Requested by: wishwishwishes

Crumbling the remaining pages of the pamphlet her husband composed, Eliza tossed them into the fire. Swallowing up the parchment, the fire crackled in satisfaction, begging for more. She glared at her reflection in the orange flames, seeing only broken fragments staring back at her.

How dare he. Her hands rolled up into fists and she threw them down on the wooden planks beneath her, sobbing loudly into the darkness of her home. Upstairs she could hear the floorboards screech. A sense of adrenaline rushed through her body at the sound.

Swiftly grabbing every page in sight, she flicked them into the fire, without looking back. Her intention had been to see every bit of that damn pamphlet suffer. But she couldn't afford for her husband to walk in and force her to stop burning it.

Above her, there was the sound of footsteps heading towards the stairwell. No, no, no. She hurried across the room, to where the door was. Locking with her house key, Eliza stumbled to the corner of the room. For the first time in her life, she was frightened of her dearly beloved husband.

"Eliza?" The harmonic sound of his voice drifted underneath the crack between the floor and door. The handle twisted, only to snap back into its original place, upon realizing it was locked. She heard him take a heavy breath of air, before trying again.

"Eliza, please."

Stepping her way carefully over to the door, key in hand, Eliza racked her brain for something that would get her out of this situation. Alexander was certainly the last person she wanted to see. But how to keep him away seemed to be an issue.

That's when her eyes flickered over at the window. Run away, a voice in her head whispered. Chills crept down her spine as she realized just how risky of a solution that would be. She'd have to leave everything behind.

The door knob rattled again, sending a shrill scream to leave her throat. Alexander, from outside the door, became more urgent with his pleadings. "Eliza, open this door! Now!" He hadn't intended to be firm with her, but if that's what it took, he'd do anything.

"I won't let you in. Not after what you did to destroy myself and your children!" As she shouted through the door frame to him, Eliza began thinking to herself. If she was to run away, the only way to do it was avoiding her family at all costs.

A few weeks ago, the topic of the future came up at the dining table with her sister. And just as an older sister might offer, she insisted that if ever the case to leave it all behind came up, the children would be taken into her care. That was the only reassurance she needed.

"I never meant to hurt you!" Alexander's cry sounded very distant and fake. Eliza chuckled under her breath, heading to the desk in the corner of the room. The fire continued to pop and snap loudly, with each burning ember, welcoming any more paper she might have.

Through the doorway, Alexander could hear the sound of rustling papers. He needed to get in there before she did something that would harm the both of them. Fingertips running over the different textures of the door, he silently tried to come up with a way to get in.

Meanwhile, Eliza furiously wrote an apology to her children. Something in the back of her mind warned her not to do it. To stay and not run away. But the stronger part of her heart screamed to write faster and get out of there.

"Never meant to hurt me? Maybe you didn't, but I intend to burn you."

Oh no. Alexander slammed his body against the door, surely causing a loud enough to wake the children upstairs. Wincing at the slicing pain in his shoulder, he tried again. The door wouldn't budge at all. He continue throwing himself against the door until it edged just enough for him open it with his foot.

Eliza heard the cracking sound of wood, just moments before the rushed footsteps came along. She whipped her head around and pointed up a quill in defense. Her husband strolled into the room, surveying the scene.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" He eyed the sharply pointed quill in her hands, noticing the way it glinted in the reflection of the fire. Eliza didn't answer, her heart was pounding too fast for a proper response to be said.

Alexander stormed over to her side, snatching the pen out of her grip. She gasped, clawing at his hands for the object. Holding her off, he leaned over and read the note she had partially finished. "You're going to run away? Leave your husband and children? I would think a woman such as yourself would be stronger than that."

"I'm stronger than that, yes. But I'm not strong enough to stare into the eyes of cheater everyday and tell my children to love you. I can't let myself fall back into your arms, just like when we were young. I'm done," her raspy voice whispered back.

Alexander opened his mouth to tell her that she'd probably be back and with him in a few days time. But the more he looked into her breathtaking eyes, the more he realized how serious she was with her plan.

"Well, even if you go and erase me from your heart, I won't. No other woman has captured my affections quite like you and-"

"You liar!" Eliza glared up at him, her eyes completely covered with grey. No longer could he see the glint of blue in those eyes, no, he only could see darkness, cutting him off.

Breathing deeply, Alexander stepped closer, hand slipping over to her waist. A look of confusion crossed his wife's face. It had been a long time since she let him come so close to her, with such lust written in his eyes.

"Do you want me to prove it?"

And then all of a sudden his hand slipped farther down the front of her dress. Overcome with so many emotions, Eliza turned her face away from his. She could feel his hand on her leg, slowly drifting along her body, to places she only allowed him to touch.

"I wouldn't want you to force it," she snapped quietly, almost afraid of his response. Eliza shifted away, letting his hand to hang uselessly at his side. She let out a sigh of relief at the release of his touch.

There was a moment of hesitation before she headed for the closet in the hall. Eliza hurriedly grabbed her coat, anxiously gazing up the stairwell. She felt a calm feeling wash over when she saw nothing but darkness. It had been another second of relief, for she'd dreaded seeing one of her darling children's faces.

Alexander entered the hallway, looking defeated. There was nothing in his power he could do to make her stay. He watched her tie the cloak ribbon around her neck and begin to open the door. "Eliza," he called out dryly.

She shut her eyes momentarily. Just leave him and don't look back. As much as she wanted to start running, her heart gave in one more time for the man she once loved. "I'm sure my father won't mind my company. He's often talked about how lonely it is up there."

"You don't have to intrude on his privacy, my dear, you can-" Alexander tried to speak, but the words didn't come out the way he meant them to. Eliza looked down, unable to look him in the eyes.

"I can't be here any longer, Alexander."

And with a flick of her cloak, she vanished around the doorway. Alexander didn't even run forward to watch her leave. Instead, he began sobbing and collapsed to the ground. "No!"

The one love of his life was gone. She had no intention of coming back. And she left him with all of their children, with no explanation as to why she left their father stranded. What will I tell them? He covered his face and curled up on the floor.

You're the one who caused this. That only made him cry harder and louder, biting on his knuckles. He could have cried the rest of the night on that floor, except his oldest son heard the noise and helped his father upstairs.

After laying down in his own bed, Alexander naturally reached over to hold his wife close to him. The second his hand grabbed only air in return, another series of sobs began. He already missed her so much.

But what broke his heart even more was the realization that his wife had probably already erased his name from her mind and heart.

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A/N: Thank you wishwishwishes for the request! I liked writing this for you, it was an interesting idea for Eliza to run away after the affair. One of these parts I have to credit to an episode of Turn, the scene slipped perfectly into this one shot, except with a twist from the actual tv series.