The Secret Obsession of the CEO
Chapter 111: His Trauma

Chapter 111: His Trauma

"Grandma is happy," Derick pulled Julia closer to him. "Someone has made grandma very happy..." he pecked on her lips.

Dorothy was very happy to get to eat fresh hog meat or lunch. And she was raining praises on Julia for making the kill. But it looked like Julia was not very happy with the situation.

It made Derick’s heart jump in fright.

"Well," Julia let out a deep breath. "I didn’t think that I have it... I think Rory helped me..?" She said leaning on his chest.

"But she was at the other side!" Derick hugged her.

He knew Rory helped her. He knows how much of a sharpshooter Rory is. For her to miss so many shots... There should be only one reason for that.

But Rory does not want Julia to know that.

"Maybe she purposefully missed..?" Julia played with his buttons.

"Does it matter?" He asked.

Rory has her way of doing things and showing love. And often times others misinterpret it. Julia is a strong woman with her own opinions. And she wouldn’t like it if her win was handed over to her by someone.

But he cannot blame Rory. Rory did it because she wanted to welcome Julia to the family. And she wanted grandma to like Julia.

What should he do when both sides are not wrong in their beliefs? How should he handle it?

The shouts of that woman came to his memory. She didn’t like hunting and she found reasons to hate each one of his family members. She said that they gave her anxiety. Their intentions never mattered to her and she always found reasons to be mad about them.

And she handled her anxiety by...

His heart beat fastened and he bit his lips. He did not want those nightmares to return.

"Are you panicking?"

Julia’s sweet voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Oh, baby!" Julia kissed his cheek. "If Rory did miss her shots to help me, it doesn’t matter. Look at grandma... She is happy! And your family... I love them so much, Derick...I am happy..."

"Really?" Derick raised his brows.

Julia wiped the perspiration on his forehead. "Yeah!" she hugged him around his neck. "Why should I find fault when your family is trying hard to make me feel welcomed?"

"Yeah..." Derick chuckled and hugged her tightly. "Why would you?"

"I would never..." Julia said patting his back.

Derick told her about his past marriage. She had a feeling that he suffered more than he let her know, but even what he told her was unbelievable. He was married to an abusive and manipulative woman. Everything was about her. And his feelings were not respected.

And the worse part... She made Derick believe that the abuse was not "abuse". It was what he "deserved" for not making his wife happy.

Derick was raised in a family who believed that a "Happy wife makes a happy life". And he did everything to make his wife happy. But she never was happy.

If he was working, she was mad that he didn’t spend time with her. If he was on leave, she said that his breathing was loud and he was disturbing her. If he buys her gifts she complained that he did not know her heart and burnt those gifts. And if he did not buy her gifts, she said that he does not love her.

He was a federal agent and he studied human psychology. And just as they say that doctors make the worst patients, he refused to see what was wrong in his marriage.

All because they have a child!

She did not work and didn’t do the household chores either. She even found it hard to take care of the baby. And Derick had to do everything.

But she had time to be social. She made a lot of friends and made sure to let everyone know that she is very hardworking while her husband’s only passion is his work. Derick was busy being both the father and mother for the baby, while she was busy making the neighbors believe a certain narrative.

When a certain serial killer case was assigned to him, he was busy and he did not like coming home to a dirty house. He confronted her and that’s when the abuse started.

At first, it was just her shouting at him and hitting him with her hands. She would damage the things in the house bringing financial damage. Of course, she would be very apologetic. But she never stopped throwing things at him.

And then it evolved to kicking, punching until he bleeds, "accidentally" breaking his finger, throwing stuff(knife included) at him, and so on.

Apparently, he believed his wife when she cried and apologized every time she "loses control". And he would protect her by not letting anyone know how he got hurt.

All the wounds were him getting hurt in his job.

He had no time to meet his friends, much less visit his family. He was busy always, and even when he is not busy, he had to make his wife happy by doing what she wanted to do.

Years passed, and Ryan started school. And by then, Derick was conditioned to think that this was the norm--he has a slightly emotional wife, who loves him deeply even if she hurts him often.

Of course, everything changed after Rory’s visit. His mother had been asking him to visit them for years and he didn’t. So she asked Rory to go for a visit.

And Rory... she is a smart one.

Maybe for Derick, it was normal to see his wife throwing a book at him. But for Rory, it was not. She told him that it was not normal to hurt one’s spouse and it is abuse.

Derick got angry... at Rory. Because his wife was mad at Rory. But he loved Rory too much to show his anger to her. He tried to stop her from visiting his house.

But Rory was being Rory. She started visiting them more.

And every time Rory visited, that woman became "unhappy" and she got "depressed". Derick was on the verge of asking Rory not to visit his house. Even he started to believe that Rory is causing problems in his marriage.

It was then that happened.

That day, Rory visited them and Derick was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Megan was in the drawing room watching TV. Rory was helping him make dinner. Ryan was playing with his cars in the hallway.

Megan had a terrible headache and asked for a cup of coffee. Derick, the good husband he is, brewed a fresh cup for her and gave her. She did not even accept the coffee mug and asked him to keep it on the table. He did what she asked for and returned to the kitchen.

A minute later, a loud shout echoed in the entire house. "There is no sugar!" she shouted, and the next moment, the mug flew at Derick.

Julia still couldn’t believe what Derick said to her as he talked about that moment. His reflexes made him move away from the path of the mug. He almost moved away, but another thought made him stop--his wife won’t be pleased if he does not get hit by that mug.

He did make a mistake! He did not prepare the coffee to his wife’s liking.

Derick recalled that thought made him question his sanity. Why should he get hurt to placate his wife who proclaims to love him?

And yet he still didn’t move. It had become a habit for him. He stood there closing his eyes, bracing for the pain.

But the mug never landed on him. And yet, he heard the mug hitting someone and shatter. He smelled blood. He opened his eyes fearing if it was Ryan who got hit.

But it was Rory.

Megan did not bother with anything. She sat on the couch crossing her legs and turned on the volume of the TV.

Derick looked at Rory. She was hit above her eyebrow and was bleeding profusely. And seeing her blood, made his blood boil. For the first time in forever, he got mad at his wife. At that time, Ryan ran to the kitchen hearing the commotion and he stepped on a broken piece, injuring himself.

He too was bleeding.

Rory softly talked to the crying boy and asked Derick to treat him first. She was still bleeding and she didn’t even wipe her face with a towel. She walked to the living room.

Derick’s first instinct was to stop Rory. But he saw his crying son and the blood spilled on the kitchen floor. He looked at the indifferent attitude of his wife.

Something snapped in him. Without turning back, he brought Ryan to his room on the first floor.

He did not know what happened downstairs, but Rory had still not wiped her face, but his wife was cleaning the kitchen. She was on her knees and her cheeks were red.

And that was it.