ASHES OF DEVOTION

The Fight

Caius, his blood boiling, tightened his grip on Mark's shoulder, anger burning in his eyes. "You son of a b***h Stay away from my wife!"

Mark, his heart pounding with surprise and fear, swiftly turned to face Caius. "Caius, wait! There's a misunderstanding here. We were just having a conversation."

Caius, his voice a thunderous growl, shot back, "Misunderstanding? I saw the way you were looking at her, and I heard what you said, who said you could make her laugh like that, hell she hasn't laughed like that with me in years". "Who the f**k do you think you're?"

"Caius, please, let's talk about this calmly. Your wife and I are old friends; there's nothing going on." dodging his face from the punch, Mark pleaded.

"Caius stop it!! Stop caius please, somebody, please stop him" Ondine yelled.

"Oh my god, listen to me Caius, we're in public, please stop hitting him". "Baby, are you listening to me please, please, please stop hitting him, you'll kill him". "He's not fighting back Caius, stop this now!!!! Ondine sobbed out.

"Joshua, she called the name of Caius's bodyguard "Please stop him, I know you're somewhere". "Joshua.... She called again but no one showed up. This was a luxurious bar owned by Mark and many business Tycoon sign deals on most of the tables here. Presently it's scanty and the faces of the people here were unfamiliar, but Caius could be in serious trouble if this leaked out. Hell, he could even go bankrupt.

He kept punching Mark, who was focused on just protecting his vital part, not lifting a finger to defend himself as he took the beating continuously. Finally, the bar bodyguards swung into action, pulling Caius away from Mark. But he was overtaken by rage. He punched the bodyguard's nose hard he doubled back to cradle it. The other one took advantage of Caius flailing around to pin his arm behind his back.

"Sir, we don't want to hurt you, the bodyguard said while making sure he was restrained as he was struggling to free himself.

"How dare you, Let me go now!! If you want to be in this business of yours you'll let me go right now, imbecile" Caius shouted at the bodyguard.

"Caius....she shouted at the top of her voice. He stopped struggling immediately, his body calming down from the fury "Good, I got your attention, she croaked out hoarsely" as her voice was now raw from the crying and shouting. She moved closer to him, taking a slow, precise step. Thwack, the sound of a hand connecting with his cheek filled the room.

The impact of her hand left a red colorful imprint on his cheek.

"How dare you!!!!! What effrontery do you have to waltz in here and behave like a good jealous husband!!!!,

"One truly can't fully know a person. I understand that now. "Have you no shame Caius, have you?. "

"Honestly, I have a lot and nothing at all to say to you."

"Just leave! I don't want to see your face anymore" she concluded brokenly.

"Baby, darling, Ondine, please. I am sorry. I swear it won't happen again. Let's go back home now. What do you think? I'll take any punishment you dole out baby, but please don't leave me. I love you Ondine, I really do.

"Baby, I don't know why I am doing what I do just listen baby, I'll go to therapy, I'll change. I swear I will please come back home with me. I'll.....

"Shut the f**k up Caius, just shut up and stop those lies of yours" she cut him off angrily.

"You came in here acting like a deranged man and beating up someone for making me laugh". When last have you made me genuinely laugh, Caius? When have you last acted like an ideal husband?? All you ever gave my heart was pain and ache. "Stop this bullshit, you don't love me, Caius, if you do, you won't have hurt me repeatedly like this" Ondine shouted in frustration.

"You want to f**k around right, and I'm a hindrance to that."

"I'm freeing you Caius, f**k whoever you want, wherever you want", you're nothing but scum anyway. She said bitterly.

Facing Mark, "I'm really sorry Mark, are you okay?". She inquired, her voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine, Ondine, I'm not hurt, my arm took all the blows."

"Baby..... Caius broken voice broke throughout their moment.

"You're still here?? Leave! Now! She shouted. Her voice was laced with venom. Caius stood frozen in shock as the words echoed in his ears. "You're still here?? Leave! Now!" The venom in her voice was palpable, and he couldn't believe this was happening. He had never seen her look at him with such hatred and anger before. It was as if she had been bottling up all her negative emotions towards him and was now unleashing them all at once.

As Caius took a step back, he realized the gravity of what he had done. He had messed up big time, and now he might lose her forever. The thought hit him like a ton of bricks, and he knew that there was nothing left for him to do but leave.

He turned towards the door, feeling ashamed and guilty of his actions. As he walked away from the bar, he couldn't help but think about how badly things had gone wrong. He knew that it would take more than just an apology to make things right between them again.

Ondine, feeling exhausted and drained, let out a deep sigh. The day had been nothing short of chaotic, leaving her emotionally overwhelmed, all the buried emotions from her past resurfaced, hitting her heart like a series of turbulent waves. Suddenly, she turned towards Mark with a shaky voice and said, "I'm sorry, Mark. I need to get out of here!"Without waiting for his response or answering any of his questions, she rushed towards the bar to grab her purse and keys before hastily making her way out of the establishment.