Olivia watched her daughter playing the piano in the living room. She was silent of course, knowing that Laurel would stop if she noticed she was being watched.
When the song came to an end, Olivia started clapping softly, alerting the child of her presence.
"Well done, sweetheart." She said as she sat beside her daughter.
"Did you like it, mummy?" Laurel asked, snuggling into her mother's chest.
"Oh, I loved it. You're becoming so good." Olivia praised her little girl.
"Can I play for daddy soon? When he's not busy of course." Laurel suggested, looking up at her mother with hopeful brown eyes.
"Oh, baby. You know your father prefers the violin."
Laurel pouted. "But I like the piano better, mummy. And I play it better too."
"I know." Olivia smiled sadly then kissed her daughter's forehead. She sat for several minutes, holding her beautiful daughter in her arms.
A maid's voice broke the silence. "Mr Sebastian has returned, madam."
Goosebumps covered Olivia's skin the moment she heard those words. "Take Laurel upstairs."
"But I wanna see daddy---"
Olivia did not let her daughter finish. "Not right now, baby." Olivia kissed her daughter's forehead, silencing her protests before the maid led the little girl up to her room.
She sat by the piano, playing a soft lullaby until she heard his footsteps.
"You know how much I dislike that trash." Sebastian said as he walked into the living area.
Olivia turned to face him. "It's just music, my love."
"Hmm." He said then walked towards the dinning room. "Let's eat."
Olivia followed him and the minute they sat, Sebastian stared at the food placed before him distastefully and started complaining.
"These workers are becoming lousy. I have you to blame for insisting that I give them a raise." Sebastian grumbled.
Olivia did not want to provoke him, so she kept quiet.
"Where's the girl?" He asked.
"Laurel's asleep." Olivia answered.
"As always. She's lazy. She should stay awake and wait till her father is home---"
Olivia had to cut him short. "You come home quite late, Sebastian, I cannot deprive her of sleep and dinner till you're home."
A plate came crashing on the floor. "Did you just interrupt me?!"
Olivia did not move, she was used to her husband's habit of breaking and throwing things at the slightest provocation.
Tonight, Sebastian was in a particularly bad mood. "Can you believe that we lost the Tech deal I told you about? That deal would have been a gamechanger for my company! If it had been signed, in a couple months, we'd be the top tech company in the country."
Sitting and listening to her husband's rants about his billion dollar tech company was a routine for Olivia. "It is unfortunate that you did not secure the deal." She simply said, as was her routine whenever he had bad news regarding his company.
"Why are you making it sound like it's my fault?" Before Olivia could defend herself, Sebastian continued. "Wrightwood technologies stole it from us! That idiotic, Desmond!" Sebastian threw a mug across the room, making Olivia flinch.
"Please calm down." Olivia said, hoping that their daughter would not hear the sound of ceramics shattering.
"Do not tell me what to do, you barren wench!"
Sebastian always called her barren, the insult was not new. After they had Laurel five years ago, for some reason, she had not been able to get pregnant again.
Olivia quietly listened to him. "Desmond Wrightwood is a thief and a scumbag! He tags himself a self-made billionaire meanwhile all he does is steal ideas and womanize!"
"Something you both have in common." Olivia whispered underneath her breath.
Sebastian's eyes widened, showing that he heard what Olivia whispered. "What did you just say?" He stood.
Olivia's breathing quickened as Sebastian walked towards her. Like she expected, he grabbed her by her hair, bringing her to her feet. "What did you just say?" He repeated.
Olivia bit her lip, to hold back a scream. Her scalp was burning but she was trying not to wake her daughter with screams.
"I work hard day and night, to care for you and that unwanted daughter you gave me and you have the nerve to insult me?"
"I did not insul---" Olivia felt her husband's palm on her face faster than the speed of light. She lost balance and fell to the floor, with blood dropping from her lips.
"That will teach you to watch your mouth." Sebastian said, then threw a napkin at Olivia to clean the blood dropping from her lips.
Sebastian left the room, fuming and ranting about his nemesis, Desmond Wrightwood, while Olivia sat with an aching head and broken lip, surrounded by broken glass.
When dawn came, Olivia's tears had dried up and she had to get her daughter ready for school and act like nothing happened the previous night.
"Mummy, what's wrong with your face?" Laurel asked.
Olivia noticed that her little girl had been studying her bruised face while they ate breakfast together.
"Why? Don't I look pretty?" Olivia pouted playfully, hoping to distract Laurel from her real concerns.
Olivia had woken up very early to apply enough makeup, hoping that it would cover the bruises on her face.
"Not really." Laurel replied.
"It's because I fell of the bed, baby." Olivia lied, hoping her daughter would focus on her food.
"Didn't you sleep in the middle?" Laurel asked.
Tired of the questions, Olivia sighed. "Eat your food, sweetheart."
Olivia would sometimes drive with her daughter to school, but she decided against it. She knew that if a five year old could notice the bruises on her face, then certainly, so could adults.
Hours after Laurel left for school, Olivia sat in her room, reflecting on what really turned her husband, Sebastian into the monster she had to tolerate.
Olivia's thoughts were interrupted as a familiar black Range Rover pulled up in the driveway. Olivia's heart flew out of her chest as she immediately realized who had come to visit.