“Whoever sent you the snake is after your life, Millie! Until we catch them, we can’t treat this lightly. It’s not just because of the snake. The snake is a warning. They want to kill you, and I will prevent that from happening.”
“Even if it means sacrificing my freedom? You’ll confine me to that house?”
I understand Gio’s point of view. What I hope for is that he can trust me to handle things. That’s why I approached Gianna, that’s why I endured the hardship of training to show Gio that I can protect myself and don’t need to rely solely on him. But it seems that he still sees me as weak.
Why do I have to prove myself every time?
“Yes, so stay at home, Millie. I’ll have you escorted home. No more complaints. This isn’t a request; it’s an order.”
He turned away from me and was about to leave when I spoke again. I was deeply offended and disappointed. But what else can I do? I’m good at following orders.
“I just want to remind you, Gio, I’m not your subordinate; I’m your wife. In case you forgot that.” I walked away from the infirmary, and I beat him to the exit.
~*~
I followed Gio’s wishes, but I haven’t been talking to him. I still feel resentful, as if he doesn’t believe I can take care of myself. It’s like he thinks I’m going to step on a landmine and explode as soon as I leave the house. I sighed deeply. I’m trapped inside the house with nothing to do. And when I do go out, I need Gio’s permission, and once he agrees, I have a horde of bodyguards with me. I think I even surpass the First Lady in terms of security, so I often lose the motivation to leave the house. It’s been a week like this, and even though Gio occasionally talks to me, we’re in a cold war. Even my training, I’m doing it at home now. It’s different when you’re carrying your emotions; your bullets hit the target center every time.
Gianna said while aiming her gun, “If your target is a real person, no matter how much they beg, they’re probably not going to survive.” She cocked her gun and fired it at the target.
We have a built-in shooting range here at home. Gio had it made for me so I wouldn’t have to go out for training. I sighed and loaded my gun again, firing it even though I wasn’t aiming at anything.
“I wonder what will happen if we put Gio’s picture on the target?” Gianna’s words stopped me. She just looked at me with her usual expression. Sometimes, her humor is so dark that I don’t want to hear it. Maybe that’s how people like her joke. I just stared at Gianna before seeing her shrug.
I managed to have a somewhat enjoyable afternoon because of my training. I also noticed that my body was toning down due to the physical activities I was doing. Gio’s mind hasn’t changed, even though I’m not talking to him. Well, in the battle of silence, he’s winning. He can go without speaking for as long as he wants.
My phone rang, so I picked it up. I don’t have training today, so there’s nothing else to do except stay in my room or count the grass in the yard. If Gio only knew how much I’m going crazy here at home.
I can see that Mariana wants to help me, but she’ll be punished by Gio if she’s caught, so as much as possible, I don’t want her to help me.
An unknown number was calling, but I answered it anyway. “Hello?” I greeted the caller.
“Amelie!” he shouted, nearly deafening me. I didn’t need to ask who was calling because I recognized his voice.
I was almost jumping for joy realizing that he had indeed returned to the country after a long time. “Rae!” Rae is one of my friends. He and Nina are my only two friends. They’ve been with me through thick and thin in my life.”
“That’s me,” he replied whimsically. Both of us laughed. Rae is gay and very proud of it. His family knows it, and it’s no issue for them, just like with my family and Nina. We have immense respect for Rae, and we love each other deeply.
“When did you get back? I miss you!” I sat on the living room sofa while talking to Rae on the other end of the line.
“Just yesterday, but I had to recover from my jetlag! It was brutal!” he laughed before speaking again.
I couldn’t help but smile while listening to him. “I miss you too, girl! I talked to Nin earlier, and I got your number from her. Are you up for going out later? Let’s have some fun! You owe me a ton of stories.”
My smile slowly faded as Rae spoke. Later? I can’t even go out on my own right now. When I do leave the house, I have a bunch of people with me. We won’t enjoy ourselves if that’s the case.
“I can’t, Rae.” I want to be with my friends, but I also don’t want to defy Gio. We’ll just end up arguing, and even though I’m upset, I know he’s only thinking about my safety. Besides, I don’t want to endanger the people around me for my own desires.
“Why not? It’s a rare chance, Millie. We’re your trusted friends.”
I took a deep breath. “Sorry, Rae. Maybe next time.”
Rae sighed. We both fell silent. I could tell he was disappointed, but he didn’t complain.
“I know!” he shouted on the other end. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so brilliant. Why don’t Nin and I come to your place? If you can’t go out, we’ll just bring the party to you!”
Not entirely sure if it was a good idea yet I agreed. I texted our address to Rae and told him to inform Nin about the plan. I also informed Gio that my friends were coming over.
I didn’t want to call him because I wasn’t sure if I could speak to him properly. My voice might betray me, and I might tremble, so I thought it best to text.
Me: My friends are coming here. I hope you don’t mind.
I took a deep breath as I noticed how formal my text was, but I left it at that. It didn’t take five minutes from the time I sent the text to Gio for my phone to ring.
I closed my eyes, contemplating whether to answer or not. Eventually, I picked up.
“Millie,” Gio was the first to greet me. Oh, to hear his voice. Despite the chill in his tone, there was a depth to it that felt like it would pull you in, drowning you in his voice. “Who are these friends? Nina?”
“Yes, and also Rae. You know him, right? I mentioned him once before. He just got back, so I invited them to our house.” Since I knew you wouldn’t allow me to go out with them, let alone go out partying. Knowing my friends, they’ll drag me to a bar. I’ll be in even more trouble with my husband.
“Fine. Do you need anything? I’ll have the house bar set up. You can also use the entertainment room.”
“Okay,” that’s all I said. I still need to convey to him that I’m upset! He can’t treat me like this for life.
“I’m going to call again to check on you. I might be late coming home,” he said to me. He mentioned that Gio might not be able to come home early because he had a lot to attend to at their company.
“Alright.” I wanted to ask how his day was going, but I changed my mind. I was still upset with him.
“Alright,” he replied. I expected him to end the call, but he didn’t.
I furrowed my brow. Why didn’t he hang up? He probably had nothing more to say.
“Millie…” There was something in his voice that sent shivers down my spine for no apparent reason. I was startled for an unknown cause. “You can hang up now.”
I bit my lip. I was waiting for him to end the call! That’s when I remembered that when we talk on the phone, he always lets me hang up.
I bit my lip. I miss Gio, but my pride was soaring. I don’t know what’s gotten into me now.