ÂME MARQUÉE : LE JUGEMENT DE LUNA

Dear readers, before you start reading this book, I want to inform you that the original story is in Spanish, my native language, I did the translation myself, and I apologize for any errors it may have.

****

"We need an heir!"  exposed the old man in a thick voice. “Otherwise, someone will replace you” he warned.

The strong echo reverberated in the hallway of Jacob Wilson's house, so much so that Myriam was startled and stopped at the door of the family's office, she had been looking for her husband and managed to hear her father-in-law's request.

Her heart sinking, she sighed deeply. She pretended not to have heard anything, she went downstairs and sat down again in the armchair in the living room, as if nothing had happened, but when she heard the word children, she remembered that at one point he thought that if he had a son he could strengthen her marriage, however, God did not give her that opportunity and she never got pregnant, but the problem was not hers.

Over the years she put aside this obsession, she understood her in-laws' desire to be grandparents, but she never imagined that they would threaten her husband for not giving them an heir.

She had married Ray at twenty-one, very much in love, however, the relationship between them was becoming colder, and tense, and they didn't speak to each other like before. Raymond was absent most of the time, in his constant business trips he was the CEO of the multinational and a very busy man.

Ten minutes earlier, Myriam and her husband had arrived to celebrate her father-in-law's birthday. Raymond walked up to his parents alone, leaving her aside. Myriam noticed that they murmured among themselves and disappeared from the large room, at that moment she reproached herself for not having stayed to listen to the rest of the talk between her in-laws and her husband.

****

Meanwhile, in the family office:

"I'll take matters into my own hands, dad." Raymond, Myriam's husband, ignored Jacob's order, and focused on the company's balance sheets without taking his eyes off his father, he knew well that during that quarter the sales of the food multinational had decayed.

"You're wasting your time on nonsense," Kendra, his mother, refuted. Your father and I have considered the idea of having one of your cousins take over the company, so you can take vacations with Myriam and produce the heir,” she suggested. "They have been married for seven years, and there is no sign of a grandchild" she mentioned.  “We hope that, with a son, you settle down and take responsibility for Raymond.

***

Minutes later, Jacob blew out the birthday candles, and the applause of all the members of the family was immediate.

"Congratulations," Myriam said, walking over to give him a gift.

Ray's father took the bag and set it aside.

"The best gift you could receive is the news of an heir," he said, looking into her daughter-in-law's eyes. "Don't you want to have children?" He questioned, wrinkling his forehead.

Myriam paled completely, blinking nervously.

"I… uh…" she stammered.

Raymond immediately approached them.

"We'll give you that news soon, dad," he mumbled through clenched teeth, "it's time to go," he said, and almost dragged his wife out of the house.

As they got into the car, Myriam released the air she was holding.

"We have tried, without success, fertilization, rather we should adopt a child," she proposed.

Raymond slammed the car's steering wheel angrily, turned his enraged face, and glared at his wife.

“You went crazy? Is your brain not working?" He inquired grunting, “if we do that, everyone would know about my problem, and I'm not going to make fun of anyone” he refuted breathing agitatedly, “you must have a child, even if you have to get pregnant with another” he ordered firmly.

"You have to get pregnant with someone else!!" echoed in Myriam's brain.

Her lips parted in a big O, and he felt the blood rush to his feet at the suggestion.

"How do you ask me that?" She questioned, trying to control the tears that struggled to come out of her eyes.

“You love me?” Raymond asked.

"Of course I did," Myriam replied, or at least that's what she thought.

"Then give me a son," he proposed, "otherwise I'll look for a woman who is willing to do anything," he commented cynically.

"How?" Myriam wondered, unable to believe what she heard.

She felt as if she were an object, a baby-making machine, her heart shattered at her husband's cold words.

Then she got mad, pushed her husband, and stomped on the accelerator all the way.

“Are you crazy or what?”  Raymond growled, visibly annoyed. "We're going to kill each other,” he yelled as they scuffled, clinging to the wheel.

Myriam didn't reply. Suddenly, she released the foot that had been on the accelerator and slammed on the brakes.

Raymond, who was about to jump, managed to stabilize the car.

When her husband settled back in the seat and was about to open his mouth to scold her, she got out of the car, slammed the car door shut, and hurried away with her high heels in her hands without giving any explanation.

That night, she was dressed in vibrant red. She held out her hand and a taxi pulled up in front of her, jumped in and drove away from her in a matter of seconds.

****

Gerald Lennox parked his car in front of the bar where his friends were waiting for him, threw the keys to the guard to park his BMW, and entered the place, walking with a firm step, showing his meter and a half height in the middle of the crowd, crew.

At thirty, he was the CEO of the multinational food company Lennox. He had a cold and bluish look, his skin was white, and his hair was dark, he was wearing light blue jeans, a gray shirt, and a black blazer.

Several women whispered among themselves and tried to flirt with the businessman, an overly attractive man who seemed immune to feminine charms.

He arrived at the table, greeted his companions, and took a seat, they immediately began a game of poker, while they chatted, drank whiskey, and laughed.

"If you lose the game tonight, I choose the woman you take to bed," Kevin suggested, lips tilted.

Gerald snorted and shook his head.

"I have no interest in sex," he stated and remembered Bianca, the woman he thought he was in love with, snorting as he recalled that she had rejected him because her family was on the brink of ruin.

"You're getting rusty," Kevin warned, and the others roared with laughter. "Are you afraid of falling in love?" he questioned him.

"Every day you're crazier", Gerald snorted, "I'm not going to fall for your games again, like the one I did months ago", he said.

Gerald drank another whiskey and shook his head, they continued with the game, while the drinks came and went.

Kevin saw a beautiful woman with long dark hair, wearing a provocative red dress, pass very close to them.

"I have the candidate for you to have fun again tonight," he affirmed and waved her hand at the bar, "she looks beautiful."

Gerald was already a little drunk, but not enough not to notice how beautiful the woman his friend was pointing out to him was. Minutes before she had passed, near him, walking with grace and elegance, it was not seen that she was a woman of adventures, and besides, he was not willing to give in to Kevin's games and considered that this lady would not lend herself to his absurd proposals.

****

Myriam arrived at the bar where her best friend: Elsa, a gynecologist by profession, was having a few drinks. When she entered, several gentlemen fixed her attention on her, and she always caught glances; however, she ignored these courtships; her gaze met that of her friend, and she immediately walked over to the bar and hugged her.

They ordered a tequila and a martini while they talked, and Myriam told him about the argument with her husband.

Elsa could not understand how Raymond had made such a proposal to his wife.

"And what do you plan to do?" She asked Myriam, taking a sip of her Martini.

The woman downed the tequila in one shot.

"I don't want to lose him, though, maybe... fertilization is an option," she stammered, still not quite convinced to go through with the procedure again.

Elsa, who was quite liberal, smiled and nodded.

"You chose the boring way; I would have wooed a handsome man and had a baby." He laughed, waved his hands at the gentlemen at the tables, and then touched Myriam's with his glass.

"You are incorrigible," she said, noticing around her how several gentlemen looked at them and whispered. Her eyes met the cold and expressionless bluish gaze of an attractive man, who immediately turned his gaze toward her companions.

Myriam shook her head; Elsa's idea was absurd.

“I don't know if that procedure works, we've tried it and your organs are weakening” I sigh.

“Once again”, Myriam begged with a broken voice, she felt that her marriage depended on that child.

Then she drank nonstop, trying to dissipate her sorrows with the liquor, almost staggering she went to the bathroom, and on her way out she was intercepted by a very handsome and gallant man, who spoke in her ear and pointed out an attractive gentleman at the table.

Myriam thought the guy at the table was very handsome, more so than her husband, she thought that perhaps because of the many drinks she had had, she saw allusions, then she remembered Ray's crazy proposal, she had her permission, so that accepted.

Along with the young man who intercepted her approached the table, she noticed that her handsome gentleman focused her bluish gaze on her, despite the alcohol she had ingested, those sad eyes of hers shook her.

He stood up, and together they left the bar, got into his convertible, and when they reached the luxurious hotel, Gerald realized that the woman had fallen asleep, and her short dress had ridden up higher than necessary, leaving bare her firm legs.

Her eyes snapped open, her throat went dry, she was a very beautiful woman, slender, with an impressive figure, a temptation for any man.

She got out of the vehicle and impulsively took the woman in her arms, but suddenly she caught a glimpse of the gold ring on her ring finger.

"She is married"

The man lowered his lids, the icy blue of his eyes instantly clouding, taking on a layer of gray.

After a moment's hesitation, Gerald hugged the sleeping woman, inhaled her delicious scent of violets, and minutes later entered the five-star suite.

Once he gently placed the woman on the bed, he examined her face carefully. Her rosy cheeks were beautiful, and her loose brown hair hung impressively over the curves of her body.

The man touched the sleeping woman's cheek and prepared to leave quietly.

As he was about to close the door on the outside, the woman's drunken voice came from inside the house.

"Don't go, I need you" she heard.

Gerald slowly turned towards the suite to find the beautiful lady standing there. He cleared her throat as he watched her drop her dress below her legs. The scene seemed very sensual.

"She's very drunk, ma'am, please stop," he begged her with a dry throat.

"Ray, come, a long time without having so much passion... let's make a baby, come"

Myriam looked at Gerald, but her mind was hallucinating her husband because of the liquor she had drunk.

He realized that the beautiful lady was confusing him with another man, and in front of his eyes, she took off the fine lingerie that covered his nakedness.

His primitive attempts began to react, but he was not one of those men who took advantage of the situation.

"I cannot anymore. I have to get out of here,” he commanded in her mind. He went out and closed the door.

***

The next day, the sun's rays dazzled Myriam's face, she frowned, and then her eyes snapped open, her hand on her chest as she realized she was in an unfamiliar room.

"Where I am?" she asked doubtfully, then noticing that her dress and other items of hers were on the carpet, she parted her lips and placed her hand on her breast. "What happened?" she wondered shivering, then blinked several times. "No, it cannot be...

She tried to remember what had happened, but she was dizzy, she remembered that man's voice, and her cold gaze, but nothing more. She was startled to hear the sound of her cell phone, she stood up, looked for her bag and took it out with trembling hands, and seeing that he was her husband, she shuddered and her heart started beating fast.

"Where are you?" Raymond roared.

“I stayed with Elsa”, she stuttered looking for her dress, “I'm leaving here because of my job”, she informed.

"With Elsa?" he asked curiously. "I hope you tell your friend to help us," he explained and hung up the call.

Myriam snorted and for a moment she thought she was going to find out. She looked around the room. She searched the sheets and the nightstand for some clue as to what had happened, but there was nothing. Not only that, but she shuddered at the thought that she might have slept with a stranger.

"What did I do?" she asked herself muttering, she put her hand to her head, which hurt him, "I couldn't have betrayed Raymond," she said with a broken voice, sobbing.

****

Minutes later she arrived at Elsa's apartment, she breathed a sigh of relief to find her, then found out if she knew whom she had stayed with the night before.

 "I don't know anything, you just disappeared, I thought you had gone home," the gynecologist reported. "Why?" she asked, looking at her carefully.

The girl snorted and told him what happened, she didn't remember anything.

Elsa laughed amused.

"I hope it was very attractive," she joked.

Myriam stared at her.

“I'm not that kind of woman, you know I'd rather undergo fertilization again than betray Raymond,” she said, noticing a lump in her throat, “I don't know what I'm going to look like in the eye." She covered her face with both hands.

Elsa pursed her lips.

"Well, that idea was suggested to you by your husband, he shouldn't be offended" she pursed her lips and bit her tongue so as not to torment her friend anymore with certain things she knew about Raymond. "Don't worry, let's trust that guy from the bar, he doesn't remember what happened either,” she said.

Elsa gave her friend a coffee and lent her clothes, so she could take a shower and go to work.

****

Days later they performed the fertilization procedure, Myriam had prepared days before what happened that night for a new treatment; it was just a matter of waiting for the fertilized egg to implant in her uterus.

Several weeks later, Myriam had a delay, to get rid of doubts she bought some home tests. He followed the directions, and while he waited, he walked impatiently through the bedroom.

"That this time it works," she implored, and she joined his hands impatiently, feeling how his intestines fluttered due to anxiety, when the clock marked the waiting time, with hasty steps he returned to the bathroom, and looked at them: they all marked two lines. "Positive!" She exclaimed with infinite emotion.

Myriam shed several tears of happiness because that was what she needed to recover her marriage, so she went to Elsa's office, she needed to be checked, and she immediately confirmed the pregnancy, but Myriam had a big doubt:

Was the baby the product of fertilization, or the night he didn't remember anything?