"I'm home." Stan's announcement was made as he entered the foyer of the manse, but Karen didn't come to greet him as he expected, nor did the staff. Nobody was paying attention. The sound of his voice only echoed off the walls and disappeared while his children pushed past him to get to their bedrooms. He scoffed angrily before carrying his own bags to his bedroom. His business trip was over, and he had waited for Karen to pick him up from the airport, but she never arrived. It added an extra layer of anger to his mood once he realized that he would have to take a cab, and pick up his children from their mother's apartment.

He exited his room a short time later and went to find his wife. He checked the library before deciding that she was probably in her room, taking a nap or painting her nails. He wasn't sure what she did in her alone time, but he assumed she was doing just that.

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"Oh, Will…" Her whisper trailed into silence as he pounded into her body, damp with perspiration. Her stomach slid against the soft blanket of her bed as he moved against her back, between her legs. His lips were on her neck, his hands using her shoulders as leverage. He had come over after a hard day at work and she led him straight to her bed, wishing for nothing more than being overpowered by his body. A sigh escaped her lips as he pushed his fingers through her hair and slightly pulled, speeding up his pace.

Without warning, her orgasm hit her with a direct force and spread all the way to her toes, her fingertips. She bit her lower lip and shivered hard against his stomach, feeling her skin prickle. He came quickly after her, continuing to thrust. He pulled her hair back and leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss. Suddenly, the door opened, and a burst of light from the hallway illuminated the lovers on the bed. They broke the kiss and she gasped, pulling the blanket up to cover her breasts from exposure. Her breath was ragged and fast, and her voice was shaky.

"Stanly?"

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"You can't blame me for having an affair when you've been doing it for years! What the hell did you expect me to do, wait for you to want me again?"

"Don't you dare play the victim here! You're fucking our gay lawyer!" He paced across the room, and she pulled her robe tighter to her naked body. He had gone to the library after catching her and Will, and she hurried to follow him, knowing that an explanation was necessary. He discontinued his pacing and stopped close to her, too close for comfort, but his eyes looked over her head. "I can't even look at you after what I saw." She rolled her eyes at his dramatic words.

"How do you think it makes me feel when you…"

"That's not the same!

"Right, I'm only doing one man. You've got how many women?" His hand rushed across her cheek, eliciting a small whimper from deep within her throat. That's all she felt he ever did was hit her, push her around. She was tired of it.

"It's not the same! I've provided for you for years, and you think you can just make a fool of me with your cheating and carrying on!"

"You don't make any sense, Stan! That's what you've been doing! Well guess what, I'm sick of putting up with your bullshit!"

"I have no need for you. I have women who are dying to be in your position, married to me."

"Your whores only love you for your money. It's not because they like you, or because you're good-looking. You're a meal ticket for them, and I'm done with being just your trophy wife."

"You shut your mouth!" She clenched her teeth in anger. If there was one thing she hated it was when people told her to stop speaking. It stemmed from an early childhood bully who used to terrorize her on the walk to school.

"Excuse me?"

"Shut your mouth! You know, the opening you use to suck off our lawyer!"

"Fuck you!" He tried to hit her again, but she moved towards the desk, effectively dodging his fist. She grabbed his sharpened letter opener in her hand, and as soon as he turned to try hitting her again, she held the small blade to his throat.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?" She knew she wouldn't, it wasn't who she was. She only wanted to stop him from putting his hands on her, and the discarded letter opener was the only thing she could think of. He must have seen her own disbelief flash through her eyes because he took that opportunity to firmly grab her wrist and bend it backwards until she dropped the blade. He turned her around, twisting her arm behind her back, and bent her over his desk. He pressed her hard into the wood of the desk and leaned down to place his lips against her ear. She continuously bit her lip to keep herself from crying out at the pain.

"You have an hour to get out of my house."

"It's my house too." He lay heavier on top of her, hindering her ability to breathe. She felt something pop in her wrist as he squeezed tighter to hold her to her spot. It didn't matter; she was incapable of moving.

"Daddy, what are you doing to Karen?" Mason stood crying in the suddenly opened doorway. He was coming to tell his father goodnight. Stan immediately let go of her and stood to full height, meeting his son's gaze, as her legs fell weak and she hit the ground.

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Will walked back to the bed and sat again. He had been pacing for fifteen minutes while his lover argued with her husband, and he was nervous, thankful, though, because Stan didn't beat the hell out of him when he found Karen shivering beneath his thrusts. He was surprised that he was still completely intact. Suddenly, the door opened and he stood.

"Karen…" She closed the door with her back and slide into a seated position. She was clutching her left wrist in the opposite hand, and her lip was bleeding. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, but she didn't care if Will saw. There was really no way of stopping her tears anyway at that point. "What happened?" She sniffled and let out a deep breath as he rushed to her side, cupping her face in his hands.

"Will you help me pack?" He tried to pull her into his arms, but she stood from the floor and rushed to her closet. She didn't want to be touched at the moment, it felt wrong. He followed, fully understanding the situation. He knew it was Stan who had hurt her, who had violated her in a physically abusive way. All the pieces of the puzzle fit together when she entered the room, all their conversations and the marks on her otherwise flawless body. The past fell into place in his mind.

"Where are you going?" She shook her head and began filling a large suitcase. He stopped her when he realized she was trying not to use her left hand. "Is it broken? That looks horrible."

"No honey, its fine. Please, just help me get out of here." He nodded and released her hand from his grip before finding another suitcase and pulling clothing off the racks. She had so many things that it took them almost forty minutes to fill five suitcases and two large cloth bags. Rosario and a few maids loaded the suitcases into the limo while Karen got dressed.

"Where are you going?" She bitterly chuckled and turned to face him, having previously been cleaning the blood off her face in the bathroom.

"My limo."

"You should stay with me and Grace."

"I appreciate it, honey, but I don't do couches." She picked up the bag with all her bathroom essentials and Will wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she walked to the front door. She was leaving behind things that meant the world to her, like her book collection and the furniture from her room she had purchased on a trip to Paris, boxes of things she had kept from childhood. After a deep breath they left the manse.

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"Karebear, what's going on?" Jack opened his door and looked his best friends up and down. She shrugged and he leaned forward to give her a hug, to which she barely responded. Will spoke, knowing she wouldn't ask herself. She had too much pride.

"Can she stay here for a while?" He handed Jack her bathroom bag and raised his eyebrow in question.

"Of course you can. What happened?" She told Jack a censored version of the story, leaving out the part where Stan caught her cheating on him. That was something he didn't need to know just yet, if ever. He held her in his arms as she slept.