Scorching Hot
大暑 [7] / [13]
She sighed, calmed down, and resumed.
"I went back to him, and he seemed so happy to have me back with him. For the next week, it was like it was in the beginning. He was patient, understanding, and loving. But not too long after that, we got into an argument, and he hit me again. From then on, that became a consistent part of our relationship."
“What exactly did you argue about?"
Alexander wasn’t alarmed much when he heard that Ed beat her. It was already something he guessed by seeing how Ed treated Violet at the bar before.
"We argued about you. We argued about a lot of things. Some whore he banged, and in the course of discussing that, I got angry, so I mentioned your name. I told him you would never have done that to me, and he beat me for it."
She started to sob as she said this. Supposing she was telling truth, Alexander ventured to guess that ‘the whore’ referred to Anna. Depending on when this took place, it would also explain why Ed seemed so unlike his usual self when Alexander last met up with him. However, though he couldn't quite explain why, her tears seemed hollow to him, as if they were an act being put on for his benefit.
In fact, her whole demeanor―the tears, the shaking, the tone of voice―there was so much that seemed inauthentic to Alexander, like this was all part of a grander performance. But his sympathy towards Violet in this moment blunted his intuition, and he felt conflicted about whether he should accept her word as truth, or dig deeper.
Thankfully, he had his training to fall back on: trust, but verify. He would take what she said with a grain of salt. That was the only safe option. In the meantime, he humored her, and played a role of his own; that of the listener, and shoulder to cry on, as he gained more information.
She talked about how brutally he beat her, how often, and how he recorded video while they made love. She insisted that although she consented to let him record the video, he used that later as a weapon to threaten her.
She explained how he forced her to do what he wanted in bed, even in the bathroom, and in the car. She looked excited explaining to Alexander all that she experienced at the hands of Ed. It seemed that she forgot to show any shame for it, or emotion for the awful experiences she went through.
"I got it. Do you want to punish Ed?"
Alexander asked her in a businesslike manner. She stared at him.
"I do want to."
"Then first you need to report him yourself, and once the investigation begins, you need to go to the police station to give formal testimony. Are you ready for that?"
