“Did I ever ask you to marry me?”
“What? No, but it was implied. We’ve been together going on three years; everyone in our set does it like this.”
“Our set? Which set is that?” It was a low blow because she’d come from way more humble beginnings than I did. But after what she’d said and done to my wife, I really don’t care at this point.
“Back to what you said about Madeline respecting you; why would you care about that when you planned to drive her away?” Her face went through numerous shades and emotions.
“What? What has she been telling you? It’s lies, all lies. I told you she was trying to come between us; what has that bitch been saying to you.”
“I’d ask you not to speak about my wife like that in her own home.” The words rocked her on her heels, and for a minute there, I thought she was going to fall the way she stumbled and held onto the back of the couch.
“Your what? Your wife?” She looked dazed for a second.
“Yes, you mentioned putting her in her place, didn’t you? Well, it’s done; she’s in her rightful place now. Thank you for helping me put her there, where she belongs.”
Rene’s mouth opened and closed in confusion, and she looked at me in disbelief before reality dawned, and her face contorted in rage.
“This is a joke, right? Ha-ha, very funny. Now that you’ve had your fun, can we be serious for a minute here?” It was obvious that she was trying very hard to play it off, but inside she knew. One, she knows I never joke about anything, well, except with Madeline. And two, I think she knows me well enough to see the truth in my eyes.
The explosion came once I did not take back my words. “You son of a bitch are you kidding me? How could you? After I’ve wasted my time, given you the best years of my life….”
“If those were your best, they were sorely lacking, or maybe it was you who was lacking. How dare you come into my house into my life and tell someone I love the things you did. What kind of monster treats a young girl who lost her mother like that?”
“Young girl? When I met you, she was eighteen, a leech who only used you to get what she wanted. Wasn’t I right, wasn’t she after your money all along? What did she do? Lie and tell you a sob story about how I mistreated her?”
“Madeline does not lie, not to me. And yes, I know everything you said and did to her.” Fuck it, no point in hiding it now. If she even thinks about going anywhere near my woman, I’d break her in more ways than one. It’s what she deserves.
“Yeah, I did say something to her, so what? That bitch took up most of your time when I was the woman in your life. She’s nothing more than the daughter of a filthy….” I hadn’t seen Madeline come down the stairs, hadn’t heard her footsteps, not until her hand swiftly passed me and slapped Rene across the face.
I pulled her back behind me when the other woman charged at her and held Rene back with a hand on her chest. “If you touch her, you won’t make it out of here alive. It’s a long way down, and I’d have plenty of time to come up with a story.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Yes!” I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes and couldn’t care less.
“Now, I want you to leave before I do something I’d regret.” She didn’t even seem to be listening to me; her eyes were focused somewhere off to the side of me where Madeline stood. “My ring, what’re you doing with my ring.” She tried to reach around me to grab Madeline’s hand, but I blocked her again. That’s when she started screaming and screeching about the ring.
I admit I was shocked for a second by her outburst. Madeline wasn’t saying anything, just watching Rene with a look of scorn on her face. Her chest was heaving which meant she was mad still, but she said not a word as we both watched the other woman lose her shit over a ring that was never hers. Talk about spoiled and ungrateful.
I may not have done as much for her as I have for Madeline over the years, but it can be argued that I knew Madeline longer and in a completely different circumstance. Though I didn’t put as much thought into her gifts as I did Madeline’s, something I see now as a dead giveaway, I still hadn’t been stingy with her.
But where did she get the idea that that ring ever belonged to her? I’d never know. Even if I was going to marry her, I would never have given her that ring, another red flag that I missed. She seemed more upset about the ring than about Madeline being my wife, or maybe it hadn’t quite settled in for her yet.