Chapter 35
ROGERIO
“Signor Rogerio, you’ve got to do something about this,” a familiar voice said into the phone in a hushed tone. I blinked in confusion and looked around me. I was in my bedroom, and slowly, the events of the previous day
started to come back to me.
I had spent the day at the office handling the appointments that had been rescheduled to fit the court proceedings and moving out of the estate. I also spent hours in meetings with the accountants, investors, and other shareholders.
The company had experienced a loss, and someone was trying to undermine our activities on the island. I wasn’t prepared to hear that gold was being stolen by the miners as well.
I needed to schedule a trip to the island, but had decided to take a day off. I needed some time alone to rest and clear my head. The sound of the voice speaking through the phone speakers pulled me out of my reverie. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock on the bedside table, then shifted my gaze to the phone’s screen.
The call was coming from the estate. I knew who would have the audacity to wake me up without prior notice and to be fair, I was happier to hear her voice than I was annoyed about waking up early.
We hadn’t spoken to each other since I left the hotel, and as much as I missed having her around, I knew that she was too annoyed about the order of events to speak to me.
“Maria, I don’t have to do anything. Especially if I have no idea what is happening or the reason why you’re calling me at 4 am,” I replied in an annoyed tone.
Regardless of being excited to have a conversation with her, I could still acknowledge that my day at the office had put me in a foul mood, and waking up to a call demanding I provide a solution to another problem was the last thing I needed to hear.
I had prepared myself to go to sleep today. Having a conversation about something I presumed was related to
Charlotte was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Apologies for interrupting your beauty sleep, Signor,” came the reply, and I could almost taste the sarcasm in her tone. “But I couldn’t wait till dawn. Signora Charlotte is sick, and your new wife came here to make things worse.”
“If Charlotte is ill, why are you calling me instead of a doctor, and what do you mean Elena was at the estate?” I
asked and massaged my forehead. I felt a headache coming on, and at this point, I really wanted to get some
painkillers and go back to sleep.
“She doesn’t want a doctor,” she started to say, and I chuckled. “Are you laughing at a sick woman, Rogerio?”
I sat up instantly as her annoyed tone sent an uneasy feeling throughout my body. As a boy, I knew the last thing anyone wanted to do was get Maria pissed. She was kind; she loved everyone who lived with us and expressed this in different ways to everyone around her.
Heck, she treated me even better than my own mother did, but like everyone else, she had a limit. I crossed it a few
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Chapter 35
times as a child and had some sense talk into my head. If there was anything I dreaded, even as an adult, it was getting on her bad side.
She only used my first name on rare occasions. Her reference to it at this point indicated I may have struck a nerve, and as much as I never wanted anything to do with Charlotte, I didn’t want to lose whatever was left of my relationship with Maria.
This divorce had strained our relationship in a few ways: she was upset that I had abandoned Charlotte, annoyed that I didn’t address how they treated her, and her final act of defiance was staying back at the estate rather than following me here as the other staff did.
“I had a different thought process,” I lied and sighed. I had actually been laughing at her refusal to get a doctor, mainly because I thought she couldn’t afford it without me being around to foot the bill. It had nothing to do with her physical state, but I had no intention of telling Maria that. “Can we get this conversation over with? This is not how I planned to start my morning.”
“Your wife…”
“She’s not my wife, Maria, at least not yet,” I interrupted and closed my eyes.
“Well, she waltzed down here, claiming she was the new Signora Thuthai and the estate now belonged to her.”
“The estate belongs to Charlotte; it is part of the divorce agreement.”
“Does your wife know this?” she asked, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Because coming here to harass an indisposed woman is rather distasteful.”
I ignored her, repeating that Elena was my wife, a few seconds after I had addressed the topic. Knowing Maria, she was mentioning it to make me as annoyed as she was about the exchange. “I haven’t spoken to her about it, but I’m certain she understands that the estate belonged to Elena.”
“How is she supposed to understand something neither of you have had a conversation about? You have a thing for avoiding conversations that should be had,” she replied and sighed.
“Elena and I have been engaged before; she knows that estate belongs to any woman I marry, hence the reason for her claim to the place. What she doesn’t know is that the property now belongs to Charlotte. I’ll talk to her about it.”
“I hope you do. She threatened to return; I wouldn’t want her causing a scene for the Signora who was expecting you
to come over.”
“Why would Charlotte be expecting that? Does she not understand how a divorce works?”
“You have personal items left in this house, Rogerio,” I flinched at the mention of my name and opened my eyes as she continued talking. “Anyone would expect you to drop by and pick them up. The same way you did when you left the first time. Instead, you sent a nasty woman to do the job for you.”
“I didn’t ask Elena to do anything, Maria. Whatever actions she took were solely of her own volition. I also don’t want anything to do with all of this. It’s exhausting and inconsequential.”
“It isn’t inconsequential if the woman you betrayed with your actions is walking around the house still staring at
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Chapter 35
your personal effects. It is important to.”
“Exactly, Maria, it isn’t that important to me. I really don’t care what she does with the property I left behind or with the estate itself. Sell it, burn it to the ground, turn it into a tourist center; I couldn’t afford to be bothered about that.”
“Alright, make sure you have the balls to come over and say this yourself. You are Rogerio Thuthai, not a coward who can’t vocalize his thoughts.”
“Maria, L
“I’m not finished, Signor. You have to handle this situation, properly. I wouldn’t like a repeat of this; you’ve hurt the poor woman enough. Don’t send your cronies to do your dirty work for you or give the impression that they have your approval.”
“I really don’t want to have anything to do with this,” I uttered, shaking my head slowly. “I was happy to leave any baggage that came with this at the court. I want no part in whatever is going on.”
“Well, you can’t walk away from it. Especially if you’re the catalyst for everything. You can’t start a war and drop your weapons when it suits you.”
“How is this starting a war? I simply had a divorce like everyone else who gets tired of a relationship or marriage that’s not working for them.”
“When you took this decision, did you factor in the different people it would affect or did you simply think about yourself as usual? Cause if you had any consideration for anyone or thought about anything other than your selfish interests, you’d see why this has turned out this way.”
I opened my mouth to reply but stopped as the dial tone echoed in my ears. She hung up without giving me a chance to speak. I was grateful for the silence, but a part of me felt slighted. “She has no right to speak to me in that manner.” I muttered and got out of bed.
As I walked around the apartment, I thought about her words. She was right; I needed to talk to Elena about the estate, but that was all I intended to do. I wasn’t going back to the estate for any reason.
I didn’t want to give Charlotte another chance to try to change my mind about anything. We were done; our marriage was over, and I needed it to stay that way.
