Chapter 22 #2
“I know what I’m about to say isn’t right, but I hired someone to do it.
I admit that at first it was out of simple curiosity, but when I began to learn the intimate details of his life, I knew I couldn’t keep that information to myself because you need to know who you’re going to marry.
I assure you I’m not doing this to prevent you from being happy, you deserve happiness.
I’m not doing it so you’ll come back to me either.
I’m sorry to say this, but you know I was the one who wanted to separate,” he stated, as if I were foolish to think he wanted to get back with me.
“You’re an imbecile! Forget about me and leave me alone!”
“I won’t! I wanted a divorce, but I care about you and I won’t allow anyone to hurt you,” he said, taking something from his pocket and holding it in front of my eyes.
“This is the necklace he gives to all his mistresses. One of them gave it to me, the woman I know. She lent it to me so I could show you and open your eyes. Do you have one like this?”
“Of course not, it’s all your invention,” I shouted.
“It’s not, Devon. I can take you to the woman who lent me this jewelry,” he said, raising the necklace again for me to look at.
“Apparently the first wife found out about his mistresses after they were married, and it’s speculated that because of this she started drinking too much and had an accident. ”
I couldn’t take it anymore and slapped him. I wasn’t going to allow him to smear William like that. Lino looked at me with eyes like saucers.
“Don’t ever come near me again and stay away from my family,” I said, pointing at him.
“Family?” he questioned, in a mocking tone. “He’s marrying you because you were the only one who could deal with his daughter, otherwise you’d be just another mistress.”
“You’re despicable.”
“I am, but not as much as your boyfriend, that son of a bitch.”
I didn’t respond. It wasn’t worth wasting any more of my time listening to these absurdities.
I started walking back to the parking lot.
My legs were shaking and barely obeying me.
I could hardly control my steps, but I made an effort because I had to keep walking and I had to do it as upright as possible.
I trusted William; he had never given me reason to distrust him.
When I reached my car, I took a few minutes to calm down.
My hands were sweating; the whole situation had upset me tremendously, and my entire body was shaking.
When I managed to calm myself, I decided I couldn’t go shopping.
I didn’t feel up to walking around the mall.
Although I was clear that I couldn’t let Lino ruin my relationship with William, the truth is that at that moment I was distressed.
I started the car and decided to go to his company.
When I arrived, the secretary, who already knew me, informed me that he wasn’t at the company. The first thing that came to mind was that he had told me he was going to have a meeting, and I suspect my face must have betrayed my surprise because the secretary looked at me with concern.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you. I just walked quite a bit and I’m a little tired. I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t mention that I came by because I only wanted to surprise him, and I’d like to do that another time.”
“Of course,” she said with a conspiratorial smile.
“What brings the beautiful Devon Dulcet here?”
I turned and found Xavier coming toward me. I cursed inwardly because his presence would force me to stay and chat for a few minutes, and I had intended to leave as soon as possible.
“Hello, Xavier, how are you?”
“Now that I see you, much better,” he said with his usual playfulness, and William’s secretary looked at him sternly.
Xavier gave me a kiss on the cheek and looked at me with a smile.
“I came to surprise William, but I found out he’s not here.”
“My friend is a lucky guy. But you can stay and wait for him, and I can keep you company.”
“Thank you, but since he’s not here, I’ll take advantage of the time to do some shopping. I thought you were in a meeting,” I said, and that already gave me the sense that unfortunately Lino’s words were undermining the trust I had placed in William.
“No, the meeting is later. I think William said he was going to the jewelry store,” he stated, and then froze, as if he had said too much. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned that because it’s probably related to a gift for you. Don’t tell him I mentioned it.”
The necklace that Lino had shown me came to mind again, and I cursed myself for being so stupid as to let him ruin my happiness.
“And don’t mention that I was here so I can surprise him another day.”
“Perfect, our first shared secret,” he said, smiling seductively, but I could only laugh at his audacity.
“Good to see you, Xavier,” I said goodbye.
“And I’m even happier to see you,” he said, still smiling.
That man was the embodiment of boldness, but I had always liked him.
I arrived home and after greeting Aurora, I took a long shower and put on comfortable clothes.
As much as I tried not to think about Lino’s words because William didn’t deserve my doubts, my head was a whirlwind that kept turning the matter over without being able to help it.
I needed to distract myself because I didn’t want Lino’s malice to distress me.
I went looking for Aurora and found her playing in the backyard of the house.
Alba was sitting in the chairs arranged under the pergola, attentive to all the little girl’s movements, and Aurora was so concentrated on dressing a doll that she didn’t hear me arrive.
"Hello, Alba. How have you been?"
"Very well, doctor, how was your day?"
"It was good. Today I only had consultations and I don't have to be on call."
"Then you can rest a bit and enjoy the pool with Aurora who has been insisting on taking a dip for a while now. The afternoon is beautiful."
"That's a good idea, Alba."
At that moment Aurora turned and saw me. She immediately stood up and began running toward me.
"Mommy!"
"Hello, little one, I'm free now to play with you."
"Yaaay," she said, while hugging me tightly.
"Alba, go rest. I'll take care of Aurora."
"Your daughter adores you," she said, emphasizing your daughter. "You've brightened this home. I thank God for having gone to the emergency room that day because we had the fortune of meeting you," she expressed with a big smile.
"Thank you, Alba. Actually, I'm the fortunate one."
"They are fortunate too, and I'm referring to this little one and her father."
Lino's words came back to my mind again: "He's marrying you because you were the only one who could handle his daughter, otherwise you'd just be another mistress."
I shook my head as subtly as possible so Alba wouldn't notice my inner demons. I couldn't keep remembering those lies.
"Shall we get in the pool?"
"Yeees."
"Go change and I'll take care of Aurora," Alba suggested.
"No, I want to stay with my mommy," protested the little boss.
"I'll handle it, go rest. Thank you for everything," I said, looking at Alba gratefully. That woman was very warm with everyone. "We're going to put on our swimsuits."
First we went to Aurora's bedroom and after she was ready, I took her to mine. While I changed in the dressing room, I sat her in the middle of the bed with her dolls.
"Well, we're ready now. Let's go swimming!" I exclaimed when I had my bikini and robe on.
I took her in my arms while she celebrated happily.
We got into the pool and, even though I kept her constantly embraced to me, I had put the safety float vest on her. We splashed, swam, and played passing a little ball. The voice of the man of the house startled us.
"How are my loves doing?"
We both looked at him. Aurora, who had the little ball in her hand, didn't hesitate and threw it at her father, who pretended as if she had thrown it very hard and avoided catching it so she could celebrate as if she had won.
"Daddy, come play."
"Give me a minute to change and I'll join you," he said, then looked at me and added: "Dulce, today we should go shopping for the things we have pending."
At that moment I remembered that we had agreed to go get the gifts for Aurora, but I had completely forgotten about it, surely because of everything that had happened during the day.
"You can play with Aurora for a while and then we'll go," I suggested.
"I don't want to leave too late because we won't have enough time to look around much."
"Alright, when you come back I'll change," I said, and he nodded and went into the house.
I continued splashing with Aurora. It was the first time I had seen him after what Lino had told me, and I must admit that, at that moment, I remembered his whole story again. My thoughts were an autonomous entity suggesting things to me that I couldn't control. Damn Lino!
We were in a toy store at the Shopping Center and, if it were up to William, he would buy her all the toys her eyes landed on, except for electronic ones which he wanted nothing to do with. I liked the idea of giving her books and was in that section.
"You want to give her books?" he asked, standing beside me.
"I think she'd like them, if we choose well. Books have many benefits, they improve concentration, stimulate imagination, enhance language skills, and besides, Aurora loves them. She really enjoys the bedtime reading and we can share that moment with her."
"If you say so, doctor."
"Are you making fun of me?" I asked, frowning.
"I wouldn't dare," he said, hiding a smile.
"What did you buy her?"
"I chose board games and paints, you know she loves to paint. I still need the princess costume she asked for, but I can't remember the name."
"Rapunzel," I indicated.
"Rapu... what? Why do they give them such strange names?"
"Rapunzel," I repeated, smiling.