Chapter 223 - A Fresh Start? (3)

26 February, Military Base, City K

Matthew looked at Lexi. She was right, in some respects. They needed a reset in what was their marriage. He hoped that this would grant him his desired outcome, but the other option was for the situation to continue to deteriorate and that was a worse option. "Alright, Lexi. But you must agree that if I think whatever you are telling me is too much for you, I will stop you."

"Fine Matthew, but no interruptions." Lexi paused and took a breath before reaching over Matthew to take back her glass of wine and drinking the rest in one mouthful.

"I think you know the outcome of my marriage. My so-called husband died with his mistress in a car accident. The truth was that Richard had been forced into the marriage, not only my parents who were worried that I was getting out of control given the time I had spent with you prior to your long deployment, but his parents as despite being members of the wider Yao family had no access to the family wealth, because of Richard's great-grandfather's actions."

"My age, meant in the end despite not wanting to marry him, I had no choice as my parents signed the doc.u.ments. That was the start of my hell. In the early part of my marriage, he repeatedly r.a.p.ed and assaulted me, but as he was my husband…"

"The law, until it was changed as part of the sweeping changes to the marriage laws, legally allowed him to do it."

"You have that right. There was no where I could turn to. You would have thought my parents would have been the first people to believe me, but when I told them the physical aspects of what he was doing, including some of the bruising and abrasions that I had, they refused to listen. They saw me as a problem for them, and they were just grateful I was off their hands. But the physical abuse was just the start of what he did. He was verbally and mentally abusive and the financial control he exerted over me. He barely gave me enough to run the household let alone to deal with my pregnancy and prepare for a baby. Chester was trying to deal with the mess that was his relationship and Andrew was too wound up in his University life. I had to stretch every single cent to manage everything needed, but in some respect I have to be grateful as the lack of money sent me on my career path, as I had to become skilled in designing and dressmaking to make every cent stretch to clothe myself and have things ready for Dominic. Meanwhile, he was using all the money to support his mistress. The only time he seemed happy during our marriage was the day Dominic was born, saying he had his son, and then proceeded to tell me he was divorcing me, keeping everything my parents gave us, and he and his mistress would take my son who I would never see again. He told me that he would give me one month with Dominic as my b.r.e.a.s.t milk would be the best for him, but that was it for any relationship I would have with him. As you can imagine my state for the three weeks until he died because of that. I started to crumble, but Chester in particular, and Andrew to the extent he could stepped up to help me fight Richard's parents from taking Dominic. Eventually I collapsed and told Chester some of what had happened, and he consulted professionals who suggested that the best thing for me would be to go away for a couple of years, with supports in place, to deal with what happened. He locked all that in and helped me secure the situation that placed Dominic in his care. I was, able to come back and forth, to spend time with Dominic but there was no way I could in his early years stay here. Eventually all the memories would get too much, and I had to leave. But while I was studying I started LY building on what I had taught myself as of Richard's control. I hit the market at the right time, and the initial offerings quickly became sought-after items and sold out. When I was ready to come back, as you can imagine due to the business the move took time."

Sitting there watching Lexi, Matthew could see how much telling him, even this truncated version of what happened in her first marriage hurt her. While he had dismissed the earlier times when she had spoken at bits and pieces of what happened, there was something in how she looked that made him realise that she was telling the truth. He wanted to kick himself for having dismissed what had been happening as it was only hurting Lexi and any chance they had in a relationship. He turned and gathered Lexi into his arms, simply to give her a hug.

The moment Matthew moved and took her into his arms was enough for Lexi to start crying. It felt such a relief to tell him, even if it was in general terms what happened. Telling him the full truth would have broken her, and he did not need to know that.

Matthew, after letting Lexi cry in his arms for a while, carefully picked her up and carried her into the master bedroom and laying her on the bed, while slipping into the bathroom and starting to run a bath for her to relax in. As he returned into the bedroom Lexi was sitting up and Matthew said "You need to relax. I have started a bath running for you."

Lexi stood up and moved over to where she had sat her nightdress earlier before heading into the bathroom. Matthew was right, she needed to relax before heading to bed.

Just on half an hour later, Lexi certain in her decision slipped on the lacy nightdress she had decided to wear and headed back into the master bedroom.

As she entered, she saw Matthew look up and he observed her wearing a so tempting nightdress, but before he could say anything Lexi said "Matthew, we need a fresh start…"

-------

If you are reading this novel anywhere other than at or its apps then you are reading work that has been stolen in breach of the authors rights and those rights assigned to others.

Please support this author and only access this novel through at /book/15095783406874805 and report the illegal posting of this work.