The Other Wife

The Good Wife

PENÉLOPE

"He's a very successful business executive in his field," Gloria, the housekeeper, told me while I was having breakfast the day after I arrived.

Ulises had left the house that same night because he had some errands to do at the office. I hadn't believed it until Gloria started telling me about her boss.

"The boss is usually a very busy person. He's known for being a workaholic, sometimes even working on Sunday nights."

She poured green juice into my glass. Both of us were having breakfast in the kitchen because I had begged her not to eat alone.

"I never imagined Ulises was such a busy person," I said, somewhat surprised. I looked around and understood that all the luxury I was seeing wasn't free. It required a huge effort to have a life like the one he was having.

At least I knew that Ulises wasn't, apparently, a damn pervert organ thief. Ulises was a successful workaholic business executive.

"He's always away from home. I hope, now that you're here, he'll spend more time here and less at the office."

I hoped the same. I didn't know what his intentions were with me, let alone what he meant by the sale. I had to investigate who had sold me to him and why. He was kind to me, but at the same time, he spoke badly of me for my appearance, just like everyone else.

We finished breakfast, and I went straight to my room. Hours passed, and even though I went through the entire house, I didn't feel comfortable. This wasn't right. Ulises hadn't given me any explanations, didn't respond to my messages, and I was starting to get tired of doing nothing.

I took the small suitcase, with which I had gone to Las Vegas, with all my belongings inside, put on my black plastic glasses to see better, and left the house without the servants noticing. I wouldn't stay there anymore. With my heart in my throat and the little cash I had left, I hailed a taxi.

I arrived at my apartment half an hour later. It wasn't in a luxury area like Ulises's house, but it was my space, even though it was in one of the most dangerous areas of the city. I checked my phone, but he still hadn't replied to me. He had left me to read.

I prepared myself a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. I was lucky to find food because I was in serious financial trouble. My head hurt from thinking about who had sold me to a businessman like him. I wondered if I would raise Ulises's suspicions about what I knew.

I didn't know when tiredness overcame me, and I fell asleep completely. It was three in the morning when the door of my apartment was broken. I jumped, sitting on the bed because of the noise they were making. I adjusted my twisted glasses.

"Can you tell me what you're doing here?" I met Ulises's square-chinned face contracted in fury.

"I... how did you know I live here?" I said with a thin voice.

"Big mistake, darling, you don't live here anymore." He pulled me by the arm to get me out of bed.

"No, I don't want to leave here. Let me go." I protested. He was definitely stronger than me, and protesting was absolutely useless.

"Pack your things," he ordered his men, "and you, you have to know your place." He said through gritted teeth.

He took me to the car stumbling, and took me back to his house. He dragged me to the room where I had slept the night before. He pushed me onto the bed and turned on the light, so I could see his anger.

"Listen to me well, Penelope," he was showing his teeth as if he were about to bite at any moment, "you are my wife, that means you belong to me. At no time do you think about leaving this house without my permission, or trying to escape from your duties as a wife as you did today. Your duty as a wife is to wait for me here until I arrive, even if it takes a hundred years for me to return."

He climbed onto the bed, straddling me. He took me by the wrists and put me in a position where I couldn't do anything. I looked at him angrily, furious with him, and I couldn't hide it.

"Did you understand?" he asked authoritatively.

I tried to shake myself, but it was useless. There was no way he could let me go.

"Let go of me, Ulises!" I shouted.

"Understand your role in this house! You're my wife, and you're here for what I say!" he yelled.

I felt helpless at that moment, and tears about not being able to do anything started to come out.

"You'll be watched twenty-four hours a day, and you won't be able to leave here unless I say so. You'll have to learn the hard way, darling, what it means to be a good wife." He smirked.

"You're hurting me," I clenched my jaw in an attempt not to yell at him.

"You know, Penelope, to live a happy married life, you must learn to be a good wife, and you'll have to learn that even if it's the hard way." He said before getting up and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

I was left with a burning sensation in my stomach from everything that had happened. I had been stupid to go with him three days after meeting him. Would it have been the same if I hadn't gone with him to get married in Las Vegas? After all, our encounter wasn't a coincidence.

Since that night, I haven't seen Ulises often. He returned to sleep very late at night, leaving very early in the morning, and even though I wanted to go out and get rid of those four walls, I couldn't leave at any moment because the staff prevented me from doing so.

I was living in a prison.

Every day was the same empty routine: I woke up in the mornings, showered, and chose one of my long skirts made of dark-colored tailored fabric that I liked to wear. I put on my glasses and prepared to go down to the cold empty table with only one plate for me and no one else. Marriage, after all, wasn't as cute and magical as they painted it.

I was more alone than ever, and soon I had fallen into depression. For three days, I didn't want to get out of bed, eat, or do anything for myself. I couldn't stop thinking about all the times I had tried to escape without success. Until one day, Ulises came home earlier than usual. He entered my room, opening the door wide.

"What are you doing there, wasting time just sleeping? Do you think the happiness of our marriage will be won like that?" He approached me with a face contracted with fury.

"It's not like you're here all day," I replied, playing down.

"So you want a reminder that you have a husband. If you want to earn a place in this house, as I've told you, you have to learn to be a good wife. So from now on, you'll be personally attending to me, as you should always have been. My wife will attend to me as she should."

"You have servants, they do well for you," I replied without care.

"I don't think you're understanding. I may have many servants, but a wife's obligation is to attend to her man, and that's what you're going to do." He turned around and closed the door with a bang.

My stomach was burning with gastritis. He was a damn i***t. By dinner time, I had only gone down to leave a bowl of cereal and milk for him to serve himself. It took me less than a minute to get up and lock myself in my room again. My tranquility didn't last ten minutes when Ulises burst open the door with a bang.

He threw the cereal bowl at the foot of the bed.

"I don't think you understand it well, Penelope, and my patience is running out. Either you learn the easy way or you learn the hard way." He pulled me by the arm, getting me out of bed.

"It's the only thing you deserve," I said.

"We'll see if that's all I deserve. I always get what I want." As much as I resisted, his strength was greater. He took me to the kitchen, where the chef was waiting.

"Teach her how to cook," he ordered the employee. "And you, you better do what I say now, otherwise your space will be reduced to the four walls you've been locked in for the past three days."

I looked at him with fury. I knew he was telling the truth and that he would end up fulfilling it. I had no choice but to cook dinner for Ulises, who was watching me with his arms crossed. I swallowed my anger and ended up serving his dinner at the table. I didn't eat with him.

I served him the potato soup and medium-rare steak he had ordered with steamed vegetables.

"Do you see that it's not so difficult to be a good wife?" He said, smiling. I didn't say anything. "From now on, you'll be serving all my needs."

I remained silent, wanting to hit him with a ladle. I had to be smart. I had to get out of their there even though I didn't see the end of being married to him. He smiled at me with an air of superiority.

"Although thinking about it, I want you to only serve me and disappear from my sight. Let's see how you understand about being a good wife and earning the happiness you desire." I gave him the finger inside of me. "And you better go take a shower because you're missing out on your duties in bed."

I hoped he got diarrhea, the son of a b***h. I locked myself in my room without eating again. I felt my skin crawl at the thought of having to be with him in bed. It seemed he had a liking for old women since he had referred to me that way.

Fortunately, that night he had drunk the whole bottle of wine I had left on the table. When I left the bathroom of my room wrapped in a towel and ready to put on my pajamas after taking a bath, I found him snoring on my mattress.

I knew I wouldn't always have the same luck, and I had to find a solution to my problem and escape from there. I ended up undressing him so that when he woke up, he would think we had had relations. I slept in a guest room.

I hadn't seen Ulises for a long time, but he had left me a list of tasks with schedules that I had to fulfill according to his needs. I had to fulfill them to keep him away from my bed as much as possible. What really surprised me is that after a week, he gave me a diamond necklace as a gift, which he sent to my room, as a reward for being a "good wife."

He wanted to cover up his shortcomings with money... and then a plan came to me.