Chapter 10

"Thank you Mael for leaving with me," Elizabeth sighs loudly. "I didn't expect to get so emotional."

"It's quite alright, Elizabeth." Mael caresses a hand down her face and stops at her shoulder. "Maybe you should stay here tonight. Give your friends some space."

Elizabeth freezes at the thought, before shaking her head at the taller man. "Oh no, no… I don't think—"

"We are getting married in a week, sweetheart." He reminds her. "We'll be living together soon remember?"

She swallows hard and considers Mael's words. "You-you're right I suppose. I should get used to being… here." Elizabeth looks around the cold and neat condo he lives in. Unconsciously comparing it to Meliodas room at the Deadly Sins House. She had felt comfortable with the blonde man on his couch; she felt safe. With Mael, she felt cold and her stomach had uncomfortable knots holding her back.

Oblivious to his fiancé's internal struggles Mael smiles. "Perfect, I'll go make us some tea to help you relax."

Elizabeth forces a smile and nods, walking towards the expensive leather couch in his, their, living room. Rubbing the back of her neck she took deep breaths; her emotions were still running high from the baby shower.

I shouldn't care about him anymore, he's moved on. He's marrying Zaneri, for goddess sakes! She tried to convince herself that he didn't matter, that she could move on. The image of him passed out drunk on the table hit her hard. He wasn't okay, that was clear to everyone around him, that was clear to Elizabeth.

"He needs help…" Elizabeth whispered to herself.

"Who needs help?" Mael appears next to her with a cup of tea, causing Elizabeth to startle backward. "Sorry I thought you heard me walk up. Who needs your help?"

"It's nothing." She takes the tea and raises it to her lips, enjoying the way the warm liquid slips down her throat.

Silence settles over them as she sips more of the calming drink. She looks over to Mael and sees the heat begin to roll off him. She opens her mouth to ask what's wrong, but he speaks first.

"It's him, isn't it." He bites out, looking over to the girl to glare into her eyes. "It's that Meliodas boy, the baby's father, isn't it."

"Mael I don't understand what's going on…" She makes a face of uncertainty. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Everything, Elizabeth! EVERYTHING!" Mael stands and swipes the table of its contents, throwing the teacups across the room and into the wall. Elizabeth leans back fearful of this new side of the man in front of her.

"I-I don't understa—"

"I've done nothing but love you, Elizabeth! I watched you from afar for years before your father came to me with this proposition! I thought I would finally have you to myself but clearly, you're too absorbed with that bastard to see that I'm in love with you!" Mael leans over and places his hands cupping her face roughly. "I took you in when he abandoned you! Don't you see that? And you can't even kiss me!"

xxxxxxxxxxTRIGGER WARNING—PLEASE SKIP TO NEXT BREAK IF NEEDEDxxxxxxxxxx

He shoves his mouth against her before she could respond, forcing his tongue past her lips. Elizabeth tried to shove him off, but he was stronger than her. His hands sliding down her throat to her covered breast, giving it a harsh squeeze.

Elizabeth smacked him the face as hard as she could and he barely budged. He pulled back and a sinister smirk crossed over his face. He slid a hand down and push the bottom of her skirt up slowly leaning down to kiss her neck.

"I've wanted a taste of you for so long," Mael moaned into her ear. "Watching you flaunt your curves and walk around like you're better than me."

He leaned back and looked down on her, using both his hands to rip her blue dress from the top down until it was completely open. "Now look at you, you little tease. You look so beautiful and all mine." His eyes grazed down her body, her chest heaving from the exertion of fighting him.

He growled and cupped both of her breasts roughly pulling her bra down. "N-no!" Elizabeth tried to pull him off her body, but his strength was no match for her. "I don't want this!"

"Why not, you're going to be my wife right?" Mael snarled. "You need to start performing your wifely duties for your husband, Elizabeth."

"I won't marry you!" She screamed at him, squeaking as he pinched her nipples between his thumbs and fingers. "You monster I'll end it all now."

The man on top of her let out a laugh. "And do what, bitch? Your father will disown you if you walk away from this arrangement. He wants his money more than his little sluts for daughters." Mael leaned back down to whisper in her ear. "You go ahead and leave. Be homeless. Be alone. That bastard's father doesn't want you or that thing."

Mael stood up and let Elizabeth sit up on the couch. She scrambled to pull her dress back over herself starting to run for the door when he pulled back and punched her in the face. Elizabeth fell back down the couch covering her gushing lips.

"Leave you whore, and let that baby starve while you drop out of school and work a minimum wage job." He gripped her jaw forcing her to stare into his menacing eyes. "You have no choice. It's marry me or homelessness." He shoved her face backward and she shriveled back on the cushions. "What'll it be?"

Elizabeth shook, trying to hold back the waterfall of tears but they kept escaping anyways. Mael looked down at her waiting for her answer. Her chest shook and she looked down the floor, realizing she was trapped. Her options were gone.

I'm all alone…

Silently, she stood and started walking towards the bedroom, feeling Mael's presence directly behind her the entire time. She stopped in front of the large, king-sized bed with grey sheets. With shaking hands she pulled the torn dress off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

A sob broke through her chest as Mael's hands moved from behind her to cup her breasts again. He leaned down and sucked on her earlobe before sneering into her ear. "Smart girl, I knew you'd make the right choice." His hand slipped from her breast to the back and undid the buckles before he shoved her onto his bed. "Don't worry, Elizabeth. I'll take care of you and that bastard. It'll all be okay."

Elizabeth rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, willing her soul to leave her body. She felt his hands caressing her hips and stomach gently. Her body shook in fear, but she refused to look. She refused to look away from the white ceiling.

His hand slipped into her panties and yanked them down causing her to flinch and clench her eyes closed. She fought the urge to close her legs, she fought the urge to scream. She fought the urge to die.

"So beautiful…" Mael whispered, running his fingers over her slit slowly, savoring the feel of her soft curls encasing her most private area. Her eyes opened and she tried to keep her face and mind blank. With a straight face, her tears slipped from her eyes as she heard Mael undo his belt.

She gulped harshly at the sound of his pants hitting the cold floor. She breathed deeply at the feel of his hands pushing her legs open. She held in her shudder as she felt him climb on top of her.

"I'll always love you, Elizabeth," Mael whispered into her ear, settling into the crook of her neck, and positioned himself. "You'll always be mine."

Her eyes never left the ceiling. Not when she felt the sting of his cock pushing into her dry folds. Not when she heard his moans of pleasure at the feel of her body.

She laid there silently and obediently, quietly crying begging the goddesses to save her.

But she knew better, no one would save her now. Her eyes slid closed as he finished, pumping her body full of his seed with a groan shaking his entire body. His slid out of her and walked towards the bathroom to rinse off.

She didn't move, she didn't feel. She let the mixture of his seed and blood drip out of her body. When she heard the shower turn on and was sure he couldn't hear her anymore she let out a broken cry. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried until she couldn't anymore.

xxxxxxxxxx TRIGGER WARNING OVER xxxxxxxxxxx

Meliodas groaned and grabbed his head. How much did I drink yesterday?

He sat up and looked around himself, he recognized the room as his in the apartment he got for him and Zaneri. Running a hand through his hair he sighed, starting to remember pieces of the day before.

He owed his friends an apology for ruining Elaine's baby shower. Looking around the room he searched for his phone, confused when the smart device wasn't next to him on the nightstand. Standing up he walked out of the bedroom to the overly bright living room. He groaned again and shielded his eyes.

"Babe! I'm so glad you're awake!" Zaneri squealed. "Come on we're going to be late!"

"Late? For what?"

"We're getting married!" The short girl clapped excitedly.

"What? I thought that was for a few months?" Meliodas shook his head lost at the turn of events.

"Well, I decided to move it up and just go to the courthouse," The girl explained with a wave of her hand. "We do the paperwork today then we can have a ceremony when I'm not fat and swollen." She pulled the man with her shoving his jacket in her arms and handing him his shoes. "I already made the appointment we have an hour to get there, babe. Let's get going."

Meliodas was too hungover to comprehend what was going on. "Slow down, slow down." He said shaking his head. "First of all, where's my phone?"

"Don't worry about that babe. Let's just go!" Zaneri dismissed the blonde's concerns, pulling him harder to the couch so he could put on his shoes. He sat down and stared at the floor, still lost and a bit drunk. "Let me just go touch up my make-up for the photos while you pull yourself together and then we'll head out, okay?"

She didn't wait for his reply before disappearing into the bathroom. He ran his hands down his face, slapping himself in the cheeks to wake up a bit faster. His eyes looked up across the room and saw his phone sticking out of Zaneri's purse.

"There you are," He whispers to himself and walks over to pull it out. It's low on battery there's still enough to see the missed calls and texts from all his friends. With a moan, he starts to see what he's missed.

BAN

Where are you?

BAN

Call me back!

BAN

I'm worried about you what the hell man

BAN

Are you okay?

BAN
Look man, there's some shit you need to know call me back ASAP.

BAN

WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

KING

Meliodas we're worried about you, call us.

KING

I'll call the cops don't tempt me.

DIANE
Dude where the heck are you?

DIANE

I swear if Zaneri did something to you I'll cut her.

DIANE

CALL. US. BACK.

ELAINE

Are you okay? You haven't looked good these past few weeks and we're worried about you.

ELAINE

Ban is scared, he just wants to help you. Can you give him a call?

Meliodas shook his head at his friend's concerned messages. He was fine, he was certain things would get better. He cracked his neck then pressed call to his best friend.

The phone rang twice before Ban answered. "What the hell man I've been looking all over for you!"

"I'm sorry I was passed out. Zaneri had my phone. She took me back to the new place." He explained.

"What's the address I'm coming over."

"You don't have to do th—"

"I'M COMING OVER." Ban insisted.

Meliodas rattled off the address and Ban said he was only around the corner, which didn't surprise Meliodas since the apartment was next to campus.

He hung up the phone and sat back down to wait for the taller man just in time for his fiancé to waltz out of the bathroom with a fresh coat of mascara and lipstick on.

"Where aren't you ready? I said we need to go!" Zaneri griped.

"Ban is coming over; he can come with us."

"He's coming over now?!" The girl yelped. "We need to go now!"

"Why? Why does it matter?" She ignored his questioning and pulled him up from the couch and towards the door. The moment they reached it a knock sounded through the apartment and Zaneri froze.

"Meliodas? It's me man open up!" Ban's voice called from the other side, but the girl didn't move from her position.

Meliodas pushed her gently aside and reached for the knob, just as his hand touched the lock Zaneri screamed and fell to the floor grasping her stomach in pain.

"Oh no, the baby!" Zaneri cried. "Meliodas! Help me!"

Hello friends! I missed my usual weekend update it was a bit busy for me to finish this chapter, and it was hard to do the Mael scene, I needed to make sure it was done right. Please let me know what you guys thought. Too dark? Not dark enough? Was my warning good enough or do I need to edit to fix it?

A bit of a cliff hanger here too, will Meliodas find out why Zaneri is so determined to keep him in the dark? I wonder if Arthur knows anything…

A lot of major plot moves are coming up so please follow and leave me encouraging reviews, please? Hope you all enjoyed it!