The Luna: Braver Than We Are

Chapter 2

The news was devastating. Viola knew that it would make her even weaker and that she should keep it a secret as long as she could. She needed time to come up with a plan. She already knew that her relationship with Mason wasn’t a healthy one. But there was a long way from realizing it to acting. The point of every abuser is to strip the victim of free will and self-confidence and those are hard to regain. The abuser took it to the point when the victim can’t go on any longer and either breaks or ends the relationship.

Viola was at this point. She was on the verge of breaking.

As she whipped her face clean, she started thinking intensively. Whatever she was to do, she needed money. Lots of money. The divorce was expensive. Regaining control over the company would be even more expensive. She would need a place to live because she was sure that Mason wouldn’t be willing to leave their house. She would need to hire a lawyer, probably more than one. Divorces and company law didn’t have much in common. She couldn’t rely on the lawyers she knew. The current company’s lawyer was appointed by Mason and the former wouldn’t want to deal with her. Mason lay him off in a very dirty way and she didn’t do anything with it. Not even say goodbye to him, although he was like an uncle to her.

The realization of how many things she messed with had come to her only recently and only when she started suspecting she could be pregnant. She realized she didn’t want her child to suffer as she suffered. That she needed to wake up and fight. She needed to turn this weakness into strength.

The first thing she needed was money. She had some jewelry, but it would take time to sell it, as they weren’t cheap items. Mason made a special account for, as he said, “home expenses”, but the amount he transferred there was the exact amount I needed to manage our household and if there were any unexpected expenses, he had to make an extra transfer. 

They had many extra expenses. Mason loved hosting parties, so she learned to prepare them perfectly, sometimes on a budget. Her recent hit was a potato party. She designed everything, with baking potatoes in the ash, mouth-burning booze, and some cheesy folk music to hide the fact that she didn’t have enough money to prepare the proper party. Mason said he forgot to give her money, so she had to improvise just hours before the guests arrived. It was a success. Mason was glad and grateful because those were important guests, his business partners. She didn’t know any of them and they seemed quite savage to her and she didn’t remember their names. It was so long ago that they met with people she knew and liked.

 Most importantly, Mason was good to her for over a week. That was the week when she probably got pregnant.

But there was an account that was also in her name, where the dividends from the company were transferred. There should be a handsome amount on this account.

She decided to go to the bank before she lost her grip.

***

The bank clerk was adamantly polite and smiled very professionally when he told her:

“I’m deeply sorry, Mrs. Baker, but you can’t withdraw any money from this account.”

“I don’t understand, there is money on it, right?”

“Yes, there are exactly 587 dollars in the account.” She was shocked. There should be at least one hundred times more, according to the latest reports Mason showed her just 2 months ago.

“Why is this so little?”

“There were no transfers in the last 2 years and the creditors took the remaining cash to clear the debts.”

“What creditors?”

“I’m not the right person to ask,” he started, showing some impatience.

“Then what about the remaining money? Why can’t I withdraw?” 500 dollars would still be better than 0.

“The account was seized by the bailiff. I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

She left the bank broken. What was going on? What creditors? What bailiff? They were wealthy. She owned a huge company, operating abroad, employing hundreds of people. 

Viola headed home, with a strong intention of getting an explanation from Mason. She didn’t notice that it was long past the usual dinner time.

“Where were you? Why is dinner not ready?” Mason snapped at her the moment she entered the house.

“I’ve been in the bank,” she said, trying to remain calm. Mason’s face immediately became red.

“What for?” he shouted.

“To withdraw money from my account. But there was no money on it.” She tried to be brave, but he was approaching her with a furious grin on her face.

“You stupid slut,” he said with a very calm voice and hit her for the first time. Her cheek burned and she fell on the wall. “You were supposed to be an ornament. Stupid and quiet doll. And everything would be all right.” His voice was angrier with each word. “You shouldn't have gone there. Shouldn’t have asked questions.” He slapped and kicked her after each word. The pain was excruciating. He had slapped her before, but never like this, with pure fury and hate.

Viola didn’t try to cover her face, she tried to protect her belly. She could feel warm blood on her skin, mixing with her tears. “Stop sobbing, it’s all your fault, not mine.” She was sure he would kill her on the spot and it made her cry over her baby that would die before it was born when his phone rang. He looked at it and answered, standing over her maltreated body.

“Yes, don’t worry, there will be no problem. She will sign everything.” She heard fear in his voice before she passed away.