Obsessed with My Husband’s Uncle

In the silence of the wet earth, Angela learned that love can kill, and survival begins at the very instant the heart is broken, and that her apparent enemy may become her ally in the moments when everything seems to end.

Angela’s POV 2 hours earlier

I could hear the camera flashes bursting like discreet fireworks with every step I took into that hall. The day that had begun cloudy now seemed full of light in that luxurious place that muted any worry about the outside world.

The background music was sophisticated, the scent of flowers blended with that of my freshly styled hair, and my white dress clung to my body as if it had been sewn by vanity itself. After our civil wedding, we were celebrating another step.

I was radiant, and not by chance. It was my day.

The day when everything I had dreamed of was starting to become real. After four years, Rafael had finally decided to propose. We were also about to graduate, and now everyone could see that our relationship, which had lasted since high school, was something real.

"You look beautiful," Rafael whispered in my ear, pulling me by the waist with that easy smile he always used when he wanted to make me blush.

I smiled, leaning my head lightly on his shoulder. Rafael knew how to be sweet, gentle, and charming.

He had been my boyfriend since our junior year in high school, my accomplice in everything, including what we were about to do.

Since then, he had said that one day I would be his. He fought for me, and he won—he truly managed to win me over. Through all these years together, he had proven himself to be a man of incorruptible character. My family liked him enough to accept the future we had chosen for ourselves.

"Everyone is saying I’m lucky," I murmured, playfully, as the waiters passed by with champagne glasses.

"They’re right," he replied, kissing my bare shoulder. "But I’m the luckiest one here, for having such a fascinating woman like you."

The guests smiled as they saw us together. He was radiant and praised me, making sure to show the world that he had me in his arms, that he had chosen me.

And I… I loved him. Not that ideal, naïve kind of movie love, but a love nurtured by complicity, by nights of shared secrets, and mornings of making plans on rumpled sheets.

"Your uncle is watching us again," I commented, laughing under my breath. "Do you think he’s suspicious?"

Rafael followed my gaze. On the other side of the hall, Lúcio, the powerful and feared businessman, was watching us with a somber, almost predatory expression.

A man who had once held the world in his hands and now could barely lift a glass. He was getting worse by the day, and money was not enough to save him from the curse of being cruel and greedy.

And that was one of the reasons, beyond our love, why Rafael and I were thinking of marrying before graduation.

"It’s just the face of someone about to lose half of everything," Rafael joked, biting his lower lip and pulling me closer. "And it’s going to be your fault."

"Mine?" I asked, laughing, while he hugged me from behind, kissing my neck. Still, I felt a bit of discomfort knowing his uncle was watching us so blatantly, as if evaluating us.

"You’re irresistible," he replied. "And official now. Marrying you now was the best thing we ever did. Thank you for agreeing to move the date forward. I know how meticulous you are and how much you like to stick to the plan, but I promise I won’t disappoint you. Your future is safe by my side."

"That’s not why, you know. I married you even more because it was your dream to have the chance to manage the companies that should rightfully be yours. But your father passed away, leaving everything to his younger brother. Now… you can finally have a glimpse of it all, and I’m happy for that," I told him sincerely. Rafael’s money didn’t interest me. Not that I came from a rich family, but I always lived well earning my own money. Living with my mother and siblings, we took good care of one another. Now, at twenty-two, I had managed to get a position at an important company and could live independently as well. Even if Rafael said he would take care of me, I still had so many projects that I hoped he would stand by me through.

But for now, I was here. Four years of dating, promises, and finally the civil wedding. With my name next to his, we had direct access to the inheritance that had been locked—part of his uncle’s fortune.

And with his uncle’s fragile health, it was only a matter of time before Rafael would gain the other half. I didn’t know much about that man, but I did know he was strange, almost never showing any emotion, as if he were dead inside.

Ever since his brother handed him all his possessions and died for unknown reasons, he had done things his own way, and no one could stand him. He was a man who inspired fear and dread.

But while everyone toasted, I still felt Lúcio’s gaze burning the back of my neck. The first time I had met him was when I visited his mansion four years ago, when I was only 18 and had just started dating Rafael. Seeing him now… he seemed even more terrifying. He hadn’t changed much, even though back then he was only twenty-four. The only difference was that nowadays, even with his attractive figure, he was just a sick shell, wasting away toward death. A man like him could only face such a cold fate.

And yet, something in him did not yield. A gaze that pierced through, that read beyond the veil, beyond the dress. With his penetrating eyes… I feared he knew what Rafael was plotting with this marriage. In truth, it wasn’t a secret. But he couldn’t accuse us of playing with him. After all, I wasn’t some woman Rafael had picked up off the streets to marry because of the conditions his uncle had imposed in order to grant him part of the inheritance. We already had plans even before he said he would give Rafael half of his fortune if he got married.

"Rafael, it’s so uncomfortable having him watching us, especially with those two bodyguards beside him," I commented, a little frightened. But when I looked at Rafael, he was staring at his phone screen, his expression not good, as if something was bothering him, as if he had just received an inconvenient message. He immediately answered the call; I barely had time to see who it could be.

"I need to take a business call. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Keep smiling and being perfect, as always."

He kissed my forehead and walked away, entering the elevator that would take him to the presidential suite we had reserved.

I kept smiling.

I accepted congratulations, drank another glass, laughed at the shareholders’ unfunny jokes. But after a few minutes, one of them approached me.

"Do you know where Rafael is? He was supposed to introduce me to the company’s consultant…"

I looked at the clock. It had already been almost twenty minutes since he had gone up.

"He must be in the suite. I’ll see if he’s done with the call," I frowned, realizing it had been twenty minutes already.

Excusing myself, I adjusted the skirt of my dress and walked toward the elevator. My heart was beating strangely. He was taking longer than expected. Where was he? And my instinct never failed me—it was as if something very wrong was happening.

When the elevator doors opened, the silence in the hallway was almost ceremonial. Closed doors, dim lighting, and the distance between the elevator and Rafael’s suite seemed to stretch with every step. My heart was beating in a strange rhythm—not anxiety, but something heavier, graver.

I swiped the keycard at the door. The dry click granted me permission to step into the unknown.

The room was dim, bathed in a reddish glow that danced softly over the luxurious furniture. The scent of scented candles filled the air—sweet and far too intense for something as simple as a business call.

I walked slowly. On the coffee table lay a small note, scribbled in haste with rehearsed romanticism:

"Prepared for you, my love. One year together."

I smiled… for a second. Then my stomach twisted.

"One year?"

I read it again.

"One year."

"We’ve been together for four years!" I whispered, my voice confused, almost inaudible, as discomfort spread throu