If you've previously read my original publishing of this story under the username Serenity05, I'd like to point out that I've made some changes to each chapter, and they you may want to read these over. No major changes in the early chapters, just minor details added. Chapter 6 is complete, and I will upload it as soon as I've edited and uploaded the remaining chapters.

Remember to review. :)

- xoxo, Crys (08.13.12)

"Picture Perfect"

Chapter 1

Serena Shields stood staring at her reflection in her full-length mirror. She frowned. She looked like the picture perfect wife and mother; clad in black slacks, a white button up shirt, and black heels, accompanied by a set of pearls. When had she become so reserved? Where had all her spunk gone?

She no longer had her meatballs like she did when she was younger. Her hair was now the length of mid-back and it was held up with a simple clip, leaving only a few strands framing her face. She had begun to wear makeup years before but wasn't too fond of the women that wore a profound amount. So she kept hers light, but noticeable. She was still beautiful, but also different.

Looking away from her mirror to the silver watch on her wrist, she noted it was 8:00 Am. Time to wake Annabelle. She slowly exited her room and began walking down the hall to her daughter's room; only the soft clicking of her heels on the wooden floor was heard throughout the large house.

Once she reached Annabelle's room she stopped mid-step and stared at her daughters sleeping form. She truly was an angel. Her daddy's little princess and Serena's pride and joy. Neither one of them could even begin to fathom what a life without her would be like.

"Annabelle," Serena called as she walked over to her daughters bedside. "Annabelle honey, it's time to get up," she said softly, lightly shaking her side.

"Five more minutes," was her daughter's barely audible reply as she pulled the covers over her head.

"Annabelle Elizabeth Shields, out of bed this instant," she said sternly as she walked over to her closet and pulled it open.

Annabelle groaned, unmoving.

"Come on, sleepyhead, hurry up and get dressed or you'll miss your bus." She said while contemplating on what to choose for her daughter. 'So many blues,' she thought examining her daughter's wardrobe. Her obsession had been pinks and whites when she was younger, while her daughter's were blues and whites. Blues currently overpowering the whites.

Serena grinned when she found the perfect outfit. She turned; setting a navy blue polo and jean skirt on Annabelle's bed and prepared to take her leave.

Turning to leave, Annabelle's voice abruptly stopped her.

"Mommy," Annabelle said quietly while getting out of bed, her raven colored hair toppled every which way. "Where's daddy?" she asked unaware of how perturbed the question made her mother.

Serena contemplated on what to say for a moment. "Daddy's at work, honey." She paused. "He'll be home later."

All lies. Truth was; Serena had no idea where her husband was. He hadn't come home the night before, but she hadn't thought much of it. Though really, he had never pulled something as vast as not coming home before. But she couldn't bring herself to assume why he hadn't come home. Or maybe it was just the reality that she didn't really want to know for the time being.

"Hurry up and get ready while I make your lunch." Serena articulated as she made her way down stairs to the kitchen. 'Things are going to change around here,' Serena thought angrily as she made her way to the refrigerator; grabbing the ingredients to Annabelle's lunch.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Serena wasn't supposed to have to lie to her daughter about where her father was. Thank god the child hadn't asked why he hadn't come home. Serena had enough sense to figure out that Annabelle knew he hadn't come home at all. Usually, he was the one to tuck her in and tell her there was no boogeyman under her bed, and that if there happened to be one, he'd protect her. Sometimes he would come in maybe twenty minutes after she went to bed so Serena would have to tuck her in, but no later. It was hard enough for Serena to come up with such a simple reply, imagine a complicated one.

Fifteen minutes had gone by and Serena had managed to finish packing Annabelle's lunch without jamming the knife she held right into the counter. She was so frustrated! Every time she thought about him not coming home she wanted to hit something. How dare he.

Serena pushed the urge aside as best she could, calmed herself, and was ready to go. She walked out of the kitchen towards the staircase in the middle of the room to find her daughter descending the stairs like the princess her father made her believe she was. 'Definitely daddy's little princess,' she thought, grinning.

Darien had dubbed her their little princess the day she was born. Serena still remembered the look on his face when he first saw her; he had that look of pure love and awe that every father got when they first saw their new addition to the family.

"Ready?" she asked as she watched Annabelle jump off the last step.

"Yep!" she exclaimed with a smile as she grabbed her lunch bag while Serena went and grabbed her book bag off of a near by chair. Serena grasped Annabelle's hand and led her out of the big entrance door to their house, swiftly shutting it afterwards. Hand in hand, they both continued down the long driveway to their gate where Annabelle's bus was waiting.

Noticing Annabelle's bus waiting patiently, Serena quickly kneeled down. "Have a good day and I'll see you when you get home, okay?" she said softly, as she put her backpack on.

"Okay," Annabelle murmured, giving Serena a hug and a kiss. "I love you, mommy."

Serena couldn't help but smile. Her daughter was such a precious little thing. "I love you, too. Now get going." She said while quickly nudging Annabelle towards her bus. Serena watched her bus pull away and waved until it was out of view.

Sighing, she then turned back towards her house and took it all in for what seemed like the first time. It was huge. Two stories tall with seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, two offices, a bar, an entertainment room, living room, dining room, kitchen, and a swimming pool. If that wasn't enough, the swimming pool was accompanied by its own bathroom and a pool house.

She had by no means been bothered by the size, but now it all seemed pointless. It was no more than herself, Darien, and Annabelle. Why all the space?

Serena shook her head and strolled back up the driveway to her house. When she re-entered her home it was filled with silence; only the soft echo of the closing door behind her broke through the silence.

What to do, what to do?

Being a stay at home mother wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It was boring. Serena envied Darien. He got to work while she stayed at home all day long and did absolutely nothing. It wasn't that bad when Annabelle was younger, because that gave Serena something to do. But now that she was in school all Serena had was free time.

The woman wanted to work so badly it was killing her. Serena had always wanted to be either a Lawyer or a Doctor. She had went to college, gotten the proper degrees, and had everything all planned out. But Darien had insisted that she stay home for Annabelle.

So she did, and she threw away her dream.

It wasn't Annabelle's fault though. They could have easily hired a Nanny. But no, Darien and his "My wife's never going to compete with my profession" crap kept her from her dream.

He was a terrific Doctor, a loving father, but a horrible husband. Serena didn't think she could take anymore of his verbal abuse. Sure, she fought back and said some hurtful things too, but his comments hurt a lot more than hers did. She missed her old Darien. The man she fell in love with and married. She had the strongest feeling that he didn't love her anymore. And it hurt.

It was time to call the one person she knew could help her figure out what to do. It was time to call her childhood best friend, Raye. Fortunately for Serena, the woman had doubled as her best friend and therapist in her times of need.

Serena slowly walked into the kitchen and grabbed the phone, but before Serena could dial Raye's number, she heard the front gate open and a car pull up in their driveway. She walked to the window and saw that it was Darien. He was finally home.

She watched him exit his car and hurriedly walked to the door, opening it before he could grasp the handle. "Where the hell have you been?!" she asked with irritation evident in her voice as she blocked his way into their home. There was no way he was getting in without an explanation. She deserved that much.

Darien just stared at her. "Move." He said firmly.

Serena glared at him. How dare he! "Excuse me?!" she shouted. Her breaking point was definitely coming, and she could feel it. "Move?! Answer my goddamn question Darien!" she screamed, standing her ground.

"Serena, do not start something you cannot finish. Now move." He said forcibly while trying to contain his rising anger. She just didn't know when to shut up and move.

Serena stood her ground. "I'm not afraid of you, Darien." She said flatly. There was no way she was going to let him walk all over her. No sire, he'd have another thing coming.

"Serena," he said through clenched teeth, "Do not fuck with me honey. I said move so, you better move."

"No." she sneered, sounding a lot tougher than she actually felt.

Big mistake; wrong thing to say.

Darien shoved Serena out of the way and slammed the door behind him, then walked over to where she was leaning against the wall. His eyes looked as if they were burning with fire. One would think he was about to kill.

"I don't have to tell you anything, Serena. Next time, keep your nose out of other peoples business." He scowled, only mere inches away from her face.

Serena glared at him. "I'm your wife; I have a right to know."

"Wrong, Serena. Just because you are my wife doesn't mean you are entitled to know where I am every minute of the day."

'Well it used to.' she thought to herself sadly. "You never came home." She whispered softly, while slightly tearing up, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Those tears, they weren't because he hadn't come home. No, it was because she was scared. She had seen him pissed off plenty times before, sure. But he had never actually gotten in her face. She was petrified. She knew she couldn't handle him if it ever came to the point where she had to.

Darien quickly snapped his head away from her face and turned to walk away. He had scared her and he knew it. He was disappointed in himself.

"Where is she?" he spoke more calmly now, eyeing the floor.

Serena knew he was referring to Annabelle. "She just left for school about a half an hour ago."

He nodded and made his way up the stairs.

Serena watched him climb the stairs and held back the tears she had made the mistake of letting him see. She began walking towards the kitchen for the phone but stopped.

"Darien?" she called after him.

He sighed once he reached the top of the stairs. "Yes Serena?" he asked as he turned towards her.

Serena paused. What was she going to say? 'Oh, well are you going to tell me where you were or not?' It was made clear he had no interest in doing just that, so why push the matter? "Never mind." She mumbled, walking into the kitchen.

Darien stared at where she had stood just a moment ago. 'Typical.' He thought before making his way to his office.

Serena took a deep refreshing breath and picked up the phone, quickly dialing Raye's number. A simple, "Hello?" was heard on the other end.

"Raye, it's Serena, are you busy this afternoon?" she asked, staring at an old photo of her and Darien hanging on their kitchen wall. They looked so happy, and so in love. Things had really changed.

"No, I'm not busy." There was a pause. "Why? You want to do something?"

Serena nodded but quickly realized that Raye couldn't see her. "I was thinking maybe you could come over and we could go out to lunch. I just really need some advice. What do you say?" she asked, hopeful that her raven-haired best friend would agree and come to her rescue.

On the other end of the phone, Raye was beaming. It had been awhile since they had gotten a chance to hang out. Of course, she would love to. "Sure, Serena! Can't wait! What time do you want me to come over?"

"Well what time would be good for you?" Serena let out a bitter laugh before continuing, "I've got nothing but free time."

"Hmm…" the former priestess pondered, "I could be there in about an hour and we could just hang out and then go to lunch a little later, if you want." Raye offered, fumbling around her purse for her car keys.

Serena held back a chuckle, hearing the familiar noise. Raye was a particularly very organized person, but for some reason the one thing she always lost, was her keys. "Okay," Serena murmured, "That's perfect. Thanks a lot, Raye. I'll see you then."

Raye frowned, still unable to find her keys. She sighed, shortly ending the call so that her full attention could be on finding those damned keys. "You got it. Bye."

Serena smiled and hung up the phone. She really needed someone to talk to about her… how to put it? Problems. If Raye was lucky, Serena wouldn't go insane until after she got there.

Taking a deep breath, Serena made her way up the stairs to her room. God these stairs were becoming a pain in the ass. She briefly passed Darien's office on the way and saw him doing some type of paper work. "Workaholic," she mumbled to herself.

"I heard that." He called after her with a smirk.

"Good." She shot back.

End Chapter 1

Thank you for reading! Chapter 2 will be posted after I get home from work later on.

- xoxo, Crys (08.13.16)