I could not believe this was really happening. My mother had always been mean and despicable, but this time she was surpassing herself.
"It is only for two days. So I can make sure you do not take a morning-after pill."
I watched her bewildered, with a mixture of hatred and accumulated hurt taking care of me. Tears threatened to well up in my eyes, but I held them back.
"You can't do this to me," I muttered, my voice thin.
"Do not talk like this is the end of the world. You'll sleep in my room for two more nights. The day after tomorrow, you will be free. Until then, I'll keep your cell phone and bring all your meals here. And not looking at me like I am a two-headed monster."
With that said, she unlocked the door and left, locking it again from the outside.
Alone, I stood there for a long moment, stunned, disbelieving, processing all the events, making sure they were real, that this was really happening, that this was not just a bad nightmare that would soon be over.
Eventually, I convinced myself that it was all true, and my only chance of escaping all this madness was if this pregnancy had not happened.
I would be ruined and scarred for the rest of my life, linked by unbreakable bonds to a stranger who, according to what they said, was as bad a character as the woman who brought me into the world.
Alone, I stood there for a long moment, disbelieving, processing all the events, making sure they were real, that this was really happening, that this was not just a bad nightmare that would soon be over.
Eventually, I convinced myself that it was all true, and my only chance of escaping all this madness was if this pregnancy had not happened.
Disconsolate, I threw myself face down on the bed and let the tears flow profusely, praying silently that I was not pregnant.
I would be ruined and scarred for the rest of my life...
**
I spent two days locked in my mother's room, without a cell phone, isolated from the world, crying most of the time, having her visit periodically.
On the third day, after lunch, she let me out. It was late to go to school and early to go to the cafeteria where I worked, but I still put on my waitress uniform, took my bike, and left the house, feeling completely bewildered, aimless, lost.
All I wanted was to get away from there. The desire to escape from everything has never been so alive inside me. If I could, I would buy a ticket right then and there as far away as possible and leave; I had been saving money for this for years.
However, I was still a minor and would not be able to go very far. Surely my mother would come after me and bring me back.
The cafeteria where I worked was on the side of the highway that connected SaintClair City to other cities. In one direction was the capital, in the opposite direction the exit of the state. The place was as close as I could get to my freedom.
I liked spending the afternoons there, socializing, and meeting the travelers who stopped to fill up the car and have a snack. I worked from two in the afternoon to ten at night, after spending the whole morning at school, which ensured that I was at home as little time as possible.
There was still an hour left before the start of my shift; even so, I headed there, pedaling the bicycle in a hurry through the streets with little traffic.
I was so absorbed by the anguish that I forgot to look around before crossing the street, and when I realized it, the car was practically on top of me, the tires squealing on the asphalt, evidencing the driver's attempt to brake before running over me.
He almost did it.
Almost.
The touch of the bumper on my leg was softened by his attempt to stop, but sharp enough to throw me to the ground, to the other side, along with the bike.
My body hit the hard asphalt with a thud so violent that I felt my skin tearing, especially around my elbow and knee, which I used to break my fall.
I lay there, motionless, scared, trying to decide if my injuries were serious, if I was hurt more than I was realizing, and wished fervently that the fall had been hard enough to at least induce an abortion if I was pregnant.
Around me, a few passersby stopped to observe the scene, but soon resumed their journeys, losing interest, wrinkling their noses when realizing that it was me lying on the ground.
It did not matter to them that I was not part of my mother's schemes; being her daughter was enough for me to be hated and discriminated against by the entire city.
I still had not been able to get up when I heard the car door opening, and soon the driver entered my field of vision.
I could not see his face or identify who it was due to being against the sunlight, the scorching rays dazzling my eyes. I just noticed that he was a very tall man, with an athletic build, well-cut hair, wearing a suit and tie.
I did not know anyone in SaintClair City who wore a suit and tie...
"Aren't you watching where you are going?" he roared, his voice booming, thick, and harsh, giving me another fright.
Irritated by his aggressiveness, I opened my mouth to respond in the same tone, but the voice did not come out. I was still in shock, trying to get up but unable to because of the incessant shaking that had taken over my body and my leg trapped under the bike.
I was still lying there on the asphalt when his big hand closed tightly around my upper arm and pulled me to my feet in one swift movement.
"Are you badly hurt? Need a hospital?" the man asked, impatience evident in his tone.
I pulled my arm out of his grasp, needing a little effort to balance myself on shaky legs and check my bruises. They were no big deal. Only the elbow and knee were scraped.
Nothing to stop me from going to work.
"I am fine."
I turned to face him, and for the first time, my eyes clearly focused on his face. I shuddered from head to toe when I recognized him.
It was Adriel Beaumont.
Although I had never seen him in person, only in photographs during my mother's research into his life, I would never forget those traits. His face was too striking, possessing an incomparable, masculine, almost aggressive beauty, which was even more evident up close.
He was in his mid-thirties, with slightly tanned skin, a strong chin hidden by a short dark beard, a pointed nose, a well-shaped mouth.
However, what really attracted attention were his eyes. Deep pearly blue, shadowed by thick, arched eyebrows, they reflected a coldness that was almost frightening. They looked like the eyes of a demon, set in the chiseled face of an angel.
“You are Adriel Beaumont,” I said, almost to myself.
"Where do you know me from?" he exclaimed, harshly.He took a step towards me, looking so intimidating and threatening that I instinctively took another step back. Suddenly I remembered all the evil he had committed, displacing the families of the farm.If this pregnancy had happened, when I discovered that I had been the victim of a scam, a hit-and-run would be insignificant compared to what that man would do to me.The thought gave me another shudder, and suddenly I saw the buildings along the street dancing around me, becoming a jumble of ghostly, meaningless images. As if my legs were no longer able to support me on my feet, I slowly fell, falling to the ground, while my vision went dark.I was about to crash against the asphalt once more when strong arms held me firmly, supporting me, giving me a sense of security so reassuring that I stopped fighting and surrendered to the deep darkness that swallowed me.**When I regained consciousness, I felt the world rocking around me. As
I knew that tone well; it was the way a man spoke when he was excited.Even though I would never been intimate with a man, due to the fact that no boy in town had been interested in getting serious with the daughter of the biggest slut in the area, and I was not interested in getting laid just for the sake of getting laid, I knew almost everything about men and about sex. I was used to seeing my mother enter her room with up to two men at the same time, sometimes with other women as well. Not to mention the countless times those disgusting people left her sleeping and came into the living room to harass me during the night.Although it wasn't easy, I managed to preserve myself without being molested by any of them, even though no one in town believed that I wasn't part of that whole orgy. Fortunately, I didn't care much about what people thought of me. "Oh yeah, and when is it convenient for you? When you're with the women from the Riviera Club?" I blurted out.Holy crap! Where was
By the end of the day, I was completely stressed and mentally drained. I seriously needed to go to the Riviera Club and relieve myself, but I was not going that night. There was so much on my mind, and I needed to be fully focused so that nothing went wrong. The slightest slip could disrupt the completion of my plans. Arnaldo was a cretin, but he was not a fool. Like me, he also knew how to play dirty, and he did it with mastery.As I was leaving the precarious building, heading towards the parking lot, I was approached by two women on the sidewalk, one middle-aged and the other a teenager.The same one I almost ran over some time ago..."Mr. Athos, I am Selena Anderson. I need to speak to you, and it is urgent," said the older woman, heading my way, irritating me with her unbearable insistence.She must have been the same one who had been looking for me for three days, whom I had left waiting, believing she was going to leave. But she did not. Apparently, she had spent the whole aft
Her words made me freeze. I immediately turned to the two of them and focused my attention on the girl, who seemed to be hiding behind her mother, pale and scared like the other time I saw her. "What did you say?" I asked, suspecting I had heard wrong. "This is my daughter, Ryleena," she gestured toward the teenager. "You were at the Riviera Club together. She is expecting your child." Hearing the mention of the club I frequented weekly since arriving in town, I jumped, wondering if there was any possibility that what this woman claimed was true. However, I took a good look at that girl and soon dismissed the hypothesis. I was a scoundrel of the worst kind, capable of any dirty trick to get what I wanted, and I was even proud of it, yet I wouldn't have engaged with a girl that age. "Either you are crazy, or you approached the wrong guy. I never had anything to do with this girl." "Yes, there was, two months ago, when she was at the club looking for her sister. She did not want
ATHOS Two months later... "Mr. Athos, that lady, Selena, is here again wanting to talk to you," said my secretary through the intercom. It was the third day in a row that this woman had appeared at the company's headquarters trying to talk to me. What the hell did she want? These lazy people thought I had nothing else to do! At the very least, she was there to ask for financial help, like so many others did, as if I owned some charity. "Say I am busy." I gave the same answer as the last two days. "Sir, she said it is urgent. You are insisting too much." "In that case, tell her to wait." After a few hours of waiting, surely she would give up. I turned off the intercom and turned my attention back to the file on my computer. In the document that arrived a few hours ago, there was one more of that damned man's desperate attempts to disrupt my plans. This time, he obtained a warrant from a judge in the capital ordering the interruption of the construction of the pipeline, w
Her words made me freeze. I immediately turned to the two of them and focused my attention on the girl, who seemed to be hiding behind her mother, pale and scared like the other time I saw her."What did you say?" I asked, suspecting I had heard wrong."This is my daughter, Ryleena," she gestured toward the teenager. "You were at the Riviera Club together. She is expecting your child."Hearing the mention of the club I frequented weekly since arriving in town, I jumped, wondering if there was any possibility that what this woman claimed was true.However, I took a good look at that girl and soon dismissed the hypothesis. I was a scoundrel of the worst kind, capable of any dirty trick to get what I wanted, and I was even proud of it, yet I wouldn't have engaged with a girl that age."Either you are crazy, or you approached the wrong guy. I never had anything to do with this girl.""Yes, there was, two months ago, when she was at the club looking for her sister. She did not want to; she
RYLEE I spent practically the whole night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, or at least relax. I was terrified of what that man would do to us because of the belly slam we were giving him. I could see in his icy eyes that he was capable of anything, maybe even killing. When his paternity was confirmed, which would happen in a few hours, my mother and I would be in the arms of luck, at serious risk of losing our lives. How could she not see that? How was she capable of getting involved with a man as dangerous as that one? It was written in his expression that he had no soul, no heart. His attitudes towards the residents of the farm on which he built his oil pipeline also said so. If only I had not been a coward and had had the courage to have an abortion when Marina finally managed to get the abortive drugs, I would have been free of this situation. But I was stupid enough to cling to this life that was growing inside me. At first, I was determined to have an abortion.
After going through several streets and facing a small traffic jam, the car finally entered the parking lot of a building that housed the medical clinic, and we went up.On the floor where we left the elevator, the receptionist all but drooled over Athos and spread out a red carpet for him to pass, such was the flattery and undisguised interest.There I found out that the appointment was already scheduled, and I was relieved to learn that the gynecologist who would attend to me was a woman.We were taken directly to the doctor's office, a large and elegantly decorated room, where she was sitting behind a table, in front of which we sat down.She was a woman in her early fifties, with intelligent eyes behind her prescription glasses and a classic elegance. Something in her manner gave me a certain assurance, and I felt a little less afraid of Athos's proximity, convinced that he wouldn't harm me as long as we were in his presence."So, you're expecting your first child," said the woman