The Third Deadly Sin

Lindsay's POV

That moment when you realize you made a terrible mistake. When you feel stuck, suffocated, and lonely. That moment when you look into the eyes of the man who once loved you, but see nothing but hatred. I felt it when I looked into the eyes of my husband.

"Let me go!!" I screamed at Asher as I tried to release my hand from his tight grip.

"Stay still" he struggled with me because I was relentless.

"Please. Asher. It's not what you think. He just wanted to...."

He didn't let me finish before cutting me off. "You have sinned against God and me. I can't tolerate that" he said, gazing at me with his wrath-filled brown eyes. I felt cold instantly, but I still didn't give up.

"Let me go!" I screamed as loud as I could, but that only made the situation worse. He slapped me on my already bruised cheek. The impact made my face collide with the wall. My head stung so much that I knew for sure it was bleeding.

He bent to my level, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and pulled it for me to look at him. "Lust is of the flesh. You desired another man other than me. You are disgusting" he said in a deadly tone. I shuddered, praying to heaven that I survived this.

"I wasn't. He is just..."

"Shut up!" he screamed in my face and I immediately kept shut.

He grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me again.

"Asher, please. You are not listening to me"

"I will not listen to the words of a sinner until you repent"

He was crazy, too crazy, but he was my husband. The man who once loved me. I remembered how we walked down the aisle with smiles on our faces. Thinking back on that moment, I couldn't help but feel regret. He had always been religious, but I didn't know it would get so bad to use it to hurt me.

Life was hell. Living with him was hell. He claimed he still loved me and always begged for forgiveness whenever he laid his hands on me, but I didn't believe he did. Asher Harrington was a devil I couldn't get rid of_ A religious devil.

He pushed me roughly into the room and locked the door before I had the chance to stand up.

"Asher?" I banged my fist on the door, ready to pull it down.

"Lindsay listen to me" he tried to speak, but I was too thrown off to listen.

"Lindsay" he called out from outside, but I was still screaming. "Lindsay!" He yelled my name in anger and I froze. All my rage turned into fear.. "listen to me" This time his voice was calmer. "Pray to God, tell him to forgive you your sin. Reflect on your sins and...."

I started crying hard. "Please" I let out a whimper.

"No no, don't cry, my love. Just do what I asked you to do. Please" he begged.

I slipped to the floor as tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn't breathe. The only thing I wanted was to get out of there, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"When you are done, I will open the door for you to get out," he said while I sobbed quietly.

"I'm leaving now Lindsay," he said and I heard his footsteps afterward, signaling he was gone.

This was how the chaos started...

That afternoon, we got a new neighbor, across the street. It was thrilling for me because where we lived was kind of deserted. I made muffins to give to our new neighbors since it was thanksgiving after all. I left Leia, my five-year-old daughter, at home. I wasn't going to stay too long, but things didn't go the way I planned.

I stayed at our new neighbor's house for some time; Justin. We chatted about random things as we ate muffins, all in Thanksgiving spirit.

I got home back home to meet my furious husband who had our daughter in his arms, waiting for me.

"Where did you go?" He had that deadly tone that always found a way of sending a cold shiver down my spine.

"I was...."I stammered. I was scared because I knew what was coming.

He set Leia down and smiled at her. "Go upstairs," he instructed.

Leia looked at me, reluctant to do as her father had said, but she still went up. I was grateful she did because I knew my husband was going to beat the shit out of me even with our daughter there. He did it once.

"I was at the neighbor's house" I tried to keep my cool.

"Doing what?" he stood up from his seat and started coming closer to me.

"I made muffins" I stretched the tray which he flung away from my hand.

"For another man? Did he sleep with you too? Did you like it?" he was angry. I could see the redness in his eyes and skin.

"No, no, I just wanted to make friends with him" He knew it was a man. That made things even worse for me.

Asher kept quiet for a while and I knew what was coming next. "Please Asher, you have to believe...."

He didn't let me finish as he pinned me to the wall with his strong hand around my neck. He punched me with his other hand. I saw my life flash before my eyes. For a moment I thought I was dead. Then he grabbed my hands and began dragging me to my room.

Despite how much I struggled, I still ended up here. He won again. I bent my face to my knees as I wept. I wanted it to end. Sometimes I prayed for his death, but it never came. He was permanent in my life.

He always said, "You can't get rid of me easily, Lindsay"

******

My mouth felt parched, I had an agonizing pain in my head and my cheeks hurt. I flicked my eyes open due to the sun that crept into my room from the tiny creek of my curtain. I looked around for a while, then it finally hit me.

I had to be at work! My eyes widened as I jumped up from the floor I had slept on, but regretted it immediately. The whole room spun, and I nearly tipped over.

After steadying myself, I rushed to the door to check if it was open. I was glad when I found out it was.

I rushed to get myself ready. After that, I put on any dress I could find and walked to the big mirror present in my room.

I was so close to crying again. My face was unrecognizable. My eyes were swollen due to how hard he punched me yesterday. My cheeks were bruised and my lips were slightly cut. I grabbed my makeup kit and dabbed my face with a concealer to hide the bruises. When it was perfect, I set out to leave.

Asher wasn't home, which I was grateful for.

I worked as a teacher at a high school. That was so unlikely, judging from the fact that my husband was a multi-billionaire, but I had no choice. He didn't care about me, so I had to take care of myself.

I knew he had already taken Leia to school, so I decided to leave without checking. It didn't take more than 30 minutes to get to work.

I was already late, so I didn't bother running. It was useless, plus my body was in so much pain that I couldn't even walk properly.

"Miss Thomson" I heard my name and I turned to look behind me. It was Mark; my coworker. I smiled warmly even though my cheeks were hurting.

"I'm in so much trouble. Mr. Steward is going to have my head"

"About that, he said I should send for you once I see you"

My eyes widened as I panicked. "Is he mad?"

Mark shrugged." he didn't look mad to me"

I braced myself as I walked to his office. After steadying my nervous breathing, I opened the door and walked in. He was seated, scribbling something on a piece of paper but stopped when I got in.

"Miss Thomson" He called out.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't make it on time. There was traffic and I.."

He didn't let me finish before shoving a piece of envelope across the table.

In confusion, I picked it.

"You don't need to explain yourself," he said as I opened the envelope.

I was anxious to see what was inside. As soon as I opened it, I began to read the content of the paper inside. My heart stopped. I looked at him in disbelief.

"I don't understand. Does this have anything to do with my late arrival?"

"No it doesn't" he replied stiffly.

"You can't fire me. I have always worked the hardest. You have no reason to fire me"

"How would I know that?" He asked, further pissing me off.

"This is absurd and you know it"

"You don't own this school, do you?"

I couldn't think of a reason he would fire me. I knew my late coming was not the reason. It was impossible. All of a sudden it hit me...'Asher'.

I clenched my fist in rage.

"How much did he offer you to fire me?" This time I didn't have the pleading look in my eyes. My eyes held rage instead.

"Miss Thomson, I appreciate your service, I really do. But I'm afraid this is the end" He couldn't even look me in the eye as he said those words. I took the paper and shredded it into tiny pisses, then threw it at him. "Fuck you" I muttered under my breath before storming off.

Asher was going to pay