The Mistress - 9. Chapter 9: Mateo's life takes a drastic turn

Emma's eyes bore into Mateo with a mixture of disgust and amusement, her lips curling into a mocking smile.

“Well, well, well,” she taunted, her voice dripping with scorn. “Look at you, so surprised and scared. You should be, considering you've been sleeping with my husband.”

Mateo felt a chill run down his spine as Emma's laughter filled the air, echoing off the walls of his apartment. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a single word, she pushed past him, striding into the living room as if she owned the place.

Turning to face Mateo, she looked around the room with a nod of approval, her gaze lingering on him with thinly veiled contempt.

“Not bad,” she commented, her tone laced with disdain. “Quite the nice place my husband has gotten for you. Shame he's been wasting his money on trash like you.”

Mateo flinched at Emma's words; his fear palpable as he struggled to find his voice in the face of her cruelty. He glanced at Mark, who stood nearby, his expression inscrutable, sending a chill down Mateo's spine.

“Did you know that my husband didn't come home last night”" Emma's voice rang out, filled with accusation. “I didn't leave him there, but you knew that, didn't you? You were too busy screwing my husband the entire time he was missing, weren't you?”

Mateo's heart pounded in his chest, his guilt and shame threatening to consume him. Emma's words tore through him like a hurricane, leaving devastation in their wake.

“Aren’t you ashamed to be opening your legs for a married man?” She barked. “But you knew that from the very start and yet, you continued screwing my husband despite knowing he had a wife.”

As Emma continued to berate him, Mateo closed his eyes, unable to bear the weight of her scorn any longer. Her words echoed in his mind, each one a painful reminder of his betrayal.

“Never in my wildest nightmare did I ever think I'd confront my husband's whore,” Emma spat, her voice filled with disgust. “And a man, no less. A man who isn't even good-looking, not on my level.”

Mateo swallowed hard, feeling the sting of her words like a lash against his skin. He wished he could disappear, vanish into thin air and escape the shame that threatened to consume him.

“Why are you being quiet?” Emma demanded, her anger boiling over. “You're not mute, are you?”

Mark's laughter cut through the tense silence, his words dripping with disdain. “What can he say?” Mark sneered. “He's just a cheap whore caught in the act.”

Mateo's tears flowed freely now, his heart breaking with every cruel word spoken against him. He glanced at Mark, his vision blurred by tears, only to be met with cold indifference.

“Those tears don't fool me,” Mark said, his voice cutting like a knife. “Stop with the acting.”

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, his voice barely audible over the turmoil raging inside him.

But Mark's harsh laughter cut through the air like a knife, mocking Mateo's remorse.

“Sorry?” he sneered. “You're not sorry. You knew exactly what you were doing when you slept with Henry. You knew he was married, and you didn't care. What's your excuse now?”

Mateo nodded, his tears falling unchecked now as he struggled to find the words to express the depth of his regret.

“I had no choice,” he choked out, his voice trembling with emotion. “I knew it was wrong, and I've regretted it every single day since. Believe me, if I could turn back time I would…”

“Make things right?” Mark chimed in, raising an eyebrow. “Save your excuses, you don't fool anyone. If you had any decency left, you'd crawl into a hole and die.”

Mateo felt as though he had been punched in the gut, the pain of Mark's words searing through him like a branding iron. He looked at the man he had once loved, his heart breaking at the sight of the hatred and disgust in his eyes.

Before Mateo could respond, Emma interjected, her voice dripping with venom as she delivered her own cutting remarks.

“Behind every whore, there's a bitch of a mother that failed to teach her child some basic manners.” Emma spat, breathing harshly. “You've ruined a happy home. All I have ever wanted is a happy home, and I thought I had it until that day at the restaurant when I found out my husband was screwing another man.”

Mateo was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He didn’t know what to do or how to respond.

“The greatest wish of a woman is to have a happy home and her greatest joy is to carry a child for the man she loves.” She continued. “But in my case, I can’t even be happy because of a homewrecker trying to ruin my home.”

Emma’s words sent a chill down Mateo's spine, his heart pounding with a mixture of dread and disbelief. He stared at her with wide eyes, his mind racing as he tried to comprehend the implications of her words.

“Are you... pregnant?” Mateo stammered, his voice barely a whisper, his entire body trembling with fear.

Emma's laughter was like a dagger to his heart, her scornful tone sending shivers down his spine. She raised her finger, her anger palpable as she unleashed her fury upon him.

“It doesn't matter!” she spat. “But let me promise you something… I won't allow you to ruin my home, to take away my child's chance at happiness because of scum like you. As long as I'm alive, you won't become Henry's spouse. I won't allow it.”

She got closer, her mouth trembling. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go far away, so far away from us and I don’t care if you’ll live or die. I just don’t ever wanna set my eyes on you again. If you don’t comply…” She chirped, shaking her head. “…I’ll make sure I erase you myself and that’s not a threat, it’s a promise. Dare me.”

With a hiss of anger, Emma pushed Mateo to the floor with a force that sent him crashing down with a painful thud. As she stormed out of the room, Mateo lay there, battered and broken, his heart heavy with the weight of Emma's wrath and the news that had completely changed whatever he had felt was possible.

“Looks like you’re back to where you belong, the ground.”

Mateo's heart pounded with a mixture of fear and defiance as Mark's cruel words washed over him, each one landing with a painful sting.

“Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?” His voice trembled as he lifted his head to meet Mark's cold gaze. “Do you take pleasure in my pain?”

But Mark's laughter was devoid of any remorse, his eyes gleaming with malice as he mocked Mateo's anguish.

“That's what hoes like you deserve,” he sneered, his words dripping with contempt. “Back on the ground where you belong.”

Mateo's heart sank as he realized the depth of Mark's animosity towards him. He had never expected such cruelty from someone he had once loved.

“I never thought I'd see this side of you,” Mateo whispered, his voice barely audible over the pounding of his heart. “Was all that sweetness just an act? Or is this who you truly are?”

Mark's response was swift and merciless. “That's how I treat shameless whores,” he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. “You messed with someone I love, and I won't let you get away with it.”

Mateo flinched at Mark's words, his heart heavy with the weight of his accusations.

“I'm not just a whore,” he protested weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. “There's more to me than that. I'm a person, with feelings and regrets.”

In a fit of rage, Mark grabbed Mateo's arm, pulling him roughly from the floor with a strength that took Mateo by surprise. Fear gripped Mateo's heart as he looked into Mark's eyes, seeing nothing but cold indifference staring back at him.

“You’re not capable of feeling anything!” Mark spat, his voice dripping with contempt as he glared at Mateo. “No remorse, no regrets.”

Mateo winced, but he refused to back down. “You’re wrong,” he managed to choke out through the haze of pain. “I do have regrets. And one of them is getting involved with you.”

Mark’s breath caught in his chest, a sharp pang hitting him like a physical blow. His heart raced, his chest tightening with an intensity he couldn’t control. Each breath felt like a battle, a war raging within him

“Don’t you dare…” Mark’s voice was barely a whisper, choked with emotion, “don’t you dare mess with me more than you already have.”

But Mateo’s patience had worn thin, his own anger bubbling to the surface. “What else could you possibly do or say that would hurt me more than what you’ve already done?”

Mark’s lips curled into a sinister smirk, a dark glint dancing in his eyes. “You have no idea, Mateo,” he chuckled darkly. “No idea at all.”

With a sudden, brutal motion, Mark yanked Mateo closer, his grip on his hair unyielding. Mateo struggled against him, his heart pounding in his chest, but it was no use. Mark’s strength was overpowering.

Before Mateo could react, Mark’s hand lashed out, the force of the blow sending him crashing to the floor with a sickening thud. Pain exploded through Mateo’s arm as it hit the ground, shooting through him like bolts of lightning.

“Stop!” Mateo cried out, but Mark paid no heed to his pleas. With a cruel grip, he pulled Mateo up by the hair once more, his breath hot against Mateo’s ear.

“You want to see what I’m capable of?” Mark’s voice was low, filled with a menacing edge. “I’ll show you exactly what I do to whores like you.”

Mateo's pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as Mark, consumed by his own rage and lust, ignored his cries and continued his assault. With a savage grip, he tore Mateo's shirt open, exposing his vulnerable flesh to the cold, unforgiving air of the room.

“No, please, stop!” Mateo begged, his voice raw with fear and desperation. But Mark paid no heed, his hands moving with cruel purpose as he stripped Mateo of his dignity and humanity.

Mateo fought with all his strength, but it was like trying to stop a force of nature. Mark's strength was overwhelming, his movements swift and merciless. Before he knew it, Mateo found himself thrown to the floor once more, his body trembling with terror as he watched Mark unzip his trousers with a sickening sense of dread.

“No, no, no!” Mateo screamed, his voice breaking with anguish as he tried to crawl away. But Mark was relentless, his grip on Mateo's legs like iron as he stripped him of his last vestiges of dignity, leaving him naked and exposed.

Tears streamed down Mateo's face as he pleaded for mercy, his cries echoing off the walls of the room. But Mark was deaf to his suffering, his own desires eclipsing any semblance of humanity.

As Mark gripped him and turned him over, Mateo’s heart hammered in his chest, a primal fear coursing through him. He tried to fight, to resist, but Mark’s strength was overpowering. With a brutal slap, any defiance was silenced as Mateo felt the searing pain of Mark’s assault.

Time seemed to stretch into eternity as Mateo endured the agony of Mark’s violation. Each moment felt like an eternity of torture, his cries drowned out by the deafening silence of his own suffering. And as Mark reached his climax, Mateo lay there, broken and defeated, his spirit shattered by the cruelty of the man he had once loved.

When it was finally over, Mateo curled into a tight ball in the corner of the room, his body racked with sobs as he stared at the man who had assaulted him… the man he had once loved. All he saw in that moment was a monster.

And as he stared at the man who had torn his world apart, all he could do was cry, a silent plea for the pain to end and for the darkness to consume him whole.

Mark zipped up his trousers with a callous indifference, as if what had just transpired was nothing more than a business transaction.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Mark’s voice was laced with contempt as he spoke, his eyes cold and unfeeling. “A transaction, like it should have been from the very beginning.”

With a callous flick of his wrist, Mark produced a check and hurled it at Mateo, the paper landing with a mocking thud beside him.

“Take it and get lost,” he sneered, his words laced with venom. “And stay away from my family, especially Henry. If I ever see you near them again, I’ll do something far worse than this.”

But Mateo remained silent, his tear-streaked face betraying the horror of his ordeal. In that moment, Mark saw something in Mateo’s eyes that sent a shiver down his spine, a raw, unfiltered fear that mirrored his own.

And then, he saw it—the blood staining the floor, the evidence of his brutality laid bare for all to see. Fear gripped Mark’s heart like a vice as he realized the gravity of what he had done, the monstrous act he had committed.

His hands trembled as he backed away, his mind reeling with the horror of his actions. With each step, the weight of his guilt bore down on him like a leaden weight, threatening to crush him beneath its unbearable burden.

As he reached the door, Mateo’s cries intensified, a haunting symphony of pain and suffering that echoed in Mark’s ears like a death knell. Tears welled in his eyes, his body visibly shaking as he fled from that place, his soul laid bare for all to see. From that moment, he knew that he could never outrun the demons that now haunted him, the ghosts of his own making.

*

Mateo's heart felt heavy as he gathered the remnants of his torn clothes, the fabric stained with blood and tears. Each step he took felt like an agonizing journey through a minefield, pain shooting through his body with every movement. He never imagined that Mark, the man he had once loved, could inflict such cruelty upon him. Yet, a part of him couldn't shake the thought that perhaps he deserved it.

As Mateo ascended the staircase, each step felt like a mountain to climb, a testament to the strength he didn't know he possessed. His mind raced with a whirlwind of emotions, confusion and despair warring within him. How could he ever come to terms with what had happened? And more importantly, what should he do next?

To be continued…