Chapter 17

Luke kept on hitting his cousin's face with his right fist as his left hand held his collar. Each time he punched Reed, he was cursing loudly too.
"Luke!" Isabelle cried.
"LUKE!! NO!!" screamed Kara who came from the kitchen. She dropped the cup of coffee in shock.
One housekeeper was behind her and when she saw what was happening, screaming, she went back to the kitchen. Reed was trying to block Luke punches with his arms while he was murmuring his name repeatedly hoping that he would stop but Luke pushed him on the wall and was now smacking his stomach. Kara was hollering his name so he would finally end what he was doing but he didn't seem to hear her. She didn’t want to go near them since from the furious look on her cousin’s face, he might accidentally hit her if she came closer. Isabelle on the other hand seemed to have woken up from her shock when Kara’s voice became even louder. Thankfully Luis and Mario came to the living room.
"SIR!" Luis called before trying to pull Reed.
"Back off!!” Luke commanded angrily.
Mario also helped by pulling Reed while Luis was trying to block Luke.
"LUKE!!" the old Mrs. Contrero voice thundered in the room
***
Luke’s parents and Reed’s just finished talking in the study. The former's parents were very apologetic. Luke was forced to apologize to his cousin whose eyes were swollen and a trace of blood from an ugly cut on his upper lip was on his chin . Kara explained why Luke got furious to both of their parents. Reed didn't say anything when Luke apologized. He was too stunned with that happened. This was the first time his cousin had been violent with him. He got out of the house with the others without even throwing Luke a glance. When they were gone, Mrs. Contrero started to reprimand her son.
"You are out of line! How could you do such a barbaric thing? What do you think of yourself? Still a student who used to be always involved in brawls? That you were fighting with strangers because of your club hopping and being at wild parties? I am very disappointed! You hit your cousin! How could you do that to Reed? All these happened because you were paranoid! Why did you ever think that he was doing something malicious to Isabelle? What’s wrong with you?! I don’t even know you anymore!” she said angrily.
Exasperated, Luke raked his fingers through his hair, "I said I was sorry, Ma. Let’s leave it at that! I can't really explain what's happening to me!" he admitted while sounding irritated.
His mother rolled her eyes, "If you want to make your marriage work, you better do something about your attitude! I don’t want this kind of thing to happen again!”
“I went crazy when I saw them together! Reed shouldn’t be anywhere near my wife because we already talked about that!” he said tersely.
Mrs. Contrero just sighed heavily, “You said something to me on the phone before! What was it again?” she asked to change the topic.
She probably noticed that Luke might have apologized but he won’t have second thoughts smacking Reed again if he there would be a repeat of what he saw. With or without malice, his cousin better not come near his wife.
Isabelle was left in the living room and when she saw Kara she asked her immediately, “Where is Luke and his parents? Were you able to talk?”
Kara just nodded, "They are still in the study. I think you and my cousin should talk. He should trust you. I was shocked to know that he has a jealous side. It is really very surprising,” she added with a shake of her head, "I have to go. My family is waiting outside. Let’s keep in touch. Text or call me any time,” she kissed her on the cheek.
She nodded at her before she proceeded to the study. It wasn’t hard to find it though the house was big and there were many doors. Only one of them was ajar so she knew it was the room. She didn't have any intention to eavesdrop but she halted when she heard voices.
"For goodness sake Luke! How could you do that?! You are hiding the truth from Isabelle!" Luke's mother accused.
"You think I like it? Once she knew the truth, she would leave me and I won't have that! I know that if she had another choice, she won't agree to come with me and get married to me! But she is mine and I will do anything so she will stay mine! I am even willing to lie to her if I have to!!"
She heard enough. In shock, she slowly moved away from the door. She felt pain in her chest as she walked away from the study. Near the living room, she noticed a small door which was probably the powder room. She entered and locked the door. There was a big mirror in front of the sink. She stared at herself. So it's confirmed. Their wedding was fake. If she felt a pain in her chest a while ago, now the pain seemed to have disappeared. She was feeling numb but her eyes were wet. She wasn’t going to cry. There was no reason to cry. She would be just wasting tears. She already suspected that their wedding wasn’t real. But it was more painful now that she heard it with her own ears. After the pain there was numbness and the pain went back again. She touched her chest. Her heart was thumping.
Don’t you dare cry Issa! You can get through this!- She advised herself.
She needed to stick to her plan. Luke shouldn’t suspect that she knew everything. Her plans for herself mustn’t go to waste. She just have to tell herself repeatedly that Luke was a good and very generous especially when he wasn’t jealous. She had learned how to live with his possessiveness anyway. She felt uncomfortable when he bought things for her and she didn’t even use the credit card he gave her. She was even planning to give it back to him since she didn't want to use it. But she changed her mind now. She would keep it. The card would come in handy in the future. From now on, whatever he gave her or bought for her, she would gladly accept. She won’t leave him too even if it was confirmed that their marriage was fake. If he needed her for sex, she needed him to finish her studies. She will leave him but not yet. The only reason why she would leave him before her graduation was if she caught him womanizing. That would be really be unacceptable. She would continue being submissive so she could gain his trust. He would let his guard down especially if he thought she had no idea about the wild parties he often attended. She wasn’t used to pretending but she had to do it. With one long sigh, she fixed herself before getting out of the powder room.
Luke’s mother fussed over her before they left. She knew that she was feeling sorry for her. She could use that to her advantage. If she needed her help, she would easily give it to her.
"Don't hesitate to call me Isabelle if you need anything. I apologize for what my son did,” she said with a small smile before she hugged her.
“Thank you,” was all she could say.
***
After the incident at his parents' house looked became stricter. He was the one dropping her off at school and picking her up. He would get angry if she came out late. He said that if she would always go out of the gate late, he would get a female bodyguard for her. She just tried to pacify him by always telling him that the male students were aware that her husband knew the owner so they were scared to go near her. She had to explain that the reason why she was sometimes late was because they had to do some extra tasks after class. She was always using a gentle voice to explain things to him. She didn’t want him to do what he said about a female bodyguard. Everything was okay after that. But the problem was, he started coming home late. His usual excuse was he was with his clients. She didn’t let him notice that she was beginning to be doubtful. Like tonight, it was past ten but he wasn’t home yet. He told her that he might be late and she didn’t have to wait up for him. Her message alert tone sounded. She didn’t know why her heart skipped a beat when she saw an unknown number. A name of what seemed to be like a condominium building and even the number of the unit was written.
Go to this place now. The guards will ask you for password before they'll let you in. Just say, my lips are sealed.
Her heart thumped after she read the message. She hurriedly changed her night wear. It was a good thing that the other people in the house were already fast asleep. Luis was with Luke so she could go without any problem. She quietly went out of the house. She was thankful when an empty taxi was passing by. She hailed it immediately. Her heart was still pounding while she was inside the cab. She didn't know what she would see. She was scared but she had to go the address which she received on her cell phone. She had a feeling that Luke was there. The unit was on the 10th floor. It was easy to locate the room because there were two beefy man standing close to a door. She swallowed then took a deep breath before heading towards them. They looked intimidating.
When she was in front of the door, one of the men spoke, "Miss you are not allowed to enter."
"My lips are sealed,” she uttered.
The two men exchanged a look. After several seconds, the taller one nodded at her.
"Okay Miss, you can get inside,” he said while opening the door for her.
In front of her was a long corridor. There was a door on the right which seemed to be the toilet. She heard men’s voices and there was music. A sensual song was playing. She slowly walked inside. The noise was coming from the pool area. There were some men who probably were Luke's college friends according to Eunice. Luis was sitting a few meters from them. The men were in long sleeves with loosened tie. They were surrounding two chairs while they were making happy sounds. There were two women in two piece bathing suits who were dancing . One of them was hugging one of the men on one of the chairs. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sound. She knew the other man who was sitting on the other chair though his back was on her. She could recognize him well even if she couldn’t see his face. She knew the shirt. Luke was on a chair seated while a woman was straddling him. The woman’s arms were wrapped on his nape while she was kissing him on the lips.