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Episode 49

The playlist for this chapter is 'Dave Winkler - Numb' Do enjoy🎶🎶🎶

Fernando's POV

"I hate you, Micaela!" I screamed frustratingly in the cab that I hired to the airport. I know is quite late to be going to the airport by this time of the night but I hope there's an available ticket for me to board back to Madrid tonight because I don't want another day to meet me here.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Fucking mind your business!" I growled at the driver. I wouldn't care less if he wasn't the one that pissed me off, all I do know is he should mind his goddamn business and not ask me some silly questions.

"Sorry, Sir" he apologized and focused his gaze on the road.

"I don't need your stupid sorry!" I retorted chewing my jawline. I'm pained right now, I feel like a fool for letting myself be used like that by a woman for the second time.

How did I love a woman like Micaela Alvarado? Why couldn't I see the signs? She manipulated me into loving her, how could she do that to me?

I was thinking after our vacation in Rome my wife and I will travel to Austria. But no, I couldn't even complete the 3 days I was meant to enjoy with my wife in Rome, rather I'm here all alone heading to the airport. I thought my life will be a happy ending ever, but it became a tragedy yet again because of her.

The wild whirl of nameless regret and passionate sorrow colored my thoughts.

"We are here, Sir" the cab driver announce making me jar out of my thoughts. I didn't hesitate to pay him off and went in to buy a ticket.

Lucky for me they have only one available ticket and the flight will be taking off in the next 20 minutes. I paid for my ticket and after check-in, I went to board the flight. "I hope I never get to see you again Micaela" I mumbled.

**
"Hey buddy, I'm at the airport, come pick me up?" I was speaking to Antonio on the phone, he's the only one I could call when I got to Madrid. I didn't want to call Mr. Pedro to pick me up nor do I want my brother to pick me up, they'll ask me so many questions which I'm not ready to answer. I don't want to transfer my aggression to them either.

I'll just go straight to my hotel, I don't want my mom to suffocate me with questions of why I came back earlier than expected. Truly, our honeymoon vacation was meant to last 1 week but plans changed, all thanks to the woman I got married to.

"Buddy, what do you mean I should come to pick you up at the airport? Where are you?" Antonio's voice intruded on my thoughts.

"I'm back in the city, I'm at the airport, please come pick me up".

"You're back in the city? Just like that? I thought your honeymoon was going to be a one-week maximum vacation. What happened? Why the change of plans?"

"I'll tell you when I see you. Just come pick me up already!" I grunted.

"Fine! I'm on my way".

I hang up the call and tears made their way through my eyes. It's a good thing my sunshades were covering my eyes because I wouldn't have stood the embarrassment of being caught crying by people who admire and respect me a lot in the city.

The truth is I might be a superhero outside, but inside I'm just too emotional for my good. Things like what the woman I loved and gave me all did to me can make me grief-stricken.

Until now, it's too hard to believe that my own woman, the only lady that gave me happiness has been the rapist I've been searching for these whole years. I was right after all when I went looking for her in Seoul after reading that book of hers, my intuition did tell me she knew about my past.

But I was too blinded by the tricks she played on me just to get me distracted and not ask her about it. Why? Why did she decide to break me this way? As if raping me was not enough, she also stole my heart only to crush it into pieces. I thought I finally found someone to spend the rest of my life with and enjoy life together, but then everything blew up.

A deep and brooding resentment surges through me. I hate women, they are so cunning and they are heartbreakers. I regret ever breaking the vow I made by falling in love with her, I shouldn't have. I dabbed my eyes in a manner no one would tell if I was crying or not and I narrowed my gaze to the car park.

It was a night of little ease to my toiling mind. I let the cold air hit me while I waited for Antonio to arrive.  a couple of minutes later, I spotted Antonio's car driving into the car park and I grabbed my luggage and walk up to his car.

I got to the car and opened the backseat door and got in. "Hey man, I'm not your driver, come sit in front with me!" Antonio shrieks and I almost rolled my eyes.

"Stop whining and drive already" I replied in a bored tone.

"What? Come sit in front while your wife sits at the back. Where is she anyways?"

"Stop with the questions and drive, Antonio!" I snapped at him and his smile vanished. The car was filled with awkward silence for a couple of seconds. He returns his gaze to the steering wheel and switches on the ignition of the car.

"Where are we going?" he asked quietly.

"My hotel" I answered sternly.

The ride to my hotel was a silent one, unlike the happy moments we do have when we are both together, today it was like we were mourning someone. Half-truth, we were mourning someone, and that someone is Micaela. As long as I live, Micaela Alvarado is dead to me, I don't want to have anything to do with her in this lifetime and the one to come.

"We are here" Antonio announced and I glance through the windshield to confirm we were really at my hotel. I guess I was so carried away with my thoughts that the ride to my hotel was quicker than I imagined.

"Thank you" I responded and got out of his car with my luggage.

"I guess I should take my leave now. See you later when you are calmer to have a conversation".

"I think you should come in with me, I have a new case that will earn you millions of dollars if you accept the offer" I replied and slammed the door closed, and walked inside my hotel.

I went directly to my room, yeah I do have a room here meant for just me alone and can't be lodged by any other person except me. It was fancier than any of the other rooms. I dropped my luggage and I went standing by the window side perturbed. I can't get my mind from brooding over what she told me.

While I was still in my thoughts, a knock came on the door. That should be Antonio knocking, he changed his mind after all.

I walked back to the door and opened it up for him. "I guess you thought about the offer" I forced a smile and stepped aside for him.

"I don't know what is going on with you buddy, but you are acting differently. What happened?" Antonio asks as he walks into my room.

"I want you to be my attorney over a case".

"A case? What case? Are you having issues with any of your business partners?"

"Not my business partner but my ex-wife!" I responded twitching my jawline.

"Ex-wife? Were you married to any other woman before Micaela Alvarado?"

"I wish I had. But regardless, that woman you just mentioned is no longer my wife. I'm filing for divorce and you'll be the one to serve her the papers, that's one. Secondly, I'm charging her for a rape case and you Antonio my best friend are going to make sure she faced jail terms! I'm ready to pay you whatever you want as long as I see that woman behind bars! Do we have a deal here, buddy?"

"Wait, what?!" He exclaims with a shocked expression and I nodded in response.

Antonio's POV

"What's that? Did I hear you well!?" I asked confusedly. All my best friend just said doesn't make any sense to me, so I needed to get clear on every word he just said.

"You heard me correctly Antonio. I'm divorcing Micaela Alvarado and I'm charging her for rape!"

"Wait a minute, does that make any sense to you? Because it doesn't to me. How can you file for a divorce after two days of getting married?"

"Because I no longer want her in my life! Isn't that why there's a word like divorce, Mr. Attorney?"

"Divorce doesn't happen like that. How can you wake up one morning and decide you are getting over with your marriage without any reason?!" I raised my voice at him. I was getting infuriated right now.

"I have my reasons!"

"Then fucking tell me what those silly reasons are because I don't understand why you chose to divorce such a beautiful and flawless lady like Micaela!"

"Because she's a rapist! She's a pretender and a liar! Her obsession over me is more than the love she claimed she has for me and..."

"Hold it, Fernando! What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean Micaela Alvarado is a rapist? How can your wife rape you? How the hell is that even possible?"

"Micaela Alvarado is the rapist in my past! She's the same girl that raped me thirteen years ago!"

Fernando's answer caught me off guard and I was mystified for a moment.

"She knew all along while I was courting her and even before I met her that she was the one who caused me to have a traumatic experience. I had nightmares these whole years of how those filthy hands touched me that night. I told her about it and she couldn't even say anything about how she was the one who did it, rather she manipulated me and I fell deeply in love with her. She won my heart and became a healer to my heart, but only for a short while because the wounds have reopened and it became even worse than it has ever been".

I was so weak that I had to help myself with a sit on the couch. My hands sweep my face and confusion hits all over my head. I don't know where to start with my questions, I don't even know what to say to make him change his mind. In fact, how did it all happen?

Oppressed and disheartened by this news, I sat still. In the midst of all this, I just heard from my best friend, there's only one thing I do know. That Micaela can never be a rapist. She's not capable of being one, she might have been pressurized to do it for one reason or the other.

"I'm not asking you to do it, I'm telling you to do it. I want Micaela to suffer all that I suffered, if not through rape but through her stay in prison. I want her to serve thirteen years of imprisonment for what she did to me. Let her also suffer for thirteen years as I did, then she'll understand what it feels like to have been a rape victim. I want her to be humiliated and feel...."

"Please stop already, Fernando. You are taking this too far" I cut him off. He's getting overboard with his revenge on this lady and it's not fair.

"I'm taking it too far?!" he snorted and bit his lower lip. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? You are telling me I'm taking it too far, Antonio? But how? I haven't done anything yet to her, I'm just about starting and you are already complaining, what kind of lawyer are you? I thought you loved justice?"

"I love justice but this case is quite different".

"Quite different? How? Because it's almighty Micaela Alvarado? Is that why she can't serve the punishment she deserves for what she did?!"

"That's not it Fernando. I don't think Micaela committed the crime you are charging her for" my reply got my best friend stunned. What am I doing though? Am I defending Micaela blindly without knowing anything about this whole story?

"What did you just say?" Fernando demanded coldly his eyes glaring into mine. I stood up and walked up to him.

"I mean to say, your woman...."

"She's no longer my woman! Damnit! Don't you get it?!" He scolded me mid-sentence and I nodded slightly.

"Sorry, I mean Micaela is not the kind of person to be portrayed as a rapist. She's too gentle, innocent, and sweet to get herself to indulge in such. I think it was all a setup for her to have done that".

"Wow! Bravo, Antonio!" Fernando clapped and gave humorous laughter. "Here I was thinking you'd be my attorney, not knowing you've already chosen to be her attorney even before she decides to choose you. Wow, you are such an amazing best friend!"

"Calm down buddy, would you?" I requested and he shook his head.

"So, you believe her more than me, isn't it? You are ready to let her go unpunished for what she did to me just because you're basing your profession on assumptions, right?"

"I never said so, don't misunderstand what I said about her. I was only suggesting to have a reasonable conversation with her and get to know what happened on that fateful day before you can decide to take her to court".

"Never! I don't need any explanations from her because it's not worth it. If she ever wanted to explain herself to me it wouldn't have taken this long before she would have done the right thing. It's too late now and there's nothing that is changing my mind on the decision I've made concerning that woman. Micaela Alvarado is going to thirteen years imprisonment for raping me-" he paused and took a step closer.

"Is either you be my attorney and handle this case the way I want it or I don't mind paying Lionel Martinez who you do know to be the best attorney in the whole of Madrid, Mexico, and other European countries to be my attorney for this case? And I'm sure you know what will happen if I choose him, don't you?".

I can't believe my best friend and brother have turned this mean and cold because of his revenge on poor Micaela. The decision to be my best friend's attorney is really hard for me to make. If it were in my power I wouldn't say yes, I don't want to see Micaela behind bars but I don't want to lose the friendship with my best friend either.

Something in me tells me Micaela is innocent, she wouldn't have raped my best friend for the fun of it. What can I possibly do now? Cases like this get me worried when it has something to do with two people close to me. I sat down there in pervasive silence staring at my best friend. What should I do?