CHAPTER 002

MAYA

Four years!

Four miserable years of being his wife. Okay, No! Not four miserable years. Three years and four miserable months of being his wife.

The first eight months of our marriage weren't as bad. The marriage had happened because his father wanted it.

His father, Magnus Steele, was a good man, stinkingly wealthy. A guru in the architectural world. Though he never had the first place, he was always second, or worst of all, third ranking in the industry.

I had walked into Steele Architectural Co. five years ago as an intern. I never knew my life would change for good.

But the CEO, Mr. Magnus Steele had become like a father to me after a fierce architectural battle that took place in the city. My designs stood out. My designs had gotten the company its first position. The very first of its kind.

No one believed the company would snatch such an honor from all the leading companies. The man had rewarded me by retaining me even after my internship program was over. He said my designs made that happen.

We had become like family. He was kind to a fault, had Mom on his payroll. But When he spoke about marrying his son four years back, I didn't think it was the most natural thing. I had no feelings for him. His son? Gabriel Steele? The one who spent time in music studios.

He knew nothing about architecture and the family business, nor did he know any design. His father felt that with me by his side as his wife, the company would do better. But he was the only one who seemed excited to have me in his family.

His wife, Gabriel's Mom, Marisol Steele, wouldn't hear of it. Of course, I didn't belong to the required social strata to bear the same last name as her. She had kicked against it and always said demeaning things to me each time I dropped by the house.

Mr. Steele would squeeze my hand gently, telling me she would come around. Gabriel didn't seem excited about the idea. But with a struggling musical career, and a dying father, he had to choose what put food on the table, me and my designs.

So, he chose what funded his lavish lifestyle. I was merely an opportunity he grabbed. A tool to keep the business running.

And me, Maya Delaney, I should have said no, right? I should have chosen myself. I guess that was where I went wrong. I decided to put the wishes of a dying man above my happiness. But how could I not? This man saved my mother's life.

Magnus Steele had paid for my mother's medical bills and surgery. The same hysterectomy I had suffered and toiled to pay for to no avail. The same one that kept me up all night when I almost lost my mom to Cervical cancer.

Evelyn had also thought it was a good plan. Good for me, good for my family. I had accepted. Not because the Steeles’ last name was the heartbeat of almost every girl in Manhattan, but because Mr. Magnus Steele was a man I couldn't say no to.

It was a small intimate wedding by the beach. We had proceeded to the beach after signing the marriage documents. Gabriel had insisted he didn't want a loud wedding. I was fine with that too, I barely knew anyone important. Besides, there was no point in having people you barely knew at your wedding.

Magnus Steele had given us the key to the mansion we now live in as a wedding present. He was the second-happiest person. I was the first. Gabriel Steele was a handsome man after all. And as Evelyn said, “Love comes with time.”

But guess what? I slept alone that night, and Love never came. Gabriel had told me he needed to drop off a cousin. She had come for the wedding from afar. I nodded. Waited till I had fallen asleep.

By morning, I woke up to just myself in the room.

Wait! Was it the same Cousin he was now making a space for in our home? How come I only hear about this cousin just from him? I knew I wasn't close to his mother but never had they mentioned any relatives near or afar.

Blood thumped through my veins. I grabbed my phone off the wide cream-colored dresser. Twitched on the side and the light came on. Who exactly do I want to ask who Amila was? His mother would never speak to me nicely.

My knees wobbled. It was too hard trying not to believe what my mind was telling me. Gabriel wouldn't be that bad. We didn't have the best of marriages but he was definitely not a monster. I crashed into the bed, the sheets bounced lightly.

My mind flew back to three years ago. Things had gotten worse between Gabriel and me after the passing of his father. A few weeks after he was laid to rest, Gabriel had laid me off from my job.

“I need my woman to be domesticated, Maya. You can do the designs from home. It's also to grant you enough rest. The doctor said stress could be the reason why you miscarried.” His words were final.

I didn't say a word. I couldn't say a word. I wanted a child so badly too. But I knew I wasn't stressed. How do I argue that with him? He was already the CEO, with my designs flourishing the company. I swallowed hard.

I stayed in the dark, letting him take glory for every design I made, from home. All he had to do was tell me what needed to be done, and shoot! I’d present a masterpiece to him, while he grinned from ear to ear. Well, I got a kiss on the cheek sometimes.

Then came the late nights. The out-of-country trips that lasted longer than they should have. Gabriel forgot I was in this industry for a whole year before I got married to him. I knew how everything worked. Yet he lied to my face.

We had gotten into a heated argument when he returned from a one-month out-of-country trip. It had gone messy. With our voices bouncing off the roof.

Then his hand suddenly crashed hard against my face, my face bloomed red. The entire room spun as I grabbed the dresser to stay up.

“How dare you question me in that manner?! It's my company. My business. My house, and my fucking rules!” He thundered.

The next morning, Gabriel had ordered me to move my things into the smaller room opposite his. He was tired of having me nag, he said. I was not allowed anywhere close to his room unless I was invited. Funny. I scoffed.

I moved. It was better than having him snore all night after wasting his evening on drinks and whatnot.

I pulled myself up. Walked to the dresser. The woman in the mirror didn't look like all she had been through in four years except for eye bags that hung below her eyes.

Then the screeching sounds of cars in the driveway, I rushed to the window, pulled the curtain a little. A van nosed its way into the compound. That was the best interior decorator in the city.

Gabriel had hired them to fix up that room? And for the so-called Amila? I gasped. Feet rooted to a spot. I couldn't believe my eyes, nor did I want to listen to the voice in my head. Our marriage wasn't that bad, I told myself.