Revealing to Hou Yi

Friday, continued ...

Hou Yi considered what Anna had to say. He quietly said "We can either sit on the couch, or if you want complete privacy, we can go into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. Your choice?"

"The bedroom I think, as I really do not want anyone to hear."

Once they were comfortable on the bed, Anna quietly built up the courage to say what she needed to. "In working with the office to get the paperwork, I had to confront something I had avoided dealing with for such a long time. It deals with things Lu Jinhu did during our relationship. I have been ashamed to now to admit it, and during my relationship I simply dismissed his actions, telling myself he loved me. As we know he never did, but this has given me the courage to admit, at least to myself and what I have to call it."

"Anna you are worrying me. Was he physically abusive? If he was, he better watch out."

"No it was not physical abuse, but he was abusive in other ways. It is, all the same given the context of our relationship. It can only be called domestic violence. He manipulated my psychologically. He would pick at little things with friends to the point that what he said was wrong I saw as being the case, hit on them but made me believe that he was being set up."

Anna paused as she started to feel the tears running down her cheeks, then took a deep breath and continued. "He even drove a friend with cancer to cut me out of her life. I was not there to help her in her final three years battling the disease, which not makes me feel ashamed. He isolated me from friends that could see through him, allowing only those that he liked or his friends. He verbally abused me, through name calling and things like that"

"He also engaged in economic abuse. He failed to make any financial contributions to our relationship, despite his regular returns home and the money from his family, he allowed me to incur unsustainable debt to ensure he had what he wanted, and refused to help out with household tasks, calling them women's work. I do not recall him working a day at all during our relationship, yet he seemed to always want me to fund him a lavish lifestyle."

"The b**tard, how could he do it."

"I let him. I was young when we met and young when we started our relationship. He used my naivety to set a foundation for our relationship that I did not challenge as I developed professionally. He played on stereotypes, even my family allowed him to think was right in a modern relationship. The worst thing is he did what I have counselled clients to get away from to me, and I was not willing to see it. I feel so stupid." With that Anna burst out into tears

"Anna do not blame yourself. It can happen to anyone. When at university I helped a female friend who is from the British Upper Class, granddaughter to a marquis, and after her mother his heir, escape from a domestic violence situation. Her abuser and boyfriend was the son of a duke, and simply thought he could get away with it, because he was of a higher rank."

"The only reason I knew about his actions was we had been out celebrating with other friends the completion of a group project. She had a little bit too much to drink so I drove her home and helped her inside. We were greeted by her boyfriend, who helped me get her inside and thanked me for helping her. I figured she was safe and simply left."

"When I got back to my car, she had left her mobile phone and house keys in my car, so I went back inside to return the. When i arrived at the door, all I could hear was her crying out please do not hit me, I am sorry, and her boyfriend saying you are mine, you spent time with another man and now you will face the consequences of this. I used the keys to open the door and saw her curled up in a ball on the floor, the boyfriend so enraged he did not notice me there, kicking her, beating her with an iron bar, and my friend bleeding from the injuries he had inflicted."

"I immediately called the police, who arrested and charged him. I helped her get medical treatment, deal with the police over the incident and revealing the extent of the abuse, and get through his trial for his actions. I had to quickly learn about refuges and support systems to help victims of domestic violence and started to support them financially, even in City T. Just know I will do what I can to help you through this. Maybe, when you are not so raw about having to deal with this, you can channel yourself into doing something to help victims and make him pay by turning it into something positive."

Anna could not help herself and started sobbing "Yi, I ….""

"Anna, just let me help you through the next few days. Having admitted what he has done will affect you for some time. We can always look in the future what we will do with respect to his actions, and how you use your experiences. I think, rather than sitting here, the best thing for you will be to get some sleep. Just relax and know that you are safe from him. I will wake you when we reach Singapore as while refuelling is happening, we have to get off the plane."

Hou Yi took Anna in his arms, letting her continue to cry, and once she fell asleep, he was able to relax as well. The next thing either of them knew was that there was a knock on the door. "Sir, Madam, we are getting ready to start our descent into Singapore. The Pilot and co-pilot has asked for you to please return to your seats."