Chapter 8: The Evening Rose (Part 2)
Things went downhill after that.
Due to the nature of her job, Rei basically works at home.
Whenever she's hit by an extreme case of writer's block, the acclaimed writer uses her time to do household chores to let her mind wander while being productive at the same time. Enji liked that, he loved the concept of having a beautiful obedient wife waiting for him to come home from work.
But ever since she was exposed to the new environment and marriage life, her brain was literally pulsating with new ideas. It kept her busy left and right.
One day, Enji got home.
He expected her to be waiting at the doorsteps, greeting him with a 'Darling!', before proceeding to have an intense sex in front of their doorway. Or some bullshit fantasy like that.
But how could he fulfill his fantasy if the object of his fascination was nowhere to be found?
He found her in the study area, intensely typing at the typewriter with a determined look on her face.
The thing with Enji, he is a jealous man.
It didn't even need to be a person, anything that takes away Rei's attention from him, he'll destroy it.
He charged inside the room, Rei turns around to greet her husband with a fond smile, only for it to turn into horror when Enji grabs her typewriter (that was a gift from a fan when she first started as a writer) and smashed it to the ground.
The sound of metal colliding against the expensive marble floor echoed across the house.
But for Rei, the sound of the keys falling off was the loudest sound of all.
She turned to face her husband, preparing to shout at him when she sees the terrifying look on his face. Turquoise eyes that were once the object of her affection gave her this intense look that was screaming bloody murder. The voice that wanted to escape from her lips completely died down.
Enji grabs her silky white hair and drags her to their bed chambers.
She struggled, telling him to let go because he was hurting her and she could literally feel blood dripping down her scalp. But her pleas entered on deaf ears.
He throws her to the bed, fucking her all night long.
When morning came, Rei's voice was hoarse from screaming.
Pale white skin was marred with purple bruises.
She tried to sit up, but her muscles were aching all over. Her beautiful stormy eyes were unusually shaped like almonds that morning, probably due to the fact that she cried throughout the whole ordeal.
She turned her face to the side, watching the muscular man tightly wrap his arms around her like a child seeking comfort from his teddy bear.
Enji looked too innocent at that moment as if he was incapable of doing her wrong.
But he did, and her body itself was proof of his crime.
Long lashes fluttered open, and hazy teal eyes stared at his gray ones. Rei could only stare back at him, watching his facial muscles form into an expression that was his version of 'regret'.
"I'm sorry," Enji whispered, kissing her chastely on the lips.
Rei started crying as he trapped her in a tight embrace.
That morning, they made love.
This wasn't the only time this happened.
In fact, it happened again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Until it became a common occurrence for the patriarch to cause a scene for the most minuscule reasons ever.
But he always wins her back with his tears (up until this moment Rei doesn't know if it's fake or not), his promises not to do it again, that he'll seek out a doctor in order to deal with his anger issues.
And like a child who never learned her lesson, Rei believed him.
Because she thought that she could change him, that the power of fucking love could turn him into a gentle and kind man.
But it didn't.
"Darling," Rei softly said as they were eating in front of the dinner table.
Long silver hair was tied in a bun, revealing the bruises and hickeys decorated her clear white neck like a pretty little necklace.
It made Enji smirk.
"I'm going to the publishing office tomorrow--"
Fluorescent-like eyes dilated in anger.
Thick, muscular fists slammed against the table, and the plates and eating utensils jumped. His nostrils flared, tanned skin was slowly painted scarlet.
"You're just making excuses to meet that Aizawa bastard, aren't you?"
Fuyumi started hiccuping on her baby chair.
Rei tried to keep a straight face as she attended to their firstborn, carrying her around in order to calm her down.
"Enji, you know that's not true." She calls him by his real name only when they're fighting.
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME, WOMAN!" Enji shouted, effectively scaring Fuyumi.
The poor baby started to wail, Rei kissed her forehead and shushed her silently.
"Please," Her voice quivered but she tried to sound calm. "Not in front of Fuyumi. I'll bring her to the nursery and let's continue this talk later--"
"Servants," Enji roared, his baritone echoing across their traditional Japanese mansion.
Kimono-cladded old women appeared, taking the baby in one quick swoop.
Before Rei can take Fuyumi back from their hands, the ladies disappear as soon as they make their entrance, exiting behind the shoji doors. Rei clicked her tongue, she absolutely hated it when their servants touched her children since she preferred to be a hands-on mother.
Now that they were alone in the quiet dining room, she dared look at her raging husband.
Surprisingly, Enji's face was completely calm and devoid of his initial furry.
She smiled since they could properly talk about their misunderstanding like proper adults without him throwing a fit.
Until she found her face shoved against the table and Enji taking her from behind like the animal that he was.
That night, Rei's face was buried in lettuce and tomatoes, swimming in her own tears that filled up the porcelain plates to their brim.
She learned not to tell her husband about her writing endeavors anymore.
Before Enji headed out to the office, Rei kissed him goodbye.
After thirty minutes, she also went outside and headed to her own.
"Rei," Aizawa frowned, drinking his cup of steaming hot coffee. "Please do tell me you're still eating. I could literally see the hallows of your cheeks now."
"All my baby fats just melted off now that we're adults, Shouta-kun." She reasons, even to her own ears her explanation was bland and stupid.
Restlessly, she adjusted the scarf that hung around her neck.
She's 23 now, and 3 years married to Enji.
It took her 3 fucking years to set foot outside of her glorified cage.
"Hey, can you tell the publishing company that I'm planning to change my pen name?"
He choked on his coffee, Rei handed him a paper towel.
"That's too sudden. Are you sure? Didn't you work hard for Endeavor Rei to be a household name since what, you were 15?"
"Endeavor Rei was already a household name when I was 15."
Her debut novel took Japan by storm, after all.
Aizawa opened his mouth but immediately shut it close.
"Cheeky bitch," He muttered under his breath.
"I know I am, goldfish!" She laughed, but her laughter no longer had its signature chime that made Aizawa's heart skip a beat.
"Goldfish?" Thin charcoal eyebrows frowned.
Rei did the open-close mouth movement a couple of times.
Aizawa flipped the tables, sending papers flying all over the place.
It was rather difficult to convince the heads of the company to allow her to change her pen name since 'Endeavor Rei' was at the height of her fame.
However, due to Rei's shift in writing style, a darker and more twisted kind of writing that was the complete opposite of her innocent and delicate works back when she was still in high school, her new persona, 'Sawashiro Shouto', was more popular than she could ever dream of.
The people who knew about her former writings and her current works compared that Rei's writing changed for the better ever since she got married.
It was a drastic shift from the former innocence known as Endeavor Rei.
They said it was better for her to use her previous pen name and then introduce her new writing in order for the readers to see that she was no longer the 15-year-old writer whom they first met.
That she, too, grew up along with the readers and explored events that made her who she was and what her works become now.
It would've made her relatable, thus, even more marketable.
She laughed at the suggestion, saying it was a good one. But deep down, she wanted to beat them up with equal strength to Enji subjected her to.
Rei didn't change her name for marketability! Heck, she wouldn't want to change her name in the first place if only she had the choice!
But she didn't.
Because if Enji finds out that she's back to writing, he'll find out that she's going out of the house without her permission.
God knows what he'll do to Aizawa.
It took 5 years, and 2 published books, before Sawashiro Shouto's masquerade ended.