CHAPTER TWO
1251 Words
CHAPTER TWO
LENA'S POINT OF VIEW
Under the golden chandeliers, the magnificent ballroom radiated soothing illumination over the corporate elite. There was laughter and conversation, glasses clinking in a symphony of money and power. The Wagner name was one uttered with quiet respect; tonight, like every other night, I was expected to be standing next to my husband, grinning, nodding, and posing.
Matthias had gone missing twenty minutes ago.
I looked about the room, my hold on my champagne flute tightening. At these gatherings, he was always like this—distant, frigid, constantly disappearing when I wanted him at hand. Still, tonight felt different. Restlessness crept into my breast, a persistent voice calling for me to find him. My feet went before my consciousness caught up.
The world grew quieter the further I descended the poorly lit estate's hallways. Every step I made on the marble floor felt weightier than the next. My heels clicked. Then, almost around the corner, I heard a quiet, private mumble.
Matthew's voice.
I slowed, my breath straining in my throat.
Then another sweet and playful voice rang out.
Maria Elena.
My heart paused.
I pushed forward, peering around the corner. Hidden in the shadows, Matthias and Elena Wagner stood, their bodies uncomfortably near, their hands twisted around her waist. His fingers moved her back in a way he had never touched me. I had never before experienced such a tender, pained, and raw look in his eyes.
The air went from my lungs.
Elena murmured something, and Matthias laughed—his lips caressing the shell of her ear.
I started to feel queasy.
I gasped sharply before I could stop it. His head shot up, his piercing blue eyes fixed on me. We neither moved for a moment.
"Lena," he continued, his voice free of panic and shame. simply indifferent.
Elena grinned and moved precisely toward him. This is awkward, then.
I laughed cruelly in my throat. "Awkward? My voice quakes. Awkward is misremembering someone's name at a party". This is a betrayal.
Matthias stayed mute.
I moved forward with hesitant steps. "Say something," I said. "Explain…"
"There's nothing to explain," he responded, his voice flat. You were aware of what this was.
My fingers folded into fists. "What was this??"
Elena tilted her head to look at me, feeling a sense of horror. "Oh, love, did you really think this marriage meant anything to him?”
Though I forbade them from seeing it, the agony was instantaneous and severe. I stood tall; my eyes burned, and my chest hurt.
Say it, Matthias. My voice was barely audible. "Say the words," he said.
His eyes stayed fixed. "I never loved you."
The casket used the last nail.
Everything inside me broke. A marriage built on illusion, a relationship I had longed for for years, was destroyed in a single breath. He lacked even a slight hesitation. He also showed no reluctance.
Elena followed her fingertips down his arm. "There, now she knows.
I laughed hollowly and blinked back the tears poised to fall. "I tried to be enough for you over the years. You would see me believing that I could just hang on a bit longer.
Though his jaw tightened, Matthias said nothing.
Elena mumbled. Lena, you really ought to go. There is nothing this chat will change.
Go. Just turn aside.
My entire planet had collapsed at my feet, and they wanted me to just turn and go like a thrown-away afterthought?
I forced Matthias to look at me by walking slow, deliberate steps until I was exactly in front of him. You could have whispered, I said. You could have spared me this shame.
I never begged you to love me.
Its violence stung like a slap.
I snapped something inside of me.
My hand launched before I could stop it, palm meeting his cheek in a harsh c***k resounding in the corridor. Elena gushed. Though his head slanted slightly from the blow, Matthias's face stayed the same.
He did not even flinch.
I suppressed the lump in my throat and forced myself to remain calm. "Don't expect me to act like one anymore if I'm not your wife in anything except name."
I pivoted and departed at that moment.
I felt the eyes on me; murmurs were wriggling through the packed ballroom like smoke as soon as I turned back. They could hear. They might not be able to hear everything, but they could certainly hear enough.
A waiter went by, and I grabbed another glass of champagne and downed one sip.
"Mrs. Wagner?" A hesitant voice called from somewhere. I turned to see a middle-aged woman with eyes full of both sorrow and inquiry. Are you alright?
I grinned—the kind not quite visible to me. Obviously. Why wouldn't I be as well?
Whether the lie was for her or for me was unclear.
Drowning in the pointless talks, the music, and the dazzling wealth all around me, I moved across the room. Despite my broken state, I remained determined not to allow them to witness my downfall.
We are unable to locate this item.
The situation has not yet been resolved.
The automobile trip back was silent.
Sitting next to me, Matthias had a tight posture and fixed his eyes outside the window.
I wanted to shout, demand answers, blast through his icy façade, and discover something—anything—that would indicate this had meant something to him. But just now I knew better.
I turned to him, my voice absolutely quiet. "Do you even feel guilty?"
He skipped the reply.
I shook my head and chuckled. Naturally not.
The automobile came up to the Wagner estate. The instant it stopped, I left without saying a word, my heels clicking on the stone walk as I moved inside.
Matthias came behind me, his speed slow. He acted as though nothing else had happened. He acted as though I hadn't seen him with another woman lately.
I turned to face him in the large entrance and said, "Was it always her?"
a silence's pulse.
Later,
Surely.
I nodded and let out a strong breath. "I see."
I ought to have cried out. I ought to have flung something. I ought to have pleaded for something, anything, and broken down. I have nothing left to offer, though.
Rather, I nodded. "Then I hope she was worth it…"
His demeanor stayed impenetrable. "Go to bed, Lena," says
I stepped in front of her, raising my chin. "You do not get to tell me what to do anymore."
Something flickered in his eyes for the first time. There was a hint of danger in his gaze. I did not linger, though, to try to ascertain what it was.
I turned and started to go.
I ascended the stairs, walked down the hall, and entered the chamber that was solely mine.
The second door closed behind me; my knees buckled. Silent sobs wracking through me, I pressed my palms to my mouth. Though my body shook and my chest hurt, nobody would have seen. Nobody would pick it up.
Matthias had snapped at me.
I would not, however, stay broken.
If I lost his love, I would find ways to reclaim myself.
Even if it meant wiping out everything in my way, I was determined to succeed.
But how can one break out from a marriage that seems like a prison?
Furthermore, more importantly
Should the prisoner choose to rebel, what follows?
- Writer
