C18 Lines Drawn in the Sand

Olivia casually leaned in opposition to the wardrobe, examining her nails. “Oh, the ones?” she said dismissively. “They’re where they belong. In the storeroom. I figured she should choose a room for herself when she’s again. It's not my job to play maid and set up her things. She doesn’t belong right here anymore.”

Anthony’s fury flared, and he grabbed Olivia’s arm, forcing her to stand him. “What the hell is inaccurate with you, Olivia? Mia is still my wife. You haven't any right to touch her things or to decide where she remains!”

Olivia yanked her arm away, her eyes narrowing. “Wife? Is that what you observed—this is approximately, Anthony? Some piece of paper? Marriage isn’t the entirety. Do you even love her?”

Her words hung inside the air like a dagger, sharp and cutting. Anthony blinked, taken aback using her boldness; however, he didn’t solve it right away. His silence is best regarded as spurring Olivia on.

“You can’t even say it; are you able to?” She persevered, her voice dripping with satisfaction. “You don’t love her, Anthony. Not truly. If you did, we wouldn’t be in this mess. You wouldn’t have slept with me. So don’t stand there appearing all high and mighty, such as you’re the proper husband.”

Anthony’s jaw clenched as he stared at Olivia, the tension between them crackling. His mind became racing, torn between the burden of his mistakes and the chaos unfolding earlier than him.

“This isn’t approximately love,” Anthony subsequently muttered, his voice strained. “It’s about duty. I’m trying to ease up the mess I’ve made.”

Olivia laughed, a sour sound that crammed the room. “Responsibility? Please, Anthony. You can’t even take duty for your moves, not to mention take care of two women. You need to play the victim, like this all just occurred to you. But you made choices, and now you’re managing the outcomes. So what’s it going to be? Me and your child, or this fake marriage you hold seeking to salvage?”

Anthony’s chest tightened, the load of the state of affairs suffocating him. He didn’t understand what to say or how to restore this. He had made a multitude of the whole lot—his marriage with Mia, his entanglement with Olivia, the kid he hadn’t planned for.

Before he ought to reply, Olivia stepped nearer, her eyes locking along with his. “You have to pick out, Anthony. You can’t keep juggling each person. Either you’re with me and our baby, or you let me pass.”

Anthony regarded away, unable to satisfy her gaze. His thoughts were a whirlwind of guilt, anger, and confusion. Mia had already started out pulling away, her matters packed up and shoved into the garage like she was getting ready to leave him in the back of the truck. And Olivia... she wasn’t going to make this easy. She never did.

Olivia watched him, her expression softening barely. “I’m now not looking to make your existence tougher, Anthony,” she stated, her voice quieter now. “I just need to know where I stand. And where our baby stands. I’m not going to be saved within the shadows, now not anymore.”

Anthony exhaled slowly, his mind heavy with the burden of his picks. “I don’t recognize, Olivia,” he said, his voice slightly above a whisper. “I don’t know what to do.”

Olivia shook her head, a hint of frustration crossing her face. “You can’t preserve saying that. You need to discern it out. And soon. Because I’m now not waiting forever.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Anthony standing there, misplaced inside the wreckage of his existence. He knew he needed to make a selection; however, regardless of which manner he became, a person turned into going to get hurt.

And deep down, he feared it would already be too past due to fixing any of it.

Later that night, I was in the end given domestic, exhaustion weighing me down after the lengthy day in the studio. All I wanted was a shower and to slide into bed, hoping for some hours of peace far away from the chaos swirling around me. But as quickly as I stepped into my room, a peculiar feeling crept over me. Something became off.

I walked over to the cloth cabinet, prepared to seize my nightwear; however, after I opened the doorways, my stomach dropped. The cabinets had been empty. My clothes, my shoes, even the little jewelry field I saved at the cloth wardrobe—all long gone. My heart started racing as I frantically searched each corner of the room, hoping this would become a few mistakes. But no, my things were nowhere to be located.

Without thinking, I grabbed my smartphone and dialed Anthony. My voice turned shaky as I spoke into the smartphone. “Anthony, arise here. Now.”

Within minutes, he regarded the door, a glance of mild annoyance on his face, as this changed into simply every other inconvenience in his already hard day. “What’s happening, Mia?” he requested, leaning in opposition to the doorframe.

I took a deep breath, seeking to maintain my voice consistently. “Where are my assets? All my garments, the whole thing... they’re gone.”

He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Olivia took them out.”

I blinked at him, taken aback. “Olivia? Did you take them out? And you just let her? You watched her do it?”

“No,” he stated quickly, stepping closer to me. “I didn’t see her do it. I got here domestically and discovered that she had already performed it. I’ll tell the housekeeper to carry them back. It’s not a huge deal.”

“Not a large deal?” I repeated, my voice growing. “Anthony, why could she even think she had the right to touch my things in the first vicinity? Or is it what I think it is?”

He reached for my fingers, trying to calm me down, but his touch most effective made me angrier. “Mia, don’t suppose like that. I’ll restore it, OK? I’ll get this sorted out.” He pulled out his smartphone and referred to me as one of the housekeepers, ordering them to bring all my belongings lower back to the room right away.

I crossed my palms, looking at him closely. “You can’t maintain pronouncing you’ll repair matters, Anthony. Olivia has no respect for me, for our marriage, and now this? What’s subsequent? She’s already acting like she owns this area.”

He didn’t reply; he just gave me that equally worn-out appearance, the only one he usually gave when he doesn’t want to deal with the reality of the situation. I waited for a couple of minutes, waiting to hear the housekeeper knocking with my things, but the silence stretched on too long. My staying power snapped.

“I’m going downstairs to peer what’s taking goodbye,” I said, pushing beyond him and heading down the stairs.

When I reached the lowest of the staircase, I couldn’t trust my eyes. Olivia and Evelyn have been status in the middle of the hallway, educating the housekeepers to forestall what they had been doing. My suitcases and garments had been sitting there, right in the middle of the hallway. The housekeepers, unsure of what to do, hesitated with my property in hand, looking among Evelyn and Olivia for in addition education.

“What the hell goes on here?” I demanded, stepping forward.