Is this destiny?

Mrs. Heine looked at her husband who is obviously angry and she exhaled. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want to hear your explanation. What the hell is going on? Is it true? Are you preying on underage boys under my roof? How long is this going on? How many of them came into this house? Are you bringing them into OUR bed? …"

Julia looked at him blankly.

After her fit of rage, she went back online and read a number of trending posts. News about her is everywhere on social media. People she knows and people she does not know labeled her as a child molester. There is no way out of this.

Julia doesn't know why she is still here. Did she expect that her husband will comfort her? No matter how much she fooled him so far, he is not blind. And he fears what the society will say.

She thought about leaving, but she concluded that she has nowhere to go. Julia does not have much money on her, and she is aware that under these circumstances, her husband will not give her any. Or maybe he will.

"What is done is done. How do we fix it?", Julia said flatly. In her mind, she was thinking about the possibility of him giving her money to go away. How much money should she ask for? Where would she go? Somewhere warm and sunny. Florida, maybe? Or Mexico? California is too expensive...

More than by her words, Mr. Heine was outraged by the way she spoke, as none of that concerns her. "What did you say!? How can you brush this off? This will NOT go away! How many boys did you play with? Do you think that they can forget about it? Do you think that their parents will forget about it?" He felt that the room was running out of oxygen and he used all his strength to force the next few words out: "And… did you… to… my Ron?"

Julia waved her hand for Mr. Heine to calm down. "What does it matter if I admit it or not? Everyone saw this and they already labeled me as guilty."

"Don't you feel any remorse?"

She laughed mockingly. Well, at this point there is nothing for her to lose. "The Lord is teaching us that the pleasures of the flesh are sinful. But it's OK if we are married and are doing it in order to produce offspring. Those limitations are not fair, don't you agree? You come to me from your trips eagerly every time. Doesn't that make you a sinner? A sin is a sin. Why is mine worse than yours?"

Mr. Heine could not believe that this is his wife. She is always sweet and caring and… this is not her. Is it possible that for a decade they are sharing a house and a bed, and he does not know her at all? "Julia… What kind of nonsense is that? Did you compare me sleeping with my wife and you touching underage boys? Why did you do it? Why did you marry me? Is it because of Ron?"

Julia stifled a laugh. "Because of Ron? No. I was a single woman without much to look forward to. I watched all these Madams mingle on Sundays after church and attend various clubs and activities and I wanted to be a part of it. But I didn't qualify because my status was low. I didn't have enough money, my clothes were not fancy enough, I didn't lift my pinky finger when I drank afternoon tea, and I didn't have a husband. Everyone looked down on me. Including your dearly departed Eileen. She would invite me here only to see what I'm lacking. A big house, a loving husband, a son. And she could talk forever about all the clubs and activities she is invited to, while I'm not. When I married you, I got it all."

Mr. Heine shook his head in disbelief. Ever since they married, he suspected that Julie is not crazy in love with him, but he at least hoped for respect and decency. He will treat her well, and she gets perks and status and Ron gets someone to take care of him. "All those years… Ron was telling the truth, wasn't he?"

Julia shrugged. "Why does it matter after all this time? Do you think that you can go and apologize, and everything will be fine? Do you believe that he will welcome you back into his life? Dream on."

Mr. Heine looked at Julia in disbelief. All those accusations, evidence, and his questions, and she is not willing to admit it. But she is not denying it either. Truly, a monster.

He plopped on the sofa chair and rubbed his temples. "You ruined my life."

"I didn't do anything to your life other than spicing up your bedroom life. You still have your friends and your company and I…" She paused. Does she have anything left?

Mr. Heine frowned while thinking about his company. Will this affect his business? Probably not.

Outside this town, the rumors are not significant, and more than half of grownups from this town work in the factory or stores he owns. They would not dare retaliate because they depend on him. If they jeopardize his business, their income will suffer as well.

Mr. Heine exhaled in relief at this thought.

"Master, Madam…", the maid called from the door.

"What is it?" Mr. Heine asked grumpily.

"Madam Olson and Madam Berg are here, demanding to speak with the Madam…"

"She will be there in a minute. Take them to the living room." Mr. Heine responded.

"I will not see them.", Julia said angrily, and screamed at the maid: "Tell them to go away! If they don't, they can stand outside the house, but I don't want them inside!"

Mr. Heine narrowed his eyes at Julia. "You will see them. This is your mess. Clean it up."

"Clean it up? They didn't come here to listen or to talk. They came to accuse me and maybe even to assault me." Julia retorted.

She knows that those two Madams are here because their sons are mentioned in some of the articles as teens who came to the Heine villa when Master was not at home. Even if they didn't come to fight because she touched their sons, those two will give her hell because they ended up being a part of this scandal.

Mr. Heine shrugged. "Fine. Do what you want."

Julia turned to the maid smugly. "Send them away."

The maid nodded and left the room.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Julia asked her husband.

"What do you expect me to do? How can I make this go away? If you are innocent, please tell me and I will do my best to help. We will hire investigators and lawyers and get to the bottom of this. But if you did any of those, go and deal with it yourself!"

Julia pouted. "We are married, what happened for better or for worse?"

"Don't you dare talk to me about marriage!" Mr. Heine snapped. "You didn't marry me for love, or for commitment. You only wanted status."

"And why did you marry me?"

"I… At that time, I thought that it's the best thing for Ron. To have a family." Mr. Heine admitted. "I was not in love with you, but I realized that the more time we spend together, our bond is stronger, and I saw you as a companion. Someone I can protect and share my life with."

Julia smiled sadly. "A companion… Then don't blame me for looking for pleasures outside our marriage." She exhaled. "I don't think that you want to fight for us. There is only one way out."

Mr. Heine realized that she is hinting something, but he didn't know what. He does not have time for games and guessing. "What do you want?"

Julia nodded in approval. Her husband was always easy to catch on when she wants something. And he always delivered. "Money. Give me money to leave and settle somewhere else. Two or three million dollars will be fine, I think."

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l .. c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.