[WARNING: there is mature, triggering content such as rape in this chapter. Read at your own risk]

Up above: Dean Walker played by Nathaniel Buzolic.

I am only using Nathaniel as a faceclaim. That man is like one of my favorite people in the world and I apologize to him for using his face to portray a monster like Dean.

Sorry it took me so long to update. There were exams and then the fact that this chapter was painful to write so there wasn't any motivation really, usually comments motivate me but there's never enough for this book (which I understand).

HERE U GO! Please excuse errors!

The songs In The End and Waiting For The End by Linkin Park are both perfect for describing Adriana's feelings in this part of the story. Pls give them a listen!

RIP CHESTER💧❤️

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I tried so hard and got so far

But in the end it doesn't even matter

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"Ow, fuck."

  Adriana whimpered in pain when she moved her lower body too much while lowering herself to sit on the toilet. It was the following morning, and Adriana wanted nothing more than to be dead.

  Dean Walker. The man she thought she had left forever, three years ago, pregnant. Three years of peace without him, despite the addiction, all gone now that he had returned. There was no way of escaping his clutches, Adriana has tried before and was unsuccessful many times: it wasn't any different if she tried now. Last night, Dean had found his way to her apartment building with the help of Donnie, since Dean was the Black Mamba. Donnie didn't know his boss' relations with Adriana; he was just helping his boss out of fear. Adriana just couldn't fathom the fact that he had returned, and it wasn't because he found out where she was after three years. It's because he found out about Mateo.

  The sound of the toilet flushing echoed in her ears as she slowly trudged towards the sink, washing her hands and looking up at the mirror. She felt the urge to breakdown crying again, due to the state she was in. Her cheeks were mottled due to the heavy flow of tears that drenched the skin. Her eyes were bloodshot, red-rimmed and lifeless, from the constant crying when he took her against her will. She closed her eyes when she was reminded of last night, her wails and cries and pleas for him to stop. But he was relentless, merciless, claiming that he missed the way she felt, the way she was submissive underneath his touch.

   "Dean, stop stop please! That hurts!"

   "Adriana, keep your fucking mouth shut," Dean snapped aggressively, continuing moving his hips at a sharp, rough pace. "The more you resist, the more painful it will get."

   "Y-You don't have to do this, Dean, please," Adriana begged desperately, wrenching one of her hands from his grip where he was holding both of her wrists over her head. She cupped his cheek, hoping she could trick him with words and false promises. "P-Please just give me time and I'll come to love you again, and w-we can be a family with Mateo."

   "Baby," Dean smiled sickly sweetly, turning his face to kiss her palm before he spoke again. "I will wait for you to love me again. But you know I can't wait that long to fuck you again."

  Her hands searched for the sides of the sink to grip it tightly, feeling her body shake when the memories just wouldn't stop flooding in. She remembered his hot, heavy panting fanning against her face, neck, skin, everywhere. Her skin crawled when images of his cold hands gripping her hips, breasts, and neck flashed before her eyes, bruising her skin while gripping her tightly as he would pound into her with every fiber in his body. Before the tears could escape her eyes for the hundredth time that day, the doorbell rang.

  Harry was the first and only thought that filled Adriana's head as she heard the door swinging open. Instead of relief, she felt fear. She rushed out of the bathroom, hastily pulling her robe on to conceal her half-naked body as she heard Dean answering the door and speaking. Who the fuck are you? Adriana tried to calm her mind as she headed towards the front door. She knew that Harry could help her, but something else worried her even more. Dean was a malicious, possessive monster. If he had any idea that Adriana and Harry were together before he arrived, he would butcher Harry. He would hurt everyone Harry loves because he was cruel like that. Adriana needed Harry to disappear for now until she could figure out how to escape Dean later on. Dean couldn't know about Harry.

   "You know this guy?" Dean questioned her as soon as she reached the door.

  Her gaze flickered to Harry's for a second, keeping her face extremely expressionless so that he couldn't detect anything. Harry on the other hand felt his heart tearing slowly to pieces at the sight of her, half-naked in her underwear, skin littered with love bites. He could only see her chest, lower body covered with her half-tied robe, thus he couldn't see the harsh bruises that stained her skin but only the lighter ones on her breasts and neck. He was too shocked to speak, and was heartbroken when he watched her just shrug and grab the door.

   "No."

  Harry stood there in a dumbfounded manner, as the door was slammed shut in his face. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. He didn't even have the strength to knock on that door again and scream and yell at Adriana and the man, questioning what the fuck they were doing, even though it was plain obvious in his eyes. His mind screamed at him to do what guys would normally do if they catch their girlfriend cheating, storm in there and beat the guy up. But Harry wasn't a violent person, nor did he blame the guy: he blamed Adriana. Harry instead wanted to curl up into a ball and cry his heart out. He took a step back, as if his heart had just been pierced with an arrow, now bleeding vigorously, blood coming out in the form of tears from his eyes. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He was paralyzed.

  After a minute or so, he finally moved. His feet carried him down the stairs and to his car. His windows were tinted, and he was grateful because as soon as he slammed the door shut, the tears wouldn't stop flowing. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel with a loud cry, falling back against his seat and crying miserably. His mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what had just happened, despite the numerous questions that pounded on his poor mind like a sledgehammer hitting concrete walls. On top of all of that, images of that man and Adriana flashed before his eyes, him between her legs making her moan and shake in pleasure. These thoughts made Harry sick to his stomach, and continue to carve out a large gaping hole in his chest.

   "Fuck!" Harry slammed his fists against the steering wheel again when the images became too much for him to handle.

  He could feel the regret pouring into his veins unwelcomed, the regret for getting to know Adriana in the first place. He ignored all the warning signs, and went blindly into this relationship, which he thought had the potential to grow into something beautiful. He was wrong, at least that's what he told himself. 

∙❧∙

  Adriana on the other hand, had to keep her heart and tears intact as she walked away from the door she had just slammed shut in the face of the man she loved. Dean narrowed his eyes at her, quickly reaching out to grab her wrist and tug her back. Adriana let out a gasp of surprise when she was pulled back, feeling his large hands find her bruised hips and push her roughly against the wall nearby. Her eyes widened significantly when she felt his hand wrap around her neck, squeezing lightly to warn her not to move. She gulped in worry, her frightened dark eyes getting trapped in his intent gaze.

   "He's nobody, I swear, just the annoying neighbor is all," Adriana whispered to him.

   "You can tell me if he's bothering you, I can make it stop," Dean murmured lowly, making Adriana's brows lower and face frown. She knew what he meant by making it stop was having one of his henchmen killing Harry or hurting him to an extent where he'd leave Adriana alone.

   "You don't have to. Me slamming the door at his face should be enough for him to get a hint," Adriana muttered dryly.

   "Good," Dean smiled for a second but it disappeared when his eyes turned a shade darker. "Because if I see him coming around here again, he will lose his head, and you know I am true to my word. Do you hear me?"

   "I hear you," Adriana gulped, wishing he'd let her go now but he still held onto her. "Please...let me go."

   "There's another thing I want you to know," Dean spoke up again. "You had a chance to let that man know what happened last night, but you didn't, because you know what happens when you call for help, don't you?"

   "I do," Adriana swallowed thickly. She felt her heart rate pick up when he leaned in close, breath fanning against her lips as his fingers dug into her skin.

   "You remember that no one will hear you when you call for help. I have power here in New York, connections. You go to the police, they're gonna send you running back to me because I own them. I have connections everywhere. So if you try to run, you won't get far, sweetheart. Not this time," Dean chuckled darkly as he spoke to her with genuine words. Genuine, frightening words.

   "If you try running away and taking my son with you," he spoke again in an aggressive, rough voice, squeezing her neck all of a sudden. Adriana gasped with her hands coming up to claw at his grip, breath shortening all of a sudden. "You better pray to fucking god that I don't end up killing you."

   "Now go get dressed. You need to introduce me to Mateo."

  He released his grip on Adriana, causing her to gasp loudly and collapse to the floor. Her fingers skimmed over the reddened, burning skin of her neck, tears dotting the corners of her eyes. Her mouth took in gulps of fresh air, lungs crying joyfully but her heart was weeping after hearing Dean's words. Adriana scrambled away to lock herself in the bathroom before he could say or do anything more to her. She decided to get into the shower so that the running water can drown her noisy sobs. But when she stripped down and looked at the mirror, the sight of her body broke her heart.

  The bruises were horrendous, all big and colored ranging from dark colors such as blue and purple to red and yellow. Adriana felt the tears slipping from her eyes for the millionth time as they ran over her precious body that was now desecrated by him. The marks lingered around her neck, breasts and hips: all large and painful to the touch. Adriana skimmed her skin with her fingers, whimpering softly when she pressed against on of them near her hip, exhaling sharply in pain. She then turned around slightly and shifted her gaze down to her ass. A small gasp escaped her lips at the sight, horrified by the huge bruises, dark purples and blue in the middle with yellow lining the perimeters of them. They continued all the way down to the backs of her thighs.

  His hand marks were evident on her body, signifying the claim he has on her now, that her body belonged to him now. She felt ashamed, ashamed because she didn't fight hard enough. Ashamed because she could feel everything she had worked hard to take back from him, her dignity, her self-esteem, and so much more: was all falling back into his hands. She stepped into the shower with her head hung low, arms slowly wrapping around her broken body as she lost herself in the sound of the water hitting the tub and the heat that was radiated off of it.

  She remembered her son, Mateo, and how Dean was determined to meet him and be a part of his life. That gave her motivation to stay strong, to protect Mateo as much as she can from Dean. She promised herself that one day she would get away from Dean, and take Mateo with her. He didn't deserve to have a father like Dean. He deserved to have someone like Harry. Adriana felt her heart ache at the thought of him, wondering what he was doing at this very moment. Did he really believe that the fight they had led to her cheating on him? Was he crying desolately with a broken heart because of her? The thought of Harry crying pierced her heart and made it bleed harder than it already was.

  Her knees buckled and she lowered herself down, sitting in the tub with her knees drawn up to her chest, body sore and aching from the cramped up position but she didn't care. Her forehead dropped to her knees, eyes fluttering shut with her face contorted in sadness and misery. She felt a sense of déjà vu at that moment. She remembered being in that exact same position when she was around 20, just after she had found out she was pregnant with Mateo. There was an internal battle going on inside of her about whether to keep the baby or not.

  Now, she was in the bathtub for a different reason but one thing remained the same from then and now; and that was Dean.

∙❧∙

   "You were right."

  Niall looked up from the book he was reading, blue eyes landing on Harry whom was curled up on his couch, wrapped up in a blanket. Harry came to Niall crying with a broken heart, but never really said anything that explained why he was crying. Niall could only comfort Harry to a certain extent, while asking questions that Harry only responded with a yes or no. Niall didn't ask if Adriana cheated on Harry, because he really didn't think she would do such a thing. He knew their love was strong, and she wouldn't do something like that to hurt Harry. It was now evening, and Harry still hadn't explained what had happened, Niall had been taking care of him and waiting patiently until he was comfortable enough to talk.

   "About?" Niall questioned with a sigh, setting his book aside and moving to sit next to Harry.

   "Her," Harry uttered in a dead tone, throat raw from desolate sobbing. His eyes were bloodshot, red-rimmed from excessive crying. "You warned me about her from the start, but I didn't listen. I'm so stupid."

   "Harry, you're not," Niall murmured quietly with a shake of his head. "My mind changed about her when I found out about how happy she makes you."

   "Yeah but you still have doubts because she made me sad and angry just as much as she made me happy," Harry muttered bitterly in response. "You've always had your doubts, and you warned me before and I didn't listen, so I deserve this."

   "Shut the fuck up, Peach," Niall scoffed, shaking his head. "What did she do?"

   "She cheated on me Niall!" Harry exclaimed loudly, suddenly snapping his gaze to lock with Niall's shocked one. Then Harry's facial expression fell as his pink lower lip trembled and he turned his head away, whispering. "She cheated on me."

   "Wha-How do you know?" Niall didn't know exactly what to say or ask.

   "I went back like you told me to, and t-then this guy opens the door, and I've never seen him before! He was in his underwear, and he was confused about me just as much as I was confused about him," Harry began explaining, voice cracking at times while Niall listened attentively.

   "And where was she?"

   "She shows up a few seconds later, also in her underwear with hickeys all over her neck and breasts, which I know for a fact wasn't there on her when I left her," Harry spoke with a tone that was heavy with emotion, sniffling as his eyes became glassy.

   "And she didn't say anything? You didn't say anything?"

   "I-I couldn't even begin to fathom what was happening," Harry shook his head. "He was asking her if she knew me, and she just looked at me with this-with this emotionless look on her face and said no, and then slammed the door shut."

  Niall sat back after hearing Harry's last words, shocked by what he had just heard and also heartbroken because he can't even begin to imagine how painful it must've been for Harry to experience that. He was gonna talk about jumping to conclusions without any explanations, but Adriana pretending she didn't know Harry and slamming the door at his face was cold. Niall just knew that he didn't want Harry crawling back to her because he was in love with her. Niall hated cheaters with a passion, and he was now adamant on protecting Harry at all costs.

   "Are you going to try and talk to her?" Niall asked quietly.

   "M-Maybe, I-I just wanna know why she did it," Harry whispered softly. "I mean I have ideas, but I want to hear from her."

   "You know you can't go back to her. She cheated on you Harry, that is unforgivable," Niall spoke, unable to hide his degust in his tone as he responded. "I don't care if she's sick, you did so much for her and this is what she does in return? Like fucking hell-"

   "I get it, Niall," Harry suddenly snapped sharply, stony, green eyes gazing at his bestfriend warningly. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

   "O-Okay," Niall mumbled in response, trying not to overthink with the way he reacted. Adriana ruined his bestfriend, hurt him immensely, he could never forgive her for that. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sorry this happened to you. You don't deserve any of this, you deserve all the good in the world, you really do, Peach."

  Harry listened quietly to Niall's words, unable to form a response to them because he couldn't believe them. Why would this happen to me when all I've done is be good? Bad things happen to good people was the only thing Harry could come up with. Little did he know that the same was happening to Adriana, whom on the other hand was eyeing a bag of cocaine that she had found in Dean's backpack. She could feel a small part of her screaming at her to stop when she reached out to pick up the bag, then finding herself in the bathroom locking the door. She tapped out some of the deadly white powder onto the back of her hand, feeling every single bit of hope that she had left in her body deteriorate by the second.

  She used her finger to push it into an uneven line, swallowing thickly as her pupils dilated at the sight of the cocaine ready for her to snort. But then something glimmering and sparkling caught her eye. On the hand that she had the cocaine on, she was wearing the ring that Harry gave to her for her birthday. Her heart stopped at the sight of it, lips parting as her hand turned for her to stare at it.

  Her breathing stilled as she gazed at it, lower lip trembling as she reminisced on the moment he gave it to her, calling him, her and Mateo a family. Her heart ached terribly as she remembered her sun, and all his efforts to stop her from doing what she was about to do right now. Her eyes begged her to stop watering, but she couldn't help it. Harry probably hated her for 'cheating' on him, and was heartbroken by it. Nothing made Adriana sadder than that.

  She forced herself to stand up and rinse her hand, clearing away the cocaine while she sniffled. The ring served as a reminder of what she had just lost, and she wasn't going to let Dean win and control her when it came to her addiction. She wasn't going to let whatever he did to her push her to do cocaine. She was going to try to remain strong and stay away from the cocaine despite what was happening that would probably trigger the cravings, because that was the least she could do for herself.

  Silly girl, her demons laughed.

  The Diamond Girl didn't know that Dean was the demons' biggest supporter.

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∙ on a scale of 1-10 how sad was that chapter? Apologies for it being short but the next one will be interesting since Mateo has to meet Dean!

∙ I hope y'all understand why Adriana ignored Harry, like Dean really is fucking dangerous and Adriana would do anything to protect Harry, even if it means her suffering at the hands of Dean ):

∙ I was getting emotional writing this because I just watched Hasley's speech poem thing at the Women's March and it broke my heart and reminded me of Adriana and how there are women and girls like her so suffer the way she does and nothing breaks my heart more than that 💔

Until meet again...

thiora ❤️