MTLNOVEL Chapter 51: 254
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Inés quickly slipped on her night robe and walked over to the console to grab the tray bearing a fountain pen, an ink pot, and a few sheets of crisp paper. Seating herself at the table, she dipped the quill in ink and began to write. But after writing "Cárcel," she found herself at a loss for words. She paused, gently tapping the pen against her chin. Then she gazed at Cárcel's sleeping face, hoping it might spark some inspiration.
But her mind remained uncooperative, offering only mundane thoughts-the early hour, and the fact that he was still asleep. She considered praising his good looks, but it seemed almost absurd after all these years. Her eyes traced the lines of his face, noting the sharper definition of his jaw in the morning light, and a wave of irritation surged within her. She fought back the urge to pen another rebuke he had already endured the previous night.
A sense of defeat began to creep up on her as she reflected on her inability to compose even the simplest letter. How had Cárcel managed to write so many long, heartfelt letters for her, especially considering that he had once fainted from simply thinking too hard? She directed an annoyed glare at his slumbering form, then suddenly remembered a way to salvage the moment. Quickly, she stood and made her way to the dressing room.
Their bedroom had temporarily housed some of the packages that she wanted him to see immediately upon his return to the residence on Logorño Hill, but she had ordered for them to be moved to the storage room on the second floor when she arrived. However, one small present remained hidden in the dressing room. Worried that she would lose it, she had tucked it away, separate from the other gifts.
Once in the dressing room, she began to rummage through the pile of her jewelry boxes, murmuring to herself, "I know I placed it here somewhere..." until she finally extracted a palm-sized box from the bottom of the pile. It was plain and simply wrapped in dark velvet. With deliberate care, she opened it and beheld the pair of rosaries inside.
Crafted from the finest malachite, the rosaries had an almost unsettling beauty, gleaming with vivid green hues laced with evenly spaced green stripes of darker shade. The stone was said to ward off evil spirits, and its eerie allure was such that even wicked and vile forces would keep their distance. She had spared no expense to purchase a large chunk of malachite, ordering a craftsman to carve two small crosses from it and discard the remaining stone. Even the small malachite beads on the long cord were of considerable value.
She picked up the rosaries to briefly admire their eerie allure, then carefully placed them back in the velvet box. As she turned around to leave, her gaze caught on a glass case containing Cárcel's cufflinks on top of a bigger palm wood box.
It was slightly askew, which struck her as unusual. Thanks to the obsession with cleanliness and neatness that both Cárcel and Raúl shared, Cárcel's belongings were always organized perfectly-a stark contrast to the state of her own. She knew that she wouldn't have noticed the minor misalignment if she hadn't been enjoying a slow, early morning.
She smiled, pleased with herself for noticing such a minor flaw, and reached out to adjust the case so that it was sitting at a perfect angle. But as she withdrew her fingers, a curious urge stirred within her to see what lay inside the wooden box under it, now so temptingly within reach.
For a moment, she hesitated, questioning the propriety of delving into her husband's private belongings. But then again, had they not uncovered each other's secrets ever since they got married? And surely, she reasoned, whatever he kept hidden in the box would be of little significance. After all, the most that he had ever tried to hide from her were the wounds on his body and how he had sustained them.
Inés opened the box to find a jumbled mixture of
pins and badges for Cárcel's uniform. Her gaze
swept over the contents until it settled on a small,
partially opened pouch in one corner. With a curious
frown, she peered into the pouch to see that it was
full of dried herbs, finely chopped into small pieces.
At first glances, the leaves looked no different from other herbs used to ease motion sickness or aid digestion, but she recognized them immediately. It was tilidad, a rare and expensive contraceptive, the very herb that Oscar had always replied upon to ensure no harlot would end up pregnant with his progeny.
A sudden chill gripped her, draining the color from her face. Clenching the pouch in her fist, she stormed out of the dressing room. "That damned scoundrel!" she hissed, her voice seething with venom.
As soon as she returned to the bedroom, she hurled the pouch onto the bed with all her might. However, it was so light that it didn't even manage to disturb the sheets or rouse him from his deep slumber-it probably didn't help that he had fallen asleep under the influence of the herbal tea.
Despite the ineffectiveness of her gesture, Inés whirled around and sprinted back to the dressing room to grab the velvet box that contained the two malachite rosaries. Then she marched back to the bedside and threw it at Cárcel's shoulder.
"Inés...?" His voice was still gentle and tender as he called out to her sleepily, despite having been rudely awakened by a heavy projectile.
She let out a bitter laugh, in complete disbelief, and dashed out of the room once again.
"Scoundrel. That damn mutt..." she chanted angrily under her breath, feeling like she would go mad if she stopped. She raced down the hallway, flinging open the door to the storage room where she had spent so many anxious hours awaiting Cárcel's return.
Her gaze immediately found the shelf near the small desk that she had sat at every single day. On it, there were boxes of various sizes and several firearms, all wrapped in satin and adorned with delicate bows. She gathered up as many as she could.
The sense of betrayal was so overwhelming that she couldn't even begin to cope with it. Her arms trembled with the weight of the packages, and one of the rifles slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor. The letter that she had tucked inside the ribbon fluttered into the air and settled next to the rifle a moment later, as if it was nothing but a meaningless piece of paper. However, she ignored it and charged back into the bedroom, her breath rattling in her lungs like an urgent warning.
Cárcel Escalante had lied to her. He had treated her like some harlot whose only purpose was to entertain him in bed, despite all of the tender words that he had whispered in her ear... As if she were a mistress unworthy of bearing his child... She shivered with horror and anger.
Lies, lies, and more lies... He always claimed to love me, but perhaps even that...
She began hurling the colorfully packaged firearms at Cárcel. Despite the presents that were raining down upon him, he maintained his composure.
Suddenly, her entire body tipped backward as the anger and exertion finally overwhelmed her.
"Inés!" Cárcel yelled and immediately jumped out of bed to catch her right before her body hit the floor. Even though she had no strength left in her limbs, she tried to shove him away in a fit of anger. "Let go
of me!" she shrieked, but he only held her tighter.
His eyes were completely alert as he asked calmly, "What is the matter, Inés?"
"You filthy liar. You wretched... You deceived me!" she spat, her voice trembling with rage and despair.
Although she was still struggling to breathe, she somehow managed to summon an impressive amount of strength as she clawed and slapped at every single inch of him within reach. But soon, her breathing stuttered to a stop, and her head slumped against his shoulder.
Cárcel, who had been holding his fingers against her neck to check her pulse even as she assaulted him, frantically began to kiss her temple. "Are you having trouble breathing? Blast it, Inés... You must breathe."
"I-I despise you, Escalante," she whispered.
"That's fine, Inés. I understand, so just-" he attempted to soothe her, but to no avail.
"I wish I could kill you with my bare hands. Then...I will follow," she muttered. Her words were stained with more misery than anger. Her hands twitched helplessly where they lay against his chest, which was a contrast to the aggressive words that she had just spat.
Cárcel froze for a moment when he took note of this. "Inés..." he whispered.
She continued as if she hadn't even heard him. "You wretched liar! M-my father always warned me to never trust a man from Esposa... I should have listened..."
"I know, Inés. I know. I am a scoundrel from Esposa. But please, I'm begging you, breathe for me. Just breathe."
"T-this is all because of you. All your fault... you rogue... I-if I could just breathe, properly..." she paused for a moment to wheeze painfully. "Y-you would be dead by now."
"You can kick me or punch me all you want, but later," he continued to whisper, "I'm not leaving your side. Not now, not ever. I will stay by your side until I draw my last breath. So please, Inés, take a deep breath. Slowly... very slowly. Good. Just relax..."
Although his voice was calm and gentle, it was clear that he was forcing himself to remain composed.
Inés let her head droop lower as she struggled to breathe. Anger and despair warred for dominance inside her mind. One moment, she was overwhelmed with shame, then the next, she was swept away by a burning contempt. But when she realized that Cárcel's worry for her even after all the blows and words she had hurled at him, she felt a strange emptiness inside her chest.
A memory of Cárcel from the distant past swam to the surface, of him pleading with her to stop her tears, his face twisted with fear that she might collapse again. She felt a bitter mixture of tears and laughter rising in her throat when she realized that he hadn't changed one bit.
How could you? You, of all people... she thought, a selfish resentment flaring up within her, then disappearing just as quickly as it came. Why did you deceive me, Cárcel? Why didn't you simply tell me that you did not want a child? Her lips trembled as grief and despair took hold of her heart.
You should have just told me that you no longer desired "that" kind of life...