Chapter 46 46. Moments of Deceit!
Saintilia’s POV
The sun was high, casting long, sharp shadows across the yard, but the air suddenly felt heavy, charged with a tension that made the hairs on my arms stand up.
Fueled by sudden determination, I decided to sneak around the back of the house, I moved quietly, my footsteps muted by the grass, and much discretion as possible, I wanted to find out exactly what they were plotting against me.
I crept toward the open window of the parlor, where their low voices were already beginning to rise. I positioned myself against the warm stone wall, my heart pounding a rapid rhythm against my ribs, and listened intently.
"Where is Saintilia?" I heard Emilio ask, his voice still low, but clearly audible.
"She went to the river," Tina replied, her tone slightly dismissive.
"So why did you ask me to come today?" Emilio questioned, sounding slightly annoyed that their schedule had been compromised.
Then came Tina’s response, delivered with a soft, purring intimacy that made my skin crawl: "Well, I knew Saintilia would be out, so I wanted to be with you."
The phrase confirmed my deepest fears: their meetings were not about the marriage proposal at all, but about a personal and intimate liaison. My stomach clenched, but the need to hear the rest kept me frozen.
Emilio chuckled in a low, grating sound that sent a shiver of revulsion down my spine. "That is good, my dear. I much prefer your company to the girl's. She is too defiant. She looks at me with eyes that want to carve the flesh from my bones. But tell me, has she relented? Have you persuaded her?"
I crouched beneath the sill, pressing my back against the rough wall of the house, struggling to process his words. He was talking about me. He was here, discussing me as if I were a stubborn animal that needed to be broken.
"Not yet," Tina admitted, and the sound of her voice was thick with frustration and a strange, subservient eagerness "She is stubborn. I have tried to reason with her, to make her see the necessity of your offer. But she has no choice. I have been careful to remind her of her ruined reputation. I tell her that no one else will ever want her, that she is tainted goods. She is terrified of being left alone, even if she won't admit it. Fear is a potent motivator, Emilio. It will break her eventually."
I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle a sob that threatened to tear from my throat. Tina. A woman I thought was decent, was now using my deepest trauma as a weapon against me. She was taking the shame of my rape, the violation that had nearly destroyed me, and wielding it to force me into the arms of the man I despised most. This betrayal was a blade twisting in a wound that had never fully healed.
Emilio sighed, the sound carrying a distinct note of impatience and calculation that chilled me to the bone. "Tina, you know what I want. We have an agreement. I have been patient, but my patience is wearing thin. Has she shown any sign of agreeing to the proposal? This defiance of hers is irritating. It is unbecoming. I simply must have her. I will not be denied."
"Please, give me a little more time," Tina pleaded, her voice dropping to a whine that was pathetic and unrecognizable. "She is sensitive. She needs to be handled with care."
"Time is something I am running out of," Emilio countered, his tone hardening, sharpening into a threat. "And your reward, my dear, is dependent upon her agreement. You know I don't like these midday visits. It is inconvenient. But if they help you stay motivated, if they help you do your job... then I am here."
There was a pause, a heavy silence that stretched out like a taut rubber band. I could hear the rustle of fabric, I felt a sudden, sickening dread pooling in my stomach. This was not just a negotiation; it was a transaction.
Tina spoke, her voice suddenly husky with a desperate, pathetic need that made my skin crawl. "But I want you, Emilio. It is not just about the arrangement. I want you. I need to be sure that when she finally agrees, when she is yours... you won't forget everything I have done for you. That you will still come to see me. That I will still matter to you."
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could block out the sound. It was painful to hear, a degradation of the woman I thought I knew. She was begging for scraps of affection from a man who saw her as nothing more than a tool.
Emilio let out a short, hollow laugh, devoid of any true mirth. "You will be rewarded, Tina. Do not worry. You will certainly have access to my status, my money, and, yes, my attention as much as you earn it. But let's not confuse business with desire. You are doing a job. Get the girl to agree, and you get what you want. Until then, do not bore me with sentimental nonsense."
I heard a sudden shift in the sound inside, a scuffle of feet, followed by the heavy scrape of a chair being moved. Then came a heavy, undeniable silence that was louder than any shout. My confusion was instantly replaced by a sharp, horrifying certainty as I heard a soft moan escape Tina's lips. It was a muffled, needy sound that was entirely inappropriate for me to witness, a sound that stripped away the last veneer of respect I had for her.
Against my better judgment, I felt a terrible need to see the truth. I knew I should look away, that I should run, but I could not. I had to witness the depths of this betrayal with my own eyes, no matter how much I felt disgusted by them. As I peered around the edge of the window frame, careful to keep my head hidden in the shadows, the scene unfolded before me.
Tina’s hands were roaming over Emilio's body with a frantic desperation. It was a sad sight, she was degrading herself for a man who saw her only as a tool. She was touching him in places that were far too intimate, her fingers tracing the contours of his chest, then moving lower. I watched in frozen horror as she unbuttoned his pants with a practiced ease that suggested she had done this before, perhaps many times. There was no hesitation in her movements, no awkwardness, only a desperate familiarity that sickened me.
To see Tina reduced to this, begging with her body so desperately really disappointed me. My eyes unable to look away from the grotesque display of Tina lowered herself before him. At first I wasn’t sure what she was doing. I watched it in horror, when she took him into her mouth with a desperate eagerness that made me want to retch..
Continue..........