Chapter 8

• " Steven, tell me everything is okay " it's Max's voice, but it sounds too distant to me.
• " Friend, I'm not going to lie to you. Lia has a serious malnutrition problem, that's why she felt dizzy at the pool."
• " Damn it!!! " I hear something breaking " this is my fault."
• " Don't say that, Max. They are traveling."
• " No, I wasn't traveling. I... I left her."
• " Who did you leave with? " Steven asks angrily.
• " With Laura."
• " Are you kidding me? Why with your cousin? I mean, Max, she's your cousin! How is it possible that you're sleeping with her when you have a beautiful wife?"
• " I know, but... God, this is a nightmare. She unsettles me, I don't know what to do."
• " What do you mean by that?"
• " I'm not supposed to feel anything for her, and yet I'm starting to feel something, and it's scaring me. Does Maximo have feelings for me? Ha, I don't believe that, it's just a damn excuse so his friend won't say anything."
• " Max, if you have feelings for her, why don't you make an effort to make this marriage work? Stop looking for Laura and focus on her, it's clear she's a good woman."
• " I don't know, Steven, I'm scared."
• " Scared of what, friend?"
• " I don't want what happened with Julia to happen again " and there goes that name again, who the hell was Julia? Everything becomes blurry again.
• I wake up with a strong headache and a slight discomfort in my arm. When I open my eyes, I realize I'm in Max's room, with a needle in my arm giving me a drip.
• " Lia! Thank God you woke up " Maximo comes to my side and touches my hand, but I pull it away.
• " Did you think I had forgotten everything you put me through? " I look at Maximo with pure hatred, and he notices.
• " Don't hate me, please."
• " How can you not want me to hate you while you were fooling around with your cousin, I was locked in a room without communication? TELL ME HOW YOU DON'T WANT ME TO HATE YOU " I think all the rage I had accumulated came out because I started yelling and hitting him, but he was holding my arms.
• " Calm down, Lia, you'll hurt yourself."
• " I don't give a damn, Maximo. I hate you so much, I hope this contract ends quickly so I can get away and never see your damn face again " I think that last part hurt him because he let go of me and stood up.
• " Calm down, Lia, you'll only see me when strictly necessary so I won't cause you any more problems " I say nothing, I just stand up and go to the bathroom because I don't want to see him anymore. I was very hurt by him. I took a quick shower and then put on some pants to be comfortable in the house. At night, I go out to eat and there he is, sitting and eating, but he seems lost in his thoughts, so I sit down and start eating.
• " Do you still want to work with Carol? " I look up when he says that and see him observing me intently.
• " Yes, I still do " he sighs and then takes my hand, covering it with his.
• " If that's what you want, it's okay, I won't oppose it. Just make sure the campaigns don't show too much, I don't want other men seeing you almost naked."
• " Oh, really? And why not?"
• " Because you're my wife, and I don't want anyone eyeing you."
• " I'm your wife by contract " he smiles at me and leans in to whisper in my ear.
• " That can change " he stands up and then says to me.
• " See you tomorrow, beautiful " he leaves, leaving me very confused. I don't know what he's up to, but I don't like it at all.
• I go to bed, and the next morning I wake up with a lot of energy because today I start working, and I also agreed to meet with Edward today, whom I haven't seen in days, and I really miss him. I take a bath and then go out to have breakfast.
• " Wow, you look lovely " Max gives me two kisses on the cheek, and as always, I stand there like a fool.
• " Come, let's have breakfast."
• " Um... okay, let's go " we eat in peace, but I decide to tell him that I'm going to see Edward after work to avoid a problem.
• " Max, I wanted to tell you something " he focuses his attention on me, and I feel very intimidated.
• " What's wrong, beautiful? " Beautiful? Is he okay?
• " When I finish work, I'm going to see Edward " I see him tense up, but he tries to control his anger.
• " You know I don't like you being with other men."
• " Max, he is my only friend."
• " I can also be your friend."
• " No, Max, you are my supposed husband, please let me go. I swear we won't do anything wrong, we're just going out as friends, trust me."
• " Beautiful " he takes my face and cradles it in his hands " I trust you, but not him. I see how he looks at you and I know he likes you."
• " But I'm not interested in him " he approaches slowly and plants a kiss on my lips, but I pull away.
• " Oh, beautiful, what am I going to do with you?"
• " Just let me go, please."
• " Alright, but don't take too long " I say goodbye to him and call Edward to tell him we'll meet at the usual cafeteria.
• " Hi!" I greet happily, but when he sees me, he looks concerned.
• " Are you eating well, Lia? " I lower my head because I don't want to talk about it " Lia, answer me."
• " The truth is that some things happened at home and everything got out of control."
• " Do you want to tell me about it? " I tell him about the ordeal I had to live through those days locked in a room without seeing the light of day. As I tell him, Edward's look changes from concern to anger.
• " Lia, you have to leave him."
• " I can't, I swear I want to leave, but I already have that contract signed and if I don't fulfill it, there could be serious legal problems for me."
• " We can find a way to end it."
• " I'll see how things go. At least I started working, so this is an achievement."
• " Lia " he takes my hand " you know I will always be here. I smile and squeeze his hand.
• " I know, thank you for that."
• I arrive at Carol's agency and she receives me very happily.
• " It's good that you're back from your trip. How was it?"
• " Wonderful, everything was very nice."
• " Oh, I'm so glad. But here we have a lot of work " we arrive at a photography studio and she introduces me to the team.
• " Look, Lia, we're working on a campaign for eccentric fashion, so we have several dresses here. And look, I introduce you to Zac, who is the model who will be with you in some photos " wow, he's handsome.
• " Hi Zac, I'm Lia."
• " A pleasure, ready to work?"
• " More than ready " they take me to the dressing room and put on the quite uncomfortable outfits.
• " Ready, let's start with the photo shoot. Lia, try to look as relaxed as possible so the poses flow."
• " That's it, Lia, you're doing great " they take more photos of me and then we change, but first they take photos of Zac.
• " He's very good "
• " Yes, he's the best. Now it's your turn " they start taking my photos with a quite particular dress.
• We go back to change and this time we will take the photo together.
• " Okay, guys, very natural but make it look exotic " the director shouts, so since Zac knows more, he starts to guide me.
• " Perfect, guys, the photo looks wonderful, we're done."
• " Congratulations, Lia, you did very well for your first time."
• " Thanks, Zac, although I also received..."
• " It doesn't matter, you did great."
• " Lia! Congratulations, this campaign will be a success."
• " I hope so. Well, Carol, it's getting late, how about we meet tomorrow?"
• " Of course, I would love that " I leave the place and head to the house I didn't want to go to, but when I arrive, everything is dark except the living room. So I walk there and find Maximo, who has a glass of whisky in his hand.
• " Hello " he looks at me and I can tell he's drunk.
• " You took a long time " he says dryly.
• " There was work."
• " Of course, and you also took a long time with your little friend. Tell me, Lia, did you have fun with him? " he stands up, swaying a bit, with an envelope in his hand that he starts to take the contents out of as he approaches.
• " I told you he's just my friend."
• " Then what the hell is this? " he shows me some photos where he's just touching my hand.
• " Why does he have to touch you?!"
• " He was just giving me encouragement! And why are you following me?"
• " I have to keep an eye on my wife so she doesn't do stupid things."
• " You're crazy! It's you who always does stupid things here! " in a quick movement, he corners me forcefully against the wall, making me let out a painful groan.
• " Do you want to drive me crazy, Lia? Tell me, is that what you want? " I push him and, as he's drunk, he backs off.
• " What the hell is wrong with you?! Stop bothering me " as I'm about to leave, he grabs my arm with great force and then kisses me, but it's a rough kiss full of desperation, so I push him away abruptly.
• " Don't get it twisted with me."
• " Of course you reject me because you're being a bitch with your little friend " I feel like my patience has reached its limit. With all the anger built up inside me, I slap him so hard that it leaves him dazed. But then he does something I didn't expect. With even more force, he hits me back, causing me to fall to the ground. He looks shocked at what he did and stares at me in terror.
• " Lia... baby, I " I touch my face, get up from the ground, and look at him with hatred.
• " You damn son of a bitch " Without saying another word, I go up to the room and lock myself in, crying from the rage I feel.
• After a while, I hear moans coming from outside, and I think my damn patience has reached its limit. I leave the room and see him having sex with Laura. So, I go to the kitchen, fill a bucket with cold water, and without thinking, I pour it over both of them.
• " There you go, so you'll learn to respect, idiots..."