Chapter 3
428 Words
My blood went cold. Vittorio had a memory like a steel trap. He could recite case files from ten years ago. But he didn't recognize his own wife's number.
"It's me," I said. "I'm looking for Mara."
"She's in the shower."
He didn't even register my voice. Flat. Dismissive. Like I was a telemarketer.
Through the receiver, I heard water running. Then Mara's voice, sweet and lazy: "Baby, can you bring me a towel?"
The phone was set down. Footsteps walked away and came back.
"Here."
"You dry me off..." A playful whine.
"I have to leave early tonight."
"What, are you impotent now?"
He laughed, low and soft. "You know damn well I'm not."
Mara giggled, then gasped like she'd fallen onto a bed.
I tried to hang up. My fingers wouldn't press the button.
Thirty minutes later, she posted a new video. A pair of large hands massaged her calves. Thumbs circling, moving up from her ankle.
The comments exploded. "Teach us your ways! How do you get a man like that to serve you?"
She replied: "True love is natural. When a man loves you, he gives everything."
Someone wrote: "No face? Probably a mistress."
Mara posted a voice reply. I pressed play. Vittorio's voice came through the speaker, low and clear, each word deliberate: "She's not what you think. There's more to it than you know."
I pressed my lips together. Closed the video. Dialed again.
"Divorce."
A pause. Two seconds of static. Then: "What? I'll be home soon."
"No need. We'll use the same terms as last time."
His voice dropped. I heard a bedspring squeak as he sat up. "I'm handling something important. I'm coming back."
In the background, a woman's muffled murmur.
I laughed, and tears spilled over. "Stay busy."
He lowered his voice, strained. "We agreed. No matter how angry, we don't say that word."
On the other end, something shifted. Mara whimpered and went quiet.
I hung up.
My hands shook as I pulled out the folded paper. The edges were curled. His vow. Never betray. Not enough to sign, he'd said. He bit his finger and pressed a bloody print next to his name. "The pain helps me remember."
I opened my laptop and sent him the divorce agreement.
My phone rang within seconds. His voice was tight with anger. "Claudia! Half the family assets. Stop this nonsense."
A tear fell and hit the screen. "I'll take nothing," I said. "Just give me the divorce."
A cold grunt on the other end. "Fine. Whatever."
The line went dead.
- Writer
