Chapter 64 A Mistake

"That man... he is a monster. Isabella murmured with a clenched jaw. Anger and helplessness consumed her. How could anyone be so evil and cruel?

Several minutes later, when Marian managed to calm herself with Isabella's consolations, she let go of the embrace, and the young woman got up, ready to leave.

"Thank you for telling me everything, Mrs. Collins. Isabella took a deep breath, feeling dazed and trembling with anger.

"Wait, Isabella!" Marian looked at the young woman in despair. “Maximum... He doesn't... My son couldn't be that bad. I wouldn't be able to do all that... Do you understand? Máximo is not like his father...

"Quite the contrary, Mrs. Collins. Now I'm sure your son planned to do to me the same thing his father did to you. Isabella replied, firmly.

"What?"

"Máximo and I didn't get married for love. Our marriage was an agreement between my grandmother and her father. Isabella explained. "Your son rejected me at first, he said I wasn't appropriate, that I wasn't worthy of being his spouse, but his father pressured him to accept me...

"No... No... Marian stammered, opening her eyes wide as Isabella continued.

After the marriage, Máximo suddenly changed. He ceased to be a sullen and serious man to become a cordial, attentive, kind and even romantic gentleman... - Isabella continued, frowning.

"What...?" What are you saying? Marian's eyes filled with tears again.

"Don't you see, Mrs. Collins?" It was all part of a plan I heard. Máximo had to make me fall in love and get pregnant, as Maximilian did with you, and then exile me, possibly in a country house like this. And, according to what I heard, his son would sign a power of attorney for Maximilian so that, after leaving me, he could go abroad. Isabella finished telling.

"That's impossible..." Marian stood up, incredulous.

"Think about it, it's the perfect plan: marry me, fall in love, strip me of everything, throw me out and give power to your father. Máximo would leave for free, surely with a reward, some part of the loot... His son is as monstrous as his father. Isabella summed up, trying to make Marian understand the reality.

Marian stood up, frowning. - I told you, that's impossible!

"Why is it impossible?!" Why is it so hard for him to understand it?! Isabella replied, irritated.

"It's impossible because my children don't know anything about this!" Marian exclaimed with strength and confidence.

"What...?" Don't they know? This time it was Isabella who was perplexed, since that information did not fit with what she had discovered.

"No! Marian spoke with conviction. "I've taken it upon myself to keep them out of all this, even the mistreatment that Maximilian gave me..." I was separated from them when they were little, so if you have seen anything, you should not remember it. Emily is totally oblivious, although I think Máximo suspects it.

“What do you mean, do you suspect? Isabella asked, confused.

"Máximo has asked me many times what happened between his father and me, or why I don't want to go home..."

"Don't you think Maximilian could have told his son something?" Isabella asked, full of suspicion.

“No, never. If Maximus had found out that Maximilian exiled me, he would have come to look for me by now... Maximo has even asked me many times to come home," Marian clarified, but now it was Isabella who couldn't believe or understand the situation.

“If so, why haven't you told your children anything?

“No, never! They can't find out..." Marian opened her eyes, visibly worried.

"I understand that I didn't tell you anything when you were young out of fear, Mrs. Collins, but now that Maximo and Emily are adults, they could help you..."

"Help me?" Do you think it would put my children's lives at risk? What is the point if my life is already lost?

"Lost?"

"Yes, look at me, Isabella," Marian pointed to herself. "I'm a mature woman who lived half of her life locked up, an addict and a coward..." The woman walked around the room sadly. "I've already resigned myself to ending my life here. At least I can see my children when Maximilian allows me to... It would be worse not to see them again.

"Do you think that man would really be capable of doing something against the lives of his own children?" Isabella asked, surprised. "Maybe I just want to intimidate her. You can't just give up...

"So far, I understand that he has only been quite strict with them and has not hurt them..." Marian replied. "But I don't know what Maximilian is capable of anymore, and I don't dare to try it." I would never risk it. But of one thing I am sure, Isabella, and that is that Maximo could not do to you the same as Maximilian did to me...

"And what about what I heard, Mrs. Collins?" Don't be fooled... Even if your son doesn't know everything you went through, Maximo is still doing what his father tells him. He doesn't love me, and that's why he doesn't mind getting rid of me..." Isabella clenched her fists, feeling her anger envelop her again.

"No, it must be a mistake..." Marian insisted. "You must trust Maximus, or at least trust me. My son is a good man. Although I couldn't finish raising him, he was always a kind and sweet boy.

"Trust?" Isabella smiled sarcastically. "How can I trust a man I met a few months ago, after everything I heard?" Not only from the conversation between Máximo and his father, but also from his own experience.

"I know, it's difficult, but..." If you think about it, surely it is Maximilian who still wants the power of the Collins family, now added to the Sinclair family..." Marian replied thoughtfully. - Besides, that plan you heard, you yourself said that it is the repetition of what Maximilian did to me.

- Yes, that's right.

If Máximo doesn't know what happened, how could he repeat it? It just means that it was Maximilian who put together the plan, not my son..." Marian tried to explain.

"Mrs. Collins..." Isabella tried to intervene when a cry from Marian silenced her.

"Yes, that's right!" Marian exclaimed enthusiastically, as if she had just had a revelation. “Máximo must be being extorted by his father. Haven't you thought about it? You yourself said that he rejected you at first and that Maximilian pressured him to accept you...

"I..." Isabella looked down, reflecting on what she had just heard.

"Did you hear the whole conversation?" How are you so sure that Máximo has already agreed to do it and agrees with that plan if you haven't spoken directly to him?

Isabella was silent, and Marian noticed that she had touched a point of doubt in the young woman.

Marian took Isabella's hands firmly. “I know Maximilian, he is an extremely manipulative and cruel man. I wouldn't be surprised if he had threatened his own son, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Maximo will go through with the plan.

A spark of hope ignited Isabella's heart. Despite the distrust, a small part of her, the one who was still in love with Maximus, began to doubt her fears.

"Mrs. Collins, I must go..." Isabella broke free from Marian's grasp, her heart pounding. "Tonight, I'm going on a trip abroad..."

"Are you leaving?" Marian looked at her puzzled. “And Maximo?

"He already knows. I asked for his support to go to study; It was the quickest way I could find to escape his plans. Isabella explained calmly.

"But..." you can't leave without talking to Maximo, without confronting him directly. Marian approached, visibly worried.

"Talk to him?" Do you know how risky that would be for me? Isabella replied, and Marian remained momentarily motionless.

"You still don't believe me?" Isabella, you can't blame my son for something he hasn't done. He's a good man, I'm sure of that. You can't leave thinking that he has betrayed you. Marian tried to convince her.

"Perhaps it is true that Maximo is being manipulated or threatened, Mrs. Collins. I must admit that it is a possibility. But right now, I can't risk it. Even if I'm wrong and Máximo doesn't want to exile me, his father, Maximiliano, would. And just as he did with you, looking for how to hurt me, he could do it even worse, because I am so much less to him. Isabella spoke with conviction, and Marian was silent, acknowledging the truth in her words.

"So before facing Máximo or his father, I must prepare. Isabella continued, with a gleam of determination in her eyes. "Thank you for the trust, Mrs. Collins, and for being honest with me. He gave her a brief hug and whispered in her ear. "I promise to return this favor.

"What?" Marian separated, confused.

"You deserve to get out of this place, you deserve to be free and have a life of value. Isabella smiled, though a spark of pity was in her eyes. Then, he turned to leave.

Marian called out to her sadly, and the young woman turned once more.

"And Mrs. Collins”"

"Yes?"

- I think it is superfluous for me to tell you, but... If you have a little compassion for me, if you don't want another naïve young woman to live the same fate, either at the hands of Maximo or Maximilian, please don't tell your son anything about this visit or our conversation. I promise to do the same. Isabella declared, before leaving.

Marian stood static and open-mouthed, was there a threat in the background of Isabella's last sentence? If Marian said something to Maximo, would Isabella also tell him everything she had told him?

The woman was surprised, she had thought that this young girl was a sweet and submissive girl, but apparently, it was not quite like that, not when she had had the courage to seek the truth.