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“Whiskey, please.”
As Anneke prepared Raquel’s drink from the minibar, she heard the older woman say, “I called your place at Bruin Hemel earlier, but your staff told me you and Marcus had left the other day.”
“I s-see.”
“They were pretty tight-lipped about your whereabouts, so I had to use my son’s security team to look for you. I hope you don’t mind?”
Anneke only shook her head, pretending to busy herself as she prepared her own drink.
“Is Marcus coming back any time soon?”
After serving Raquel her drink, Anneke took the chair across the older woman, saying stiltedly, “I suppose he hasn’t told you yet, but—-” She gulped down her drink in one go, and the liquid burning down her throat gave her the strength she needed to voice out the truth. “Your son and I are done.”
“I s-see.” The glass in Raquel’s hand rattled hard.
Anneke was immediately concerned. “Are you alright?” She belatedly remembered Marcus’ voicemail mentioning his mother needing an operation following her OD, and her remorse grew. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you about the news—-”
“Is it because of our past?” Raquel forced herself to ask. “He told me he’d tell you the truth, and if this is what it’s all about—-”
“No.” Anneke bit her lip hard. “I’m sorry I forced you to bring that up, but no. I can assure you it’s not about that at all, and I would – I wouldneverleave him for that.” And unable to help it, she heard herself add bitterly, “I’m afraid our row is over something more common.”
“Common?” Raquel was visibly bewildered. “I don’t understand. You were everything to him—-”
“Yes. I am.” The admission made her bitterness grow inside of her, and with it her pain. “I’m everything to him,” she choked out, “because his grandmother’s will left Marcus no choice. He made me think that he didn’t want to divorce me because he still loved me, buthe had lied.The only reason he didn’t want me to go was because his grandmother’s will took a divorce out of the equation. He stood to lose everything with a divorce—-”
Tears burned in her throat, but Anneke would be damned if she would shed another tear for a man who kept betraying her, over and over.
Looking at Raquel, she said dully, “That’s why he chose to lie to me instead.” Her head bowed, and for several moments, neither of them spoke. At first, Anneke believed it was because Raquel didn’t believe anything she had said until –
“I know you’re not lying.”
Anneke slowly looked up.
“I know that, but I can’t – I simply cannot make myself believe there isn’t more to it. The old Marcus could have done what you told me, but the Marcus you loved? The Marcus you changed so much that—-” A tear tracked down her cheek, and Raquel wiped it off with a laugh that was half-painful, half-angry. “It’s been so long since I last cried, do you know that? And I don’t think I’d ever be like this again until—-” Raquel’s thin body shook as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. “I know – I know you have no reason to believe me, butplease.Please give my son a chance to explain. He may have lied about the other things, but he hadn’t lied about loving you.”
“I’m sorry,” Anneke whispered tremulously. “But I just can’t—-”
“Please.” Raquel reached over to clasp Anneke’s hands tightly between hers. “I’ve already hurt him so badly, and it was all because I was afraid. I c-couldn’t make myself accept that I could have my son back in my life again. That he could actually do the unthinkable,forgiving me—-” More tears fell down her cheeks. “He told me it was all because ofyou.That loving you changed him. And to think h-he even asked for my forgiveness—-”
Raquel fell to her knees.
Anneke paled.
“This is all I can do for my son.” Raquel stared up at Marcus’ wife. “Please. I’m begging you. Please give my son one more chance.”
****
MARCUS’ ENTIRE PENTHOUSEapartment was shrouded in darkness when she let herself in. It took a while before she found him, alone in the balcony, and when Anneke whispered his name—-
He whirled around clumsily to face her, a visibly stunned expression on his handsome face. “Anneke?” He took a step towards her, unsteady on his feet, and it broke her heart to see the loss of grace in his movements. It just wasn’t right.
“You shouldn’t—-” Marcus raked a hand through his hair. “You shouldn’t be here.”
His words were halting, and this broke her heart even more. This wasn’t right either, when he used to be so wonderfully eloquent.
“I didn’t want to be here at the start,” she answered shakily. “I was so happy, you know? But then Freddie told me what she discovered about your grandmother’s will—-”
Pain fleeted over her face, and Marcus sucked his breath.
