If the cheating bastard she called husband didn’t care about their family, she did. In fact, the only reason Moira had not packed her things and vanished from Bob’s life yet was her inability to provide for Dani and Felipe on her own. Without a safe net in the form of family members, she didn’t see how she could find a decent-paying job. One for which her lack of higher education wouldn’t be aproblem.
She had endured more of her fair share of humiliations andpettiness.
She had buried her head in the sand to stay in a loveless marriage for the sake of her kids. At least, until they were old enough for Moira to takeaction.
Staring at the damning piece of paper, she realized she couldn’t wait thatlong.
She wouldn’t wait anotherday.
Enough with thepretense.
Except, she would be wise about it. She wouldn’t grab her kids and go. She would kick the bastardout.
* * *
As soon asBob stepped inside her house, with his two VIP clients in tow, she put her plan in motion. Having two conservative pricks as witnesses was the best thing that could have happened to her, the perfect scenario for herperformance.
She could not care less for what Bob did with his life, or where he stuck his dick. She needed to convince her audience otherwise. She needed to make a case of the scorned wife, in case she went to court for herrights.
“Honey, I’m home.” His singsong greeting rang in the silenthouse.
For precaution, Moira had taken the kids to a neighbor’s house. Good old Mrs. Oliveira lived next door and was always at the ready to lend a hand whenever Moira needed someone to watch over Danielle and Felipe. She didn’t want them to overhear the ugly confrontation she was about tounleash.
“How could you do this to me?” she yelled at Bob, brandishing the pink piece of paper under his nose. “Who’s this woman? Why did she write those things toyou?”
As part of her act, Moira had underdressed and left her hair piled up in a messy bun on top of her hair. She had pinched her cheeks to get them flushed and had been biting the inside of her mouth for a while before Bob came home. Her eyes were convincingly moist, but not over-the-topred.
“Moira, darling. It’s a misunderstanding.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was also playing for their audience. “You’re too distraught, not fit for this conversation right now. I’ll explain it later. Let me take Mr. Camargo and Mr. Almeida back to their hotel, treat them to dinner, and then we’ll talk.” He slowed down his speech as if talking to a little kid. “In the meantime, you calm down, all right? There’s no reason to worry. We’ll get it sortedout.”
“We could call a taxi to go back. You’ve got a lot going on here,” one of his clientssuggested.
“Nonsense. She’s overreacting. You know how women get on certain days of the month, am I right?” He winked at the man, who didn’t display the same chauvinist attitude towardfemales.
“Your wife might not agree with that statement. In any case, this is a matter you should discuss inprivate.”
“That’s precisely my point. There’s nothing to discuss. Moira has got her wires crossed here.” She swatted his hands away when Bob tried to embrace her. “But, you and Mr. Almeida shouldn’t have to endure her ravings. That’s why I suggest we go back to thehotel.”
Taking a couple of steps back, Moira eyeballed Bob and squared her shoulders. Plan was going exactly like she hadhoped.
Chin up, she delivered her killer blow. “In fact, there’s no misunderstanding this little note from your very young lover. She describes explicitly what you two have been doing behind my back. There’s nothing to sort out, Bob,” she deadpanned, as she handed him an overnight bag she had packed for him with his toiletries and a couple of shirts. “Let me make things easier for you. Take your clients to the hotel right now. You can order dinner and entertain them in your room there, because you’re not setting foot again in this house until I talk to alawyer.”
Bob hesitated and, for a second, Moira thought he’d fight forher.
Bob caved in. “I don’t want to cause a scene. I’ll spend the night at the hotel, but I’ll come back tomorrow morning, and we’ll discussthis.”
He didn’t come back, not the following morning, not for weeks ormonths.
Moira eventually made peace with the fact Bob Mathias was never coming back. Wilma Fernandes vanished from sight about the same time. Moira wondered if they had run away together, or if they had run into troubletogether.
Bob’s advertising agency continued to prosper, his name stayed on the letterhead. If Silvio Fernandes hadn’t changed the name of their business, she figured he never learned about Bob’s affair with hisdaughter.
Unless, that was all forshow.
Silvio Fernandes was a ruthless man with connections to people who lived by their ownlaws.
Moira wouldn’t want to cross SilvioFernandes.
He was not a forgivingman.
