Chapter 6

• I wake up with a strong pain all over my body, and when I open my eyes wide, I realize that I fell asleep on the floor still wearing my wedding dress. I decide to take a bath to relax a bit, as all of this has me very stressed out. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Maximo locked me in the room; I feel like I'm being kidnapped. I get into the bathtub and let my body relax with the warm water as I soap myself all over. Now that I'm locked in here, how am I going to study? Most likely, during the time that Maximo and I are married, he will have me as a trophy wife while he sleeps with that bitch Laura.
• After half an hour of being in here, I get out because the water has turned cold. I wrap myself in a towel and leave the bathroom, but I stop in my tracks when I see Maximo sitting on the bed.
• "Finally, you come out. I thought the bathroom had swallowed you," he says.
• "Haha, very funny. I just wanted to relax a bit," I reply. He stands up and dangerously approaches me.
• "Are you stressed, my love?" he asks. When he's so close to me, I get very nervous, and this was the occasion.
• "Stay away from me," I say.
• "Why? You're my wife, I can get close to you whenever I want," he insists. He grabs my waist forcefully and pulls me towards him, causing me to scream.
• "Maybe you're my wife by a deal, but that doesn't mean I don't find you attractive," he says as he kisses my neck, and I feel my legs starting to tremble. "See how your body reacts... I usually have that effect on women," he adds. But when he says that, it ruins everything, and I quickly push him away, looking at him with hatred.
• "That doesn't work on me. Go to your personal whore," I retort.
• "Why, when I have my wife?" he asks, pulling me back to his chest, and I feel the urge to kill him.
• "And if I don't leave, what then?" he challenges. In that moment, a light bulb goes off in my head, and I give him a mischievous smile, which is reciprocated by him. But his smile fades when I lift my knee and hit him directly in the groin.
• "Damn it!" he yells, bending over and holding his crotch, while I look at him triumphantly.
• "I told you to leave. There you go, you pig," I say before locking myself in the closet. But before I close the door, I hear him say, "You'll pay for this."
• I enter the closet and look for something to wear. I find a pretty floral print dress, put it on, and fix myself up until some knocks interrupt my peace.
• "Lia, my parents are here, so come out and behave like a good wife," Maximo's voice calls out. I take a deep breath and exit, finding a well-dressed but serious Maximo.
• "Shall we?" he asks, and I nod. Before we go downstairs, he takes my hand, making me feel somewhat strange.
• "Darling, it's so good to see you," Teresa hugs me, and I reciprocate the hug.
• "I'm glad to see you too, Enrique," I greet my father-in-law, and he returns the hug.
• "Son, what's the honor of your call?" he asks. Wait, he called them?
• "Let's sit down," Maximo suggests, leading us to the living room where we all take a seat.
• "Mom, Dad, Lia and I got married yesterday," Maximo announces.
• "What?!" Teresa exclaims. "But we agreed that the wedding would be in two months."
• "Mom, it was too long. Although that wedding is still happening, we just wanted to be married," Maximo explains, looking at his father and then at me.
• "Darling, could you join me outside for a moment? I want to talk to you," Enrique asks. I glance at Maximo, who looks at his father, trying to decipher what he wants.
• "Of course," I reply, standing up, and we both walk to the garden.
• "Have a seat," Enrique says, and an awkward silence ensues.
• "I know about the contract you and my son made," he starts.
• "Yes, I know. It was you who pushed him to marry without love," I respond.
• "Maybe, but I'm not the bad guy, Lia. I want the best for my son, and I couldn't stand seeing him getting into scandal after scandal with many women. I hope you understand that," he explains.
• "I know you want the best for him, but I don't think this was the way. Now we're both stuck in a marriage where we're not happy," I confess.
• " And who makes you think that my son is not happy with you? Don't you see how he looks at you, Lia? Let me tell you, it's the first time I see my son look at a woman in a different way than he looks at others, and I can see that you also feel something for him " I feel my cheeks turn red when Mr. Enrique says that. The truth is, I wasn't sure what I felt for Maximo, but now I'm starting to be afraid of that feeling.
• " Sir, I..."
• " Don't say anything, Lia, just make an effort to make this marriage work " I just nod and we both return to the living room where a quite nervous Maximo is.
• " You took a long time."
• " Relax, son, I just wanted to talk to my daughter-in-law " we spend some more time with Maximo's family, and in the evening, Maximo asks me to get ready as he has an important event to attend.
• " Wow, blue is definitely your color " he is dressed in a black suit that makes him look quite sexy.
• " You look beautiful."
• " Thank you, you look great too " we get into the car and he puts on some music to lighten the mood.
• When we arrive, everything is perfectly decorated. As we walk in, all eyes fall on us, and some are filled with disdain, but I think it's directed at me.
• " Maximo, my friend, good to see you " Stive appears with a beautiful girl by his side.
• " Hey, Stive, how are you?"
• " I'm good, my friend. Hello, Lia, good to see you."
• " Likewise, Stive."
• " Let me introduce you to Carol."
• " A pleasure " we sit at the table, and both men start talking about business.
• " How long have you been with Maximo? " Carol asks.
• " A few months until we decided to get married " she looks surprised.
• " Wow, it's clear that you are in love " when she says that, I smile at her, but it only shows sadness.
• " I think so, but tell me about yourself."
• " Well, I'm 22 years old, I studied fashion design, but now I have a modeling agency. We work on some campaigns."
• " Wow, that's great. And where did you meet Stive?"
• " I spilled coffee on him while he was walking " we both laugh, imagining the face Stive must have made when I spilled coffee on his expensive suit.
• " And what happened?"
• " Well, I apologized and invited him for coffee, and that's how it all started."
• " That's great."
• " And what do you do, Lia?"
• " Well, I want to study architecture, but I don't have the money yet."
• " Why don't you ask Maximo? I mean, you're already married."
• " The truth is, I don't like depending too much on him, so I plan to find a job."
• " Hey, why don't you come work at my agency? You'd be a perfect campaign model " me, a model? I've never been a model.
• " I don't think I'd be any good, I have no experience."
• " Oh, come on, Lia, you'll learn, that doesn't matter."
• " Hmm, I don't know, let me think about it " she takes out a card and hands it to me.
• " Here's my number, call me if you decide to work with me, and if not, call me anyway to go out for a drink. I enjoyed meeting you " we both smile, but we are interrupted by the guys.
• " Lia, shall we go?"
• " Yes, let's go " we say goodbye to everyone, and as we are about to leave, a male voice stops us.
• " So, the rumors are true, the heartbreaker Maximo Bulton got married " we both turn around and I see a very handsome man who scans my body in a way that I didn't like at all.
• " What do you want, Connor? " Maximo asks, somewhat irritated.
• " I wanted to meet the woman who stole your heart " he says sarcastically.
• " Get lost and don't bother us."
• " Oh, beautiful, at some point he'll get tired of you because that's what he does with all of them, he uses them and then throws them away like an old rag, or wasn't that what you did to Julia? " when he says that name, I feel Maximo tense up.
• " Let's go, Lia " he takes my hand, and we leave, but before I hear the man shout.
• " You'll hear from me again, Bulton!"
• " What was that?"
• " Nothing that concerns you, Lia " he responds curtly and somewhat brusquely.
• " Hey, don't talk to me like that! " he slams on the brakes, causing me to almost lurch forward.
• " Stop bothering me, Lia! " I see that he is very irritated.
• " Go to hell! " when we arrive, I get out of the car, slamming the door, and before entering the room, I say to him.
• " I'm going to work with Carol."
• " WHAT?!! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
• " I'm not crazy, so don't interfere. The decision is made " I close myself in the room while I hear him shouting like crazy, saying he doesn't want me to work, but he can screw himself. I'm going to work, and I'm going to start studying architecture. I won't rest until I achieve it.