Marriage Merger

Chapter 48

The tension in the air was so thick that it was almost suffocating. Ximena just sat on the couch whilst staring at everything else but the two people sitting in the room with her. But how was she supposed to feel or act? The situation was rather awkward. On the one hand, Amanda almost destroyed her marriage and on the other hand, her and Adriano were lovers. He had been with both of them, and the thought of it made her skin crawl.

Amanda cleared her throat, eyes flicking over to Ximena before settling on the coffee table in front of her. “I’m not going to ask how you found me because I know you have connections. I’ll save us all some time and tell you how it all started,” she began and Adriano took out his phone, going to the recording app. Amanda looked at him in incredulity. “Do you have to record this?”

“Of course, I do. You would do the same if you were in my shoes,” he shrugged casually. His nonchalance was beginning to irk Ximena but she kept it under control. Shouldn’t he be angry or at least show a bit of passion? Why was he being so calm with her, like her presence didn’t bother him as much as it ought to have?

Amanda sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I met your father via one of my clients. She had invited me to an event and he was there. At first, I thought he was a creep, the way he’d been eyeballing me all night sent shivers down my spine. It’s like he was undressing me with his eyes-,”

“Spare me those disturbing details, will you?” Adriano coughed indignantly and Amanda rolled her eyes before continuing her story.

“Okay. So, he approached me, at first, I thought he was hitting on me but he wanted to discuss some delicate matters with me. I was kind of tipsy at the time so I agreed. Little did I know he was going to make an absurd proposition to me regarding his son. I wanted to turn it down but the money he offered was too tempting to deny. I knew I’d never get that kind of money ever so I sold my soul to the devil and agreed.”

Ximena scoffed internally. So, it was for the money? Typical. It seemed people were willing to do just about anything for money these days. Amanda caught her derisive glare. “Not everybody can just depend on daddy’s billions, sweetheart. Some of us have to get our hands dirty for that kind of lifestyle,” she snarled at Ximena.

“Watch how you talk to my wife!” he fired at her furiously, making her scoff.

“It’s the truth. Yeah, maybe at first, I was on a mission to make you fall in love with me and the money made my life remarkably easier but I actually fell in love with you. That was not a part of the job. I screwed up big time and was depressed for quite a while. That was, until daddy unleashed me to wreak havoc on your oh so wonderful nuptials. I have to hand it to Humberto, he knew that you’d fall for this trap so easily,” Amanda said with a wicked laugh, as she leaned forward and looked at both of them.

“You think I regret what I did? No, I don’t. I have loads of money in my bank account. I broke the trust between you two with mere lies and maybe I didn’t end up winning but I had you Adriano. You were mine for a little while, whether you like it or not. I had you before she had you, and that’s satisfactory enough for me. And maybe you do get your happy ever after, but… you will never forget what I did to you,” she added and the cackled madly.

Ximena stood up and then made for the door. “I’ve had enough of this,” she said in a wobbly tone and then yanked the front door open and dashed out. She could hear Adriano calling her but the blood rushing in her in her ears as her feet collided with the floor. She didn’t bother to take the elevator and just went straight for the stairs.

Amanda was sick, very mentally ill. Man, I shouldn’t have come here in the first place, she chided herself as she went further down the staircases. But what had she expected, an apology? Or maybe a part of her had been hoping it was all a big joke. News flash, it was all real. All thanks to Humberto Dos Santos. She couldn’t for the life of her fathom why a father would do that to his own son. If she was feeling that terrible, then she could only imagine how crappy Adriano was feeling. She had been so blindsided by the anxiety attack she was about to have that she didn’t stop to think about him.