Chapter 12
Today was the day. By the end of today, she'd be married. To Mael. Elizabeth looked in the mirror of the bridal dressing room the overpriced venue offered.
The days had passed in such a blur she almost forgot what today was until her betrothed reminded her, with a slimy kiss to her neck in the morning. He had insisted, demanded, she move in with him the next day after… after that event.
Elizabeth still refused to think about it, and the times he's touched her since. Mael hadn't let her have her bridesmaids join, citing the short notice for them to get their dresses fitted. She had tried to call the girls to let them know the change, but he claimed he'd do it for her.
In fact, he'd done everything for her ever since she came home that night after leaving Heaven's Theatre City Park. He rushed her inside and told her that she needn't worry about a thing, he would handle all the rest of the planning, that she should rest. She noticed the bruising under his eye and busted lip but didn't have the courage to question them.
If it weren't for the fact that she had seen the darkness that lied beneath his kindness she might've let herself trust the sincerity in his words.
Mael told her that after the wedding they would be moving away, into a house for the baby. Her degree would have to wait. Elizabeth understood the true meaning of the words. Her career was over before it ever began. She would be a housewife, a trophy wife, for the rich and powerful Mael.
The staff Mael hired to help her dress had long left, the hairstylist and makeup artist had painted her and groomed her to look like a shimmering goddess dressed in white. The perfect image of a blushing bride ready to marry the love of her life.
A knock sounded at the door startling the silver-haired bride. The door opened without waiting for her response and her father entered the room slightly.
"My darling Elizabeth," Bartra gushed. "You look stunning." She almost believed the love she heard in his voice. Almost.
"Thank you, father." She states evenly, toying with the diamonds wrapped around her waist.
"It's time for me to walk you down the aisle, follow me." He waves a hand towards the doorway and walks off without waiting for the girl's reply once more.
Taking a deep breath, she stands and lets the white dress cascade to the floor around her. Looking once more in the mirror she says goodbye to her life. Her freedom. Her dreams. Turning a walking out the doorway after her father, she says hello to her new life.
She meets her father at the large door standing between her and her husband to be. Wrapping her arm around her fathers, letting him pull her veil over her face, she looks forward and when the doors open and she hears the music begin to play, she lets one single tear slip down her cheek.
With a clench to her gut, she swallows and walks with her father down the aisle.
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A Few Days Earlier
"E-Elizabeth?" Meliodas stutters out confused. "Yes! Yes of course is she okay?"
"Well, to put things frankly…" Dr. Faith says slowly. "I'm concerned about her."
"Is the baby okay?" He feels his heart clench at the thought of something being wrong with the baby, his baby.
"Yes sir, the baby is fine. Don't worry about that." The doctor takes a pause. "I was more concerned about… well, I'm afraid someone is hurting Elizabeth."
Meliodas takes a moment to ponder the words he hears. "H-hurting her? Like beating her?" The anger starts to rise in his chest. This was his fault. She should be safe with him, not being hurt because he was too idiotic to see the truth.
Dr. Faith sighs on the other side of the phone before continuing. "Ms. Liones mentioned you were no longer involved with her or the pregnancy, and I checked the file and see another man's card is on file now." The woman on the line struggles to find the right words. "But the signs are there, of someone… sexually, abusing her."
His eyes sting with tears of pain and guilt. "You mean…" He lets out a choked gasp. "Like she was… raped?" He whispers the last word not wanting to believe it.
The doctor is silent for a moment, before answering his question. "Yes. I believe so."
Meliodas lets out an antagonized cry, nearly dropping the phone. Ban looks at the man with alarm but doesn't know what's going on. "By who?" His voice is dripping with menacing rage.
"I can't say for certain, but I suspect whomever she is with now is the one responsible." Dr. Faith says quietly. "I'm sorry but by calling you I've risked my job and can't tell you anything else. I just don't want my patient to be hurt in such a way and… I could tell by the way you looked at her in the beginning, that you cared. I don't know what happened that changed things, but I know she needs someone who cares. Good luck, Meliodas."
The woman hangs up before the blonde can thank her for reaching out to him and risking everything to help Elizabeth. The anger can be felt by the other two people in the room as the heat comes off the man in waves.
"What happened? Is Elizabeth okay?" Ban grabs onto the shaking man pulling his gaze towards himself. "What's going on?"
"I'm gonna kill him." Meliodas bites out.
"Who? Who are you killing?!" Ban tries to get the man to answer him to no avail.
Meliodas turns to storm out of the room. "Meliodas wait!" Zaneri cries from the bed, but she's long forgotten in the raging man's mind. Ban chases after him grabbing onto his shirt, forcing him to stop and look at him.
"What. Is. Going. On?" Ban bites out, not letting the blonde leaving without an answer.
"Who is that bastard calling himself her fiancé?" He growls.
A confused look crosses Ban's features before he answers. "Mael something or 'nother. Some rich dude according to Zaneri." The taller man explains. "Why? What's wrong?"
"That fucker hurt Elizabeth." Meliodas is shaking in his friend's clutches. "While I was blind to Zaneri's schemes and lies, Elizabeth… Elizabeth was… this is all my fault. I-I have to…"
The blonde's eyes start watering again and he's unsure if it's the regret or fury causing them this time. Shoving his friend off him he storms towards the exit, gripping his keys in his shaking hand with a determination he hadn't felt in a long time.
Clicking the keys to find where Ban parked his truck, he hears the horn beep twice to let direct his movement in that right direction. Jumping into the vehicle he wastes no time starting the engine. He's about to change the gears when the passenger door pops open and Ban jumps in.
"If you're going down for murder, I'm going with you." Ban declares. "I'm not sure what this asshole did, but from what I heard on that phone call, I don't need to know the details. Let's do this."
Meliodas nods and guns the truck out of the parking garage. He hits the main road and realizes he has no idea where he's going. "Where is this asshole at?"
Ban pulls out his phone and searches Mael up and finds Arch Angel LLC's main office. Plugging the address into the GPS to two men set out to avenge the silver-haired girl they wrongly dismissed before.
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Walking up to the reception area, trying to appear calm and collected and not a murderous rampage, the two men speak to the pink-haired woman. "I need to speak with Mael please, it's urgent."
"Do you have an appointment?" The girl asks sounding bored.
"No but he's going to want to see us, tell him it's about his fiancé Elizabeth." Meliodas bites out through clenched teeth.
The girl huffs but dials a few numbers on the phone. After a couple of rings, a man's voice can be heard from the speakers.
"Yes, Nerobasta?" The man Meliodas assumed was Mael.
"There are two men here asking to see you." Nerobasta gushes, her voice two tones higher than before. "They say it's about your little girlfriend, Elena."
"Elizabeth." The blonde practically growls.
"Whatever," Nerobasta whispers, her distaste evident in the face she makes.
"Send them in." And the phone clicks.
"Through that door, down the hall, and to the left." The dismissal of the two men is clear to them as she turns away and starts clacking on her computer once more.
Meliodas doesn't bother to knock on the door, simply busting in and quickly shutting the door behind himself.
"Ah yes, you're Elizabeth's friends yes?" Mael smiles warmly. "How can I help you?"
Meliodas walks up to the taller man and shoves him back into the wall. He grabs his collar and pulls him down to eye level and leans over to growl into his ear. "You can explain why you think you have the right to hurt my Ellie."
Mael only sneers in understanding at the shorter man's words. "Your Ellie?" He lets out a harsh laugh. "I hate to tell you this but, she's marrying me in less than a week. You clearly weren't man enough to take care of her." He shoves Meliodas back roughly, looking down on the blonde before a cruel smirk crosses his lips. "And I don't care what she told you, but she wanted everything I gave her."
Before Ban could retort in defense of his friend, Meliodas's fists swing and knock Mael into the desk behind him. Blood sprays from his lip, reddening his chin and dampening the collar of his expensive shirt.
"What did she do? Go cry to you about it?" Mael laughs, spitting blood on the hardwood floor. "Little brat."
"No, but maybe you shouldn't leave so many signs of your abuse on a girl who sees a doctor regularly." Meliodas retorts.
"Ah, so she still is a good little girl." Mael chuckles. "She was oh so sweet too. Mm-hm felt like heaven around my—"
Mael's words are cut off by Ban socking him in the eye. The taller man grabs him by the collar and snarls in his face. "You stay the fuck away from her, she's not your plaything."
The bruising around his eye and blood dripping from his lips does nothing to stop his laughter. "Don't you imbeciles see? I've already won, she's mine!" He head butts Ban on his forehead causing the attacking man to stumble backward. "Once she says I do, it's over. My wife and I will leave, and you'll never see her or that bastard child again."
Meliodas goes to swing again but is interrupted by the building's security busting in. "Took you, idiots, long enough." Mael sneers under his breath as they grab the two men, dragging them out of his office. He calls after them just as the door is about to close. "It was nice seeing you again, but let's not make this a regular thing alright? Goodbye now."
The two men are thrown out into the street and told not to come back or the police will be notified. "We need to find Elizabeth!" Meliodas starts rushing towards his car.
"She has a phone now!" Ban exclaims. "I don't have the number, but Elaine and Diane do." He quickly calls his girlfriend and tells her to get a hold of Elizabeth as soon as possible. He doesn't explain why, just that she needs to get her to go to them and call them when she's there.
"I'm going to look around campus in the meantime," Meliodas says mostly to himself, trying to calm his own nerves.
Their encounter with Mael had left him more rattled than he wanted to admit. He had hoped the doctor was wrong about what she said, but the ugly snarl on that son of bitch's face made what he did to her clear.
Meliodas slammed his hands into the steering wheel cursing himself for not protecting her. For not protecting his baby. Angry tires threaten to fall down his cheeks, but he bites them back, determined to find the love of his life.
Hours pass with no signs of the girl, and Diane and Elaine's call go unreturned. Meliodas starts to become frantic. "Where is she?!" He practically cries on Ban's couch.
They had decided to group together at Ban and Elaine's apartment after searching all over campus to no avail. They had explained everything to the girls, and they showed nothing but support to their friend. But the blonde was starting to get desperate.
"She's not in our dorm room, she's pretty much already moved out actually." Diane drifts off on the past portion of her sentence realizing that her words probably are not helping the predicament the man is in.
"I wish I knew where they lived but she never told me, I'm so sorry Meliodas." Elaine cries as she tries to console the other blonde.
"I've got it!" Diane quickly jumps up, grabbing her purse pulling out an envelope.
"Of course!" Elaine exclaims understanding Diane's actions.
"What is that?" Ban's eye narrows at the envelope, unsure how it could help his friend.
"It's an invitation to the wedding!" Diane smiles. "It's the one place we know she'll be at for certain."
"And Diane and I are bridesmaids! We can sneak you in before the wedding!" Elaine claps at her little plan, excited to save her friend from Mael.
A quiet beep from both girl's phones causes the atmosphere to change rapidly.
"It's Elizabeth!" Diane squeals. She looks over the message and her face turns downward.
"We're uninvited and no longer bridesmaids?" Elaine says slowly, still trying to comprehend the message.
"This doesn't look like her typing either…" Diane tilts her head to the side.
"Of course, he'd make sure you guys weren't there to intervene." Meliodas pulls at his hair in frustration. Elaine attempts to call Elizabeth again, but the phone goes straight to voicemail. "It's Mael, he's isolating her."
Ban gets a goofy grin on his face and slaps his best friend in the back, drawing the room's attention to himself. "Well, we all know what this means right?"
Meliodas smiles. "Looks like we're crashing a wedding guys!"
It's all coming together! I'm thinking maybe another chapter or 2 to wrap this up? Maybe an epilogue? Unsure.
I've already started my next fanfic, making my decision about which story to go with, but I'll keep it a surprise as to which one for now. I'll publish it after this one ends for sure.
Should Meliodas beat Mael's ass at the wedding? I'm debating on that part. But have no fear, we will have our dramatic climax soon!
Hopefully, this finishes up in the next week or two, I don't like keeping you guys waiting I know how devastating it can be.
Leave me some encouraging reviews? Tell me what you think? Hate it? Love it? I need to know!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed already so far, I love reading them all they make me so happy I swear.
Until next time!
