Chapter 5 She left

"You... You dared?" he asked, squinting at her and speaking slowly.

She felt a certain weight on her conscience; however, Carolina's internal voice told her not to weaken. She lifted her chin defiantly and looked him in the eyes. If he would strike her, it would've been worth it. Better regret for taking action than be a good-for-nothing!

"Yes!" she answered, quick and dry, full of attitude.

Maximo pressed his lips together and spun on his heels, striding out of the room. He wasn't a man to beat women and he never would be, but Carolina was... She was difficult! And he didn't want to continue the argue.

'If she wants to be hungry, so be it!'.

The bang her door made when it closed was tremendous, and she flinched involuntarily.

'At least he's gone!', she thought and dropped onto the bed, arms over her head.

After a few moments, she got up and retrieved the book that was lying askew on the floor.

"Sorry, dear book!" She said and ran her hand over the cover, as if she was caressing the object. Carolina loved books.

Later, Dolores took a tray of food to Carolina, but as she handed it over, the old woman looked around the hall and Carolina suspected that something wasn't right.

"Mrs. Dolores, did you bring food hidden from my dear husband?"

"Yes, ma'am. Come on, take the tray." Dolores said, pushing the tray towards Carolina, who took it.

"I don't want you to get into trouble because of me," the younger woman whispered, to which Dolores replied with a beautiful smile.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Mister Maximo is a little tough, but he won't do anything to me if he finds out. Just scold me, maybe." She shrugged.

Carolina shook her head from side to side, smiling.

"Thanks. And good night, Mrs. Dolores," Carolina said, smiling at the old woman. She knew that at least one person would be good to her, there.

"You're welcome, ma'am. And... be patient. He'll get used to you.'

Carolina shook her head, smiling and closed the door. She meant that Maximo didn't have to get used to anything, since he was the one who arranged that marriage. She, on the other hand, had no choice! This was yet another point that made her resentful of her husband.

'No, no, Carolina! Let those thoughts go and go eat. Mealtime is sacred!'

She washed her hands, prayed and started to eat.

In his own bedroom, Maximo was in a bad mood. He still had the towel around his waist and sat on the bed.

"That woman is a daredevil!" He groaned and let himself lie down.

He couldn't accept that she had turned him down. After all the passion she'd shown earlier.

'But of course, you didn't pay her!', he scolded himself, but a deep voice reminded him that Carolina didn't accept the first 'payment'.

'She's faking it, thinking that if she plays the tough one, the disinterested one, she can earn a lot more. I know this type of women!'

He turned over and fell asleep like that. Maximo's dreams were all about Carolina and how she could be fiery and headstrong, too.

In the morning, he went down to have breakfast and after waiting for a few minutes, he asked Dolores where Carolina was, who hadn't come down yet.

The elderly woman looked at him worriedly and he put down the fork he had in his hand and looked at her, waiting for the bad news.

"Well, sir... Mrs. Castillo left very early."

He frowned.

"She went out? Where to, Dolores?"

"I don't know, sir." The old woman didn't really know. She saw Carolina coming down the stairs, called her, but the girl just waved at her and kept walking.

Maximo scooped up his napkin in his lap, wiped his mouth, and threw it angrily onto the table.

"That woman is a problem!" He complained. "Jacinto!"

It didn't take long for the foreman to arrive in the dining room and remove his hat, lowering his head.

"Yes, Mr. Castillo?"

"Do you know where my wife is?" Maximo asked through gritted teeth, trying not to be rude to the man.

"She asked Fernando to take her to downtown, sir," Jacinto replied. "But he didn't, because he said he would need to speak with you, first. So... she took out her cell phone and asked for a car. She walked to the gate."

Maximo took a deep breath. He preferred that Fernando had taken Carolina to where she wanted to go, that way he would know exactly where she was and who she was with. But he knew that the employee did not do wrong and therefore, he could not complain.

"Right. Thanks. And tell Fernando to drive her next time. And then keep me posted on the whereabouts of this..." He took a deep breath and flashed a smile that Jacinto could call macabre. "Mrs. Castillo. You can go, Jacinto."

He waved his hand and Jacinto nodded in agreement, then left.

Maximo got up, took the car keys, adjusted his mask and went after Carolina. It's not that he wanted to lock her up, but he didn't want her to be walking around alone, unattended. She didn't know the place, people didn't know who she was and he feared that she would meet some ill-intentioned person along the way.

He drove as fast as he could. He wasn't used to leaving the farm and mixing with the people of Aguas Lindas. He knew they called him a monster behind his back.

Maximo reached the outskirts of the town and found Carolina nowhere. He drove through all the streets and nothing.

"Damn it, I'm going to have to get out of the car!" He slapped the steering wheel in frustration.

He parked, sighed deeply and opened the door, but not all the way before he heard someone saying something that caught his attention.

"Yes, she's new around here. Barely arrived and already had this accident, poor thing!"

He widened his eyes. It wasn't common for that place to have visitors, so...