This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written consent from the publisher, except where permitted by law.
To my wonderful husband Michael Leija, family and friends who stuck by me through this incredible journey. Without your love and support I would not have finished this book. To a fellow author, mentor, and friend JL Durfey thank you for everything and your continued support! Last but certainly not least my editor Cynthia Croley, without you at my side this project would never have been completed.
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
About The Author
“Domestic violence causes far more pain than the visible marks of bruises and scars. It is devastating to be abused by someone that you love and think loves you in return. It is estimated that approximately 3 million incidents of domestic violence are reported each year in the United States.” -- Dianne Feinstein
“The scars you can't see are the hardest to heal. If you, a neighbor, stranger or a loved one are a victim of domestic violence please reach out and help. Sometimes just offering a hand will be that victim’s saving grace. Be an Angel, offer help.” – Christina Leija
Editor- Cynthia R. Croley
Book Art- Frank Tyquiengco and GPA Web Design LLC
Cover Design and Interior Design- JL Durfey
Charlotte sat quietly sobbing to herself while nursing both her emotional and physical wounds. She had yet another fight with her husband. Normally she carried herself like a lady of breeding; tall and gentle. She was trained as a young girl to always have a lasting smile that could warm a room the instant she entered. She did that well, not from training: her warm smile came naturally to her, representing her warm and loving demeanor, however that often was taken as a sign of weakness.
She had long silky, light brown hair with natural highlights that people paid good money to try and achieve. Her hair was tangled around her face now, sticking to her cheeks from the warm falling tears.
Charlotte sat with her tender face swollen and blackened. Her once soft and gentle features were now rough and patchy, her eyes blood shot. She carried a cut below her left eye, blood pooled and dripped from the gash that Alex’s back hand had given her. The tears stung the cut as they passed through the open swelling wound. The pain made it hard to focus. What’s worse was her bruised ego that cursed itself for being this vulnerable and stupid…Why do I stay around and keep going through this? She thought to herself in a tone that was more angry than sad. Her eyes had a series of shadows under them that made her look as if she hadn’t slept in months.
Years was more like it, she thought to herself…..
With a sudden surge of anger and empowerment Charlotte had had enough! This was the final straw; she just couldn’t take it anymore! How dare he take everything away from her! How long was she going to sit here and take his abuse? Would he apologized again and foolishly her forgive him again? He had stopped apologizing for his anger and almost daily outbursts over a year ago.
The emotional strain had caused her to lose nearly 20lbs over the last year, which on her already frail frame made her look almost sickly or anorexic.
She’d become so use to his ways that it was almost normal to her, laughing slightly to herself she felt stupid to say the least. But…. this last fight in front of their son was it! The danger now extended to someone other than herself, to her one and only pride and joy, her son; Andrew.
She would never allow for her son to be conditioned into his father, to treat woman with such disrespect and hatred all for the sake of “proving you’re a man,” that you are “the head of the household and rule with an iron fist,” that’s not the right way at all.
Since six months after their marriage, Charlotte’s husband had shown his true self. After Charlotte failed to do the dishes, due to a headache, her husband broke every single dish in the sink and cabinets that were in close proximity. Crying and begging Alex to stop, he turned on Charlotte with a slow methodical smile that seemed more like a predator stalking his kill. Alex grabbed her by the arm, squeezing tighter with every word. You. Dare. Tell. Me. What. To. Do? Each word carefully drawn out in a statement of their own that continued to scare her with what might come next. Then in a swift shocking strike, her nose began to bleed as she was thrown to the floor by the force of his swing.
She can still remember that first fight. The one fight that had shaken her entire world. A fight that shocked her to her core every time she thought about it. One fight was all it took to caused her to “clam up” and close herself off to the entire world: she was broken.
She closed her heart off that day and didn’t allow anyone into her fragile heart; that is not until her beautiful baby boy came into this world.
More determined than ever after years of physical abuse and emotional reckoning, Charlotte began preparations to leave with her son, she was in danger more and more everyday but her dangerous situation was now, more than ever, threatening her son and his very existence. She feared what would come next should she stay.
But where to go? He would find her any place she tried to go and with the help of her husband’s mother backing for her “perfect husband,” she wasn’t sure she could leave with her life. Magda had a quick rise in the social standing since Alex had married Charlotte and she was just as determined as Alex to not let their name be tarnished. As if a divorce could do that, it was already tarnished form Alex’s past and wild childhood but of course Magda had convinced almost everyone that it was petty jealous rumors and that Alex was not that person. The things people believe, even when proof of the opposite is right in front of them, made her laugh. Lately Charlotte was sick and hurting, secretly undergoing tests to find out why she was so sick lately, but she would guess that all this emotional strain was probably to blame. She would have to call her friend to come nurse her black eye and the cut above her right eye…again. This was the second time this month.
The abuse was getting more frequent. In the past Alex had been able to convince her that he was under stress and needed help controlling his temper, constantly telling her that he would attend counseling and marriage counseling to right his wrongs. When Charlotte pushed for Alex to follow through with yet another broken promise his mom would intervene and tell Charlotte that she was the one who needed counseling to learn how to deal with him and his outbursts, to learn how to control the situation before he got out of control, that Charlotte was the one who escalated the situation. How ridiculous was that?
Charlotte stood staring into the mirror almost feeling a ping of empathy for Magda. She stated that she had attended counseling to learn how to deal with Alex’s father before his “Questionable Suicide,” that left Magda with a substantial debt that she more than likely bet on Charlotte paying. Joke’s on her…of co
urse Charlotte was to blame for that too.
Charlotte had her trust but her father had cut her off from anything extra when she chose Alex over her father. Alex promised to protect her and convinced her that love was all they needed, love would be the key to all and she wouldn’t have to worry. Her Alex was a darn good con man and finally Charlotte was beginning to see it. How had she not seen it before? Was love really blind?
Thanks to Alex and his controlling ways, Charlotte had grown a reputation for being flaky and stuck up from declining invitations and luncheons. What people didn’t understand was that she couldn’t attend with the constant bruises and broken bones without people inquiring. Alex didn’t help much making excuses saying that Charlotte wasn’t interested or was too busy to attend such trivial events. Even her volunteer work had slacked, her friends pushed away and hurt from her unexplained absence. Charlotte was all but isolated and she hadn’t even seen its severity until now.
First things first: in a mental check list Charlotte noted that she needed to call Victoria to stitch this up before Alex came home. The one friend that she knew she could count on. Victoria was the only friend that Alex didn’t mind her having, a friend from school. Little did she know just how involved Victoria was in her family and that Victoria had her own agenda.
Finally some relief, after all the stressful news and stress over the last four months, this chapter of her life is finally under control. Now if she could just pay off her lawyer. Sheeze how much does one idiot need to get paid? Honestly. At least she was able to keep her new found information quiet for now, she hated keeping secrets but this one could destroy her life and take her child away from her.
The thought of losing her little boy quickly consumed her. Andrew was her life and the only thing that kept her going most days. Her precious baby with the eyes of rain, Andrew was innocent and loving. She would do anything for that little boy. Her sweet little boy was the only good that had come out of her now ex-husband.
Floating into a day dream, to escape the boring and long divorce trial she was currently dealing with, she recalled the day she found out she was pregnant, it was the happiest day yet one she was so worried for at the same time. How would Alex react this time? He seemed happy when she was pregnant before but the day he found out it was a girl they had gotten into a fight over how unhappy he seemed and it ended up with her being pushed over a glass table and threatened, his angry outburst still rang in her ears; “If this little bitch ends up like you, I’ll be in hell for sure, why can’t you do anything right? All I wanted was a fucking boy and you screwed that up too, you’re worthless, just fucking worthless!”
She miscarried later that evening from the stress and the hard fall that she failed to mention to the hospital staff. She had made up her mind that she was going to leave Alex when she returned home from the hospital but he had persuaded her that he was under a lot of stress at work and it was wrong for him to take it out on her and that he would finally get help to control his anger.
Stupidly she believed him….again.
“Excuse me Mrs. Jackson can you answer the question,” “Uh, What? I’m sorry, I missed it” said Charlotte who was slightly embarrassed that she got caught by the judge day dreaming and not paying attention.
“Are you ill or just not interested this hearing?” snapped the judge who obviously was impatient and ready to get to lunch. “No sir, I’m not ill I apologize” said Charlotte, who now was red from embarrassment since everyone was looking at her, strangers included who seemed as impatient as the judge while waiting for their divorces to be heard.
“Well then now that we have that out of the way, do we have any other objections to the custody arrangement or child support?”
“No your Honor,” Charlotte kept her head down; a habit from the years of abuse her husband put her through.
Shouldn’t her lawyer be answering these questions instead of drawing stick figures on his legal pad? Charlotte couldn’t help but wonder what a kind of attorney she would have been stuck with if she had accepted a public lawyer for low income. Even though she now qualified for it she refused to take it and insisted on paying for it herself, all $3000 worth of his stick figures that her attorney was constantly scribbling on his note pad, pretending to take notes. Man, she really was a bad judge of character wasn’t she or really naive into thinking he cared about her case.
A court appointed attorney could have saved her time and money, at least then she wouldn’t have had a high expectation for a positive outcome.
At least her brilliant attorney had managed to get her joint custody and proven her to be a good mother, rather than let the court believe the lies of her abusive husband.
Alex, dressed in his best Armani suit was looking stunning, as always. No doubt he would be on his best behavior to try and prove to the judge that he was the best fit for their son. He had dark brown hair with a hint of auburn that shone through in the sun. His smile was devious at best and he had a cocky attitude about him that he wore like a glove.
Alex stood by his attorney sneering in contentment; he was at least able to keep some control over the filthy bitch that drug his name through the courts with her stories of abuse. She had no proof since she never called the cops and that he was thankful for. Smiling to himself, he knew she wouldn’t keep his son from him though, she wasn’t that stupid nor did she have the guts. Once Alex had Andrew in his custody he would make sure the boy had a proper upbringing as a real man, not softened by his mother’s incompetence. This was the one thing that he would keep his promise on.
Charlotte’s relief only came when she was able to leave the court with her sense of new freedom from 10 years of abuse and race through traffic with only a thought of holding her little boy and finally feeling like she can keep him safe, even if only temporarily. She walked by Alex with some hesitance, an unfortunate habit from her marriage and everything she had endured. She would focus on the next six months and try to fulfill her life and Andrew’s as much as possible. Only one thought of dread consumed her and she forced herself to push it aside before entering the babysitter’s home: what would stop Alex from turning his abuse on her son now that she was gone, did she make a mistake by divorcing him since she wouldn’t be there to keep the focus of hate on her? The danger now consumed her as she felt helpless to protect her son from the monster that was her living nightmare.
Upper East Side New York
Jesus, Alex how could you let this happen? I thought you had “the best attorney ever” mocked Alex’s mother who was just as cruel and thoughtless about anyone else’s well-being as he was. Those two were too much alike, selfish and self-centered, only to care about the money they could have gotten from the woman who ruined her son’s life.
Magda Wellbrand was a well dressed woman in her mid-60’s with salt and pepper hair that she wore styled in the latest trend, proudly showing off her wisdom that she often stated came with the grey that most people raced to cover up.
After all, Charlotte came from a wealthy family but that stupid girl couldn’t even keep her family interested in her, as they threw her out the day she became engaged. Charlotte swore it was because of her engagement to a man her father felt was trouble, but Magda knew better; her precious Alex was a saint and a good man, it was the whore’s fault for acting like a slut and dishonoring her family that caused her so much trouble. Not her Alex. Had Charlotte been smart, she would have remained a virgin until marriage and played that part of daddy’s little girl long enough to maintain her inheritance, at least for Alex’s sake if nothing else. But no the little slut had to spread her legs and tempted my poor Alex with her devil ways. Ha! And she said she loved him. Whatever: love was for fools and her son had married the biggest one. Magda’s blood was boiling and still rising….
“Oh calm down mother, I don’t need the money and Charlotte didn’t win. I still have my son and control over where she lives, who she’s with etc., she won’t make a fool out of me twice, and divorcing me was the bigges
t mistake she has ever made!” Sneering at his ex-wife’s incompetence and insatiability he thought about how she caused so much many problems during their divorce with her constant incompetence. “Now it’s her turn to see what happens to people who cross me.” Alex was still livid that his lawyer couldn’t come up with anything to prove she was a bad mother or at least mentally incompetent. I mean come on the woman was seeing a therapist! A therapist and for what? She could never handle her emotions, constantly crying during their marriage and whining that she wasn’t loved or respected. One thing his mother had taught him was that respect was only given to those who earned it and love was reserved for a child and even then it was a woman’s job to give it and a man’s job to raise a boy right to be a man, ruthless and tough in today’s world that demanded only excellence. Survival of the fittest, nothing else mattered.
“Alex?” called a soft and seductive voice, “are you in here my love?”
The sweetest voice in Alex’s ears at that moment couldn’t have come at a better time. His temper calmed to a more manageable degree. What was it about those long satin legs and gorgeous blond hair that made him weak? Weak was one thing Alex didn’t like. But on the inside Victoria was just as ruthless as he was and deep down he knew it.
“Aw, Victoria darling come in” called Alex’s mother with pride. Victoria happened to have gone to school with Charlotte and Alex during primary. Victoria, in Magda’s eyes, and along with most other socialites considered Victoria a woman of fine breeding, and Magda noted that she was loaded to boot. A sense of satisfaction swept over Magda but was quickly washed away by the memory of her son’s stupidity. Alex’s mother had picked Victoria out long ago but then her idiot son had “fallen in love” with that tramp and almost ruined their lives.
Alex had been given a scholarship to Primary school and his mother had sent his father into thousands of dollars of debt just to prove that Alex belonged in high society. Anything for her little boy and her future: she refused to die in poverty as a working class citizen.
Six Months To Love: Charlotte's Redemption Page 1