THE FIST-EXCHANGE

Not everyone and everything is worth your time, angel. Not all confrontations are worth the energy.

***

CHAPTER LVII

*****

“Uncle? What is he talking about?” I asked, staring at him as he kept his gaze focused solely on the ground. I ran out of patience quickly and before I could compose myself, I combusted. “What is he talking about!”

Isaac flinched and didn't look up, but started talking.

“I was a friend of your father's before he married your mother.”

I sucked in a deep breath at the mention of my mother and father, but kept my mouth shut and listened carefully.

“We worked for the same man and I was his best man at his wedding.”

A guard had come in and placed a chair down behind me, softly tapping me so I could sit down. Their sudden acts of kindness and gentleness was taking me by surprise, but I couldn't say that I wasn't thankful. After crying for the better part of the afternoon, I was drained. And extremely worried to find out that I might have cried for nothing.

Isaac looked up and tilted his head to the side at the way they were treating me but said nothing.

“He grew increasingly worried for the safety of his wife, your mother, as time went on. The worry only increased when Constanza gave birth to you. It led him to going to talk to the boss and striking a deal with him where he would be the Don's right hand man up until his dying breath in return for protection for his family and...”

“And what?” I snapped angrily wanting to here the end of his story so I could move on to do better things. Like pissing Daniel off.

His bad moods stopped scaring me now because I realised that I had power over him. He wouldn't hurt me.

“And he'd own your mother and any children she if they fell out or if he died.” I narrowed my eyes at him, not knowing what to say at the sudden truth being revealed for everyone to hear. Hell, everyone probably already knew and I was just the last.

“He hoped to have you married off to a suitable man before that because he knew that our boss wouldn't be able to have you if you were and as for having any other children, he wasn't planning on that. But your mother was thoroughly against it and ran away with you at a very young age, cutting all contact with your father.”

I stared at the wall, feeling my heart break in two at his words. My questions were finally being answered, but I was realising that maybe I didn't want them to be. My father wanted me. He wanted to be with me and I wanted to be with him, but I couldn't.

And I shouldn't because he was bad. He sold me. He wanted to marry me off to keep me safe from a gamble that he had made with my life. I wasn't sure if I liked my mother anymore than I liked him though.

“Our boss suspected that your father had set it all up and sent you and your mother away so he didn't have to keep up with his side of the deal. Because of that, they had fallen out and I don't know what happened to your father after that. My boss located your mother and you and sent me to befriend her and keep an eye on her for him until you grew old enough for him to marry off to his son.”

“I did that, but I don't know what happened and one minute you were living with her, the next minute you were out of the house.”

I knew exactly what happened, but I wasn't going to say anything. I hated thinking back to those times if it wasn't obvious enough.

“The only thing that she told me when I asked was that 'you left' so I took it upon myself to locate you. It wasn't hard to find out that you were working here as a maid and ever since then I've been delivering updates to my boss about you.”

My jaw dropped and my mouth hung open as I stared at him, not knowing what to do. This uncle that I liked and idolised so much was the worst person that I had ever come to know?

You think you know somebody.

“I didn't expect your relationship with Daniel. It ruined everything and I wish I knew about it so I could break it up, but for some reason, you kept it a secret. I only found out when you told me and, as you can see, it's too late.” He looked at me, his cold eyes meeting mine before looking down at my stomach. “You're pregnant. When news of this gets around, you'll be his in everyone's eyes. And then he'll probably marry you too. Boss won't be able to take you from him without people looking down at him.”

“I'm not some kind of object that men acquire!” I yelled, feeling little in the cell. I looked around and my stomach suddenly dropped at the realisation that I was the only woman there.

I was alone with a bunch of men that I didn't know and I didn't trust.

“But you are,” he said, unaffected by my loud volume. “Believe me, Araceli, I have nothing against you, I really don't. You're a sweet girl, maybe a bit too quick to judge people - you're friends are your enemies and your enemies are your friends - but your heart's always in the right place and you give love more than you receive it. The only problem is, I love my boy more. And when his life is being threatened, no else's matter.” He shook his head and chuckled, letting loose strands fall into his eyes. “I have nothing against you, but, if given the option, I would do all of this again. Just better next time.”

“Kill him.”

Isaac didn't get time to close his eyes before the guard had raised his gun and shot him right in the middle of his forehead.

I knew that was the moment where I should've screamed and cried and called myself a monster for making such a harsh decision, but I was so mentally tired that I couldn't find the strength to care.

For once, I was done blaming myself. I wanted to fault somebody else for my own problems.

With wobbly legs, I got up off the chair and walked towards the exit. “Good day, Guillermo.”

“Good day, ma'am.”

I turned around, glaring daggers into his head as he smirked at me. I didn't care if I was about to be Daniel's wife or whatever, I didn't want my friends calling me "ma'am". “Araceli,” I corrected, but he only smirked wider.

“Mrs. Reyes.” I rolled my eyes and walked away, but he had to call out one more thing before I left. “Boss lady!”

***

I watched Daniel from the door of his room, not bothering to tear my eyes away from him as he sat in the armchair near his balcony with his legs spread apart and his phone in his hand. He was most likely reading something on it.

I knew he knew I was there, that's why I didn't bother hiding myself. I was trying to work up the courage to talk to him, trying to work up the courage to tell him that my uncle was dead - like he expected.

What was the point of saying anything if he already knew? Wasn't that just wasting my time?

With a sigh, I sucked up all my pride and closed the door, taking long strides across the glazed wood flooring of the large room. He didn't look up even though I made sure to walk heavier so my footsteps were loud and kept his eyes focused solely on his phone even when I had stood right in front of him.

“He's dead,” I said in a quiet voice, making him glance briefly at me before looking back to his phone.

“My condolences.”

“You're an asshole. You know that, right?”

He smirked - the asshole actually fucking smirked - and looked up at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“You realised just now?”

I glared at him, wanting to slap him so hard, he wouldn't be able to move his face without hissing for a week.

“You could've told me something, asshole. You could've let me talk to him earlier or, oh, I don't know, not tied me to the fucking doorknob like a dog on a leash. Do you know how that made me feel?”

He suddenly stood up, his eyes ablaze with anger. “You didn't trust me, Araceli! Maybe if you let me explain instead of getting so hysterical on me, I would've! You thought the fucking worst of me!”

“Was I wrong though?” I yelled right back at him, getting up in his face as he glared at me. “He's dead now, isn't he?”

“And who gave the order?” he chuckled, making the rage coursing through my blood only intensify.

“Just fuck off, Daniel.” I seethed, hearing my heart beat harder in my chest as I spoke without thinking. “Believe me, if it wasn't for this thing of yours that's inside me, I wouldn't still fucking be here.”

He smirked as if not caring about my words and matched my gaze. “And if it weren't for that thing that I'm not sure is even mine, you wouldn't still be here.”

“Are you implying that I'm a whore?” I hissed, glaring at the careless smirk on his face. “You think I would cheat? You think I'm lying to you?”

He looked right at me, his eyes cold and merciless. “If the shoe fits...”

Before I could think my actions through, I had already raised my hand and slapped him across his face. The sound of the slap ricocheted off the empty walls of his room but he wasted no time as he suddenly grabbed my neck and pushed me back from him into the wall, making my stomach lurch in fear.

“Do that again. I dare you,” he challenged, applying a bit of pressure to remind me exactly where his hand was but not enough to hurt me or make choke.

“Let go of me, Daniel,” I said, pushing at his chest and trying to pry his fingers off me, but he only stepped closer to me.

“I thought you were tough,” he mocked, pressing my neck again like last time. “Hit me again and we'll see what happens.”

That was when I sparked off.

“What are going to do? What's going to happen? Are you going to hit me? Knock me unconscious, is that it? Kill me? Kill me then! Go ahead, Daniel, kill me. Kill me like the other countless people that you've ended. I want to see you do it.”

“For your own sake, shut the fuck up.”

“What?” I yelled, not caring that some of the maids could probably hear us from outside. “Angry cause I'm saying the fucking truth? I'm no fucking different, asshole, kill me. Take your anger out with violence and strangle me to fucking death.”

He stared at me with the utmost disgusted look on his face before he shook his head and took his hands off me.

“What? Finally found a heart?”

He stepped closer to me and yanked down on my braid, making me wince as he tilted my head up to look at him.

“Shut your fucking mouth before it gets you killed,” he said in a low warning tone. “Like you said, you're no fucking different.”

He glared firmly at me before making to leave.

“And like usual, he runs away from his problems instead of solving them like a man,” I chuckled, making him halt in his steps before turning around to look at me.

Instead of cold dead eyes, I was met with brown ones that burned with so much rage, I felt my skin get darker.

He was livid.

He walked over to me and grabbed my waist, digging his fingers into my skin. I cried out and tried to get away, but he grabbed my cheeks and forced me to look at him.

“I want to rip you to fucking pieces right now,” he said lowly letting his fingers dig deeper into my flesh as I hissed in pain. “You piss me off so much. But I—”

He cut himself off before shaking his head and pulling away.

“Where's the fucking surprise,” I mumbled, hoping he didn't hear me as I rubbed my hips to soothe the pain. Unfortunately, he did.

“Open that mouth of yours one more time and I'll make it difficult for you to talk again for the next ten days.” He growled, sticking his thumb into my mouth before taking my bottom lip between his index and thumb and pulling it towards him and then letting it go.

I glared at him, but he only patted my cheek with a smirk before turning away from me and walking back to his seat.

With a huff, I stormed out of his room, making sure to slam his door shut behind me. I stormed down the hallway, seeming to get angrier and angrier as a familiar smirking face got closer to me.

I tried to walk past her, but she stepped in front of me, not letting me through. I stepped to the side, but she copied me, effectively blocking my way and forcing me to look at her.

“Whay the fuck do you want, Lola?”

Her eyes glinted with the evil I knew she was entirely capable of and I took a step back in case she randomly decided to pull out a knife and stab me again.

“Is it bad for me to want to catch up with my friend?” she pouted, making me look at her as if she was crazy because when did we become friends? “Especially since we haven't spoken in such a long time. Tell me, when were you going to share the news of your pregnancy?”

I stared with wide eyes as she pulled the pregnancy test I had taken last night out of her pocket and held it in front of my face.

“What the– did you go through my stuff?” I asked, making to grab the test out of her hand put she stepped away from me and held her arm up between us so I couldn't get any closer. “What are you doing with my test? Give it to me.”

“I wonder if La Bruja will still let you work here if I tell her the good news,” she said a fake smile that only made my stomach lurch.

La Bruja couldn't find out about this until I secured a safe place to stay. If I just got fired...

“We can also tell your good friend Celeste about this.” I snapped my eyes up to glare at her as she continued. “And Emma too. I bet she'll love to hear the story about how you trapped her brother and stole him away from her completely.”

I couldn't care less about what Celeste had to say about my situation, but Emma couldn't find out. Not yet at least because she was in a difficult place. I didn't want to make it seem like I purposely kept it from her and I didn't want to overload her with this either.

“Give it to me, you psycho bitch,” I growled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer to me.

With no time to comprehend what was about to happen, I sent a punch into her cheek, making her hunch over in pain.

“I'm so fucking tired of you.” I drove my elbow into her back, making her fall to the floor with a loud scream that alerted the attention of a maid close by. Unfortunately, that maid just happened to be Lucy.

She had dropped the test, but instead of me to leave, I got on top of her on the ground and began delivering blows to her face, taking out all my anger on her.

“Araceli! Stop!” Lucy screamed, grabbing the both of my arms and pulling me off her.

As soon as my body was off hers, Lola jumped and drove a hard kick into my stomach. Winded, I fell to the ground to try and catch my breath but she had kicked me again, making me fall onto my side with a sharp cry.

“Dumb bitch really thought you did something,” she muttered as she continued to kick my stomach, targeting my lower abdomen. It was only after I had placed my hand on my stomach to soften the blows did I realise what she was trying to do.

“Lola, stop! You'll kill her!” I could hear Lucy scream, but all I could do was squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears at bay and roll on the other side so she couldn't get my stomach anymore.

“What the fuck is going on here?” An angry voice said, making me peel my eyes open to see two large figures making their way over to us.

Lola stopped kicking me, put the pain still reverberated around my body and rendered it difficult for me to breathe.

I felt two hands grab under my arms and hoist me up, making it easier for me to recognise Daniel's face through the blur of my tears. He looked angry. He looked really angry and for a second, I thought it was because of me.

I only realised it wasn't when he had handed me over to Pablo and stepped closer to Lola and Lucy. I turned around in Pablo's warm embrace, just in time to see him grab Lola's neck. It was nothing like how he grabbed me. Usually, he never did it to hurt me and only did it to gain control. Lola's case was miles different. He had full intentions of killing her as her face turned red from lack of oxygen.

“What did you think you were doing?” he asked lowly as he squeezed his hand around her neck.

She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to breathe as he slowly pushed her down onto her knees.

“Sir, please stop,” Lucy butted in, making me snap my eyes to her with a glare. “It was Araceli that started hitting on her first. I think they were fighting over something.”

Daniel immediately took his hands off her and turned to me with a glare that had my heart beating slower - probably preparing itself for my impending death.

“You fought?” he asked, making me roll my eyes even though I was pressing myself into Pablo's chest. “Answer me.”

“She came up to me and started...” I said meekly, pressing my back into Pablo's chest as he stepped right in front of me. “And she...”

“You fought in your condition.”

“I'm pregnant, Daniel, not dying.”

He reached his hand out to me to do God knows what, but thankfully, Pablo grabbed his wrist and pushed it away before shoving him away from me.

“Calm yourself before you do something you'll regret,” he said lowly, making Daniel fix his fierce eyes on him.

“And what was the reason for this fight?” he asked, his tone sarcastic as he took another step back.

“She wouldn't give me back my test,” I declared, pointing to the white and purple test that was lying by the side of the hallway.

“Lies!” Lola croaked from where she was kneeling, drawing all of our attention to her. “I came up to her to talk to her about taking another test just to be sure and she just attacked me. She looked really angry so maybe I should've just left her alone but she didn't have to cone for me like a rabid dog.”

I stared at Lola in confusion and shock, wondering why she was lying like that. Daniel glared at her before looking at me and then walking over to where the test was. He raised it up and inspected it before declaring, “This test is empty.”

“What?”

“You see? She was lying! I just wanted to come here and help her and she just attacked me!”

“I don't really know what happened,” Lucy spoke up, making me look to her with hopeful eyes because she was the only one that could prove my innocence. “All I saw was Araceli hit Lola onto the floor and even though the test fell from Lola's hands, she didn't try to pick it up. She only continued hitting Lola.”

“No, no! That's not true. I swear on my life, she's lying. I– she came up to me and waved it around, pretending it was my test and then she said that she would tell everybody about it and I hit her to get it back but she insulted me. I didn't... I didn't just attack her like that.”

Daniel glanced at me before looking at Lucy again. “Is this true?”

“I don't know, sir. I didn't see that happening. I didn't hear it either and these two are pretty loud so I can't tell you for sure,” she said, making me stare at her disbelief. “Although Lola was talking to us about trying to iron out her problems with Araceli so the cat and mouse games ended so I doubt what Ara is saying is true. You can ask the other maids that were in the kitchen too.”

“You can't seriously believe her,” I said, looking to Daniel who just looked exhausted at this point. “Daniel.”

“Pack your things,” he said lowly, making me turn to him with hurt swirling through my chest.

“But—”

“I said pack your things!” he demanded again, his voice cold and harsh, making me whimper and press myself further in Pablo's chest as he wrapped his arms around me.

Lucy helped Lola up and they walked down the hallway on their own, leaving Pablo and I in the same spot we were standing at.

“It's okay,” he muttered softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head as I weeped silently into his shirt. “You'll be okay.”

I let him bring us both down to the floor and sat sideways between his legs and cried while he rested his back against the wall and comforted me.

Something the father of my child couldn't do.

*****

Okay, but they're so toxic tho damn like shit

Didn't know they had it in them. I mean, Daniel yeah but Araceli too?! Homegirl really switched up and surprised me today.

Who's side are you on? Who do you think is more at fault? Is there any possible way she can just leave him and end up with Pablo?

BTW, thank you guys for checking this book out and giving the story a shot. We've hit another milestone which is 5k and I'm ecstatic. Thank yall so much.