Chapter 55 The Domestic Abuser
As the night deepened, a few loud noises broke the silence of the peaceful apartment complex.
Kendall, who was sound asleep, suddenly opened her eyes. Half a minute later, the haze of sleepiness lifted, and Kendall finally recognized the source of the noise.
A brutal domestic violence incident was happening in the apartment right next door!
The man's angry shouts and the woman's mournful pleas were penetrating the wall and reaching Kendall's ears.
Kendall frowned, getting out of bed with annoyance and walking toward the balcony. In her mind, she asked, "System, shouldn't we do something about this?"
> [This...]
The system also heard the commotion next door. After scanning the situation, it sounded conflicted.
> [This is domestic violence, but it does not constitute a crime...]
Kendall countered, "Isn't domestic violence intentional assault?"
The system fiddled with its fingers.
> [Not necessarily, Host. The abuser can only be charged with intentional assault if the victim suffers a major injury or worse.]
Kendall's brows knitted tighter. While chatting with the system, she had already stepped out onto the balcony. Without the barrier of the wall and sliding door, the man's furious abuse was even clearer and more jarring in the quiet night.
Kendall raised her voice and yelled from the balcony, "What in the world is going on at this hour!
Are you trying to keep the whole complex awake?
! Which good-for-nothing coward beats his wife in the middle of the night!
If you like putting on a show so much, why don't you open your door and let the whole complex come watch the fun? !"
The moment Kendall spoke, the apartment next door fell instantly silent.
Kendall waited on the balcony for a while and, hearing no further commotion, turned and went back inside.
That shout had completely chased away Kendall's sleepiness. She checked her watch, it was 1:30 in the morning. A worthless man beating his wife at 1:30 AM... if that had happened to Kendall, she wouldn't stop until he was half-paralysed and forced to sign away all their assets!
After drinking a glass of warm water, Kendall lay down and went back to sleep. She slept soundly until morning.
The next day, Kendall got up early and practiced a set of martial arts movements on the balcony, which had an excellent view.
She hadn't practiced these skills in a long time, but after stretching her muscles at the martial arts gym the past few days, the movements stored in her memory quickly became familiar again.
The sun of the dawn slowly rose, it's golden light piercing the clouds and sprinkling over the city. Kendall changed her shoes and headed out for a ten-kilometre run around the complex.
After doing a few stretches using the complex's equipment, Kendall slowly started heading back. The sun, which had just been peeking out when she left, was now high in the sky, it's golden light shining brightly.
The number of people coming and going downstairs in the complex was also starting to increase.
Kendall took the stairs instead of the elevator. After running ten kilometres and walking up over ten flights of stairs, she was completely drenched in sweat by the time she reached her door.
Kendall used the fingerprint lock to open the door. Behind her, a woman whose hands were full of groceries walked up. Seeing Kendall, the woman paused for a moment, then approached her. "Would you like some fruit?" she asked warmly.
Surprised by the sudden appearance of a stranger, Kendall turned her head to look at the woman before stepping inside. "Thank you, but I have some at home. That's okay," Kendall said.
"Thank you for helping me last night," the woman said. It was only then that Kendall noticed the woman's face was red and swollen, and her hands, which were holding the bags, looked stiff and unnatural.
The woman put her bags down, took out a bag of apples, and offered it to Kendall, her voice laced with gratitude and a hint of lingering fear. "If it weren't for you, I think he would have killed me last night."
Kendall looked at her. "Did you hit him back last night?"
Olivia froze. "... What?"
"He was trying to kill you. Did you hit him back?" Kendall repeated.
The memory of the previous night flashed before Olivia's eyes. Her expression was one of fear, and she instinctively shook her head. "I, I didn't dare... Can you help me?"
As the words left her mouth, Olivia almost bit her tongue. She couldn't believe she had just asked this herself. The girl in front of her was clearly only in her twenties, probably still a student.
Even though she had bravely spoken out last night, she was just a small girl with no means to defend herself. How could she have the audacity to ask a young girl for help?
Olivia looked ashamed and quickly tried to backtrack. "I was just talking nonsense."
> [Ding! Task target detected. Help Olivia escape from the abusive man, James. Reward: +3 days of life and +10 karma.]
Hearing the system's voice, Kendall's eyes deepened. Looking at Olivia, who was anxiously trying to explain herself, Kendall calmly accepted. "I can."
Olivia was stunned.
Kendall looked at the bags of groceries she had placed on the floor. "Are you going in to make breakfast? You can come over once you're done, and we'll analyze the situation and figure out what to do."
The reminder brought Olivia back to reality, where they were standing wasn't a good place to talk. Olivia nodded. "Okay, I'll come see you later."
Olivia picked up her things, and the two went into their respective homes.
About an hour later, Olivia raised her hand and pressed Kendall's doorbell.
Kendall was home. After opening the door and letting Olivia in, Kendall poured her a cup of hot tea.
Olivia sat on the sofa and looked around Kendall's apartment, noticing how sparsely furnished it was. Aside from essential furniture and appliances, the living room was so clean it looked as if Kendall could pack up and leave at any moment.
Kendall didn't mind Olivia's inspection. She poured herself a cup of hot tea and sat opposite Olivia. "Tell me what's going on."
Olivia's expression turned bitter as she recounted the story of her marriage to her husband, James.
Olivia grew up in a single-parent home and originally didn't want to get married, but she couldn't resist her mother's desperate pleas.
When she was thirty-two, her mother became critically ill, and her only wish was to see her daughter married and settled down.
Olivia had been raised by her mother through hardship. Aside from their frequent arguments about marriage, they were a loving mother and daughter who depended on each other.
With her mother gravely ill, Olivia was heartbroken and eventually compromised to put her mother at ease. The moment Olivia agreed, her mother immediately had a matchmaker find a suitable partner, and that partner turned out to be James.
After meeting, Olivia was surprised to find that the man the matchmaker had introduced was her former elementary school classmate. Running into an elementary school classmate on a blind date was awkward for Olivia.
However, James seemed interested in her. He frequently asked her out, drove her to and from work, and often took fruit to the hospital to visit her mother after learning she was sick.
James was a local, owned a car and a house, was handsome, had a respectable job, and was close to Olivia's age. Olivia's mother was completely satisfied with him.
Olivia hadn't initially been drawn to James, but through his persistent pursuit and her mother's enthusiastic persuasion, her attitude towards him gradually softened. They went from meeting on a blind date to getting married, all in less than three months.
Six months after they married, Olivia's mother passed away from her illness. One year into the marriage, Olivia became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.
It was after the birth of their daughter that Olivia noticed James's attitude starting to change. James became impatient with Olivia and even cursed at her over small things several times.
The James she married had been gentle and patient and had helped with chores. The current James now lay on the sofa playing with his phone as soon as he got home from work, dumped all the household responsibilities onto Olivia, and sometimes didn't come home at all.
As she spoke, Olivia couldn't help but tear up. "The man I'm with now seems like a completely different person."
Kendall focused on the key point. "Was last night the first time he hit you?"
Olivia bit her lip, finding it difficult to answer. "I can't count anymore."
She put down the teacup she was holding, pulled up her sleeves and lifted her shirt slightly to show Kendall.
On Olivia's arms, stomach, and waist, various red, swollen, and bruised marks overlapped, a truly shocking sight. They were all marks from James hitting her the previous night.
(End of Chapter)