Estella remembered his hands coming toward her… gripping her like a vice and leaving her breathless against the wall. She remembered that vicious, loving look in his eyes that was always there when she took a lashing from him. She remembered slowly dying on the floor as he kicked her and hit her as hard as he could as little Lucy sat screaming in her chair at the vacant dinner table. Then she woke up.

"Estella…" Mr. Todd said, brushing his fingers across her blackened skin. He kissed her as she lay completely still on their bed, wishing she'd forgive him. He wouldn't have ever treated his former wife this way… and she was just as good as any, even if they'd rushed into marriage without knowing each other's real persona. What he was really asking her to do, all through that little kiss, was to forget what'd happened. Forget his hands coming toward her and gripping her like a vice. Forget the vicious, loving look in his eyes. Forget how he'd almost murdered her and left her slowly dying on the floor. She wished she could. It'd seemed that she'd become fluent in his kisses and the way he'd touched her but the opium had affected her mind so much it was increasingly hard to read these actions now. "I love you, Estella…"

Without missing a beat, Estella's eyes flickered over to him and she mumbled, "Do you?" Mr. Todd was a bit shocked by this. He slowly nodded with a confused stare still focused on her.

"Yes," Mr. Todd said, still in utter disbelief of what she'd said, "Yes, of course I do."

"I see… so that's why you beat me like a dog then, eh?" Estella turned, facing her blackened eyes away from him and toward the door.

"I apologize," Sweeney said, holding back anger.

"Do you really mean it though, Mr. Todd…" Estella said, her voice trailing off. "I'm going to leave,"

"What!" Sweeney said, immediately jumping from the bed and kneeling by Estella's broken body, grasping her hands. "No No NO! Estella… I love you."

"Do you?"

"Stop saying that! Of course I do!"

"No… you don't even know me, Mr. Todd…. You may have known me once… a long long time ago but now… we are entirely different people. You do not love me… I was just there when no one else was… You do not love me… I was just… a toy."

"Estella," Mr. Todd said, in a suddenly strict tone. "You are not going to leave me… and you are not a toy. Get up."

"Who do you think you are trying t-"

"Get up, I said!" Mr. Todd said, grabbing Estella by her wrist. He pulled her up and looked in her eyes. Instead of getting the satisfaction of fear that he expected, he saw this fiery look that he'd never seen before. She straightened herself up although she was aching and slapped him, hard across the mouth.

"You will NOT order me around any longer."

Sweeney paused for a moment then chuckled to himself a bit, "Won't I?" Estella's eyes narrowed and she started to walk out the door. He shut it before she could move. "Won't I?" He repeated.

"No!" Estella protested, her hand still rested on the doorknob. "You will not."

Sweeney chuckled to himself. "Fine, Estella… leave… but do tell me," He said, removing his hand from the door and looking at her with his head cocked sharply to the side. "Where will you go?"

"I… I'll go to the law… I'll say you beat me."

"Ah, but, love, the law won't help you."

"Why do you say that?" Estella speculated, removing her own hand from the doorknob and standing straight again.

"It was only out of discipline that I beat you… I've committed no crime."

"That's not fair! If I'd rendered you into this state then they'd put me in a jail… or a mad house one of the two!"

"Estella… dear… women must know their place in society. You seem to have forgotten yours. Would you like me to remind you?" His voice was so calm that it began to frighten Estella. She backed up a bit and shook her head. "I think it'd be best if I did." He grabbed the back of her neck the way he used to with Mrs. Lovett, only much more forceful, and led her across the loft to Lucy's room. "You see there…" Mr. Todd whispered, indicating to their sleeping daughter.

"Y-Yes…?"

"That is our daughter, Estella Todd… She is one of the only reasons you have to wake up day after day… You are here to feed her, teach her, love her, and provide motherly guidance for her… understand?"

"I already do all those thin-"

"Hush… I still have much more to show you." He then led her into the kitchen in the same manner as before and indicated to the messy table and dry blood on the wall opposite of it. "See there? You are here to clean this mess… I provide the home and you care for it… understand?"

"Yes, but I always-"

"I don't think you've quite gotten it yet," Sweeney said, leading her into the foyer, picking up his pace once more. "What is this here?"

"Our living room…"

"Very good," Mr. Todd said. Estella's mind began to wander, trying to remember if she'd ever heard him talk this much. "And that is…?"

"The piano."

"Correct. This is one of the things I've kindly provided for you for entertainment purposes. I allow you these things so that you may rid yourself of boredom when I'm away and Lucy is out with her friends… I do not provide these things for you so that you may turn to drugs, Estella."

"I don't turn to drugs for that reason-"

"Ah, dear… I still don't quite think you've gotten the point… Come along." He led her into the wash room and indicated toward a tub that was filled with ice cold, forgotten water and several articles of clothing swimming about inside it. "Another thing you are here to do… I do suppose this goes along with caring for the home but you are to clean our clothes…"

"Mr. Todd… I do… please let me go… you're hurting m-"

"Still not quite clear as to where your place is in this world?"

"Please, Sweeney… release me." Her voice was returning to the helpless voice she'd had before. Sweeney liked it. He wanted that control over her… she must know her place.

"This last thing will make it inescapably clear I do believe." Sweeney growled, walking Estella back into their vacant bedroom.

"What am I to do in here?" Estella mumbled, looking up at Mr. Todd angrily.

"Here…" Todd mumbled, throwing her onto the bed, "Is where you please me… and only me." He growled as he held her down and kissed her forcefully.

"No! Please Mr. Todd! Let me go!"

"Know your place!" Sweeney growled, pulling her dress off.

Next he knew, she was lying on the bed next to him, nude and curled into a tiny ball. She sobbed as he released heavy, labored breaths next to her. He turned over to her and tried holding her but she flinched and pulled away. "You're no better than Bennett." She cried, digging her nails into her pale skin, wanting to forget what he'd forced her into. A single tear escaped Sweeney's eye. What had he done? No better than Bennett? That was hardly the problem. He was no better than Turpin. In fact, he was lower than Turpin. He'd raped his own wife. He'd hurt her more than he'd ever done before and he could never take it back. Sweeney thought of all of these things and drowned in his guilt as Estella sobbed herself to sleep.

When he woke in the morning, Estella was laying beside him, running her aching fingers through his black mass of hair. "Good morning Mr. Todd." She beamed, her slightly swollen eyes shining a bit brighter than the previous night.

"Good… morning?" Sweeney replied, questioning himself. Was it all a dream?

Estella was quiet for a moment then she piped, "I've an idea! Why don't I go get washed up in the wash room… then you and I can go into town and get us some groceries for the two of us."

"I still have to go into work today, dear." Sweeney choked, the events that occurred from last night, vividly rushing through his mind.

"Yes, but not until a bit later. Oh please, Mr. Todd… I would really love to get out of the house!"

"Whatever you'd like, darling," Todd replied. He looked at her as she stood and began to limp into the wash room. "Estella."

"Yes, Mr. Todd?"

"About last night…"

"Hush, now… no need bringing up the past, eh?" She smiled then hobbled into the washroom and washed her face. After feeling clean enough, Estella linked arms with Mr. Todd and they walked down the street a little slower than Mr. Todd liked to go but he knew Estella was in pain and allowed her to lag beside him as they meandered into the market.

"Was Lucy still a bed when we left?" Sweeney asked, walking almost in sync with his wife.

"No, sir… she's run off to play with her friend, Tob-"

"Ah, there she is." Sweeney said, looking through a crowd of people and spying his daughter holding hands with a young man who was buying her some grapes.

"Would you like me to go and get her?"

"No… leave 'er be." They went about their business and bought numerous household necessities, linking arms the entire time they shopped about but before Estella and Sweeney could return home with their items, Lucy ignorantly rushed up to her mother and hugged her, still linked with Toby.

"Mother! Father! It's good to see you! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Lucy, dear… I hope you've been good to Toby today. Yeah?"

"Of course, Mother!" Lucy replied, grinning broadly. Her childish smile faded when she noticed the look that Toby and her father were sharing above her. "Toby…?"

"It's you," Toby snarled, gripping Lucy's hand protectively.

"Toby…. It's been too long."

"It has! I've waited for this day for years! Now I'll finally have vengeance!"

Toby pulled out the razor that Mr. Todd had left in the basement all those years ago and held it to Sweeney's throat. Sweeney, unthreatened, didn't move, but the commotion was stopped by Estella who cried out, "Stop!"

"This… this is your wife?"

"Toby…" Lucy whispered quietly. She was ignored.

In one quick movement, Toby slashed Estella's throat, leaving her slowly dying on the ground. "I hope that now you feel the pain I've felt all these years!" He mumbled solemnly. After saying these final words, he walked off with Lucy, leaving Sweeney alive in the streets holding his dear wife. She'd been so good to him… She was so virtuous and he couldn't deal with the pain and anger that came with the death of a spouse again….

Sweeney flashed back into reality, holding his dead wife, Lucy, in his arms. From behind him he could hear Toby sneaking up, wielding the razor that Todd had previously dropped. It had all been a horrendous day dream. A flash forward of what would happen if he turned on Toby and defended himself. He'd never put someone as beautiful as Estella through that. He wouldn't put his daughter through that either. As he sang the final words of his song to Lucy's deaf ears, He tilted his head up, allowing Toby full access to slit his throat. He did and walked out afterwards… and along with Toby's footsteps… the last thing Mr. Todd heard, was the brutal screams of a female rape victim somewhere in town.

THE END!