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( CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: HEED THE SIGNS ) November, 1995.
❛ he's bad news, mariah. ❜
✦
It felt like a fever dream. One minute ago, Mariah was trapped in a warped reality, her body burning with frenzy and desire. The haziness of this said dream made her want to do some unthinkable things— things that not only went against her better judgement, but also the strict rules of her marriage. But then, the fever dream vanished, and Mariah Carey woke up to her very cruel reality. There was no escaping the consequences now.
She sat in the back of her limousine, her mouth glued shut as she struggled to stomach her anxiety. Mariah's two bodyguards sat in the front two seats, one of which was John, who hadn't spoken a word to her for the entire ride. She could see that the man was clearly conflicted, and incredibly angry, and the silence made her want to explode. She couldn't take the tension any longer.
"John," Mariah quietly said, "Listen—"
"—I thought you were smarter than that, Mrs. Mottola," John said, the venom in his voice enough to kill all the contentment in Mariah's soul. She shrivelled in her seat, her thumping heart crashing against her ribcage with lightening speed. She wasn't sure what was more soul-crushing, the fact that he suspected her of being unfaithful, or the possibility of him telling Tommy. Either way, it didn't end well for her.
"It's not what you think," Mariah meekly stated, even though her words were nothing but a bold-faced lie. It was completely what he thought, and there was no way around it. In the heat of the moment, Mariah dropped her guard. She allowed herself to submit to her deepest desires, desires that she has kept buried inside for the entire duration of her two-year long marriage.
With Tommy, Mariah was bullied into submission. She was programmed to be an agreeable, obedient housewife, controlled like an emotionless robot, who was loyal to her creator. Tommy got her into this business, and if she disobeys him, he could take it all away. In no way shape or form could she do anything that might deviate from his control.
And, well, showing interest in another man was a big breech of his authority.
"Don't deny it, I know what I saw," John spat, his harsh words bringing Mariah out of her panicked thoughts, "I've been watching you two." Her eyes went wide, the looming thump of her heartbeats pounding through her chest like a sledgehammer.
"Back at the house, I see you talking to him, spending time with him," John continued, and his jaw was getting tenser by the second. For some reason, the thought of Mariah and Tyler's interactions being watched terrified the hell out of her. She didn't know why, because their interactions were quite chaste, physically at least. But tonight, that all changed.
