Chapter Four

ANGELA

I pulled away from the hug so fast that you would think Ethan had caught on fire.

“What?” I whispered, amazed at how serious he looked. My job was the last thing I had to fall back on in that moment as I didn’t have a true family, and the one I had married into was treating me very differently from how they did when I had not gotten married to Ethan.

“What do you mean? You know how important my job is to me, Ethan. I can’t quit now.” I shook my head, silently begging him to request another thing of me because I knew that with enough persuasion, Ethan could make me quit my job without a thought, just the way I had gotten married to him.

“I can’t stand the thought of you staying so late at work with your boss. I don’t know what you were doing in there, and it makes me uncomfortable.”

My heart fell at what his words conveyed – he suspected that I was sleeping with my boss.

“You know I would never cheat on you, right?” I cupped his face in my hands, tears starting to sting my eyes as I wondered just how bad our relationship had gotten that he could suspect me of cheating on him just two weeks into our marriage.

“Then, do it. I’ll believe you when you quit your job. You can always get another one. I’m not comfortable with this one.”

There was a moment where I wanted to shake my head and tell him no, but I couldn’t bear to do it and see the hurt in his eyes as his doubts would only be raised that I really was cheating on him. I wanted to prove to him that there was nothing going on between me and any other man but him, and if quitting my job meant proving it…

“I’ll do it; I’ll quit my job.”

The cold look on Ethan’s face immediately softened, and he kissed me on the lips.

“Good,” he approved, pulling away from me and getting in bed.

I took a shower and changed into my pajamas with the satisfaction that Ethan was happy about a decision that I made, and that was probably our head start to repair whatever damage had happened in those two weeks.

~

“Your father will not like this news,” Jace, the CEO of the media company that I worked for, told me the next morning as I turned in my resignation letter.

“He doesn’t have to know.” I shook my head, even though I knew that Jace and my father went way back, and he would definitely tell my father about this.

“That piece that you wrote last night about the dangerous effects of gambling and the people it has affected was perfect, Angela. Are you sure you want to give that up? If you quit now, someone else will have to write about it and will take all of the credit. Is that what you want?”

I didn’t want that, but I also didn’t want to ruin what I had built with Ethan for about two years.

“I’m sure. I can’t tell you my reasons because they’re all personal. I’m glad that I had all of the experiences I could gather here.” I smiled, turning around and leaving as he wished me good luck.

~

“Go change. We’re going to a formal event,” Natalia instructed as soon as she saw me walk through the front door of the house.

“What event? Is Ethan coming with us?” I asked excitedly.

“Ethan has work to do. You’ll be coming with me and Reuben.” The smile on my face faded, and I nodded as I walked into the room to change.

I had not gotten the chance to talk to Natalia and Reuben the way I had talked to Ethan. Ethan and I understood each other more, so I was freer with him. How could I ask his parents why they had suddenly changed their attitudes towards me?

I got into the car with them, Reuben driving off. He chatted with Natalia, both of them choosing to ignore my presence.

I dialed Ethan’s number, and he picked it.

“I did it,” I whispered into the phone, seeing that Natalia was watching me through the rearview mirror.

“You quit your job?” Ethan asked, and I could almost hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes, and I’m now on my way to an event with your parents.” This time, I said it aloud so that they would know that I was talking to their son.

“An event? They didn’t mention that to me,” Ethan mumbled. “Anyway, it’s good that you left the job. Who would want to work in a place where they overwork you? Besides, I don’t trust that boss of yours that likes to keep you away from your home past the normal closing time.”

I almost laughed at how he said it as if it had happened more than once. It was times like those that reminded me of how much Ethan loved me, even though his way of showing it was not the most romantic these days. It was the stress of having to work that was dealing with him. As soon as he adjusted to marriage, we would hit it off again, and I could not wait.

Ethan told me that he had to get back to work, hanging up the phone just as Reuben parked the car in front of our destination – one of the top hotels in the city, which was in cooperation with my father.

As I got out of the car, I didn’t know which one to pray for – accidentally bump into my father, or not at all.

“Be on your best behavior, Angela. This is a fancy lunch event that only very few are lucky enough to be invited to. The last thing we want to happen is for this to be ruined.”

It was surprising that they were the ones telling me how to act when as the former heir to my father’s  conglomerate, I had attended events just like that one, and I knew exactly how to act.

But what surprised me more was when she turned around and glared at me as she said: “Do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone that you are our daughter-in-law. We are partners, and you accompanied us to the event, understand?”

I nodded in understanding, and we got into the event hall, where people roamed with champagne flutes in their hands and engaged in mundane conversations with the people they so badly wanted to partner with.

Natalia took my hand, pulling me forward and practically forcing me to greet everyone she did. Someone people started to recognize me as Angela Diaz, but Natalia did most of the speaking for me.

My phone started to ring, and at the sight of the caller ID, my heart hammered fast and loud.

Mom.

“Excuse me for a minute,” I said, pulling away from Natalia and walking to a corner of the room where less people seemed to be as I placed the phone against my ear.

“Mom?” I said.

There was long silence on the other end, before my mother sniffled as if she had been crying.

“Congratulations, Angela. You have succeeded in killing your father.”