DETESTABLE DESIRE

Neither did he know he’d be capable of loving again after his financée nor did she know what she could be capable of after she woke up from a seven-month coma.

FIRST PART: YOUR FIRE IN THE SHADOWS

CHAPTER 1

When Ellein sang her favorite song loudly, Christopher couldn’t help but smile; when Ellein sang with her melodic voice, Christopher didn’t want to talk or remember. He was happy with the present moment, where he realized he’d changed the life of his wife for the better. He could be dying, he could be wishing dead upon the pain that consumed his heart since the very day the love of his life left him forever. 

Christopher Montalvo, the great CEO of the second largest tequila company, the man with blue-colored eyes, a sad look, a square jaw, fair skin, thick eyebrows, full pink lips, dark brown hair, always with a serious expression, elegantly dressed, had never imagined that Ellein’s favorite song would make so much sense after the pain he’d put her through.

“The Winner Takes it All,” he whispered. Yes, the winner took it all, because the winner was Ellein all along and she’d taken it all in one way or the other.

Ironically, 'The Winner Takes it All,' was never heard by winners. And it was Christopher -the great Christopher Montalvo- who played it over and over, standing small. He just wanted to forget that he'd played all his cards.

Handcuffed, hands on the interrogatory table, Christopher had his head lowered, waiting patiently for his attorney to start talking. It was torture, it was hell.

“Okay, Christopher, please, be aware that you have to open up and tell me everything. I’m here to help you, but to do that, you have to cooperate with me and with the law. If you say you’re innocent, I believe you, I do believe you.”

Christopher raised his head and looked into the honey-colored eyes of the man across from him -his friend. Not much time had passed but Christopher could already tell that Aldo Rojas had changed, he’d indeed changed for the better. Now, the days when they were rivals, fighting for the heart of the same woman who ended up belonging to Death seemed like a game. The winner took it all, the winner took Marina and the winner was Death.

“I didn’t cause the accident, Aldo. I swear on Marina’s grave that I didn’t cause the accident.” 

Aldo nodded. “Yes, yes, Christopher, I believe you. I believe you.”

“But I ended up ruining my wife. I ruined Ellein and that’s something I’d never forgive myself for. She believed in me, she trusted me, and I repaid her in the worst possible way. I deserve this. I deserve just the memories she left me.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Christopher. If you explain to me what happened, if you explain to the court what happened, I know that many things could still be done. Marina didn't want this for you.”

Of course Marina didn't want that for him, but he didn't want her to leave either... and she left.

Christopher smiled in disbelief and shook his head, hopeless. “So do you want me to explain how I started ruining Ellein? Very well then, Aldo, you’ll know how I ruined my wife. But I warn you, your view of me will change. Perhaps, I was this man all along, perhaps Marina’s death turned me into this monster.”

Aldo turned on the recorder and then crossed his hands on the interrogative table, waiting for Christopher to start talking.

Christopher sighed and started.

So much had happened from the moment Marina died.

“The day I ruined my wife… well… it all started when…”

Outside the two-storied luxury house in the ranch that belonged to the Montalvo family, being assaulted by the memories that never took place because time wasn’t enough, Christopher, sitting on a wooden bench and watching his men teach Ellein to ride her horse, couldn't help but smile. His eyes were fixed on that woman with light brown hair, brunette skin, honey-eyed and slender figure, as delicate as a flower of winter.

“Ellein,” he pronounced her name as if that would remind himself that the woman in front of him wasn't the love of his life but the woman he had chosen to marry.

“Christopher, look, look!” Ellein shouted.

Christopher smiled and stood up, ready to approach his wife.

But suddenly, his arm was grabbed gently by someone. Christopher turned around. 

“Louis, what happened? Is everything okay?”

“Christopher, your brother is here. I don't know how he found out you were here.”

Chills ran down his spine. After so long, after so much pain provoked by his very own brother, he was there, reigniting the battle they hadn’t been able to finish before. He knew he couldn't hate his brother, but… he couldn't help it. His torment started when Elysander declared war on him.

“Where's he?!” Christopher’s gesture changed, his jaw tensed, imagining all the things he would say to his brother.

“He's waiting for you in the office. Christopher, keep in mind that your wife is here. She can't know he's here.”

“I know, I know, Louis.” And without further ado, he walked off.

But what they didn't know was that Ellein had seen it all. Her smile faded. 

“Christopher? Christopher! Christopher!” She called him out, getting off the horse. 

Quickly, Louis approached her. Ellein couldn’t know Elysander was there.

“Miss Ellein, please,” he said, respectfully. In the same way he had taken care of Christopher for so many years, he wanted to do the same for the woman who had brought his son back to life. Louis was not his real father, but he loved him as if he were.

“Is Christopher okay?”

“Please, Miss Ellein, your husband will be okay.”

The more Louis said that her husband was okay, the more he insisted that everything was okay, the harder it was for her to convince herself of it. 

Ellein Saavedra, the only heir of the Saavedra family, whose only dream was to marry Christopher Montalvo, her first and only love; she might not be aware of many things, she might not have been aware of the world of lies where her dream was built on, but there was one thing she was sure of and that was that Elysander Montalvo would do anything and everything in his power to fulfill his promise: to destroy his very own brother. If only Ellein could ask for something else, she would surely ask to end the pain Elysander had caused Christopher. In the end, in this world they only had each other. When would that war end?

“It’s Elysander, right, Louis? It’s Elysander who’s there, right?”

Louis didn’t know what to say. 

“You don’t know how much I hate Elysander since he did that to Christopher, you don’t know how much I wish him to leave Christopher alone!”

“Miss Ellein, okay, okay, I will tell you the truth. But promise me, you won’t do anything. Christopher is taking care of it.”

Ellein put her hands on her waist. The adrenaline she felt coursing her veins dilated her pupils, giving the illusion that her honey eyes were changing their color. The jeans, the brown coat and the cowboy hat brought out her beauty. She had travelled to Mexico to meet the man who raised Christopher and the vineyards, but she never thought she’d end up meeting Elysander after the first and last confrontation they had before Chritstpher proposed to her.

“Okay, talk now.”

“Toria is here, his ex-girlfriend.” If Louis thought that lying to her face in such a way would calm her down, he was wrong because Toria, the first woman who broke Christopher’s heart, was another person Ellein had longed to have in front of her for so long.

“Good, I think it’s a good moment to say hello to her.” And without further ado, she walked past Louis' side and quickened her pace. Louis called out to her countless times but the adrenaline running through her veins had blinded her. Elysander and Toria had been responsible for Christopher’s downfall. They didn’t deserve anything they had, and if they thought they could keep hurting Christopher over and over, it was time for Ellein to let them know how wrong they were.

“Miss Ellein! Miss Ellein, please!”

Maybe if Louis had been honest with her, she wouldn’t have gone to look for Christopher and the truth.

“No, Louis, she will listen to me! You don’t know how much I’ve craved this moment. She’ll listen to me! She will listen to me!” Ellein repeated as she made her way to Christopher’s office.

“Miss. Ellein, Miss Toria isn’t the one who’s inside,” Louis tried to fix his mistake, but it was too late, Ellein had already reached the door to Christopher’s office when she heard a masculine voice, apart from Christopher’s. No, of course that couldn’t be Toria’s.

“That’s your problem, dear brother, not mine.”

“Mind your own business, Elysander! Mind your own business and leave us alone! You have exactly what you wanted, what else do you want, Elysander?”

Ellein didn’t see the man but she was sure that Elysander smirked in the same way he was used to doing every time he knew he was playing his cards well.

“No, dear brother, don’t think you’ve given me everything I wanted because that’s not true, of course that is not. It’s true, I have my shares in my power, but what I don’t have is the source of those.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You see, last week I had a meeting with the shareholders who decided to invest in my company, and when it was over, I wasn’t really happy. They're trying to outsmart me and that’s something that doesn't make me really happy.”

“Speak now, Elysander.”

“You see, I’ve found out the best way to put an end to those problems. Did you know that I’ll stop having these problems if I let them know that the power doesn’t come from the vineyards they own, but the vineyards I also own?”

“What?” Christopher frowned. “What are you trying to say, Elysander?”

“Oh, don’t be a stupid, Christopher. I can’t believe you were the CEO of the whole Montalvo Company! Don’t let me down, my brother,” Elysander said in a mocking way.

“What do you want, Elysander?!” Christopher raised his voice.

“I want 50% of the total vineyards."

“What?! You’re crazy. I won’t do such a thing!”

“Oh, yes! You will, my brother!”

And when Ellein was about to turn the doorknob to open and face Elysander once she recognized his voice, the world and time stopped when Elysander laughed and then said.

“Give me the 50% of the vineyards if you don’t want me to tell Ellein why you married her. What? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? You married her because you gave her father your word, am I wrong? You married her because her father asked you to, that’s all, am I wrong? In return, you received his full support for your dying business, am I wrong?"

“How did you know it?” Christopher asked almost in a whisper.

“There’s no way you could’ve forgotten your dying cancer girl. You still love her, right? Tell me, how can you be such a b*st*rd to lie to the face of the only woman who was stupid enough to give you the money to revive your company?”

Outside, Ellein’s honey eyes filled with tears as she shook her head slightly. She refused to believe it, she refused to believe that her fairytale was a lie. She was part of a marriage contract and she didn’t know it. But why? Why did her father agree to do that to her? Her very own father had lied to her!

With pain in her heart, Ellein finally opened the door to the office. Her eyes fixed on the man of the white shirt that fit his body, lightly shaved, whose name was Christopher. Elysander smirked as he saw Ellein fall apart.

“Ellein…” He whispered.

Like the sound of glass breaking, like rain, like tears pouring out, Ellein's heart broke.

“Ellein…” Christopher whispered.

“Christopher, please, tell me it is not true.”

“What? The fact that my dear brother married you because of a contract?” Elysander asked.

“I’m not talking to you!”

Elysander raised his hands in surrender and just watched the scene between his brother and sister-in-law. He didn’t mean to destroy her life… now, of course. But she was the stupid one who came straight into the trap.

“Christopher, I asked you a question!”

Christopher lowered his head.

“What the hell is Elysander talking about?” Ellein asked with red eyes. Her heart pumped harder against her rib cage. The mere thought that it could be true broke her heart.

“Ellein, listen to me, please,” Christopher almost begged, making Elysander smirk.

And no one could know how much Elysander was enjoying seeing his brother almost lose the little life he’d