Chapter 1: Whose Fault
"GOD! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT JERK WAS GOING TO LEAVE ME FOR SOME YOUNGER SKANK!"
An empty mug fell from the coffee table onto the carpeted floor with a muted 'clunk' as Marianne's clenched fist pounded the wooden surface with a single angry strike, her other hand holding her head as she gritted her teeth and allowed fresh, hot tears to run down her cheeks. Startled by her sister's sudden outburst, Cornelia remained silent with her hands holding her own mug in her lap as she patiently waited for Marianne to calm down. It was 3 AM on a chilly autumn night and her older sister had called her up, begging for her company so she could have someone to confide in as she was unable to fall asleep. Loyal as she was, Cornelia had complied and dragged herself out of bed over to Marianne's apartment a few minutes away from the house she shared with her own, faithful husband, Gilbert Guilford.
After a minute ticked by on the obnoxious analog clock hanging on the adjacent wall, Cornelia ventured in a tentative, yet firm voice, "Look, Marianne, I know this situation feels like the worst thing that could have ever happened to you, but you have a child to think about now. Crying over Charles, who clearly didn't care about you enough to stay and help you take care of his own kid, won't do anything for neither you nor Lelouch."
Marianne didn't respond and continued to sob softly, her right fist still clenched on top of the coffee table as if resisting the urge to pound down again. It had been a month since her husband had left her for one of the nurses that was on staff at the hospital where she gave birth two months ago. She regularly seeked the comfort of her sister Cornelia who was two years younger than she, and Cornelia always tolerated hearing the same complaints and regrets over and over again. Cornelia waited for another moment of silence filled only with the sound of her thirty-one-year-old sister's sniffles and the click of the second hand on the clock.
She sighed, "Maybe not thinking about it will help. Maybe instead of trying to figure out what went wrong between you and Charles, you can accept that he played you and then try focusing your energy on raising your son. Help him grow up to be as strong and smart and beautiful as his mother, who is you, no matter how you slice it. Mom, Dad, Gilbert, and I...we're all going to be here for you through this, but we can't do the work for you."
Marianne looked up at her younger sister with a contorted expression, her red and teary blue eyes flaming with bitter disbelief. "You have no idea what it's like, Cornelia." she snarled, "You have no idea how hard it is," her menacing tone increased in volume as she continued until she was screaming, "and you will never understand...that all of your advice...is EASIER. SAID. THAN FUCKING DONE!"
Before either Cornelia and Marianne could get in another word to one another, the wailing of a fussing infant sounded from the other room. Marianne stood abruptly from the couch. Her face had gone blank. Her eyes had become empty. Like a robot, she walked with a mechanical gait towards the crying of her son. Cornelia followed at a safe distance behind her and watched anxiously as Marianne lifted the bawling Lelouch out of his crib. Without a word nor change in emotionlessness, she simply rocked Lelouch back and forth in her arms. He continued to cry. She tried resting him on her shoulder and gently patting his back. Still, he continued to cry. Finally, she held him out in front of her and began to shake the poor infant. She had snapped.
"YOU'RE THE REASON CHARLES LEFT ME. IT'S YOUR FAULT!"
Panicked by the sight of her sister violently shaking the two-month old baby boy, Cornelia dropped her mug, allowing it to crash into fragments of white ceramic as she bolted into the room towards Marianne. "MARIANNE! STOP!" She grabbed onto Marianne's wrists from behind her, but Marianne, fueled by her anger, was far stronger. She kicked her leg backward in her craze, striking Cornelia in the stomach and sending her keeled over and gasping onto the floor. With the helpless Lelouch still wailing in her grasp, Marianne flung the infant across the room.
Lelouch's little body hurtled into the wall with a heartbreakingly heavy thud and he went eerily silent as his unconscious form slipped to the floor.
Horrified by what she had done, Marianne stood frozen with both her hands clasped over her gaping mouth and her eyes widened with realization. Cornelia forced herself to stand up and stagger over to the seemingly lifeless infant, cradling his limp body protectively while Marianne ran out of the room to call an ambulance.