Chapter 5 - The Voice of Despair
Julian stepped past the threshold, immediately rushing to his wife’s side. He reached out, gently placing a reassuring hand on Elena’s trembling shoulder, drawing her close as the baby continued to cry against her chest. The warmth of his touch broke the final barrier of Elena’s restraint. She turned into his embrace, her body shaking with deep, wracking sobs as the accumulated trauma of weeks of psychological abuse poured out of her. "She won't let me stop," Elena wept, her voice muffled against his white shirt, trembling with a profound, exhausted terror. Julian’s eyes darted from his weeping wife to his mother, a dark fire igniting behind his gaze as he demanded an explanation with a silent, lethal stare.
