Don't you dare

Arthur

Well, I was a complete idiot and believed her, I even congratulated her for being honest and even though I still love my wife, I let her go because we have no control over our feelings.

But what I didn't know yet, was that Gisele was blatantly lying, her affair with the man she claimed to be in love with had been going on for months and I was being betrayed with a straight face.

Anyway, I left the house feeling lost, not knowing how I could live without the only woman I ever loved I had several shots of tequila while watching the announcement of a virgin auction on Season Hot, and decided that I would buy one of those virgins and lose myself in her body, forgetting my wife's request for divorce.

I had taken Mariana, a beautiful girl, and she caught my attention immediately, awakening all my senses, and for a few minutes, while we were kissing, I didn't think about Gisele.

But when the moment came to consummate the sexual act, I could not.

I simply looked at Mariana, but all I could see in front of me was my wife's face, and that was something unpleasant.

I would never be able to have sex with a woman while thinking of another woman and I gave up going ahead, I just gave Mariana one last kiss and apologized.

But we still talked a lot, I got her phone number, and the next day I called and made another appointment, I was really willing to get to know that girl better, and move on, because Gisele was already doing that even before ending our marriage.

I thought about Mariana, how beautiful and hard-working she is, and how her eyes sparkled when she told me about the store she was set up with her best friend and her dream of becoming a famous fashion designer.

But I was terribly wrong to take that simple girl to my friends' house, to a barbecue where I knew Gisele would be, all for the sake of pride, to show everyone that I was getting over my ex-wife, trying to make everyone believe that I was not suffering from our separation and her betrayal.

Gisele was so angry that I had done this that she convinced Julio, our mutual friend and the owner of the house where the barbecue was being held, to participate in an extremely low level of deception that I only found out about sometime later.

And when Mariana went to the bathroom, some friends called me into the library of the house, trapping me there in a totally nonsensical conversation, and when I returned to the pool area, Mariana was gone.

I didn't have time to look for her, because soon Gisele was beside me, asking for a second chance, and swearing that she was very sorry for ending our marriage like that.

"But... aren't you in love?" I, like an idiot, asked.

"I was confused, my love," Gisele said, sounding sincere in her words, "The only man I have ever loved and want to be with is you, Arthur. Please forgive me.”

She threw herself into my arms and I completely forgot about anything else, I didn't even bother to look for Mariana, to know how she had managed to leave, and even less why she had left.

And less than three months later, while I was in an important meeting, Gisele was once again asking me for a divorce, this time by text message.

Gisele: Honey, I'm leaving home.

Arthur:?

Gisele: I'm going to live with the man I love.

Arthur: This story again?

Gisele: The divorce papers are with my lawyer.

Gisele: He will look for you.

Gisele: Kisses.

And with just this explanation she left our home directly for Argentina, to live with her great love, as she made clear in her messages, while she left me without even thinking twice.

And now, fate had put Mariana back in my path, and I intended not to let this opportunity slip away again, by any means.

The sound of the door being opened and rushing footsteps made me open my eyes immediately, as I straightened better in my chair, only to be surprised by Ethan's presence before me.

"Ethan!" I asked, genuinely surprised.

" I came all this way just to give you a warning, " my partner says, his tone of a voice screaming "danger", his finger cocked " Stay away from Mariana!”

Ethan

I looked intently at the idiot in front of me, his desk between us, but my urge really was to break that asshole's face, while my urge was to at the very least stick my finger in his face.

" You don't own Mariana, Ethan " he dared to say " You can't determine who gets close to her or not and I don't care what you say.”

Arthur was also now holding his finger up, his body tense and showing he was as angry as I was feeling at that moment.

"What do you want? To use her again, to see if your cheating wife will come back to you like she did last time? I threw it in his face, to show that I already knew the whole story.”

Arthur has the dignity to look embarrassed when confronted with that truth, everyone knew that he had been betrayed by his wife and that she had left with that Argentinean businessman.

"Gisele is living her life now, and I intend to do the same," he replies, standing up and going around the table, "and if Mariana wants me, it will be by her side, and you have nothing to do with it.”

"I'm telling you she doesn't want me," I say, and I'm quite sure of it "I'm telling you again, stay the hell away from Mariana, do you hear me? All the humiliation you've put her through is enough, taking her to the lions' den and leaving her there on her own, you bastard!”

Arthur looked at me puzzled to hear my words, but I had already said what I intended and was walking to the door, I didn't want to act violently, but it was hard to hold myself back, looking at his asshole face, who had the nonsense to confront me.

" Was Mariana humiliated?" Arthur asks, and his expression says that he doesn't know what I'm talking about " What kind of crazy talk is that!!!?”