The Wicked Mrs. Gastrell (English version)

I woke up from my nap when I felt a warm hand brushing my cheek. I didn’t move and just kept my eyes closed. His touch is like a lullaby that is dragging me back to the rainbows in my dreams.

“Do you wanna go out with me on a date, wife?”

I stifled a laugh when I heard him spurt the words. Without opening my eyes, I reached for his hand and landed a kiss on his palm.

“A date Mr. Gastrell? Let me guess. You’ll try to woo me with your riches. Maybe take me to an expensive candle lit dinner. We’ll dance to the tune of the orchestra, drink with a vintage wine, and then make love under the stars in your yacht. Am I right? Did I get that all right?”

I woke up to meet his gray eyes. He’s staring down at me, a look of fondness in his eyes. I looked down at what he was wearing. He was sporting a differently colored shirt when he said goodbye to me this morning.

He replaced the white undershirt I chose with black polo long sleeves. Even the pastel pants were replaced by a pair of black trousers. What remained from my choices is the customized belt I gave him as a gift. He shook his head as he carefully pulled me to lie on his lap.

“No, I have something different in my mind.”

I closed my eyes again and hugged his thigh.

“What time is it?”

“It’s still five in the afternoon. Why did you sleep here again on the couch? The bed upstairs is more comfortable.”

He combed my hair.

“I like it here. You can easily see me and I can see you immediately. How’s work?”

I lay down and took his hand to wrap around mine.

“Great. We’re finally getting the land in Monte Vega. The owner surprisingly agreed to sell his land to us. You, how’s your day, wife?”

It was pretty intense. I slapped your lover’s face until it bled.

“Just the usual stuff. You know I have done nothing since I came back here in Cerro Roca but to just look around and visit places and of course, be a good wife to you. I went to the grocery to buy something for dinner. I’m thinking of cooking something special but since you wanted me to take you out on a date, I have to scrap the idea.”

He sighed and planted a soft kiss on my temple.

“And you’re doing it all alone. It should have been the two of us but I was always away from you, always the case of an evasive husband.”

“I understand you. Even before coming back, I knew that you’re gonna be like this. Who would be in his right mind to welcome with open arms the wife who has been gone for years? No one. But do you know what’s more puzzling to me now? It’s why you are still not asking me about it.”

I know that he knows what I’m talking about. We’ve been running in circles for days now. He’s been running from confronting me for quite some time now. He used to be very aggressive about finding out the reason for my return, now he almost avoids the subject whenever I bring it up.

“About what?” he asked, faking his knowledge.

“About what happened to me… in the past.”

I didn’t see any reaction from him. He kept his face intact and his eyes fixated on me.

“Are you ready to tell me everything?”

“Did you get me checked already?”

He paused for a moment before nodding.

“Kind of. I was sold to the idea that I have to know you again. I wondered why you came back to me when it’s obvious that you have achieved your success. I have to be honest with you. I had a hard time finding any information about you which is why I’m puzzled about your reason for coming back. You’re a total mystery to me and your changes… if not for your knowledge about our past, people will think you’re not my Karina. But then, with the development of our relationship, I stopped digging for your past because it felt wrong. I wanted you to trust me. I want you to open up to me naturally.”

“I told you already from day one about my reason for coming back. I love you. I still do. No matter what happens, no matter how bad things will turn out, know that that’s one of my real reasons. You might end up hating me again but I’m telling you, my love for you is real. Although it is tainted with anger and hatred, I know in myself that my feelings for you are true. Life took out everything from me and I’m glad that it left me with that feeling.”

I got up from lying down and stood up.

“Well, so much for that. I better dress up for tonight. I have a date with my husband.”

I winked at him before walking towards the stairs, his gaze piercing my back.

Sighing, I stopped in the middle of the staircase and looked back at Cholo who is still watching me from his seat. His eyes held so many questions that I’m not yet ready to answer. He stood up and started walking towards me but I shook my head which made his steps falter.

No, Cholo. This is not yet the time. I have so many things to do and telling you everything is the last thing I wanted to do. It will distract me from being your lover’s worst nightmare.

Understanding what my eyes are communicating silently, he backed out while smiling.

“I’ll wait. Patiently. But please can I make a request? Please wear a dress.”

I raised my brows at him.

“I only have a black dress.”

He shrugged and placed his hands on both hips, a smile playing on his lips.

“I know you would say that and I also know you only have a closet full of black clothes, wife. That’s why I decided to match your color preference.”

He turned around jokingly.

“We’re matchy matchy.”

I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. Why, this man never failed to put butterflies in my stomach be it in the form of tears or smiles.

“Right. I’ll better hurry. I can’t wait to know what my dear husband is cooking.”

I smiled at him one more time and ran to the master’s bedroom to prepare. Two hours later, we were inside his Mercedes Mayback following a trail that I don’t have any idea where it’s leading. When we crossed the main highway and turned into a dark road, that’s when I asked my husband who was holding my hand.

“Are we leaving the city?”

“No, just the outskirts.”

He caressed my thigh and kissed me on the cheek.

“Patience dear.”

I nodded and slowly sank in his arms, his mouth finding mine to give me a kiss. Another hour later and we’re pulling off outside the dark woods.

Although my heart was full of questions, I chose to trust Cholo. Cholo’s driver blew his horn then I heard what sounded like an iron gate opening. I looked at my husband who had an infectious smile. Soon, the car is running again on a one-way pavement.

“Don’t look at me like that. Look around, wife.”

I followed what he said and looked outside the car and was stunned by what I saw. Beyond us is an endless stretch of fields filled with the tallest of the trees all lit up to illuminate the place. In another place there is a clearing where a glass house stands. Somewhere over there, I could see some colorful flowers. I can also hear the splash of water from a distance.

I followed what he said and looked outside the car and was speechless by what I saw. Beyond us is an endless stretch of fields filled with the tallest of the trees all lighted up to illuminate the place.

On the other side, there is a clearing where a glass house stands. Somewhere over there, I could see some colorful flowers. I can also hear the splash of water from a distance.

“You liked it?” Cholo said in a proud voice.

“Are you kidding? Of course I like it! So much! Wow! This place is incredible!” I answered without looking as I continued to adjust my gaze to the surroundings that looked like a Christmas themed party because of the lights.

He chuckled.

“It’s obvious you’re happy. You hardly even look at me.”

I turned to him and rolled my eyes.

“Silly. Of course it’s because of you.”

I pulled his hand and opened the car door. I can’t wait to explore the place.

“Easy. Easy,” he said with a laugh as he held me by the waist because I almost tripped. I held onto his arm for support.

“Does this place really exist in Cerro Roca? Wow! I’ve spent my childhood here but I never knew that this place existed.”

“It used to be just a wilderness before. In times when I’m distraught, I stay here to think. This place offers me silence and beauty. Sometimes, this is where I conceive some of my business ventures. When investors started coming in which turned a sleeping town into a buzzing city, I bought this place to ensure that it will still stay the same. I just added some modifications. I will never let the people forget how beautiful the original Cerro Roca is. I might have not been born and raised here but my heart already belongs to this place.”

He took me by the hand and helped me get on the golf cart that was there when we just got out of the car. The wind blew my hair when we started driving in a sleek road that went criss-crossed throughout the place.

“Wow!” I can’t help but exclaim when I look up at the trees with lights all over their bodies.

“What’s this tree called?”

He grabbed my hair first so it wouldn’t get in the way of my face before answering.

“It’s a rosewood tree locally known as toog, one of the tallest trees in the country. They’ll grow more in the next few years.”

Like a child, I just looked up with full awe at the passing trees lit up by the lights that dazzled their bodies. My lips are open in amazement and my face is full of happiness. It’s just so magical to look at. It’s like a place straight out of a fairytale. Maybe this is how the princesses in the movie feel.

We stopped in front of the glass house where I could see men in suits. I couldn’t help but gasp when I realized that he actually hired an orchestra for this evening.

Cholo mounted out of the cart and held out his hand for me.

“Come, wife. Let’s enjoy the night.”

With my heart about to burst, I gripped his hand and we walked side by side into the house where a man opened the glass door for us. My hunch is incorrect. It’s not just a glass house. It’s more like a mini theater minus the hundreds of seats.

There’s a stage in front where the fifteen to seventeen musicians who are part of the orchestra are situated, the conductor in place to start the show. On the left side are the chefs busy cooking and I can’t help but smell the aroma. Right in the middle is a table for two with a candelabra on it.

Cholo pulled me a chair before sitting on his seat. Right then, the lights in the glass house dimmed and the candles in our table were electronically lit. The orchestra started playing slow classical music and a chef started serving our dinner.

It’s a six-course meal with pomegranate-avocado salsa and lobster salad with beetroot for appetizer which were followed by curried cauliflower and apple soup and bouillabaisse stew.

There’s also caesar salad and for the main course, another chef served us the saffron risotto, and chicken and seafood paella. The dessert is lemon berry dump cake and horchata semifreddo.

“Good thing I didn’t bring some of the food I cooked. Why, I love this culinary experience. I didn’t get to learn this much in culinary school. How did they get this soft and tasty meat? Oh, how mediocre I am!”

Cholo smiled through his glass and patted my hand.

“I still love your cooking. It’s homey. The kind that makes you want to go home at the end of the day after a tired work.”

I pouted at him.

“Good. I like the answer. It’s good that you didn’t lower my confidence too much.”

After the dinner and the orchestra’s performance, my husband asked me out. He’s holding a bottle of wine in his hand while I have the two glasses. Both of our free hands are intertwined.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What’s this place called, Cholo? Are you planning to open this to the public because if you do, I know this would be doing damn good. I can say at this early time that this will for sure be a tourist spot. It will be a lucrative business.”

“It’s my little paradise in Cerro Roca. This place is a very sentimental piece of me but I haven’t got a name for it. Besides, I don’t have the right to it. It’s all yours now.”

I stopped walking and looked at my husband in disbelief with shining eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“This… All of this is all yours now. This is my gift to you, Karina. Now feel free to name it.”

For a few seconds, I was not able to say anything after hearing him say that it’s all mine now. My eyes wandered around the vast and bright surroundings.

“F-For real? You’re really giving it to me? But I thought this place is very special to you?”

“Which is why I’m giving it to you. You’re my wife, the love of my life. Nothing is more special to me other than you.”

He pulled me to the back of the glass house where I couldn’t stop being impressed at anything my eyes were laid into. Before me were lines and lines of oak trees with icicle LED lights in different colors hanging from the branches of each tree.

“Wow! They’re beautiful!”

Cholo smiled at me.

“That is more breathtaking. Look.”

I followed his instructions and inhaled the magnificent sight. A few meters away from the trees is a high cliff where water gushes down.

“There’s a waterfall? Wow! Did you also own this part?”

Cholo just smiled and nodded at me.

“I did but now you own it.”

He helped me sit on the grass and filled our glasses with wine. Holding hands, we drank quietly while observing the surroundings. The sounds of the water crashing down is so therapeutic.

“I’m glad I made you happy for tonight, Karina. I know I’m a dumbass. I shooed you away. I threw words I can’t get back anymore. I even cursed at you for goodness sake! Alam ko ring hindi ko na mabubura iyon. Words… You can never get them back once you decide to let them go. That’s why I promise you that I’ll spend every day of our life making you smile, giving you everything in order for you to be happy.”

He moved and put the glass down then took something from his pocket before kneeling in front of me. He opened the box where the ring with a black diamond as the center stone and white diamonds as the side stones was placed and handed it to me.

“Karina, I know our love is not common. I met you in the ugliest part of my life, used you for my plans which didn’t end well but it didn’t deter me from falling for you. We got married but I didn’t get to give you a grand wedding. You didn’t get to walk down the aisle and I didn’t get to experience waiting for you at the altar. No vows, no dance, and definitely no honeymoon but we did it anyway.”

He chuckled nervously.

“I only gave you a cheap ring. Thinking about that makes me ashamed now. And then we separated. I hated you for the years that you’re gone but now that you’re back in my life, all of my anger dissipated and all I wanted to do is to have you again. I don’t care about your past, you can keep it all to yourself. You, now, and our future are all I want. I wanted to make it right this time. This time, it’s for real. You will not just be a ploy I will use for my own gain. You will be the center of my life, the soon to be mother of my children. Karina, will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

The strong wind blew as my tears fell. I’m happy because I finally know that I got Cholo’s love. It’s not just a pretense, it’s true this time. Finally, I succeeded. He is mine now. I finally got him from Elizabeth. I’m the winner between us.

I’m tempted to hope becay it’s good to get drunk on this promised love. It’s good to think about the future of Cholo and I. In fact, it is possible. I’ll just nod and our story will be happily ever after. I deserved this. I deserved to feel happy after all I’ve been through.

I wish everything was that simple. I wish it was that easy to forget everything.

Why ask me now Cholo when there is no child to bind us together? Why are you offering this to me now when we will surely have to separate eventually? Why not before when I wasn’t that broken and wounded? When I can love you fully.

Why are you asking me now when I have a mission to fulfill? When I have to hurt you, crush you into a pulp in order to fully extract my revenge.

Even though my eyes were filled with tears, I nodded at him. “Yes, I will Cholo. I’ll spend the rest of my life with you.”

I could see the tears in his eyes when he slowly put the ring on my finger. I even felt his lips trembling when he caught my waist and kissed me lovingly.

But my heart is cold. It refused to beat for this moment. It’s telling me to not be happy because happiness is a curse. One day you’re celebrating, the next day you’re mourning.

Cholo wiped my tears and hugged me. I returned the hug and caressed his head. While looking at the vast place, I have come up with a name.

Errol.

I’m naming this place after our son, Cholo. If he were still alive, he would definitely like it here. Our son loves to run and play with the stray dogs. He can run free in this place forever and ever, something that both of us will not witness anymore.