Marcus froze. Lionel's mouth fell open. Neither of them moved as Genesis lifted the bat again, her eyes wild and glistening with tears.
"Ma'am, please…" Marcus started, but his voice caught when she slammed the bat against the door again.
CRASH.
Another swing. Another explosion of glass.
"You said I should knock, right?" she shouted, voice cracking, each word sharp as a blade.
CRASH. "Is this loud enough, Knight?"
CRASH. "Can you hear me now?"
Shards flew in every direction, raining down like diamonds in the fluorescent light. Lionel tried to step forward, but Knight lifted a hand slightly, just once and Lionel froze, watching in disbelief.
Genesis was crying heavily now, angry, broken sobs that tore through the silence.
"I carried fish, Kieran!" she screamed, her voice trembling. "Do you know what that smells like? I carried bags until my hands bled, just to buy that!" She pointed at the lunch box on the floor. "Thirty-five dollars! I just wanted to do something, just one thing that wasn't yours!"
She swung the bat again, glass crunching under her heels.
"I am your wife!" she screamed, her voice breaking with every word. "Not your servant, not your toy, not some thing you can press against your desk and…"
Her gaze snapped to the mahogany desk.
Slowly, she walked toward it, tears streaking her face, rage shaking through her body. Knight's eyes followed her, still silent, still unreadable.
Genesis raised the bat, her voice low, shaking. "You pressed me against this table…" she said, choking out a laugh that sounded like a sob. "And said I came here to get fucked."
Her eyes lifted to his, blazing with fury and heartbreak. "Aren't you my damn husband?"
The bat came down hard.
CRACK.
The laptop shattered, the screen bursting into splinters.
CRASH. Another hit, and the wood splintered, deep cracks crawling across the glossy surface.
THUD. Papers flew into the air, scattering like feathers.
"You don't talk! You don't look at me anymore! You don't even see me!" she cried, swinging again and again, her sobs breaking between each hit. "You hide behind work, behind that stupid glass tower, like you're the only one who's hurting!"
Then she looked up at him. "You're not the only one hurting, I'm scared too but I'm trying to be strong, for me, for you, for your father," she screamed and then raised the bat again that was already splintering at the ends and struck it at the middle of the desk again with the laptop.
The wood groaned under the final blow. The bat splintered at the ends, trembling in her shaking hands. But Genesis didn't stop. She turned, eyes darting wildly around the room—toward the shelves, the awards, the glass case of his father's memorabilia, every symbol of his perfection.
"You think I'm strong, right? That I can just take everything!" she shouted, her voice raw and ragged. "But I can't! I was assaulted by my own stepbrothers.." her voice cracked.."and you know what I did? I stayed quiet! Because I thought if I just stayed good enough, quiet enough, life would stop hurting!"
She slammed the bat into a glass frame, shattering it.
"The first day in the estate after you married me, I peed and.." her voice broke off into a sob.."I peed and shit on myself because I was scared, Kieran! Scared of you, scared of everyone!"
Another crash. Papers flew like confetti.
"But even in all that pain," she screamed, "I opened up to you! I let you in! I trusted you!"
Her voice lowered, trembling. "I have nightmares every day… every single day. You used to notice. You used to hold me till I fell asleep. But now you don't even sleep in our bed."
Her breath hitched. "I can't sleep without you. I can't breathe half the time. I'm losing my mind and I need help too but I still stayed! I'm still trying to be strong for you, for your father, for us!"
She lifted the bat again, her arms weak, her body shaking from exhaustion and fury.
"You abandoned me in that academy! Left me to fight strangers!" she cried. "I forgave you, Kieran. I forgave everything."
Then she pointed the bat at him, her tears falling freely. "Why do you all hurt me? Why does everyone hurt me?"
Knight stood there, still silent, watching as her pain tore through the air.
Genesis turned sharply, eyes landing on a crystal sculpture on his shelf—something expensive, priceless. She stared at it for a long second, then whispered, "You said this was your father's favorite…" and with one sharp motion, she brought the bat down.
CRASH. The sculpture shattered into shining shards.
That's when Knight moved, fast, instinctive. "Genesis.."
"Don't!" she screamed, spinning around, the bat swinging wide.
It connected with his temple. A sickening thud.
Knight staggered back, hand flying to the side of his head as blood streaked down his fingers.
Genesis froze.
Her breath hitched. The bat slipped from her hands and clattered to the floor, echoing through the room.
Her eyes went wide at the sight of the blood trickling down his face.
"I'm tired, very tired; at times, I feel like dying, but I can't abandon you. I understand what my death would do to you. Yet, while I'm still here, it seems you don't see how your distance affects me. I'm left to confront my rapists and my stepmother on my own, trying to establish a business I know nothing about. I'm making an effort, but where are you?"
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" she yelled, her hand falling to her face as she wept, tears of deep anguish that even the men outside could see streaming from her small frame.
Knight approached her, tears streaming down his cheeks. She struggled in his embrace, pushing him away, but he held her until she calmed down. Then, he lifted her chin, and she gazed at the bloodied side of his face, letting out a wail as she reached out to touch his head.
"I'm…
"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I see you, Genesis, I see you," he sobbed, then pressed his lips against hers, gripping her head tightly. She responded to the kiss, rough and filled with teeth, as he lifted her, her legs wrapping around him. He moved them toward the window, pressing her against it while he devoured her lips, and she ran her hands over his back and chest, tugging at him.
He shrugged off his jacket, blood dripping onto her face as they kissed, barely pausing for breath, fueled by adrenaline.
He tugged at his pants, and she gasped as he freed himself, one hand securing her waist against the glass. In one swift motion, he thrust into her, and she screamed, which he silenced with his mouth.
…And amidst the wreckage of the office, with their men looking on in shock, they collided with each other, desperate and breathless. His hands gripped her waist, pulling her impossibly close, her legs locking around him as he thrust into her repeatedly, every touch igniting, every gasp raw and urgent.
The chaos surrounding them was irrelevant, the shattered glass, the broken walls, the scattered papers, the astonished faces. Nothing existed except the fire between them, the trembling, messy heat that made them both burn and shiver. And in that moment, nothing could stop them, nothing could reach them, except each other.