The Wicked Mrs. Gastrell (English version)

Flashback

“Just walk casually and let me handle all of them. Smile if you have to but never answer their questions. You get me?”

I nod at Cholo’s whisper. How else could I say no if he didn’t give me a chance to refuse because he pulled me out of the car to the huge gate of a very luxurious mansion where there were already many media people outside and waiting for us.

The first plan was a gathering of the Gastrell family again, but instead of the mansion, it was outside. The paid journalists of Cholo’s mother need to see us to publish the photos the next day to end the speculations. We will also host an ambush interview to announce to everyone that we are indeed married.

But all of that suddenly didn’t work out because Cholo’s mom called while we were in the car to say that the venue had changed. Instead of going to a restaurant, the Asturias and I will eat at home because the family has prepared a press conference for the proclamation regarding the candidacy of Cholo’s mother. The Asturia family is one of the so-called kingmakers of the town. Any politician it supports wins the election.

So now I try to smile at every reporter’s question even though the first thing I want to do is wince. I held Cholo’s hand tightly because of the tension.

They almost shove the cameras in my face. If it wasn’t for the help of the bodyguards and Cholo, I might have been crushed by their aggressiveness to get an answer from me.

Cholo stopped for a moment in front of the gate and faced the reporters. He smiled charmingly at her.

“I’m sorry guys but we have to decline some of your questions that don’t have anything to do with my mother’s campaign. We’re not here to answer your personal questions. We’re here as members of the Gastrell family to support my mother.”

Cholo was already helping me enter the open gate but they still didn’t stop from asking me.

“Mr. Gastrell, is Karina Versoza really your wife or is this another political gimmick to cover up your scandal?”

“Then, will your engagement with Elizabeth Asturia not continue?”

“Will Asturia withdraw their support for Mrs. Gastrell?”

“Karina, what do you have to say about the spreading news that you are said to be working as prostitute in a club where you met Cholo Gastrell?”

We were both frozen by the question. My hands got cold hearing that. I turned to Cholo only to be shocked by the very dark expression on his face that I saw.

He loosened his grip on my hand and faced the reporter who asked.

“Ask that malicious question again and I might reconsider our company’s support to your broadcasting company. I love my wife very much and I will not stand here while hearing these untasteful remarks. You know me. I’m very open to all of you but you have stepped on the line. Do that again and I will take precautions for my wife’s integrity.”

Cholo tightened his hold on my hand before he pulled me into the gate and left the silenced reporters.

My heart swelled because of how he protected me. I didn’t think he would defend me and rebuke the obvious trigger of the reporters earlier. I thought he would just ignore it.

When we entered the mansion of the Asturias, I was overwhelmed again by the size of the entire household. Like the Gastrells’ mansion, it felt like I had entered a museum because of the antique furniture displayed in every corner of the place. The portrait of the Asturias in the living room is a picture of a very relaxed and powerful family.

“Cholo, it’s good that you are here now. We’ve been waiting for you for a while.”

We looked up at his mother who was in the stairwell. I even caught her raised eyebrows and the appearance of disgust on her face when she saw Cholo holding my hand. I tried to take my hand back but he wouldn’t let me go.

I looked behind Cholo’s mother where Elizabeth was standing staring at the two of us below. She looked down at our joined hands. I didn’t want to hold on to Cholo more, but I had nothing left to hold on to because he let go of my hand.

I looked at him with disappointment. I wish I hadn’t because I saw how he looked at Elizabeth full of longing.

A fine point of a needle pierced into my chest. It seems that they don’t have anyone else with them because of the way they look at each other. I suddenly became an extra in the scene from what I thought was the role I am playing as lead.

“Son, come up here. We’ve been waiting for you for a while,” his mother called again before turning to Elizabeth. “Ely, please wait for Cholo. I need to attend to some things now.”

“Okay,” she answered modestly while fixing her long and shiny hair.

I watched how she acted, how she smiled like an actress, and how she dressed like a model. I look down on my favorite clothes that don’t suit me. I’m just a rag beside Elizabeth Asturia.

“Karina, stay here. I’ll be back.”

Cholo didn’t even wait for me to answer because he immediately went up the stairs. I looked at them when I saw Elizabeth holding Cholo’s hand that I was still holding earlier.

With a heavy chest, I turned around and left the living room and continued to the garden in the backyard. No one came to see me so I sat down in a chair facing the fountain. I stared at the sculpted white lion spewing water. I suddenly felt smaller. The joy I felt earlier when Cholo defended me was replaced by sadness.

I’ve known for a long time that I am in trouble. I’m the only one who gives color to his every move whenever I’m with him. Of course he would do that because we had to act as a couple in front of people. He needs to show people that he loves me. What he said earlier was maybe a part of the acting between the two of us.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I counted to ten to calm myself down. When I opened my eyes, I almost screamed in shock because of a pair of blue eyes staring blankly at me. I stood up suddenly but he immediately pushed me back to my seat. With wide eyes and parted lips, I looked at the stranger who crouched in front of me and studied my face. I looked down when I couldn’t take his searching gaze anymore. After a while, he gulped and sat down on the pavement and raised one knee to hang his arm.

“So you must be her,” he broke the silence.

I was startled by his the insult in his voice. I looked up to meet our eyes.

“Who?”

He laughed sarcastically before turning its gaze back to me.

“Cholo’s wife.” He looked at me from head to toe before laughing again. “Where did he find you? In the club? In the street? I don’t understand why he was able to replace someone like you with my sister. I don’t easily discriminate against people but I can tell you are fake by the way your eyes looked at me with shame. How much did he pay you? A million? Half? I can pay you double. Just leave this town. Now.”

I felt insecure again. If someone like him was able to read me just by looking at me, how about the other people in Cerro Roca’s high society whom Cholo and I intend to deceive? Maybe they are secretly laughing at me. Even though my clothes look expensive, I know they don’t suit me. My speech, which is obviously crooked when speaking English, is a sign of my humble origins, and even the way I hold a small toy knife as I cut the reddened, raw-like meat may have been secretly mocked by them as well.

But that doesn’t matter anymore because Cholo needs me as much as I need the money I can get from him for my brother’s future and my father’s hospitalization.

For someone like me who is desperate for money, this opportunity is a blow to the moon so I will die before I admit the truth.

I looked up at the man’s handsome face. So this is Elizabeth’s brother, but I can’t see any similarities between the faces of the two except maybe the color of their eyes. Even though I felt fear because of the dangerous look of his smile, I tried to put it aside.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll leave you. My husband is looking for me.”

I stood up to leave but he stopped me by the hand.

“I don’t think you get what I wanted to say. When I said you leave this place, you will leave or you’ll be sorry for what will happen to your father and brother.”

I froze at what the man meant. I bit my tongue and swallowed the blockage in my throat.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked in dread.

The smile on his face disappeared and a serious line took its place on his lips.

He lowered his face slightly to mine and gave me a smile that I will never forget for the rest of my life.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Leave this place or I’ll strangle you to death. With your entire family.”

As he said that, his cold eyes stared at me without blinking. The cold flowed to the tiny veins of my body. Fear immediately entered my heart because of his threats.

It’s okay for me to threaten me. It’s okay for them to insult and laugh at me. I will accept all of that. But if they include my family then that is a different story.

This man is an Asturia while I am just a lowly Versoza.

“W-why are you doing this? What have I done to you? I have done nothing to you. Why do you feel sorry for my family?”

I withdrew my trembling hand from his grasp and hid it behind my back. I took a few steps back to somehow get away from him. My heart was beating so fast and even though I couldn’t see myself, I knew I had been pale for a while.

He came closer to me and fixed my stray hair.

“You didn’t do anything directly to me but you hurt our beloved family member. Your trembling body cannot pay for the tears she had shed. It’s sickening to see my sister crying because of a rag doll like you. There’s no other way to retrieve herself but to eliminate you out of sight. Now, choose. Will you leave safely with money or will you leave in a coffin with your whole family? Choose Karina before I choose the latter for you. ”

I desperately looked down so that I could calm myself for a moment. But even the expensive high-heeled shoes only worsens the nervousness that enslaves me.

I took a breath and looked up at the man again. Even though my answer was against my heart, I nodded. Even though it was difficult for me to decide, I forced myself. Even though I knew that Cholo would hate me because of what I was going to do, I didn’t mind it.

“How much?”

A smile gradually appeared on the man’s lips.

“Good girl. I know you will deliver.”