Clara stood in the middle of the glass room with her transparent clothes, holding back her embarrassment while trying to cover her body with both hands. There were cheers from outside the glass room and naughty looks from the hungry men. "1 million," "5 million," "7 million," Everyone placed a bet on Clara at a fairly low price, tears kept going to roll down Clara's rosy cheeks. Her body was almost shaky and she couldn't meet everyone's eyes, she was like a kitten amidst a hungry lion. "50 million," A man's voice that surprised her made their eyes meet. A most dangerous mafia chief raises his betting cards and shocks everyone. Steven looked at Clara with a grin, as if he was ready to eat Clara alive. His eyes were sharp like a wolf's, and it was him.
View MoreMariana felt as if a huge crack had opened in the floor, dragging her down to the depths, when she opened the door to her husband's office.
The girl with expressive green eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and moon-pale skin didn't know what to do or say, or believe what her eyes were showing.
On the wooden table in the man's living room, there was more than a small yellow plaque with the name "Maximilian Phillips". In fact, there was a beautiful girl, tall, with red hair tied up in a tight bun. She was wearing, or at least partly wearing, a black social outfit.
Holding the redhead, eager with desire, was Maximilian. The two kissed as if the rest of the world did not exist. They were so engrossed in each other that they didn't even hear the door being opened.
Mariana's lips trembled as the girl tried to contain her crying, screaming, panic and hatred; all the feelings that took over her blood, causing the fingers of her hands to spasm.
"Maximilian."
Immediately, both the businessman's secretary and himself disengage. Max buttons his shirt, desperate, but the redhead doesn't even try to disguise what has happened.
"My love," the man says, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home all day."
And she would. She would if she hadn't been feeling morning sickness for a week. She would stay if she wasn't finding the absence of her period strange. And she would stay if she hadn't taken a pregnancy test that very afternoon.
The test that was in her purse, with the crystal clear "positive" sign.
The test she would show her husband, beaming and smiling, since they would now have a family.
The red-haired woman looked at Mariana. Unlike Maximilian, she had an undisguised smile at the corner of her mouth, as if proud of having been caught. How long had they been tricking her like that?
"It's not what you're thinking," he speaks up, smoothing the fly of his pants. "Mariana, my love-"
"You lying bastard." Tears begin to fall down her pale face. "Bastard!"
"Wait, let's talk about this!"
The man with wheat-colored hair and dark eyes walks up to her, but Mariana takes a step back.
"Don't come near me!"
"Mariana-"
"How could you? How could you do this to me?"
The secretary remains in the same place, crossing her arms and fiddling with her hair right away. Max raises his hands in a soothing gesture:
"Love. Listen. This what you saw..." He bites his lips, trying to quickly craft an argument. "It was no big deal. Her? She's just a fling. A lapse. A mistake, understand?"
Shocked, the secretary frowns and immediately stands up:
"Maxmilian, is that really what I'm hearing?!"
"Quiet, Michelle!"
"I will not be quiet! How dare you? And even more so in front of me?"
Mariana is still standing in the same place, collapsing into silent tears, while the two argue:
"Don't you understand what's going on here?" Max squirms.
"Of course I am!" Michelle squirms back. "I'm watching a two-faced, lying scumbag who promised me he'd file for divorce by the end of the month say in front of me that I'm just a fling! What the hell is your problem?"
"Michelle, shut your mouth!"
Mariana stood there, still, not believing everything that was happening. She felt as if her world had collapsed in an instant, without any warning. The man she loved was standing there, being not only unmasked, but exposed by his own mistress.
The woman knew that this was not a nightmare. If glimpsing the image of her and Max carrying their firstborn in their arms was like a dream, what was unfolding in front of her was a nightmare.
But she knew that nothing could change what she had just seen. The image of the redhead in her husband's arms was etched in her mind, like a painful scar. She felt betrayed, humiliated, and above all, deceived.There was no turning back. There was no forgiveness. Everything she had believed until then, the words and statements of the businessman, were a lie.
"Mariana, please forgive me. I love you," Maximilian said, trying to hold her hand.
"Don't touch me," she retorted, pulling away, "I don't want to hear your excuses. I don't want anything to do with you."
Maximilian seemed shocked by her response. He had not expected Mariana to leave him so easily.
Disconcerted, the man tries one more time:
"Hey. Take it easy. Let's talk, okay? Go to the house and talk to me there. I'll clear everything up, I-"
"No. It's over. I don't want anything more to do with you," she said, with tears in her eyes. "I'm leaving, right now."
Mariana grabbed her purse tightly and walked out the door, without looking back. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she didn't want to be in that place anymore. She needed some time to herself, to try to understand what had happened and how to move on.
She would pack her bags. She would get another place, another house. And a job. Max had always wanted her to devote herself to the home, to not "be poisoned by the terrible corporate world." Now Mariana understood what he really needed - a docile, submissive wife who would not find out about his...adventures.
Questions swirled in her mind. How long had Max been cheating on her with his secretary? Was it just the redhead, or was there a legion of lovers waiting for him to leave the house every day?
As she walked down the street, snorting with hate and frustration, a drop of hope rose in her heart: her baby. Mariana was pregnant, and that was undeniable. She wasn't sure what she would do with this information yet, but she knew she didn't want Maximilian to know.
She walked on, aimlessly, letting the tears fall freely down her face. She didn't know what the future held for her, but she knew that she needed to find a new path. A path without Maximilian Phillips.
As she went to cross the street, weeping copiously, she tripped over her own feet.
And a stunned horn sounded nearby, along with the loud roar of an engine.
A car, at high speed, was speeding towards her...
... And there was no time for the driver to stop.
Clara propped against the window, looking out at the gray clouds drifting across the sky. The rain fell gently, tracing on the glass like tears she no longer wished to weep. Ruby sat in the middle of the room, running light fingers over the music box Steven had given her. Its gentle song had been a solace to her, a gentle lullaby that had, for an instant, pushed aside her nightmares.Three evenings had passed since the present was received, and ever since, Ruby had slept wondrously. Clara wished she hated the man who sent it—hated tearing the note into pieces and damning his name. But she just could not deprive herself of what it was accomplishing with her daughter.And that was the worst which frightened her most.She had no idea where she was anymore. Her hard, cold heart, lie-resistant and now broken at such easy giving. Steven lingered in their lives like a ghost—lost, but still haunting all the glanced-over looks Ruby glances back over her shoulder at the door, all the bursts of
The clock on the wall quietly ticked by with the stillness of night as Clara remained sitting on the bed, her fingers lightly sweeping Ruby's forehead. The child convulsed again, sleep interrupted by something Clara was unable to decipher — an intensifying terror night after night."Mommy…" Ruby woke in her sleep, little fists clutching the blanket as though it alone restrained her.Clara felt her heart break for the hundredth time that week.“I’m here, baby,” she whispered, pressing a soft kiss on her daughter’s temple.It'd been weeks since they'd gone out. Weeks since Clara'd instructed Steven never to find them again. But even as far removed as they'd attempted to become, the outlines of that house — of all that'd transpired — pursued. Clara sensed it in Ruby's fidgeting, in the haunted way she inspected the periphery of the room as though someone would appear from it.Clara slowly lowered herself beside Ruby, wrapped her in a hug, and attempted to warm her shivering. Only warmth,
Morning light struggled to get through Steven's office window, dense folds of fabric, and flooded golden warmth into the room. Steven was awake. His mind had gone round and round all night. Ruby's small face before him as he had seen—how she concealed herself in Clara, weeping, her shakie little hands. But still, he could hear the call of "Papa" from her. The guilt had left, now supplanted with lust. It was a flame that burned within him, one that no whiskey or authority could extinguish.Steven sat forward in his chair, his eyes red-rimmed, a cigarette burning between his fingers. The smoke curled around, slow and heavy, just as the heavy thoughts rested upon his mind.He had stuffed the present—which was Ruby's favorite plush toy, a hand-carved music box, and a name-engraved necklace alongside Clara's. He wasn't trying to bribe her. He wasn't trying to purchase her back from him with gold coins. He just wanted them to realize that he still didn't forget them—never. That he hadn't re
Sunlight streaming in through the drapes gently illuminated the room where Clara sat beside Ruby. Her daughter's fever had finally subsided after a sleepless, endless night, but a thin strand of unease still nestled in Clara's breast. She combed Ruby's hair gently, her shaking fingers lined with weariness.A gentle knock on the door."Clara," Diana replied. "There is a man at the gate. He claims he is here making a delivery to you."Clara stood up from her chair, scowling in distrust. "A delivery? Who from?"Diana shrugged. "He wouldn't tell me. But he did leave his name… Steven."Clara's heart constricted.Steven.She stayed there not wanting to disturb Ruby and departed. Standing outside was a tall, dominating man in an overcoat made of black cloth, sunglasses hiding his face although it was early morning. Next to him stood a black automobile. Clara was not familiar with him, yet the cold calculated look brought so forcefully back Steven's world."You are Clara," the man said courte
Clara clasped the windowpane, her gaze drifting over the darkening sky as rain crashed against the pane like secrets struggled so urgently in her head. The world outside was as bitter and mournful as the things swirling round her head. Within, Ruby flung in bed, crying thin wails that caught at Clara's own sorrowful heart.Things were not what they ought to have been.Since they'd set out from Steven's estate, nothing had felt right. Ruby cried herself to bed each evening, waking up with a freezing scream, with no idea what terror afflicted her small body. Clara attempted it all—singing to Ruby, reading aloud to her, cuddling her—but to no avail. Ruby's night terrrors did not abate, and Clara's own sense of helplessness just increased."She needs him," Diana had whispered that morning, looking at Ruby with concern. "Perhaps you should have Steven go see her."Clara had stormed. "No, Mom. He kicked us out. Told us never to return. He made the decision."Diana had sighed, but remained s
As days passed, Clara felt that something wasn’t right with Ruby and her life, there was a feeling that she couldn't describe in words. The fear that every night always becomes a nightmare for her. That also seemed to be what Ruby felt, since they returned to Diana's house, there wasn't a single day when Ruby could sleep soundly, even Clara's presence couldn't calm her down.Diana had asked Clara to ask Steven to come because she felt that maybe Ruby missed her father by her side, but Clara immediately refused, she felt that Steven had thrown her out and asked them never to return to the mansion, after all, that was what Clara had wanted for a long time.Clara's presence in the mansion with Steven was only because she was tied to something, Ruby was the reason she was there, she could have reported everything to the police but was she able to put Steven in prison, since she saw how strong Steven was with all the wealth and power he had. Steven could easily eliminate someone and cover
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