Defeat at last

“I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about.” Becca insisted, her heart beating fast as she contemplated her options, of which there weren’t many. One thing was sure though. She was not going to say anything, at least not until Ryan gave away something that showed that indeed, he had found out what she was suspecting. It had been a long time ago it happened, so she did not think that was the case, but that was the only thing that she knew that she had done to wrong him since they got married.

“Alright then. Let me refresh your memory. Does the name Peter Marcus mean anything to you? Oh wait, let me rephrase that … I’m sure the name peter Marcus means a lot to you.” Ryan spat, his disdain for her quite apparent. Becca stared at him dully, suddenly feeling very faint. He knew then. Her past had finally come to bite her in the ass. No wonder he was so angry and hated her so much now. She couldn’t very well blame him and could not imagine how on earth she had not thought of this before now ... that he had found out about her and Peter.

“I can explain, Ryan. Please I know that I have wronged you very much, but I swear…”

“I don’t need your goddamn explanation. I know everything that I need to know. Now sign those fucking papers and get the fuck out of my face.” Ryan yelled, flinging the bottle that he still gripped in his hand against the wall hard so that it shattered immediately, spilling alcohol almost everywhere. Becca jerked, flinching instinctively. She had never seen Ryan in this manner before. She opened her mouth to say something … anything, but he beat her to it.

“All this while, you’ve been laughing at me and how gullible I must be, while helping your lover to steal as much as possible from me. God! I’ve been so stupid!”

“Ryan, please. He’s not my lover… I don’t know what you’re talking abou…”

“So you deny ever having anything sexual with him?”

“Well, no…but…”

“Even after we started dating, and apparently after we got married too,” Ryan said bitterly.

“That is not true, Ryan.” Becca tried to defend herself but he was not listening to her.

“I’ve had your boyfriend arrested, and I’m only pardoning you because you were my wife, but the fact remains that I cannot live with you any longer.”

“B … but I love you,” Becca told him, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat.

“You disgust me. May I have the papers?” Ryan requested, stretching his hands out for them.

“Not without me saying my piece.”

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

“Ryan … I was already dating Peter before we met. I fell…”

“I don’t care about the fact that you were dating that asshole. What irritates me is the fact that you’ve been covering up his crimes of stealing from me for him.” Ryan thundered.

“Excuse me? I don’t understand…” Becca began, but it seemed Ryan was tired of going back and forth with her because he came over to where she was standing and in one swift motion, jerked the divorce papers from her hands, glanced through them, and saw that she had not yet signed them.

“Why aren’t they signed yet?” He asked in an eerily calm voice, which was even scarier than the raised voice which he usually used with her now.

“Because I needed to see you for the last time and clear myself of whatever you think of me that is making you to act this way. I have no idea of whatever you were saying just now except for the fact that I was dating Peter before we met, and I don’t know where you got such allegations from. I love you very much, Ryan, and I will never do anything to hurt you. You have to believe me.” Becca told in the sincerest of tones, slowly moving closer to him until they were only inches apart and were staring straight into each other’s eyes.

Becca could see that he wanted to believe her so badly, but for some reason, was fighting himself.

“Please, Ryan.” She whispered, and without giving him a chance to protest, planted her lips against his own, her heart in her throat as she did so. Ryan stiffened, and would have pulled away, but Becca did not give him the chance to do so. She molded herself against him and continued to kiss him in the way she knew he liked, feeling the resistance leave his body even as he tried to fight her. With a groan of defeat, he cradled her head in his hands and kissed her back just as fervently, his anger evident in his kisses, but causing her to moan with pure desire.

They kissed for a while, during which Ryan moved her towards a sofa in another end of the room, which she had not noticed before now. He lay her down on the sofa, and proceeded to make sweet, tender love to her. When it was over, he rolled away from her as though he had just woken up from a deep slumber to find himself in the arms of a poisonous snake, and she watched as his lips curled in self disgust and self shame.

“Ryan?” Becca began with a trembling voice, but he held up a hand to silence her, pulled up his trousers, and walked over to where the divorce papers lay scattered on the floor where she had discarded them in a haze of passion. Becca watched him with bated breath, wondering what he was going to do.

Ryan picked up the papers, arranged them neatly, and went over to his table to pick up a pen, before bringing them over to her where she was still sitting on the sofa. She had hastily arranged her hair and blouse, and watched him approach her, her heart pounding.

“Sign them.” He ordered as he had done before, his lips curling at the sight of her smeared lipstick.

“What? But we just finished making love…” Becca said dumbly, feeling extremely foolish.

“And so? Mind you, what we just finished doing was fucking. We just finished fucking. You wanted it as much as I did, maybe even more, seeing as you were the one who initiated the whole thing, so I don’t get why you’re acting like a victim now.”

Becca stared at him, hating him for the vile words that he had just spewed, but more importantly, hating herself for being so weak and stupid. When she only sat there and stared at him with tear-filled eyes, Ryan hissed with impatience, came toward her, and grabbed her arm, before stomping over with her to a table close to the window. He placed the papers on the table and handed her the pen.

“Sign them now, otherwise, I’ll have you arrested for fraud, and you can rot in jail with your boyfriend for all I care,” Ryan ordered through clenched teeth. Becca would have protested some more, but she was suddenly afraid. Afraid of Ryan and the angry and bitter look in his eyes, plus she was afraid of going to prison for a crime she had not committed. Looking at Ryan, she had no doubt that he meant what he was saying. Defeated, Becca collected the pen and with tears in her eyes, signed the papers.

“I swear I did not have anything to do with what you’re talking about and you’ve refused to let me tell my own side of the story. The only crime I committed was not telling you about it, but you’re punishing me for it nonetheless.” She told Ryan, but he did not look interested in anything she had to say.

“I made a promise to care for your grandparents for as long as they live, and I’ll do that. I'm going to send more than enough money to pay for their care at the facility in which they are, and will take care of any other expenses if they come up. I’ll do the same thing for your brother’s schooling. You’ll get what was agreed in the prenuptial agreement and I’ll give you the house in which you now live in addition. In return, I beg of you, steer clear of me and anything that has to do with me. I don’t want to see you ever again. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the parting gift. Now leave.” Ryan finished, turning away from her and going to resume his seat by the fireplace, looking totally spent. Becca stood where she was, her chin raised defiantly and she opened her mouth to speak again.

“I did not steal your money with Peter. He was blackmailing…” The words died in her throat when Ryan aggressively rang a bell, got up so suddenly from his chair that the legs of the chair scraped against the floor, and came over to her. He grabbed her arm so hard that she yelped in pain and struggled to free herself, but he did not let up. Instead, he began dragging her towards the door, still holding her arm very tightly. They were still a few steps from the door when it was flung open and a huge man, who from the looks of him, was a bodyguard, appeared at the door.

“Is everything alright, boss?” The man asked.

“Usher this woman out of here, and never let her within a hundred feet of this house again!” Ryan yelled at the man as though any of this was his fault. The man nodded, coming over to grab a struggling Becca.

“I’m innocent. I swear to you that I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Becca cried, struggling with the bodyguard, but she was no match for him and he easily overpowered her, dragging her outside the door and shutting it behind them firmly. Becca knew that she was making a big scene and a spectacle of herself, but she could not help herself. She was too hurt for words, especially as Ryan kept accusing her of something she did not know about. At first, she had thought that he was angry because he found out that she had had sex with Peter when she had started dating him, but it seemed that was not the case.

He claimed that she was stealing his money alongside Peter, and that was not true. In fact, she had not heard from Peter since he was transferred to another state two years ago. She kept yelling at the man who was holding her to leave her alone and at Ryan, who couldn’t hear her, that she was innocent. Servants gathered, watching the spectacle as she was dragged from the house, but Becca did not mind. She would do anything to have Ryan listen to her and not think such a vile thing of her.

Getting Becca to get into her car and drive away was impossible, so the bodyguard opened the car door, and bundled her inside it. She had left the key in the ignition, so all the man had to do was drive towards the gate, which was promptly opened by the security men there. The bodyguard parked the car outside the compound and turned to face Becca, who was sitting in the backseat.

“I'm really sorry madam. Please drive carefully.” He told her before getting down from the car and disappearing into the compound, the gate locked firmly behind him. Becca sat where she was, still crying her eyes out, vaguely aware of the paparazzi outside the car and how they were taking pictures of her. Once she had spent herself crying, she got into the driver’s seat and drove away, the paparazzi following her closely, but her mind was not on them. Her mind was far away, where it all started.