The Marriage Auction

Harold cursed and spat as he drove everyone away, threatening to gouge out my eyes if anyone dared try to stop him. No one dared step any closer.

My eye throbbed with unbearable pain, and as I blindly swung my arms and yelled for a hospital, I tried to stand.

However, in the next instant, Harold lost it.

He jammed his fingers into my eye socket, yanking with savage force, spewing curses.

"Think you can fight back? I'll show you who's king here."

A scream tore from my throat.

As the crowd gasped in horror, I staggered and fell, my cries echoing in the air.

…

"Harold, your hand's bleeding so much, does it hurt?"

Ella was only worried about her brother, who just attacked me, oblivious to my suffering.

Pain was edging me toward unconsciousness, my heart turning to ice.

The workers stood frozen in shock.

Finally coming to their senses, they scrambled to get me into a car and off to the hospital.

Harold, that monster, did irreparable damage to my eye.

The doctor could do nothing but offer empty words of comfort, suggesting a glass eye and a long hospital stay for healing.

I was a mess, inside and out.

Then came Ella's piercing cries from outside. She burst in, collapsing on me in a flood of tears. "Jim, I'm so sorry. I had no idea my brother could be so brutal. What he did to you, he's a monster.

"I swear, I won't let him get away with this."

In the past, her tears would melt my resolve, and I would agree to anything she asked. She was, and still is, the love of my life.

However, as she wept bitterly, I could not help but hope. "How do you plan to hold him accountable?"

Ella looked up, her eyes swimming with tears, and hesitated before answering.

"Maybe, maybe he can make it up to you somehow. An eye for an eye?"

"And how would he do that?" I pressed.

She avoided my gaze, but finally made a promise, "He'll be there for you, wherever you go, to be your eyes. That's fair, isn't it?"

I was down an eye, and she did not seem to want Harold to pay any real price.

To have him in my sight all the time was like a deliberate twist of the knife in my chest.

I shoved her away, gritting out a single word, "Leave."

I would call the cops and make sure Harold paid for what he did.

I was never harsh with Ella before, but then, as she heard that word, she froze, her eyes wide with shock.

It took her a moment to recover.

She reached for my hand, her voice filled with worry, "Jim, please, don't get worked up. I wasn't thinking straight about how to deal with my brother."

She paused, then promised, "Once you're out of the hospital, I'll make sure you get the justice you deserve."

I just watched her, my gaze icy.

She rushed to explain herself, "At the garage, I thought you were cheating. I couldn't handle it, and I overreacted.

"You're my partner, the rock of our family. Of course, I'm on your side. That's never been in question."

Her tears started to flow again, and despite myself, my resolve began to waver.

Husband and wife were supposed to be a united front, so I figured I would give her one more chance.

While I was laid up in the hospital, Ella was back to her old self, sweet and supportive, by my side every day.

Her brother, though, was nowhere to be seen. I bet he knew he screwed up big time and hightailed it back to the sticks.

He might have dodged the rap, but he could not escape the reckoning. I was not about to let him off the hook.

A few days later, I checked out of the hospital early. Walking into my house, I was gobsmacked by the chaos that greeted me.