wrong proposal

chapter 5

Chapter Five: Wrong proposal

I'm angry,shocked and surprised

Broken by what I just witnessed with Javier and Diego.

I try to bottle up my emotions, not to flare up.

Not to confront Diego.

Not to question his promise to my father after murdering him.

I clutch my purse tightly as the driver drives us home, Diego just sitting by the left, hands on his chin, thinking, lost in thought.

And I'm there staring at him, with a lot of anger, pain, shock, and unanswered questions.

I can feel the edges of my eyes becoming wet, already bubbling up with emotions, an indication I couldn't bottle it any longer.

“So you lied to my father,” I say, the first word in the stretch of silence between us.

“As If killing him wasn't enough, you still had other plans”

He paused… not looking directly at me but listening.

“You killed him.” I continued, “you took everything, including me, after promising him his legacy, only to sell it to Javier.”

“And?” he asked nonchalantly.

The rage in my heart explodes.

“What the f**k do you mean by ‘and?” I scream at him before I even realize it.

But I didn't care anymore.

I've gone through a lot to care anymore.

“I watched you kill my father and take his empire that is rightfully mine. And you sit here like nothing happened.”

I keep on lashing out at him, but his expression just remains calm and unreadable.

And it pisses me off.

“f*****g say something, Diego.” He turns swiftly, his hand landing on my neck like he planned to snap it. If I spoke again.

I can see the rage beneath his eyes, and I can feel the warmth of his hand under my throat.

“I say, you do not question me.” His voice carries the same intensity that fills the car.

“Or what?” I ask, “You’re going to snap my neck? , do it, Diego. Do it even though you didn't have the balls to hand me over to Javier to save your so-called wife.”

He paused.

His eyes widened a bit in shock.

His expression softens.

Shit, I shouldn't have said that. Maybe I went too far, but I was too angry to stop talking.

I can feel his grip leave me slowly; my breath is caught. I fear he might even hit me, but instead he's calm, like a man who has mastered his emotions.

“Don't mention my wife again.” The seriousness is sharp in his voice, but his expression is calm.

The intensity in me calms a bit, seeing the expression on his face.

“Why did you take me?” I ask.

He paused as I continued.

“And why didn't you do it? If you did all this to save your wife, why didn't you just give me to Javier?”

He doesn't answer, but his expression softens. His eyes flicker with a hint of sadness and uncertainty, but his expression is still calm.

“You’re my mistress. You don’t question me.”

The guard opens the door for him.

We had arrived home, and I didn't even realize it.

He stepped out, straightening the corner of his suit as he spoke.

“Guards, take her to her room,” he orders his guards.

Then walks away, leaving me with so many unanswered questions and many bowls of emotions wanting to burst out.

********

Another week of the same circle

But this time, with so much pain.

I couldn't stop to ponder on the kind of game Diego was playing.

My father, his empire, his wife, Javier… everything felt uncertain, and all I could do was cry.

I don't know why I cried so much.

My father always said it was because I was weak, but deep down it was the only way to feel better.

What else could I do?

Diego tripled the security; I couldn't even smell the porch.

I don't know what he was preventing me from seeing outside, but I was completely helpless and tired.

So I had missed breakfast and lunch; obviously I cried my appetite out.

And I guessed the maids told Diego because he had sent one of the maids to force me to come down for dinner.

It was Melissa.

The maid I was closest to, I told everything to, and she was definitely my comfort in this prison.

“Please, Alexa, you need to eat.”

“I said I'm not hungry, Melissa, and I don't care if the order came from Diego; I'm not going.”

I'm sure she saw the seriousness in my tone, and so she closed the door and sat by my side. A comforting, motherly smile on her face that I couldn't resist.

“I understand you, Alexa.”

“No, you don’t,” I quickly respond. “You have no idea what it feels like to be in the center of a battle and not able to do anything.”

She crouches closer to me.

“It’s still about your father’s death.”

“Yes,” I answer almost immediately, “but not only that. I'm confused about everything, about Javier, about what Diego plans to do with my father's empire, and”

I turned to her. “Why didn’t Diego give me to Javier after knowing it would save his wife?”

The moment I mentioned wife, I noticed Melissa's head slightly looking down.

I recognize that expression… she knows something.

Hell, she definitely does.

“You know something.”

I say, catching her off guard.

“WHAT!” she says, trying to ignore me, but I was too smart to not notice.

“You do; you know about his wife and why he chose to keep me. Melissa You are the oldest maid; you should know.”

She tries to ignore it, but it was obvious at this point, so I try to force the truth out. Because this might be my only way out.

“Alexa. If I do this, I'd be risking my life.”

I hold her hands. “Melissa, I cry myself to sleep every day, and you always tell me you want me to feel better,” my tone full of emotions.

“Please, all I ask for is the truth.” She can see the desperation in my voice, and I can see her resolve breaking, finding it hard to say no.

She looks up to me.

“Follow me,” I smile, following her steadily. With her passing the guards was easy, and my heart kept pounding with every step we took.

Until we finally reached a room.

An abandoned door.

“Is this it?”

“Shhhhh,” she shushes me immediately.

Looking right and left before removing a small key, opening the door, and entering, I follow.

The room is pitch dark.

Until Melissa turns on the light.

Then I saw.

this portrait of this beautiful woman. so beautiful my jaw dropped. I look around and see her pictures everywhere.

But the disturbing part is this.

The woman in the portrait.

The woman whose picture is everywhere looks like me.

Like, looks very much like me.

I turn to Melissa in confusion.

“Who's this Melissa?”

She steps closer to me.

“That is Hayley Pascal, Diego’s wife.”

I'm surprised.

With so many questions

Why was this room always locked?

Why does he look like me?

I'm even more confused.

“I don't understand.”

Melissa begins. To explain, “Alexa, Haylee, and Diego had been married for 5 years before Javier took her hostage. And since then Diego hasn't been the same; he has done all he can to save her, killing and spending just so Javier can bring her back.”

“But then,” I cut in with curiosity, “why didn’t Diego hand me to Javier when he gave him the offer to release his wife?”

Melissa took a deep breath.

“Because Diego is scared.”

“Scared?”

“Yes. He doesn't know if she's still alive; he fears Javier has already done something to her and is just stalling.”

She paused a bit before continuing.

“And you look exactly like her; you remind him of her. You're the last memory he has of her, and he doesn't want to lose that. Just in case Javier has already ended her, he'll gaze upon your beauty to remember Haylee.”

I stand there, trying to comprehend.

I'm surprised, but everything begins to make sense.

So all this while… I'm just a

“What are you doing here?”

Diego's voice breaks through my thoughts.

He stands at the door with rage in his eyes, the pain of us finding a room he had been hiding.

I pause, looking at Melissa, not knowing what to say next.