Chapter 34
CHARLOTTE
In the middle of the hallway stood men hammering the walls. I looked on in terror as my head throbbed from the noise. A draft blew into the room, and my eyes watered as I sneezed. When my vision cleared, I saw a woman standing in the middle of the room. I broke into a grin as we locked gazes. “Elena La Guerta…” I muttered.
“You’ve heard of me,” she sneered and she walked towards me through the rubble that had been created.
“Who hasn’t? Why are you here? And who are these people breaking my walls?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. If this was her idea of a first impression, she was doing a wonderful job of pissing me off.
With a mocking face, she uttered. “You call it yours, but it belongs to the Thuthais. It’s Rogerio’s house.”
I swallowed at the mention of his name, and my resolve crumbled a little. She chuckled and turned
around. This triggered a memory from the engagement party. I smiled wistfully as Maria walked into the hallway. She had been cleaning the study when she heard the commotion.
“How did you get past the gate?!” she yelled, and the men froze. They all turned to Elena, who stood between me and a visibly annoyed María.
She raised her hand in feigned surrender and turned around to look at me. “We knocked; no one was there, so we…”
“Broke through?” I interrupted. She rolled her eyes and turned to Maria.
“We let ourselves in,” she said with a shrug and lowered her hands.
“Fancy way to say it,” I retorted, and Maria sneered at her. My eyes widened in fear for a moment, then turned into amusement. I had never seen her so angry, and as she yelled at the men to get out of the house, I realized that I had
never seen her angry at all.
“Maria.”
“I’m sorry about the noise, Signora,” she said to me, turning her attention to Elena. “Get out.”
“You can’t say that to me,” she responded calmly, taking off her gloves. “You’re just a maid here.”
I frowned at her condescending look and started walking towards them. “You can’t say that to her.”
“You don’t have a say here; you are a nobody,” she announced without looking at me and raised her right hand to look at something. I followed her gaze and chuckled as my eyes landed on her engagement ring.
“Is that why you’re here? To assert dominance over an engagement you ran away from the first time?” I demanded, and she flinched at my sarcastic tone.
“I like to call it taking back what’s mine. You’ve been here long enough; nobody wants the placeholder anymore.”
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“Fair, but this is my house now. My estate,”
“This estate belongs to the wife of Rogerio, and that’s going to be me soon. This was always the original plan.”
“I don’t care about you enough to give attention to this nonsense,” I stated as a wave of annoyance coursed through my body. I held my palm to stifle a cough as I walked closer to her. She lowered her hand and looked at me suspiciously. I stood next to her and whispered in her ear.
“You came in here; I have never sought you out or started a scene with you for being the reason my marriage is broken. What you will not do is break my walls or come in here uninvited,”
She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. “Take your grievances up with the law, Go to court and talk to Rogerio, but the next time you break into this house, it won’t be a friendly conversation. Get out before I call the cops.”
Her eyes flashed with disdain and resistance for a moment, then she smiled. “I’ll be back,” she vowed and exited the
room.
Maria followed hotly on her heels and didn’t return till I could hear the revving of her car as she drove off. She walked into the hallway, looking scared and annoyed. “They’re gone, Signora.”
I sighed in relief and looked around at the mess she had caused. “Maria, call the lawyer and the accountant. We need to hire security and some other people; we can’t have strangers walking into the estate.”
“She broke in; you could press charges, Signora,” she advised, and she started to pick up the frames that had fallen
on the floor.
“That would be playing right into her hands. I’m not interested in this game; she can play on her own. I need to know if this estate generates any substantial amount of money, and I have some saved that could help us. We can’t
live like this.”
“Alright, Signora. Do you want lunch?” she inquired, and I shook my head in response.
“You are not getting me lunch; neither are you picking up after those people. We’ll get other people to do
it; just arrange the appointments, please.”
She nodded in response and walked into the study to use the phone there. I turned around and walked towards the
bedroom.
My thoughts were scrambled all over the place. I knew that the first line of action included protecting myself, but Maria was right. I could report to the police, but she also threatened to return.
I tried to put the exchange out of my mind as I got dressed, but that was futile. I felt like she had put a target on my
back.
Walking in here, telling me to leave. “Who does she think she is?” I muttered and heard a knock on the door. A few seconds later, Maria’s head popped through, and her eyes scanned the room, then rested on me.
“Signora, you should be in bed.”
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“When I return,” I answered and picked up my purse. “I’m going to get lunch, then run a few errands. Are the appointments booked?”
“Yes, 4 pm and 6 pm at their offices,” she answered, and she gave me two business cards with the addresses of the establishments. I stared at them for a moment, then put them in my purse.
“Thank you,” I said and walked towards the door. “I’ll send some food along for you too; what would you like?”
“Oh, I’ll just cook something,” she questioned, and I shook my head in response as I walked out of the room. She moved out of the way and followed closely as I made my way to the garage.
I opened my car and got in. She took one look at me and sighed in resignation. She turned around and started walking towards the gate.
“There’s no need to open it; the new bride already broke through,” I mumbled, and she stopped in her tracks.
She turned around to look at me and chuckled. “Stay safe, Signora; call if you need anything.”
I nodded in response and drove out of the garage. I glanced at the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of her watching in the distance as I sped away. I shifted my gaze to the road as I sped through the gates, which currently stood ajar. I frowned at the sight and kept driving towards the road.
***
I had spent an hour driving through town to steady my nerves. By noon, I was a lot calmer. When I walked into the restaurant a few minutes later, the smell of fresh pastries filled the air as I walked to a table.
When I had settled down, a waitress came around to take my order. As we exchanged pleasantries and spoke, her eyes shifted to my hand. I looked at it too, and dread washed over me, followed by confusion.
I was still wearing my wedding ring. I smiled sadly and resisted the urge to fiddle with it in front of her. Then
I started to wonder if she recognized me but quickly dismissed the thought.
I barely went anywhere the entire time I was married to Rogerio. Everything I desired was brought to the house, and I practically dedicated my time to seeing him happy. Clearly, that didn’t turn out well.
I apologized for the silence and repeated my order. She nodded in response and scribbled in her notebook, then walked away. I returned my gaze to my finger and took off the ring. It was a pink star diamond ring but with a little extra detailing. I stared at it as I remembered the day he gave it to me.
We had been going to see his family, and he said he made a ring like his mom’s, but specifically for me. I thought it would be something simple and beautiful, but he produced the most colorful ring I had ever seen; the pink star was surrounded by blue Oppenheimer diamonds and some vivid yellow ones as well.
He described it as a burst of flavors, which was what he thought about me. In that instant, I realized something else that I hadn’t paid attention to in a while; these were real diamonds.
I had been worrying about my survival the entire time, not realizing that I was walking around with a solution. I decided not to pawn it until I had seen the accountant and my lawyer.
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If we could survive on whatever money I currently have, then this would be a last resort. I looked around to make
sure no one was watching me and slipped it into my purse.
