...
Honestly, Taryn was surprised to even see Stefan at her hotel suite. A part of her wanted to slam the door and to never let him in, but instead she said "Come in"
He walked inside as she closed the door, with his arms crossed as Taryn looked at him, wondering why he decided to show up all of a sudden.
"So, what do you need to talk to me about?"
"Well, I found out some news about you." He looked at her carefully. "One that I don't approve of and you know it."
"Which is what exactly?" She asked, her tone nonchalant.
"Well for one, you are all cozied up here and sleeping with that fucking degenerate Seth Rollins, which might I add that you are crossing the line. Not only that, you keep blowing me off and ignoring me as if I don't mean nothing to you. Isn't our marriage worth fighting for?"
Taryn suddenly had a quick fantasy of punching the shit out of Stefan, making him fall back on the floor, cowering.
Instead she thought better of it. She knew if she went against him, he would make her life a living hell, especially with putting her in a psych ward because of the revenge she had done to her enemies back then and as well as the abortion.
God how he loved to stick that abortion card on her, as well as all her fears and phobias.
However, she had to remain cool and keep her composure. There was no way she was going to be broken in front of him, especially with all that he put her through.
"Why do you care all of a sudden who I'm with? Aren't you with Kristen right now?" She decided to test him just a bit.
Stefan wasn't really expecting that sly comeback from her but he knew how to put Taryn in her place. He was the master of manipulation and he was going to make her see things her way whether she wanted too or not.
"Look, I know that I hurt your little feelings with Kristen but what did you expect? I needed a woman whose going to live up to the high expectations and you don't. You keep failing at every turn and you keep disappointing me. You still haven't even given me the answer to the deal and with that, I told you I would cut off Kristen for good." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly.
He knew he was never going to cut Kristen off. Everything he was saying was all a lie. But in his delusional mind, he knew Taryn was mentally weak. He knew he was the only one who could break her and he had been doing it for over 2 years now. He had a serious control over her and he wasn't giving up no time soon. Most of the time, he had to make her learn her place, as Kristen would strongly suggest to him in order to control her sister. "But for you to be around Seth? You know how much-I mean you know how much WE hate him." He corrected himself quickly. "All that he has done; He's publicly embarrassed you. He's played mean tricks on you and he will never stop."
Taryn was silent for a moment, just listening to Stefan as he continued.
"And not only that, how do you know he's not manipulating you? You know he's giving you a false sense of security like always. I'm the one you need no matter what. In fact, you need to remember that without me, you wouldn't even be alive right now. You wouldn't have been saved if I had not called 911 that night when I found you in the rain, soaked and covered in blood. You were helpless without me and that's how you will always be, even with Seth giving you that false promise of hope."
Taryn swallowed hard, remembering that fateful night and everything that had happened. She thanked God that Seth put an end to Alex' and his torture of her and now she didn't hear from him again because of what Seth had done.
She looked at Stefan. "Seth may have been an asshole to me back then, but at least I can say one thing. He's never made me feel like everything I have done was wrong. He's made me feel like I'm worth something."
Stefan was getting pissed. He was losing Taryn and he couldn't let that happen. He was not going to let that idiot take Taryn away. She belonged to him at all costs. She owed him, she had no right to have any kind of free will.
A part of her did feel like she did owe Stefan. No one else found her lying on the cold ground except for her. But at what cost? All he has ever done was mentally abuse her, treat her like garbage for the past two years, locking her in that basement and keeping her there in isolation.
There was only so much she could take but she had been doing great so far in front him. As much as she would cry behind closed doors, she kept her attitude as stonewall as much as she could.
"Stefan…I just really need to be alone. Please just leave." She spoke softly.
"Taryn, you know you push me to do this and I only do it because I care."
Just then he grabbed her arm, knowing there were cuts on the arm he was hurting and she was wincing in pain still.
"Stefan please, you're hurting me..." She had tears in her eyes as he held her arm tightly, forcing her to pack her things.
"I am sick of this. You are still my wife and you are coming home with me, I don't give a shit if you don't like it or not."
He had her arm snatched up, his nails digging deep in her arm as she was begging for him to stop. Of course, none of them heard Seth come in as Seth walked in to see Stefan slam her up against the wall.
Seth went into a serious rage as he lunged at Stefan punching the shit out of him. His knuckles making serious contact with his nose and jaw as Taryn had to beg for Seth to stop.
"Seth stop, don't do this!" She screamed at him, not wanting to get him in trouble.
Seth then landed another punch to Stefan's jaw as he gushed out more blood, his perfect jaw and his perfect nose in bad shape right now.
"Fuck!" He screamed, coughing up blood. "What is your fucking problem? It's none of your business what's going on right now between me and my wife."
"It's my business when you put your fucking hands on her, you stupid idiot." Seth glared at him as Taryn silently stood back. "She's done nothing wrong to you and you are demanding that she comes home to you, especially after you cheated on her, WITH her sister none the less and threw her out? Have you lost your mind or is it so far up your ass you can't think straight anymore?"
Stefan scrambled to get back but he wasn't going to get that close to Seth, knowing that Seth would have no problem landing another punch to him; Only this time his bones would be broken like glass because at the mood Seth was in right now, he would be dead.
"Seth please no... it's not worth it. Please..." Taryn took Seth's hand as she begged him silently. Seth nodded, deciding to listen to Taryn but would not take his eyes off Stefan.
"Don't even think about showing up here again..." He warned him as Stefan stood up, angrily grabbing his expensive black pea coat.
Stefan headed for the door but not before saying one more thing to Taryn as well as Seth.
"This isn't over. Taryn, think about what I've said. You may not like it now but I'm only doing this for your own good. You, as well as Seth know deep down inside that you are unfit and unstable to take care of yourself and you know you need me. As for you Seth, you better be prepared to have a lawsuit coming your way for assault as well as for emotional distress for what you said to my sister." His tone was menacing.
Seth only smirked at him. "Well tell her to give me a call. I'll have a lot more to say to her if she thought what I said to her before was bad." He stated matter of factly.
Stefan thought about attacking Seth but given that he was a wrestler, the outcome would NOT work in his favor so he just left and slammed the door.
Seth turned his attention back to Taryn, who clutched on her robe as she was shaking a little from what just happened.
"Are you ok, sweetheart?" He went over to her as she swallowed hard, getting herself together fast.
"Yes I'm ok..." She nodded as Seth held her close.
"He didn't hurt you did he?" He asked, examining her. "I was coming to pick you up for the photoshoot but when I saw your hotel door was unlocked and I heard his voice, I knew something was off."
"No he didn't hurt me. He just grabbed my arm but I'm ok I promise." She assured him.
Of course, she felt a trickle of blood down to her right hand and Seth noticed it too. He knew it had to be from her cuts.
"Come with me." He took her hand as they went into the bathroom as she sat on the toilet top. Seth had some first aid with him in his bags as he rolled up her arm, seeing the cuts on her arm. Most of them were healing but a few of them were doing a slow process of healing, still bleeding nonetheless.
Seth got a rag and some cold water, letting it soak for a bit.
"Seth, you don't have to do this…" She tried to protest but Seth wasn't trying to hear it.
"One day, you're going to learn to stop being stubborn with me." He grabbed a chair nearby as he proceeded to wring out the wet rag. Taryn decided to make it easier for him as she slipped out her robe, just wearing a pair of sweatpants and a plain old black shirt which had her typical black and purple skulls on it.
Taryn snorted softly. "Well good luck with that."
He started dabbing on the cuts that were bleeding as she winced a little. They still hurt but not as bad as how they use to be. Stefan knew she was cutting herself but thought it was just a phase and only told her to just put some ointment on and to keep it moving. Or he would just ignore it all together.
Seth however took the time out to treat her cuts, gently wiping it down with a rag as he then rubbed some special balm as he would rub it on both of her arms.
Seth then would slowly rub his thumb over her cuts as he worked on her right arm. Taryn couldn't describe it but she always felt that sensation and it felt like she was at peace.
"Taryn?" He looked at her.
"Yes?" She responded.
"…Promise me that you won't do this again." He referred to cutting herself. "I don't want you mutilating yourself like this, not ever again."
"Seth, you don't have to- "
"Promise me." He was stern this time, as he kept his stare on her.
Taryn found herself holding her gaze and saw that he was serious. Dead serious. She knew then that she couldn't think of herself anymore like she use too. Especially now that she was carrying her baby. She had to think of others now, even though Seth didn't know that she was pregnant.
Not yet anyway.
"I promise." She replied. "I promise you that I won't do this again. Not anymore."
She continued to watch him clean her arms. Seth nodded, relieved that she would keep her promise.
After Seth was finished, Taryn was a little surprised as Seth would place a soft kiss on her cuts as that feeling alone made her smile.
"Why don't you finish getting dressed and I'll make sure we stop by to get something to eat before we have to head over to RAW?" He smiled at her as he kissed the top of her head.
"Well I am hungry for Subway or Chipotle…ooo or maybe this Fireside Pizza Place." She kept thinking of her options as Seth laughed.
He gave her some privacy to get dressed but despite Seth's sweet actions, Stefan's words haunted her and she knew she had to tell Seth the truth about the pregnancy soon.
She just wasn't sure how yet.
"What do you mean you haven't told him yet? What happened?"
Naomi was feeling great from her match with Carmella as Taryn cheered her friend on in support. Naomi found her best friend and gave her a great big hug before pulling her to the side to see how everything went between her and Seth and the elephant in the room.
"I tried too, Naomi, I really did. As scared as I was, I was going to just spit it out and say and let whatever happens, happen." She tugged on her pink sweater shirt. "But then it was when he was doing his interview, that he said he didn't want any distractions and a baby is one of those distractions? And even if I did tell him, what if he decides that he doesn't want to keep the baby but I do?"
"Look, we don't know for sure if he means distractions from anything; Could be family, friends, hell maybe even Dean and Roman. I understand you don't want to stand in the way of his dreams but sooner or later, he's going to become suspicious. You are already starting to show."
Taryn could feel her stomach was starting to hardened as it has been only a few weeks. She was now 10 weeks pregnant but soon the weeks would fly by pretty damn fast and Seth would see her body start to change up.
She's been able to keep her morning sickness under control for a while due to Seth being gone most of the time with his Money in The Bank Contract and his wrestling school.
Of course, he was wondering why she wasn't wrestling as much anymore but her excuse was that her and Stephanie talked and she needed a break. She was sure that Seth would eventually catch on to what was really going on with her.
"Saltine Crackers and Ginger Ale help a lot in times of need." She referred to her morning sickness as Naomi smirked.
"Girl I believe it." She agreed with her. "But does Ariel know yet? What about- "
"No damn it, no one else knows except me and you! Will you be quiet before your husband finds out? Because if Jimmy finds out, then so will Roman and then boom, Seth will know." She reminded her.
"So what are you going to do right now?"
Taryn sighed as they went into her locker room as Taryn got changed into one of the outfits that was picked for the photoshoot for WWE RAW and Smack down. Both her and Naomi would be wearing leather outfits and Taryn was happy that they weren't too tight on her.
"Well, after this photoshoot, I'm going to talk to Stephanie about this and maybe she'll put me in a storyline where it will give me an excuse to leave for quite some time. I can only hope for the best."
Naomi hugged her friend, seeing her stressed state. "Trust me girl, you got this. I really think you should tell Seth the truth. You can tell he really cares about you and if he even does something stupid to hurt you, you can better believe that my glow sneakers will happily kick his teeth down his throat, after I'm done with Stefan of course."
"Well, I can tell you one thing for sure; Stefan may not have much teeth left after what Seth did earlier today."
Before Naomi could get into what she meant, Taryn opened her locker to find yet another note but this one was just as sick as the other ones.
Before Taryn could read it, Naomi picked it up and she read it herself.
"FAT BITCH; SLIT YOUR THROAT." Naomi was infuriated as she sat that they even cut out Taryn's eyes and stuck her picture on a pig's body.
"What the fuck?" She screamed, pissed as hell. "What kind of sick shit is this?"
"Naomi please don't- "
"Have you been getting these notes for a while now? Nah, hell no." She shook her head, grabbing Taryn by the hand as they were going to quickly find Stephanie and Hunter. "No, we are reporting it. Whoever thought this would be funny, it's not."
"Naomi stop it." She hissed at her.
"This is bullshit and you know it Taryn." Naomi glared at her, pissed at the situation. "Someone's trying to terrorize you and trying to twist it like a sick joke and I'm not going to put up with this shit. And neither should you. If we don't do something, then they are going to keep doing it and they won't stop."
"Will you just let me handle this please? Fuck!" Taryn stormed off, needing a minute to breathe and Naomi sighed, looking at the note again.
"She can get mad all she wants but I'm going to find whoever did this and I'm jumping in their ass, no mercy." She scoffed, but not before of course, running into Finn Balor.
"Hey, what's going on?" He looked at Naomi and Taryn, his best friend as she was walking down the hall, needing to be alone.
"This should tell you." She handed him the note as she walked off, looking for Taryn now. Finn looked at the letter and looked at Taryn, feeling anger already at who was messing with her. He kept the note with him for now but he knew after his match he had to find Seth or whoever and try to figure what the fuck was going on and who was messing with his best friend.
At the same time, Ariel had to keep her emotions under control, despite that once again last night, Her and Roman had yet another serious fight, one that was so bad, that he called off the engagment, suggesting that they needed some space.
They still showed up to work but Roman was spending his nights at the hotel. Ariel felt so lonely without him. She missed his voice, his touch, and everything of him. She missed the way he would make her laugh.
She wiped her eyes quickly and was happy that when she told Maria and Sasha about what happened, they were there for her. Of course, Taryn didn't know yet.
Speaking of her little sister, she saw Taryn as she smiled at her. She was wearing her outfit for the photoshoot and Ariel would be next soon to do her photoshoot.
"Hey sweetheart, are you alright?" Taryn hugged her as Ariel sniffled.
"Never better..." She said bitterly, drinking her water as they walked down the hall.
"What's going on?" Taryn was concerned.
"...I fucked up yet another relationship. Me and Roman's engagement...he called it off." She sighed, trying her best not to cry.
"What? I'm going to kill him, that fucking asshole." Taryn was ready to find that Stupid Samoan and beat his ass and have him flying but Ariel stopped her.
"No No Taryn.." She grabbed her hand, stopping her before she got in trouble. "Trust me, it's not his fault this time. I've been acting super bitchy to him lately."
"What's been going on, twin?" They sat on one of the crates as Ariel pulled her blue and black hair back. Taryn and Ariel weren't really twins but it was a nickname they shared with each other since they had similar personalities.
"I don't know what's been going on with me lately. I've been snapping off at everyone for the past couple of weeks. I don't know if its the upcoming wedding and I'm stressed out over that, or the fact that the projects I've been working on have been taking a toll on my brain as well as my championship match that I'm suppose to be having at Summerslam. I'm in the Fatal Fourway and I really want to win this match but its like I'm losing more and more confidence each day as I come here. Now I just drove my best friend away. I love him so much Taryn..."
"Then you two need to sit down and talk this out." She grabbed her hand, squeezing it. "If I know you and I'm pretty sure I do since freaking birth, that you never give up on anything, especially when its someone that you love very much. You and Roman have had y'all ups and down but don't let him slip away. And Roman's dumbass better realize that too. Just because you're bipolar doesn't make you any less of a woman. You are strong as hell and I'll be damned if I let anyone break your spirit."
Ariel smiled at her, wiping her eyes as she hugged her. "Thanks. Maybe some time may be a good thing but I'm not giving up on Roman."
"You better not and if I have too, I'm going to make my point with Roman not to give up, even if that means I have to kick his empty skull in to realize that you are an incredible person."
Ariel stifled a giggle "Listen, I'll be fine ok? Besides, it's my job to look after you anyway."
"We look after each other alright?" Taryn scoffed.
Just then, they called Ariel next for the photoshoot as she smiled after her.
Taryn was confident about Ariel's situation though. Soon, they would get back together.
She just hoped Roman wouldn't be stupid and mess it up even worse.
After his match with Kevin Owens, ignoring some of the boos from the WWE Universe, Roman headed back to his locker room, just needing a breather. The word got around kind of fast about him and Ariel's engagement being called off. No matter how private you can try to keep it, sources always had a way of finding themselves to be spread out in the open amongst the WWE.
The fighting was taking a toll on them, making them both exhausted. Roman has tried to be sensitive to her feelings, given her mental state and that she couldn't help it, but it seemed that her behavior was much worse than it was before. She would just belittle him, making him feel less and less of a person and he's said some hurtful things to her to the point where she's even thrown things at him.
At this point, he needed a break from her and even had second thoughts of getting married. They believed it was best that they both took a break.
He was getting out of his gear, ready to shower and go meet up with Dean and Seth for a few drinks and asking for some kind of advice.
When he went back out for a second to make sure he had everything packed up for the next town ahead, there stood Maria Kanellis.
"Hey Roman.." She smiled at him sweetly.
"Uh hey Maria. How's it going?" He was being casual, not wanting to be too friendly with her. He didn't flirt or associate with too many females in the WWE. He was his own person and he wanted to keep it that way so no one would get the wrong idea about him.
"I heard about what happened with you and Ariel. I just wanted to say that I am so sorry. I know it must be tough for you right now." She was sympathetic.
"THank you but I'll be ok I guess. How is Ariel doing? Is she ok?" He was still concerned, still cared about her.
"I'm not sure. I haven't heard from her in a minute." Maria smiled, remembering that Ariel texted her about her and Roman and Maria would just ignore her text messages, not responding till the next day as she was smiling happily at the downfall of Ariel.
Now she knew this would be her chance to get Roman all to herself and make him see that she would be all he needed, not some freak who was unstable and had multiple personalities that she needed to be in a straightjacket.
As long as Ariel kept taking her "medication" and Kevin Owens didn't spill the beans, everything would work out in her favor as Kristen had promised.
If no one got in her way.
"Make sure you keep an eye on her ok. I know we are not talking right now and we are separated but I still-"
"Of course, no need to say no more." Maria reassured him. "But listen, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me." She wrote down her number and gave it to him.
"Maria-"
"Please Roman, I'm just being a friend to you. I've known you for awhile and I know that sometimes it can be very stressful. Don't shut me out please. Especially since you are an incredible person."
Roman sighed, smiling at her as he reluctantly took her phone number. He knew that Maria meant well and she was a great person, just being a friend. At the same time however, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea about anything.
Maybe he was just being a little paranoid.
As Maria walked off, Dean came up to him, seeing a little bit as to what just happened a few minutes ago.
"You sure that was a good idea?" He questioned his brother but Roman shrugged.
"She's just being nice. I know she's just concerned for me I don't think its anything else." Roman put the number in his pocket. "Why, you think otherwise?"
"She just sends off a weird vibe with me but I don't know. I can't tell with women sometimes." Dean said as he started doing his pushups, preparing his match against Baron Corbin.
Roman just shook his head, ready to hit the showers and keep it moving.
Stefan was still fuming over what happened, as he had to put ice on his nose and jaw, ordering a drink at the bar. This was fucking ridiculous. He couldn't believe that Seth was in love with Taryn all this time. He felt like she crossed a line, sleeping with someone that she knew he hated more than anything. It was her job to be on his side no matter what. Now he felt like he was losing Taryn to Seth and he didn't know what the fuck to do about it.
"You look like shit..." A woman said to him as he turned around, surprised to see who it was.
"Zahra?" He recognized Seth's girlfriend..or ex girlfriend in this case.
"You guessed it." She sat down beside him. "How's it going Stefan?"
"Well your little boy toy just broke my fucking jaw so how the fuck do you think it's going?" He said with a snark attitude, wiping the blood with a towel.
"Well believe me, I'm not to thrilled myself that your fucking whore of a wife stole him from me. And I think it's time we turn them against each other once again like before and get things back to the way they were."
"Well what did you have in mind?" He asked, nursing his Brandy.
"Well, I did a little digging and it turns out you know something of Taryn, one that could possibly destroy her and Seth could possibly take the fall, as well as maybe Ariel too, since I know how much you hate her."
Stefan smiled at her. "Mind if I buy you a drink so we can talk some more about what your plan is?" He not only wanted to destroy Seth but teach his stupid ass wife a lesson so that she would learn to obey. He had to realy turn it up a notch to drive her crazy, to make her suffer.
"Of course." She said as he ordered her a drink, as she pulled out a portfolio. Her and Liv both schemed and she had even gotten a call from a private source which had something to do with Taryn. She had her feeling her husband knew of this as well and by the time she showed Stefan what she found, Stefan was singing like a canary of what she had done when she was 16.
Zahara had a very wicked idea in mind and as Stefan was sharing everything with her, she recorded it and now she knew exactly what to do to tear Seth and Taryn apart.
"Well I'll keep you posted." She smiled at him.
"Good. I'll be watching when it all comes crashing down" He nursed his drink as he watched Zahara leave. He was going to make those two suffer and he would be getting all of Taryn's royalties by the time she was in that psych ward.
Stephanie was working in her office as she heard a knock on the door. "Come in."
There was Taryn who smiled at her as Stephaie smiled at her. "Hello Taryn how are you?"
They both shared a hug. "I'm ok, but there is something I need to talk to you about."
"Sure, come sit down." She closed the door as they sat down on the leather sofa. "What's going on? How is the therapy going."
"It's a work in progress but Seth has been helping me." She smiled.
"I've noticed.." Stephanie shared a small smile of her own.
"But what I've come to talk to you about is.." She cleared her throat. "Well...I think I should take a leave of absence for awhile..."
Stephanie furrowed her brows. "Why? What's going on."
Taryn felt another little flutter as she rubbed her stomach and looked back up at Stephanie. "I'm pregnant...with Seth's child...and I think with me leaving it would be the best for me."