(The Abrams POV)
When Silas returned from the office, he questioned them right away.
"Would you mind telling me what's going on in my house?!"
"It's not what you think, brother, she's exaggerating a minor issue," Reggie explained.
"She added some fuel, for you to be furious at us", said Beth.
"Don't mince words, TELL ME!", said Silas.
"Dee, talk!" exclaimed Silas loudly.
Delores casually replied, "Don't raise your temper just yet..."
He cuts her, and says, "Don't raise my temper?! Are you aware Sarah is the daughter of an established family in society?!"
"You witnessed how our son and all of you tortured her. If anything happens to her, you must bear the consequences!", said Silas.
"They're husband and wife and it's natural", said Beth.
"I've never hit my wife, Beth!" exclaimed Silas.
"I think we should cool down and let Dee clear the air," Indy suggested.
"She came up to us, her sharp words searing us. I advise her. She didn't like it, we ended up in an argument", Dee said.
"How did Luke find out?" Silas wondered.
"How do we know, Brother? We tell him nothing", said Beth.
"Maybe he was eavesdropping...?", said Reggie.
"Trust us, dear. Why would I be a thorn in our child's life? Luke is our son, our heir," Dee stroked Silas' upper arm.
"Just because she has bruises on her face doesn't mean she's innocent, it doesn't mean we're guilty", Dee said.
Silas said "I have no clue who's at fault! What I want is, I don't wanna see a single wound on Sarah!"
Dee smiled warmly, "Don't worry, it won't happen again." Silas went back to his room.
"What a day! Why are you staring at me?", Dee referred to Reggie and Beth
"You said he wouldn't be furious with us," said Beth,
"Forget it!" Dee said.
"Whatever you say, what matters is that the problem is fixed," Reggie said.
"Did you hear what our brother said earlier, Gie?" Beth asked.
"He will let us suffer the consequences if something happens to Sarah; he will not help us!" exclaimed Beth.
"He won't stand up for us! That woman is trouble." Reggie said.
"I get the point. Sarah is the daughter of a renowned family. Never forget that", Dee said.
"We have to be more careful. Don't let our actions wreck our lives," Delores said.
"For a second, I thought you were giving up", said Reggie.
"You don't know me", Dee said.
(Luke POV)
Luke came home soon after. He went upstairs to his room, then down to the kitchen. The ladies looked on as he paced back and forth.
"Someone hunting for someone," Beth muttered.
Luke went back to the living room.
"Where's she?", asked Luke.
"She left", said Delores.
"Left? Where to?" Luke asked.
"We don't know," Delores said.
"How come you don't know?" Luke
"I'm not her nanny, Luke!" Dee
"After you've gone to the office, she left by slamming the door. Luckily, the door was okay", Beth pointed to the door.
"You and your silly jokes", said Reggie.
"I've no idea what happened. She sounds harsh given what you guys stated.", Sadie Abrams (Silas' younger sister-in-law)
"She always acts and talks arbitrarily", said Indy.
"I warned you not to take a woman from that family. You ignored my advice" Sadie said.
"Maybe you should stop talking, and help me find my wife!", said Luke.
They all fell silent at once.
"I genuinely want to help him, but I'm not in the mood to look for his wife. Some other time, son", Dee said quietly.
"I don't care if she is nowhere to be found", continued Reggie.
He took out his phone and kept dialing Sarah's number.
"She didn't answer my phone, what's she thinking?!" Luke said.
"Control your short temper, son", said Silas.
"Perhaps she goes elsewhere, she needs time after what she's gone through," Silas said.
The Abrams gather in the living room waiting for Sarah's presence. The clock read 7 p.m.
"What occurred today is not favorable to us. It will have a negative influence on Abrams," Shane stated (Silas's third brother)
"A lot of issues have arisen since the wedding," Scott explained.
"She likes to make a big deal out of little things," Seth observed.
"She's immature, she can't handle things; I'm starting to think the marriage was a terrible mistake," said Shane Abrams.
"We share the same idea. I thought the situation would change for good", said Seth.
"All of you, Stop making such unpleasant assumptions! We can't put everything on her. Our side made a mistake too!", said Silas.
"Did she pick the call?", asked Silas.
"She didn't", said Luke.
"Do you know any of her friends?" Silas inquired.
"No idea", said Luke.
"Call her parents, she might be in there," Silas said.
"That's what I'm doing", said Luke.
"They ignored the call!", Luke yelled.
Then Luke's phone rang.
"Her dad". He picked up the call.
"Hello sir, how are you doing?", said Luke.
"I'm great, how about you son?", said Sarah's father.
"Same here", said Luke.
"Is Sarah there, Sir?" Luke asked.
"She was here, why?" he asked.
"She's not home yet", said Luke.
Marc turned to his wife.
Arabella asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"Did you call her?", asked Sarah's father.
"Yes, she declined the call", said Luke.
"We tried it too, she did the same", said Sarah's father.
"Do you know her friends?", asked Luke.
"I know. I'll contact them straight away! I'll let you know", said Sarah's father.
"Thank you sir", said Luke.
(Sarah's parents' POV)
"Sarah is still not home," Sarah's father explained.
"God! It's 7 pm. She's been gone for hours," Sarah's mother remarked.
"We shouldn't kick her out", said Sarah's father.
Marc plopped down on the chair and rubbed his own head.
"I should have seen this coming," Sarah's father remarked, his heart pounding with guilt.
"I called her friends, but she's not there" Sarah's mother shivered in terror at the prospect of losing her daughter.
"What are we going to do", said Sarah's father.
(Sarah's POV)
I awoke to the buzzing of my phone. It's dark already! How long have I been sleeping? Luke's name appears on the screen.
"Hello"
"WHERE ARE YOU?!", he shouted. "DIDN'T YOU KNOW THE WAY BACK TO HOME?!"
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm caught in a traffic jam," I said.
"GET YOUR A** HERE, ASAP!", said Luke
He thinks I'm riding a rocket. What the heck?
"At long last, she answered the phone!" exclaimed Silas.
"Yeah", Luke's eyes a blazing laser, clenching his hand till his veins bulged.
"Don't let negative ideas take over your mind," Silas told all of the family members.
The ladies and Luke waited for Sarah while the others disappeared into their room. Sarah eventually arrived after a long wait.
"Where have you been?!", Luke confronted me.
I kept my mouth shut.
"I'M ASKING YOU!" exclaimed Luke loudly.
I scanned the room, I spotted a woman joining the ladies. I know her, we live on the same street. We know each other well, especially mom.
Silas emerged from his room, "Sarah..., you are back!", his eyes lit up.
I gave him a smile.
"Where were you all day? We were worried", said Silas.
Maybe you're the one who's worried, not them.
"I needed time, so I stayed at my parent's house a little longer," I explained.
"When we phoned your parents, they said you had come home, and dark thoughts started to swirl through our heads," Silas explained.
They don't seem that way, they're brimming with joy.
"We called you over and over again", said Silas.
"My phone was in silent mode", I said.
"You can inform us", said Silas.
"I thought it wasn't necessary, I didn't go anywhere", I said.
"OK, go freshen up, we'll meet at dinner", said Silas.
"Sarah", said Silas, before he walked back to his room.
"Yes?", I said
"You're allowed to see your parents whenever you want," Silas said,
"Thank you, dad! I'm glad to hear that," I answered.
The ladies were unhappy when Silas spoke softly to me rather than angrily.
"Oh, the group has grown to five members now," I noted.
"It's a good thing, if you keep adding members to your group, you can plan social gathering events that only 5 of you can attend," I added.
"Better crowded than alone", said Reggie.
"Better alone than surrounded by venom," I said.
"Those who solely have a job ruining people's households, I mean husband and wife ties," I smirked.
"Back to your room, Sarah!", said Luke, defending his "kind" family.
"Bye DEVILS, I mean LADIES", I said.
Luke trailed me up to the room.
I stowed my handbag in the closet.
"We're not done yet!", he said.
I slammed the bathroom door.
"OPEN THE DOOR!" he yelled as he pounded on the door.
I'm sick of him!
The pounding gradually faded away.
I stepped out of the bathroom. He's still in his office suit, sitting on the bed. I disregarded him and snatched up my clothing.
He grabbed my arm and said, "We need to talk!"
"Oh, 'talk' you say? Do you know what talk means?", I asked.
He gave me a look.
"All this time, what you prefer is getting angry, yelling, and hitting," I remarked.
"You never know the word "talk", am I right or am I right?",. I said
"Don't rile me up!" Luke said,
"See.. what I just said," I said.
"Before you vent the anger that's stored inside you towards other people for me, let me explain to you what "talk" means", I said.
"Now plug your ear, and listen, "talk" is 2 or more people sitting casually in a room, sharing words with a peaceful mind, got it?", I said.
"I don't know what to do with you, even though you've been hit, you're still...", he ran out of words.
"I'm aware you're never conscious of your surroundings, or you're just pretending not to be for some reason," I said.
"I never understood why you made me your slave for all your emotions", I said.
He looked away.
"You know what, we can live in peace, serenity, and happiness if you don't make me your anger slave", I said.
He turned to face me, a look of amazement on his face.
His visage softened all of a sudden. He slumped back on the couch and closed his eyes, saying under his breath, "The voice, those words."
"What voice?", I asked.
This is my chance. He weakened. This is the moment for a deep talk. I need to find out what happened. With his head down, I sat next to him, holding his hand. For a moment, he looked at my hand which was above his.
"Let's talk", I said gently.
"Poured all your heart out to me, for our life, and our future", I placed my right hand on his shoulder.
"I know something has happened to you", I said.
He looked me in the eyes. I sensed his pain. "A lot has happened, my heart is broken, my life destroyed, they took everything from me, Sarah", said Luke.
"I hate them!" Luke
"Who are they? What did they take from you? Let me help you", I said.
"You can't help me, nobody can't", he said in a desperate tone.
"My heart aches, Sarah", his voice cracking, his hand trembling as sadness washed over him.