Chapter 2 2

CHAPTER 2

Roxanne Meyers

Drowning in suffering, I ran through the corridors of the company, unable to utter a word. The pain that went through me was indescribable, as if they were tearing me inside. I could not assimilate what my beloved husband had done to me. Andrew, the man who had been my everything, my whole life, had betrayed me. But no, I wouldn't let my marriage end like this.

When I got home, I collapsed on our bed, sinking my face into its pillow, still impregnated with its scent. The familiar smell enveloped me, and crying began to flow from the depths of my being. I cried until I lost track of time, until exhaustion overcame me and plunged me into a dark, painful sleep.

Hours later, when night had already fallen, I woke up with swollen eyes and a heavy head, as if the crying had left an indelible hangover. I got up slowly, staggeringly, and headed for the stairs with a faint hope that Andrew had arrived by now. And sure enough, he was home... But he was not alone.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Andrew, what are you going to do then?" She asked, in a nervous voice.

"I told you," my husband replied, in a tired tone, "I must pay him that damn debt or that imbecile is going to kill me."

I froze at those words, unable to move.

"How are you going to pay for it? If you have the company in ruins, you lose all the money. You're a complete idiot Andrew! " Samara folded her arms and shook her head in denial.

My mind was spinning, I felt strange because I didn't recognize my husband. What else was Andrew hiding from me? When Samara said that a hard lump went through my throat, were they talking about my company?

"Shut up!" Andrew growled, furious. And hurry up to get Roxanne's damn safe. "There she keeps the deeds of this house and all our heritage. If I don't pay the imbecile Salvatore before midnight, he's going to kill me."

"You're a complete idiot," Samara replied, with a tone of contempt. "How do you come up with the idea of making a deal with a mobster?"

I put my hands to my mouth, feeling short of breath. Every word that came from my husband's lips was a new stab. He wasn't just betraying me, he was stealing from me! And to top it off, he had debts with a mafioso. The horror of the truth struck me mercilessly. In my desperation to escape this suffocating scene, I stumbled upon a decorative table. The vase above her fell to the floor, shattering with a roar that filled the room. Andrew and Samara turned sharply towards me.

A chill ran through my body as I realized I could no longer back down. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my composure, and slowly walked down the stairs, but only a few steps.

"Damned wretches!" I cried, my voice broken with anger and pain. "How dare they? Did they really think that I would never discover them?"

Andrew looked at me, surprised, wearing that mask of false innocence that he had always worn so well. He began to climb the stairs towards me, with a disturbing calmness, as if it were all a misunderstanding.

"My love, you arrived early. Samara has come home to see you. How did it go in the doctor? "

Andrew was a real actor, a false traitor.

"What do you care?" I answered, my voice trembling. "How long have you been cheating on me with Samara? Tell me, when did you think you would tell me that you didn't love me anymore? "

Andrew rolled his eyes and raised his hands.

"Fool you? You're wrong, my love. Are you sick? " His words were like sharp blades, each designed to cut me, to render me utterly helpless in the face of his cruelty.

I looked at Samara and saw how she could barely contain the mockery that struggled to get out. He covered his mouth with one hand and let out a slight snort, enjoying my pain.

"Yes, even if it hurts, dear cousin." Her voice was venomous. "I've been dating your husband for a year now, because you don't make him feel like a real man."

Her confession, although I already knew it, pierced me like a dagger. I started to go down a couple more steps as Samara climbed, shortening the distance between us. I looked her straight in the eye, defying her, and shook my head in disbelief.

"To you, who gave you everything. That I helped you when you needed it most... is that how you repay me, Samara? With a betrayal. I can't believe it. What is your mother going to think?"

"Well, I'm better than you, stupid!" Samara snapped contemptuously. "In a sudden movement, he grabbed my hair tightly, tugging mercilessly."

The pain ran through my scalp, but I didn't sit still. With the same fury, I grabbed her by the hair as well, and we both started fighting there on the stairs. Andrew was looking at us from a few steps down, indifferent, barely shaking his head as if he were enjoying the show, as if internally he was betting on who would emerge victoriously.

"Let go of me, you idiot!" I shouted as I pulled her hair hard, but Samara wouldn't let up, clinging to me with the same rage. We looked like two wild animals, beating each other, scratching each other furiously, in a grotesque confrontation fueled by pain, betrayal, and hatred.

"Andrew, help me!" Samara shouted in the middle of the fight, just as I managed to bite her hand with all my strength. Andrew, in his pathetic indifference, decided to intervene. He grabbed my arm roughly, twisting it with such force that my foot buckled in the effort, causing me to let out a cry of pain.

But for all that, what hurt me most was his gaze: empty, devoid of any emotion, as if none of this really mattered to him.

"Imbecile, are you on your lover's side? Then go with her. This is my home; Get out, both of you! I pointed at the door furiously, while my cousin was doing her hair nonchalantly, and he simply looked at me in amazement."

"Your house? You're completely crazy, my dear. This is not your home; You're nobody here."

His words hit me like a hammer. Everything at my feet vanished, and I couldn't understand what he was saying. And he continued with his impudence.

"Yes, your house is foreclosed, as is your company and everything that belongs to us."

"No, what are you talking about? What did you do, Andrew?" I yelled at him, beginning to beat his chest in a desperate attempt to make him feel the pain he was causing me, but all he could do was hurt my own hands. He was unfazed, his face remained impassive.

Tears welled up in my eyes, drowned in deep disappointment. I was expecting a long-awaited child in the framework of our marriage, but now, being left with nothing, I did not know what I was going to do with that life that was growing inside me. I sat on the step, unable to continue standing, and caressed my belly with tenderness and desperation.

"Why now, when I'm pregnant?" I asked, my voice trembling with anguish.

"What?" he replied, surprised, as if the idea that I might be pregnant had never crossed his mind, as if my condition was just a burden in the midst of her betrayal.

With trembling hands, I pulled the ultrasound image out of my pocket and threw it at his feet. Andrew picked it up and realized that I had a life inside of me, his eyes filled with anger.

"So, is it true that in vitro fertilization had an effect? " He asked frustratedly

"Yes!" I replied between sobs, aware that, deep down, he didn't want this son. "You're going to be a father," I blurted out

"Of course not, stupid. That son is not mine; is from a donor."

"But you were the one who proposed in-vitro fertilization, not me. Now, what am I going to do? " I lamented. Meanwhile, my cousin, surprised by the news of the pregnancy, climbed the steps until she reached my side.

"What are you going to do?" She snorted ironically. "You won't do anything, because I'm not going to allow that brat to be born. "At that moment, I felt how her hands pushed me, making me fall down the stairs. Andrew not help me; My legs became entangled in the steps, and I began to roll, hitting my head with each step. The pain was unbearable, overwhelming.

Would that be my end? I didn't know it, but the physical and mental torment I was experiencing was tearing my heart apart. Even though I knew they couldn't notice it, I listened to them, their every cruel word.

"Did you kill her?" Andrew asked

"We killed her, you mean," my cousin replied, her tone cold and contemptuous. "Where are the security cameras in the mansion?" She asked with chilling indifference. My body, mired in pain, seemed like a burden, but my ears remained alert.

"In the basement. We have to move; otherwise, that damned Salvatore will finish us off," Andrew replied, his voice trembling with a fear that made my blood run cold.

A shiver ran down my spine as I realized that not only was I lying on the ground, completely motionless, but I was also being left at the mercy of a stranger, a mobster. A tear slid down the corner of my eyes, and at that moment, the dark reality hit me: although it was better to die at that moment, it was supposed to be strong for my baby, but the pain invaded me, and I completely lost consciousness.