love someone who will inevitably hurt me?" She swallowed, thinking of Dorian and the Heathcliffes in general. She thought of the impossible bar they were quietly setting. "But I think I have been looking at the wrong examples..."

"Talk to me again when the tide turns someday," Diana cut her off. "If you stay married long enough for it to." Diana gave her one last bitter look. "Let’s just pray you do not kill him instead."

Whatever Naomi had been about to say disappeared.

She felt the words settle painfully deep.

Aunt Diana had never done that before. She had never used Naomi’s past against her, even though it was Diana’s own brother Naomi’s mother had supposedly killed. They had all lived with that terrible history hanging over them for years, but Diana had never once thrown it in Naomi’s face.

Not until now.

Naomi swallowed.

Maybe this conversation had already gone too far.

"I’m gonna go," she said quietly and glanced toward the car where Ethan and Missy sat waiting. "I packed the kids’ lunch already. You don’t have to worry about anything except your husband." She turned and walked toward her Range Rover, refusing to look back.

The tears were already biting at her eyes by the time she got behind the wheel, but she held them off through sheer stubbornness.

She drove straight to the townhouse.

The moment the garage door opened, she noticed Dorian’s Mercedes was still there.

So he hadn’t left yet.

She didn’t want to see him.

Not like this.

Naomi slipped inside quietly and headed upstairs. She went straight to her room, dropped her bag and walked toward the dresser.

The moment she saw herself in the mirror, whatever had been holding her together finally gave way.

She planted both hands on either side of the dresser and lowered her head.

A sob escaped.

Then another.

Naomi squeezed her eyes shut. Her shoulders shook as tears continued to escape her eyes. It was too much for her to handle. She just realised her aunt hadnt protected her, not because she couldn’t but because she didn’t want to.

"I’m sorry." Dorian’s voice came from behind her.

She slowly lifted her head and looked at him through the mirror.

Dorian stood in the doorway with both hands tucked into his pockets. He was already dressed to leave. He stepped farther into the room. "I heard you come in."

She wiped quickly beneath one eye.

"I couldn’t accept it," he said. "I refuse to accept it." He took another step closer, keeping his hands in his pockets as though he didn’t trust himself to reach for her yet. "I know you say it’s none of my business, but I..."