ROGERIOYou’d think my problems would go away as quickly as I wished. Well, that would disprove the relationships beggars have with horses, wouldn’t it? My job, the upcoming wedding, my life in general; everything made me feel uncomfortable. Waking up meant I was saddled with the responsibility of living like a lab experiment, someone’s fun science project. Only, I wasn’t having any fun. The lab rats never do anyway.I disliked being here and perhaps taking the offer to be in charge of the family business was the worst decision I have ever made. On a personal scale at least, if I dared to look beyond my needs, I could understand why doing it was for the greater good. But how many of these greater good projects would I have to do before I can finally do something that I wanted?“Ironic, isn’t it? One would expect the richest billionaire in the city to be having the time of his life,” I said to myself and looked around the room.When my thoughts started to follow this path, it filled me
ROGERIO“Stop the car,” I said, and the driver slowed down, parking on the side of the road. I exhaled and looked out of the window for a few minutes. Elena’s response to my question hadn’t been satisfactory, and I didn’t trust her to handle anything regarding Charlotte with any grace.I didn’t particularly care how life treated my ex-wife, but I didn’t want to be part of the problem either. I groaned and sighed in frustration. If I couldn’t get a good answer out of Elena, I had to go to the estate to see what the entire charade was about. At least for Maria’s sake, she would be happy to see me trying to resolve the issue. I heard the engine of the car carrying the bodyguards as they caught up with us and stared at me through the glass, waiting for instructions.When I left the house this morning, I was heading for the office to finish any work left from the weekend and prepare for the meeting scheduled for later that afternoon, but right now, I felt like it was important to deviate f
ROGERIO“What do you mean she left? Are you saying that just to mess with me?” I asked, failing miserably to conceal my shock.“To what end? You’ve made a mess of everything already; there’s not much I can do in that regard, is there?” she replied, rolling her eyes and then closing them.I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “Maria, I beg you, don’t play games with me. I don’t have time for that and I...” I uttered, but she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.“Some nerve you have to come here, wake me up just before dawn, and insinuate that I would waste my time going in circles with you,” she interrupted, shaking her head.“Why would she leave then? Where would she go? She has nowhere to go, no family...” I began to say, but Maria opened her eyes with a look of disgust crossing her face.“Was that why you let your family and everyone else treat her like crap? Because she has nowhere to go?” she sneered, and I swallowed, taken aback by her harsh tone.“Maria, that’s
ROGERIO“Maria!” I yelled as she exited the room. My thoughts were scattered all over the place, and I wasn’t sure what to make of everything she had said. Charlotte had never mentioned she was pregnant, nor had she shown any symptoms to indicate anything in that regard, but to be fair, I wasn’t always at home.On the days I managed to stay indoors, I spent most of my time in the study, making as minimal contact as possible with her. Yes, we had our intimate moments during the first few months of our marriage, and I could remember a few times I had come back home drunk and woken up in bed with her, barely remembering the details of the previous night. Surely that wasn’t enough to… “Maria!” I yelled again and followed her.She turned around, and we locked gazes as a look of disapproval crossed her features. “There are people asleep in this house, Signor. You’d do well not to wake them up,” she said in a stern tone.“And you’d do well to answer my questions,” I uttered, lowering my tone
Elena“Sally!” I yelled, hoping the sound of music coming from above the deck would let her hear me, but she hadn’t sprinted here in her usual fashion. I knew it was pointless to keep calling out to her. Sally was the personal assistant my father had employed to practically follow me around since I returned from what he called my foolish decision to run off.I had come up with a story to explain my disappearance a few weeks before my wedding with Rogerio, but I knew that even if everyone else believed my tale of woe, he didn’t buy it. He had questions about the inability of his private investigators to find my location. Still, my mother had warned him to stop questioning me, stating that I had just gone through a traumatic experience and didn’t need to be interrogated.I knew getting my family to get off my back would be easy as pie. My main problem was getting Rogerio to accept me, but even that proved easier than I envisioned, which surprised and terrified me in a way. During the fi
CHARLOTTERogerio was the type of man any woman would dream of. I spent my time doing things I thought would make him happy. Today, I asked the cook, Maria, to prepare his favorite meal in anticipation of his return for dinner. However, he had not arrived yet.“How many times have you seen a rocket in the sky?" I asked aloud.“What?” Maria asked and lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I don’t understand.”“A rocket, Maria. Do you know what that is?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow.“Of course,” she answered with a knowing smile.“Good. How many times have you seen one?”“Barely," she replied, her expression shifting from curiosity to confusion repeatedly.“Yeah. That’s how much I’ve seen Roggie in this house,” I acknowledged, and an awkward silence filled the room.“He doesn’t like to be called that,” she said after a long time.“I know. Perhaps that’s why he’s angry? And he hasn’t come home. Have I let out that name unknowingly?”“I doubt it,” she responded dryly and lowered her gaze.
CHARLOTTE“Rogerio,” I whispered as he shut the door behind him and stepped into the night. The clock ticked softly in the corner of the room as my heart pounded against my chest. I clutched the sides of my stomach to steady my body as a sharp pain shot up my spine, and my eyes ached terribly.I stood up a few seconds later to look at myself in the mirror again. My reflection stared back at me as my heart broke into a million pieces.“I did everything right!” I yelled and sobbed loudly. I heard the door open and looked up, expecting to see him and hear that he had changed his mind, but it was the door that led to the staff quarters, not the one he had walked through.I felt whatever was left of my dignity shed as Maria stepped into the hallway. “Signora,” she said and ran towards me, enveloping me in an embrace. “Let’s get you out of here.”“I did everything right, Maria,” I repeated in between sobs. She sighed and patted my head.“Let’s get you into the bedroom. This has caused quite
CHARLOTTEI woke up to the sound of hurried footsteps moving through the house and voices yelling in unison. Too disoriented to make sense of it, I struggled to block out the noise coming from the engines of trucks revving in the distance. Yawning and stretching my arms, I sat up, looking around the room with a confused expression.My mind felt like a blank slate for a hot minute, delighted yet frightened at the prospect. But a few seconds later, the feeling dispersed as my brain started to recall the events of last night.I sighed and smiled sadly. Life had taken a different turn, one I couldn’t deny I hadn’t foreseen as the days rolled by. I remembered the terms of the marriage that Rogerio and I had. We hadn’t started our relationship on the basis of love, but I could swear we were great friends.When I fell in love with him, he never made it feel like it was an unrequited love. I felt safe and secure, like I had found someone who was ready to stick with me through thick and thin u