Married to my enemy

Five years later

Rosarito was about to knock on the door of Elizabeth's room, however, before doing so she stopped, since she did not have the courage to enter and tell her that the time had come to get out of there and face the cruel reality.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door twice, listening to Elizabeth's weak, sad voice.

— Forward! — Rosarito entered and immediately met those intense blue eyes, which looked very swollen from everything Elizabeth had cried all night.

— Good morning, Miss Elizabeth, I am very sorry to be the bearer of this news, but Don Camilo asked me to take you to the dining room to have breakfast with him.

— I don't want to have breakfast! - He responded with a strong and very annoying voice. Rosarito was surprised, since she had never raised her voice at him, she had always been characterized as a young woman with a gentle and very calm character.

— I'm sorry Miss Elizabeth, I know how you feel, but I only take orders from Don Camilo; and you know how he gets when people contradict him.

— Sorry Rosarito, I shouldn't have responded like that, I just don't want to leave my room.

Rosarito made a sad expression when she saw Elizabeth so crestfallen and depressed, then she approached her, took her by both hands and said with her eyes full of tears:

— You don't have to apologize to me, I understand perfectly how you feel, but please Miss Elizabeth, don't make Don Camilo wait, please do it for me.

"What could be worse than giving myself to a man I don't even know who he is?"

— It hurts me a lot to see you like this, it breaks my heart that I can't do anything for you, miss, but go to the dining room and talk to your uncle, maybe I can convince him to give up on that.

Elizabeth looked at Rosarito and agreed to what she asked, she sat her in the wheelchair; Then he took her to the dining room where Camilo was waiting for her very anxiously.

— Until you finally deign to come to breakfast. You know perfectly well that yesterday I told you that you should be there very early, your fiancé will arrive soon, so get rid of that tragic face because no one has died here. On the contrary, your life is going to change and you are going to belong to one of the most influential families in the country.

—Uncle Camilo, please, don't do this to me, there has to be another alternative other than forcibly marrying that man I've never seen.

— That is not debatable, I already told you that if you don't do it you will be left on the street begging for money with your wheelchair. Is that what you want? — Camilo shouted, while hitting the dining room table.

Elizabeth looked him straight in the eyes, while tears ran down her beautiful face, she had never raised her voice to her uncle, however, at that moment she responded full of pain:

— I prefer to beg for alms, before marrying that man I don't even know.

Camilo was losing the little patience he had, and at that moment he said to her, looking at her face very closely:

"You don't appreciate everything I've done for you since your parents died." But I'm warning you, if you don't marry Ángel Gabriel Mendizábal I'm going to throw Rosarito out on the street and you'll be guilty of leaving that poor old woman homeless and jobless.

She was petrified, she had not thought about her faithful Rosarito, she was aware that she was an old woman and that she had no one else who could help her. Of course Camilo touched his Achilles heel, he knew perfectly well that Elizabeth could not abandon the only person who truly loved her and who had been with her in the worst moments of her life.

Rosarito, for her part, was horrified to hear Camilo's threats, however, her fear of him did not allow her to say a single word. Just at that moment the doorbell rang, that very everyday sound, at that moment it had become for Elizabeth, the most terrifying sound of her entire life.

Camilo immediately looked at Rosarito, who was standing in front of him very trembling, and then said:

—But what are you doing standing there like a statue? Didn't you hear the doorbell ring? What are you waiting for to open?

- Yes, Don Camilo. —Rosarito ran out of the dining room, while Camilo approached Elizabeth and told her in a very low but firm voice:

—If you know what is best for you, you are going to agree to marry Gabriel Mendizábal, or else you and Rosarito, you are going to sleep on the street starting tonight. You understand me?

Elizabeth just looked down without saying anything, she was between a rock and a hard place. He only had to entrust himself to God and hope that a miracle would occur that would prevent the madness that his uncle intended to do.

After a few minutes, Rosarito returned to the dining room, even more nervous than before opening the door, then she said to Camilo hesitantly:

—Don Camilo is looking for him… —He couldn't continue talking, so he immediately looked at Elizabeth, who was pale and with an expression that denoted the terror she felt with what Rosarito might say, he felt that the words were not coming out, until Camilo, anxious and impatient. , saying:

— But speak now, woman! Has Ángel Gabriel arrived? — Rosarito swallowed and with his gaze lowered, avoiding at all costs looking Elizabeth in the eyes, he responded:

— Yes, Don Camilo, it's Mr. Mendizábal, he's waiting for you in the living room.

—But what are you doing standing there? Go and tell him I'm going to the living room and offer him a coffee or whatever he wants to drink. But come on woman, run and don't stay like an Egyptian mummy!

— Yes, Don Camilo, I'm coming, I'm coming.

Camilo had a satisfied smile, since he was about to make the best deal of his life, the same one that would give him a good life back.

— Very well, dear niece, the moment that I have been waiting for so long has arrived, everyone's future is in your hands, remember that you decide if you prefer to sleep from tonight on the street with your faithful Rosarito, or if you decide to have a life of luxury and comfort.

Elizabeth did not say a single word, she felt that nothing she said at that moment would be of any use, she was between a rock and a hard place, but what she was sure of was not to allow Rosarito and her to be left without a home.

(…)

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