Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Louisa was exhausted. The argument she’d had with Sarah was playing on her mind. She wasn’t sure they would recover from it, and she desperately needed her sister as her alibi.
She looked in on Daisy who was napping on her bed.
She was such a good girl, always knowing when she should stay in her room, entertaining herself whenever necessary.
But it worried her how much time she slept, most likely because she was bored on her own.
It couldn’t go on. They needed more out of life than this poor existence. She had to be strong, for both of them.
She made her way downstairs, hanging on to the banister as her legs felt heavy. She found Richard in the kitchen. His face was dark and he looked away as soon as he saw her.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. ‘You don’t look pleased.’
‘Who would be happy to see you?’ he snapped.
She didn’t retaliate. Richard in a mood was more than she could take right now. Instead she stayed quiet, hoping he would say no more. But he went on anyway.
‘You’ve become unbearable, Louisa,’ he said. ‘You’re always going on and on, moaning about this or the other. If I had wanted a nag, I would have married one. Why can’t you be more like your sister?’
Louisa gasped. How could he be so cruel? Didn’t she mean anything to him anymore? Shocked by his reply, she answered back. ‘You’re not the man I thought I married. You’re evil.’
Richard laughed. ‘You’re paranoid too.’
‘I am not!’ Feeling the need to defend herself after her recent argument with Sarah, she folded her arms. ‘You’re nothing but a bully, Richard.
Ever since I met you, I’ve been loyal and faithful.
Everything I’ve done was for you. Having Daisy was your idea and I went along with it.
I have been a good mother and a good wife and what have you given me in return?
Nothing! I know you’ve been seeing other women for years during our marriage.
And I know you’ve been screwing my sister and you’re hoping that she’ll take my place. Well, don’t worry because I’m—’
Richard punched her in the face.
The force of it made her drop to the floor heavily. Pain shot up her back, but she was more concerned with the blood gushing from her nose.
‘I fuck your sister because you are useless,’ Richard seethed as he stood over her.
‘You were never anything more to me than a glorified maid.’ His laughter was taunting.
‘I obviously chose the wrong sister when I met you. I should have gone for the younger one. Sarah is a breath of fresh air compared to you. She can’t stand you, you know?
She hates you as much as I do. But I have to put up with you because of Daisy. I will not lose her.’
Louisa struggled to get her breath. She tilted her head back to slow the bleeding.
‘It was your own fault that happened.’ Richard leaned in closer to inspect the damage. ‘Clean up this mess before you leave this room. And I don’t want to hear another word about any of this.’
He threw a tea towel into her lap and left her sitting there.
Louisa could barely understand what had happened. There had been no need for that, none at all. It was clear that Richard’s temper was getting worse. That was the first time he’d hit her in months.
Tears stung her eyes as she realised what a mess she would look. And she wouldn’t be able to disguise it. Perhaps it would do Sarah good to see what Richard was capable of.
One thing was certain. It made her more determined to set her thoughts into motion. She had to leave with Daisy.
Richard went into his studio and sat heavily on the settee. He bunched his hand into a fist to inspect the damage. It was a little swollen but that would soon go down.
Recently, his temper was running away with him. But he couldn’t stand Louisa’s whining. How much longer could he put up with her? If it weren’t for Daisy, he would have told her to sling her hook soon after Sarah came.
He needed a way out of his marriage.
Maybe he should tell Louisa to leave. It was his house, after all. He loved his daughter, but was it really worth the effort he had to go to, to keep Louisa placid just because he wanted to see Daisy every day?
It wasn’t rational to do anything drastic just yet. Sarah was okay for a bit of fun on the side, but he didn’t want to take things further with her. And even then, he could tell she’d become more reliant on him over the past few weeks, and he wasn’t sure what to think about that.
Then he smirked. It seemed the sisters couldn’t do anything without him. He had them both under his thumb. Stupid bitches.
It had been the same with his father. Jack had chosen women who were vulnerable, who fell for his charms and were browbeaten before they knew it.
He’d watched his father control them all, except his mum.
Jack had loved Patricia so much. Richard wondered how different his life would have been had his mother not died when he was so young.
Jack had adored her. He’d gone to pieces when she’d withered away.
And that’s when he’d started drinking, changing from the dad he doted on, to the father he loathed.
He couldn’t blame it all on Jack though. Nature versus nurture was to a certain extent the problem, but Richard could have changed when he was older. He could have chosen a nice woman to settle down with, have a family and be happy. But instead he’d taken this path.
And right now, he needed to stay on it. If he stepped off course too much, he would crack. And that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
Perhaps he would be wise to get rid of both sisters, as well as Daisy. He could start again, easily enough. The woman who he was seeing at the moment would be better manipulating material than Louisa and Sarah. In hindsight, it had been a bad idea to get them together.
The balled fist suddenly reached out to pummel the cushion beside him. At least it would rid him of the aggression that was boiling up inside. For he wasn’t certain he could contain his anger for much longer.