Page 2 of Under Their Protection

Oh well.

Isaac stops mid-stroke and snaps his head in my direction, which triggers Harper to do the same. They pull away and leap up from the bed the moment their eyes meet mine.

“Anika! Baby, I can explain,” Isaac says hurriedly. He steps close to me, but I put my hand up and stop him. I look at my sister who looks absolutely terrified. She is stunned into silence whereas Isaac won't shut the fuck up. Truth be told, I stopped listening the momenthe said my name.

I sigh heavily and walk to the closet shaking my head. I don’t know what my plan is once I leave but If I stay in this house, one or both of them will die. I wouldn’t say I have anger issues, but I do have a nasty temper.

“Anika, what are you doing? Please talk to me,” Isaac begs. I look up at him and glare at him until he shuts the fuck up. I turn back to the closet and pull down bags.

“We were going to tell you tomorrow. You weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow, Anika,” Isaac says, trying to justify the situation.

I take the bags over to the bed and start filling them with my stuff. Luckily, I don't keep an overwhelming amount of clothing. I throw my clothes in then grab all of my little stuff. Once I’m done, I zip up the bags and take them to the living room. They don’t follow me at first but when they do appear, they are dressed.

I go from room to room collecting my stuff and taking it to my growing pile of belongings. I don’t want any reason to come back into this house.

When I am done gathering my possessions, I go to the office and find the checks I had written out from my bank to pay the rent, power, and water bills. I rip them up because I am certainly not paying for a home I don’t live in anymore. I have spent years paying for everything myself. I drained my savings, and we live paycheck to paycheck to keep up with his spending. He can have Harper pay all of his bills now.

They both follow me back and forth to my 4Runner while I load my things. Isaac tries to get me to talk, but I ignore him. I haven’t said a single word, and I am just as surprised as he is. Normally our arguments are screaming matches. Not this time. If I letanyof that anger out, all of it will come out. I cannot risk letting myself go to that dark part of my mind.

Just when I am about to leave, I get an idea. It’s a simple idea, but it will be satisfying, nonetheless. I go back inside with my keys hanging around my neck on a lanyard and walk to the hallway closet. Inside is where my gorgeous wedding dress is hanging in its protective bag. Isaac and I are supposed to get married in just over four weeks.

I turn back with the dress in hand and make it to the living room just as they step inside. I hold the dress out to Harper, and she gives me a strange look before glancing at Isaac.

“Anika, what are you doing?” Isaac sighs.

“Take it,” I say to my sister. “Since you like to take what isn’t yours, you may as well take all of it.” She gives me a deadpan expression and doesn’t take the dress. “Take it!” I scream at her.

“Anika, I’m sorry,” she whispers as she takes the dress from my hands. Since when doessheapologize? Oh, right… When she thinks she’s about to get her ass beat. She’s not sorry. She’s scared.

“Remember you have until next Wednesday to file for the marriage license,” I say as I’m walking to the front door. I turn on my heels and look at my sister again. “Your tits are much smaller, so you’ll want to get that fitted.”

I open the door and step out into the late summer air. I feel a weight lift off my shoulders that I have been struggling to carry for years. I am not even sad or mad about losing Isaac. I’m just angry they lied and went behind my back for God knows how long.

“Anika, stop it and talk to me,” Isaac says as he grabs my arm. The grip he has on my arm hurts and I can tell he is angry that I didn’t give him the reaction he wanted. Now he’s trying to provoke me. I yank my arm away and walk to my truck, wincing at the pain his hand left behind. My arm will definitely be bruised. It’s not the first time he’s left bruises on me, but it will be the last.

I get the house key off of my keychain by the time I get to the door, so I turn and toss it at Harper. She fumbles it at first but ultimately catches it.

“Have a good life. You deserve each other,” I say as I get into the truck and slam the door shut. Isaac comes up to my door, but I lock it before he has a chance to pull it open. In a fit of rage, he punches my window making me involuntarily flinch. The window survives, his hand not so much. He immediately recoils and shakes his hand out to try to ease the pain as blood covers his knuckles. I give him the sweetest smile that I can muster up as I back out of the driveway.

What now? I am not going to my parents or any relatives for that matter. Mia would let me stay with her but she’s going to want me to unpack my feelings. I’m not prepared to do that just yet. For now, I am just going to drive around and clear my head.

My sister has always been the prized daughter. Everyone justlovesHarper. Nothing I did was ever good enough for Mom and Dad. They are constantly comparing me to her. The only upper hand that I had was that I was getting married before her. I wish I could just cut ties with all of them.

When our parents find out that I walked in on Harper and Isaac fucking, they’ll blame me somehow. Isaac will probably lie through his teeth to save his own ass considering he works at myfather’s accounting firm. Ultimately it won’t matter. They all hate me.

I drive around the city for hours. I should be tired, but I’m not. I do know that I am going to work but Rowan will question me if I show up in the same outfit that he last saw me in. I remember that my gym is open 24/7, so I drive there to shower and change for work. I wonder how long I could get by with sleeping in my car before someone noticed? I don’t want to ask anyone for help. Plus, it wouldn’t take me long to save for a place now that I don’t have any bills to pay outside of my phone bill.

I get back into my truck after getting ready for work and the exhaustion hits me. This is going to be a long day. I go through a drive thru somewhere to get a breakfast sandwich and a coffee before going to the office. I am trying to mentally prepare myself for Mia knowing something is wrong right away. I’m sure it is written all over my face. Also, all of my belongings are in the back of the 4Runner. She will probably jump on me the second I walk in. Hell, even Rowan will notice something is up by the time we go to the meeting.

I step into the office, and I see Ava, our intern, at the front desk. “Good morning, Anika,” she says in a cheery voice.

“Morning,” I say, forcing a smile. I continue to walk toward my office. As I pass Mia’s office, I make eye contact with her then make the mistake of continuing my walk. I hear her jump out of her chair, and I know she’s caught wind already of my foul mood,

“Hey. You look like shit,” Mia says as she falls into step with me.

“Good morning to you too, Mia,” I say flatly as I walk into my office and set my things down.

“What’s wrong?” she asks as she sits on one of the chairs facing my desk.

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