Chapter 249
It was as if someone had rubbed salt into her wounded heart. The image was devastating: her eyes, red and swollen from a night of crying. And the wound, still raw at the corner of her lips, the mark of the savage blow her husband had dealt her the night before.
Her fists clenched, the memory exploding in her mind. Leandro, coming home, the smell of alcohol and shampoo that wasn't his. Her question, her suspicion. And his response: not words, but fists. Kicks. Her body, his personal punching bag.
It wasn't the first time.
Juci wiped the fresh trail of tears running down her face.
When the pain gave way to an icy calm, she whispered to the woman in the mirror.
“Goodbye, Leandro Arbex. Do whatever you want. As far as I'm concerned, you no longer exist...”
She smiled at her reflection, a smile that was a declaration of war. Then she turned and left, closing the door on that life forever.
“Woman! Where do you think you're going without my permission?”
The voice lashed at her back. Juci's steps froze midway.
“My God! Why is he still here?” Her heart pounded against her ribs, a beat of pure panic. Fifteen minutes ago, she had seen him leave. Why had he come back?
She didn't dare turn around. She stood there, paralyzed, praying that it was a ghost, a hallucination born of fear. But the voice echoed again, harder, shattering the silence and her hopes.
“I asked where you're going with that suitcase.”
Leandro Arbex stared at her, the initial shock turning into cold fury. For the first time in their marriage, he saw her fight back, even if silently.
“Is she angry about last night?” he thought, indignation growing. “Stupid, selfish woman. How dare she be angry when I was coming back just to apologize?”
The irony was sickening. He had come back, a rare flash of guilt assailing him on the way, aware that he had beaten her to vent his frustration with the company's problems. But the sight of her, ready to run away, was the spark that reignited the fire.
Juci clenched her teeth, her knuckles white around the handle of her suitcase. Fighting the tremor that threatened to overwhelm her, she turned, forcing herself to face him.
His gaze hit her like a physical blow. If looks could kill, she would be a corpse on the floor.
“Juci, why are you staring at me like that? Can you answer me?” Leandro lowered his voice, a pathetic attempt to control the anger that consumed him, so as not to scare her even more.
But Juci wasn't listening. She was too busy forging the words in her mind, building armor with the phrases she needed to say.
Leandro's patience ran out. A dangerous smile formed on his lips.
“How dare you challenge my patience, Juci!”
She shuddered as she saw him start to walk toward her, each step a drumbeat in her chest. It was now or never.
“It's over. This doesn't work for me anymore. Let's get a divorce, Leandro Arbex. It's the only solution for this horrible marriage. End it,” she said, her voice surprisingly calm, her face a mask of seriousness.
But inside, thunder rumbled.
“Be strong, Juci. Please be strong! Don't cry in front of this demon. He doesn't deserve your tears...” she repeated to herself, her fists clenched until they hurt.
“WHAT? YOU'RE ASKING FOR A DIVORCE?” Leandro Arbex's voice exploded, shattering the silence on the second floor.
The scream made her shrink, fear a cold claw in her chest. But before she could respond, a thunderous laugh echoed down the hallway, a wave of sound that left her even more confused and terrified.
He laughed, his footsteps quickening toward her.
“What a joke!” he sneered, the laughter dying into a growl. “There's no divorce until I say it's over! Have you lost your mind? Tired of breathing? Is that it? Are you asking to die?”
It wasn't the first time. She had heard him whisper that word before. Bluff. It was always a bluff.
Juci's eyes remained fixed on him, a mask of forced calm, even as she felt her hands sweat, panic anticipating the next blow.
He stopped a step away from her. His fingers closed like a claw on her chin, forcing her face up, so close that his breath, foul with rage, whipped her skin.
When Juci tried to pull away, his voice paralyzed her.
“What a heartless woman you've become, Juci! How dare you ask for a divorce just when my company, my family, is falling apart?
”I don't care! Let me go, Leandro Arbex.
Let me go now!“ The courage came from a place she didn't know existed. ”I no longer have the strength to stay by your side. To care for you and love you, when you never cared, never loved me back! Consider this a gift. Go! Marry your younger mistresses. I don't care anymore..."
The pressure on her chin increased, his eyes cold as death. A cruel smile twisted his lips.
“Shut your filthy mouth, or I'll make you taste my hand again!”
The palm of his hand slammed into her face, not a slap, but a brutal push that knocked her off balance, causing her to stumble backward, grabbing her suitcase to keep from falling.
“You can hit me. You can hurt me as much as you want, Leandro Arbex! But my decision is final. I want a divorce,” she said, her gaze steady, without fear. “Please let me go. LET ME GO!”
A confident, almost insane smile appeared on his lips when he saw her hesitate, her forehead furrowed. For the first time, she saw it. A flash. It wasn't just anger in his eyes. It was confusion. Fear.
And she reveled in it. For the first time, she had the power.
“It's over, Leandro. I'm not going to waste my life suffering anymore,” she continued, her voice gaining strength. "And you don't have to pretend anymore, hide your women. After the divorce, you'll be free. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
Leandro stared at her, a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. Surprise at her audacity. Anger at her rebellion. And underneath it all, a dangerous and twisted amusement.