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
ATHOSAs I watched the girl devour her chicken in orange sauce like a starving woman who had not eaten anything in days, I suddenly felt a sinking conscience for having almost left her without lunch. Despite being a scammer, she was also almost a child, who most likely carried a part of me inside her womb. I could not be so inhuman as to starve them both.Looking at her, anyone who did not know her would never imagine the types of mess she was involved in, in complicity with her family. Since he had an air of innocence, an aura of sweetness and kindness that fooled anyone. In addition, she had a beauty that would never go unnoticed. The very clear blue of her eyes, they seemed to come out of a rare painting, her mouth was too sexy, molded into a doll's face, with porcelain skin. It was the perfect weapon to lure and deceive unsuspecting men.I would bet that that innocent, shy, quiet way of yours was nothing more than a disguise, a trap for idiots. She was most likely used to giving a
I woke up with my heart about to burst out of my mouth, it was so racing. A thick layer of cold sweat covered my body. The fear that gripped me was so terrifying I could feel it in my bones, consuming me, splintering me and terrifying me.On impulse, I ran to the switch and turned on the living room's bright light, looking around just to make sure I was really here, in my house and not in that terrifying stable. Realizing the reality around me, realizing that everything was just a bad dream, calmed me down a bit, although the panic was still there, making my body shake uncontrollably.Trying to calm down, I sat down on the edge of the couch and buried my face in my hands, taking deep, slow breaths over and over again, forcing my erratic heartbeat to return to normal, until my system calmed down.It had been a long time since I had a nightmare like that. They were distorted images of a past reality that tormented me for many years, which I was only able to get rid of after going to the
RYLEEHuddled in the backseat of the police car on the way home, with my mother and Scarlet sitting next to me and the tyrant in his luxury car right behind us, I was shaking from head to toe with the most intense dread. I could not believe that this was really happening, that I would be forced to live under the same roof as that demon, that my child would be taken from me as soon as it was born, to be raised by that man, evil himself.From the beginning, I knew that plan would go wrong, I just did not imagine that it would be up to me, that I would be the one to pay for those two's damn mistakes.Holy crap! I was really screwed! I would have my life ruined, my future destroyed, while they would return home unscathed from all the evil they had wrought. It was really bad luck on my part.Trying to argue would be futile, they both had complete control over me and they knew it. I would never be allowed to tell Athos the truth about how I got pregnant. If I tried, they would destroy me. B
Minutes later, Athos and I were sitting in the backseat of his chauffeur-driven luxury car, driving through the quiet, sunny streets of SaintClair City, with me perched on one end of the seat and him sprawled out on the other side.As seemed to be his habit, he fought fiercely with one of his employees over his cell phone. As he ended the call, he focused his attention on me, probing me, making me feel his weight, even though I did not turn my face to look back."Are you always this quiet?" he asked in a neutral tone of voice.“I have nothing to talk to you about,” I said as firmly as I could.— He hardly speaks, but he has a sharp tongue.“Only with people like you."People like me, how?" What do they denounce when they are sexually abused and victims of a scam?Finally, I turned to face him and felt that thud inside me that came over me whenever I met his icy gaze, fixing me with scrutiny, alerting me to how dangerous I was and, at the same time, waking me up. Something else reminde