Chapter 42
Ariel
Our plan to have some fun at the cafe and library was cut short as Guilia couldn’t help the tears that kept pouring down her cheeks.
The only thing that could mollify the rage welling up within me was seeing Vladimir beaten up to a pulp.
She scooted on the floor, her palms covering her face and I crouched beside her with my arm circling her neck.
“You shouldn’t be crying over him, Guilia, he’s not worth it,” I whispered softly.
She sniffed and dragged in a deep breath. “I know, and this will be the last time I’ll cry over him. I’m sorry that we won’t be able to go to the library, but right now I just want to go home,”
“It’s fine, I understand. I’ll tell Fedor to drive us back to the house,”
Her sadness was like the dark clouds hovering over the sky with a vicious threat to rain heavily and then there was this feeling that didn’t sit well with me- knowing that what Vladimir did could make her want to return to Chicago.
My only regret was that I allowed her to wander off that day at the club. I’d be glad to go back in time and correct my mistake.
The drive back to the house was filled with silence as I contemplated reporting Vladimir to his brother, but deep down, I knew that there was nothing much he could do.
I just wanted the both of them to be far away from each other.
We returned home far more depressed than we left. However, what I wasn’t aware of was that my worst nightmare had made her presence known.
By the time we got into the living room, Margaret was seated cockily on one of the armchairs, her leg crossed over the other.
Her eyes were locked with mine and she stared at me disdainfully. The scenario with Vladimir was still fresh in my mind and now she’d come to make it worse.
But something else occurred to me as I approached her angrily. No one had access to this house unless Dmitri allowed it. The realization caused my heart to plummet and a knot tightened in my stomach.
My lips parted in preparation to give her a piece of my mind, but she beat me to it as she sat upright.
“You’re such a beautiful woman, Ariel, but it’s so sad that you agreed to be with a man like him,” She began.
I clicked my tongue and let out a nonchalant sigh. If I was given the option of choosing whom I was to get married to, I definitely wouldn’t pick a man who was never going to love me.
“Well, I don’t see how my choices affect you, Margaret,” I retorted flatly.
“But it does,” She huffed.
I let my inquisitiveness take over me. “How so?”
“Dmitri has been with me for two years and everything has been going fine until you decided to marry him, but your mistake was forgetting to do proper research on him. Has he touched you yet?” She snickered and I gulped.
A grunt from Fedor behind me reminded me that Margaret and I weren’t the only ones in the living room. Thankfully, Guilia had chosen to stay inside the car until she felt better.
“Excuse us, Fedor,” I said in the calmest voice even though I was having a hard time putting a lid over the fury that threatened to take hold of me.
“Alright, I’ll just hang around,” His statement had never felt so reassuring.
Having him gone, I pressed my lips together and fixed her an icy stare. “I’m not going to answer such an absurd question,”
She chuckled briefly and folded her arms. “Of course, I wasn’t expecting you to, but I’ll tell you how it goes. First of all, he’ll be very sweet to you and make you feel like the most beautiful and wanted woman in the world. Have I added that he’ll get you so addicted to him-his touch, that you’d crave him all the seconds of your life?”
A scoff escaped my lips and I took a step back, gobsmacked at how she perfectly described my situation. “And then what happens,”
“He’ll dump you just like he did to me. The good thing is that you’re his wife, but what if he divorces you? What are you going to do?” She questioned scornfully.
“He won’t. He’s loyal,”
She snorted and slowly rose to her feet. “But he fucked me a few weeks into your marriage,”
I clenched my fists and shut my eyes for a second, then the anger slowly dissipated. “And I’m sure he has dumped your ass already, that’s why you’re here fighting like a wounded lion,”
She tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowed into slits with a pinched expression on her face. “I’ll have you know that your presence in his life is affecting his business,” She deflected and I did a mental leap of triumph.
“That’s not possible,” I refuted.
“You can ask your precious husband when he returns. I wonder how he’ll treat you when the pressure from his workers becomes so much because his business is being threatened. The thing is, I’m the only one that can save him right now and you’re getting in the way,”
“Stop playing games with me, Margaret…”
The door was pushed ajar and Dmitri stormed in, heading toward me swiftly.
“I warned you not to come here,” He thundered.
She bent slowly to pick up her bag and wiggled her butt seductively at Dmitri who hissed. “I’m sorry for not being good at taking orders, baby, but remember what I told you at the office. You will never be able to get rid of me,”
She approached him and trailed her finger on the bare part of his chest that wasn’t covered by his dress shirt down to his stomach. “I’m the only one that can satisfy those insane fantasies of yours. I’m the only one that can pleasure you the way you want. You said it yourself, Dmitri. So don’t forget to reach out anytime you need me, I’ll be right there,” She blew him a kiss and stalked off.
Too stunned to speak, I offered him a forced smile and walked away.