The next time Melissa decided to venture out, Tom came at her more ferociously than ever. He accused her of having an affair, and punched her so hard she was thrown across the room. This time, Melissa fought back. ‘I just felt this power,’ she says, with a faint smile. ‘I jumped up and knocked him flying over the bloody computer table. He was just so shocked that I’d done it. I said, “Don’t you ever do that to me again. You ever touch me, or push me, or shove me again, I’m gonna divorce you and I will leave.”’ Tom didn’t hit Melissa again for three years. The next time he did, she left.
