Chapter 3

AGGRAVATED

Corazon woke up after realizing she had fallen asleep on the couch while waiting for Terrence. Looking at the clock, she realized it's already two in the morning. Corazon stretches her arm before getting up and goes upstairs to check if her husband is already home but his room is still empty. The arrangement of his bed also shows a sign that Terrence isn't home yet. 

She went down and picked up her phone, calling her husband multiple times yet he wasn't answering the line. Corazon began to worry that something bad might have happened to him. But when she was about to call him again, she heard his car engine outside. That's why she immediately stood up and waited for him at the doorstep with a smile on her lips that soon faded upon Terrence's arrival with a sexy and unfamiliar woman.

 "Hey.. Careful, we'll fall," the woman giggled.

 "It's fine as long as I fall on top of you.." Terrence flirtatiously answered.

She can't stand their sweetness anymore so she immediately approaches the two of them with a stoic expression on her face. "I'll take care of her Miss, you can go home now."

The woman immediately smiled, obviously drunk too. "Oh, it's good to know that you have a maid here Terrence. You're so heavy, you know that?" The woman pouted.

Corazon didn't bother to correct the woman. She always hears that kind of antics from Terrence's women who don't know who she really is. What's important to her right now is to take her husband away from this stranger who was clinging to him like a snake. She tried to touch Terrence but he immediately pushed her away. 

"Don't touch me!"  Terrence yelled.

Her hand was left in the air as embarrassment filled her. She was hurt by her husband's reaction. Even in his drunk state, he was still enraged.

"Take me to my room babe.. I still can't get enough of you."  Terrence murmured.

"You're so insatiable Terrence! We just did it in the car a while ago..." The woman complained in a sweet voice and pouted again.

Corazon swallowed several times to get rid of the lump in her throat and keep the tears from falling from her eyes.  Instead of being numb after witnessing this incident several times, the pain only tripled.

Terrence immediately hugged the woman and kissed her in front of her.  The two entered slowly without breaking the kiss. She tightened her grip on the doorknob and stopped herself from turning around. Because turning around means breaking her heart all over again so instead, she looked up at the ceiling and fanned her eyes to suppress her tears. 

"Don't cry.. Don't cry Corazon. You can do it, you can handle it. You love him don't you? Please.. Please don't cry."  Corazon tried consoling herself. 

But when the two started moaning, she couldn't hold her emotions anymore. Tears fell in her eyes uncontrollably as her heart felt like being stabbed with thousands of daggers. To avoid hearing their noises, she went out of the house and curled in the chair near the garden despite the fact that it's already dawn. 

Corazon didn't have enough sleep but she still got up to prepare breakfast for her husband. She was currently cooking when she felt someone's presence behind her. When she looked back, Corazon saw the woman from last night wearing her husband's polo sleeve. She just ignored her and continued her work when the woman came near her.

"Are you a maid here? You're rude huh! Don't you know how to greet your boss's girlfriend!" The woman blabbered.

Corazon took a deep breath to force herself not to strike back.

 "Stupid! And you really intend to turn a deaf ear on me!" The woman yelled.

Corazon was shocked. The next thing she knew, Terrence's mistress already pulled her hair with force that made her wince in pain. Anger started to rise in her heart. It is still not enough for this woman that she had a sex with her husband yet she still has the urge to hurt her?

Corazon tried to remove the woman's hand from her hair but she didn't want to let go and continued babbling insults towards her. Her vision went blurred and she elbowed the woman's stomach. Maybe she didn't expect her counterattack that made her let go of her hair. Being not satisfied as the woman whimpers in pain, she tug her hair and forcefully drag her out of the kitchen.

"I didn't complain about you sleeping with my husband in our own house last night yet you still have the audacity to hurt me?" Corazon said in gritted teeth as she continued pulling the woman's hair.

 "Damn you bitch!! I'm going to get you fired from here!"  The woman made a shrill cry as she was struggling from her grip.

Coarazon forced the woman to face her and grip her face tightly with one of her hands. "Try it! But before you can fire me here, I'm going to throw you out of this house! You're just a freaking mistress! Do you hear me?"

She was still in control as she dragged her towards the living room. Even when the woman was constantly crying and screaming, Corazon didn't seem to hear anything. Her anger turned her deaf. She was in the middle when Terrence voice once again roared all over the place 

 "What are you doing Corazon! Get your filthy hands off her!"

Awakened by her sanity, Corazon immediately let go of the woman.The woman fell on the floor as Terrence rushed to her checking her condition while Corazon was there infront of them being glued from where she's standing. She couldn't believe what she had done.

"Terrence.. She hurt me! Is she really your wife? She's just lying right?"  The woman cried.

Corazon waited for Terrence to tell the truth to the woman but the opposite happened.

"No.. She's just a maid and a bit of a freak. I'm sorry Bea, I'll talk to her. This won't happen again.." Terrence said softly as his sharp eyes shot through her.

"She's a freak? Then why don't you fire her yet? Find someone else, Terrence. Fire her right now in front of me." Bea demanded.

"She's good at housework so that's fine. Don't waste anymore time on her Bea, she's just nothing, okay?" Terrence consoled Bea who was now sobbing.

She knew what Terrence did was painful but it even hurts more to witness how the man you love denies you infront of his woman.

 

"Come on, I'll help you fix yourself," Terrence lent a hand to Bea and assisted her with gentleness before turning his sharp gaze on her. "Wait for me in the kitchen." 

Corazon was staring at the glass of water in front of her. What happened earlier kept replaying in her mind. Her tears won't stop either. When Terrence entered the kitchen, she immediately stood up.

"Are you that dumb? Or maybe you're going crazy huh! What right do you have to hurt Bea, Corazon!" Terrence slammed the table causing her to flinch. "ANSWER ME!"

Corazon closed her eyes. As much as possible she doesn't want to argue with her husband but it seems like everything is too much for her to handle. "Dumb? You called me dumb?" She laughs without humour. Why does it feel like she was on the wrong side? "I am your wife Terrence! I have all the rights that you are talking about."

A slap landed on her cheek causing her to step back and hold the edge of the table to support herself from falling down on her knees. It felt like she was going to lose her consciousness as of the moment but before she could even recover, Terrence grabbed her arm with a tight grip as he cupped her cheek.

"You don't have the right to raise your voice at me. I told you our marriage is just on paper. How many times do I have to remind you that? I will bring whoever I want here and you just have to shut your mouth, do you understand?!"

"How long are we going to be like this Terrence? Can't you really give me a chance even just once?" Her voice was pleading as tears ran down her face.

"You already knew the answer to that." Terrence replied in a cold tone.

"Please Terrence…Give me a chance to be your wife…Even just this once." Corazon fell on her knees, begging to her husband.

Terrence also bent down and leveled their faces with no trace of mercy can be seen in his face.  Just pure anger and hatred.

"It's all your fault that we're in this situation, Corazon. You ruined my life the day you married me. Have you forgotten it already? I told you to back off from the wedding, didn't I? But you are a hard-headed bitch and now you're going to pay the price of your foolishness."

Terrence stood up while she remained kneeling on the floor.  "I'm going to hurt you every day until you're tired. I don't care.. We're just getting started so if I were you, ask our parents to annul the marriage because I'll never ever love you!"