At Dusk

Funerals

Soon, it was all over. The coffin was buried six feet underground, some lilies were thrown over the fresh grave, and the crowd dispersed, bleak and pensive.

More people had come to pay their respects than she could have imagined. The press was there, as most of the company's employees. She did not see one of them shed a tear, however. Even Linda seemed dry. 

Her ever-absent father would remain absent, now in death.

She walked beside Mathias until they reached the car and drove straight home. The family would reunite in the mansion for a few moments of shared comfort, but she could not attend. No after what Isabel and Hector had said. She still wasn't sure she believed them, but something inside her had shifted. Her brothers, their business... it all felt like a nightmare straight out of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Being inside the mansion now brought a feeling of claustrophobia she had never experienced before.

She felt exhausted, not just from the funeral, but from not understanding what was happening. The world was falling apart, and so was her family. Perhaps they were responsible for that too, she thought bitterly. 

She looked at Mathias, driving in silence, walking in silence to the elevator, and opening the door to their apartment in silence. 

"Why did you marry me?" She asked out of the blue. 

"Angy, what's this now?"

"I want to know. Just answer it. You and my sister were in love, something happened between you two, she left, and then you and I ended up married. Why?"

"You're not in your right mind. You need to rest. We all do."

"Mathias, look at me," she said, searching for his gaze. "This is not about my father."

But he just stood there, looking straight at the balcony. His eyes covered with mist, like a lake on a winter morning. 

"You're a lier, just like all of them," she said, the words barely leaving her mouth.

She sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she said after a while, breaking the silence. 

"Don't be," he replied, sitting opposite her and taking a deep breath. 

"Why not?"

"The truth is... I married you because the family insisted. Because they... they..."

"Because they what?"

"Because they paid," he said, pausing between each word. 

"What? Why?" She was almost screaming now. She got up immediately. She felt like lunging at him, hitting him, making him confess. 

"Angy, listen..."

"Get away from me!" She screamed when he made a move to get close. 

"I just... I just wanted to say that things changed. It may have started off like that, but I don't think about Laura anymore, I swear." 

She ignored him. "Tell me. Right now. Why the fuck did the family pay you to do it?" 

Her husband wasn't listening. He kept apologizing over and over now that the truth was out, trapped in guilt. 

"Mathias," she demanded while grabbing his arm so he would look at her and focus. "Tell me!"

"They wanted to keep you close," he answered finally. "Make sure you wouldn't run away like your sister. You seemed to have feelings for me."

"So they offered you a deal and you accepted it?"

"Yes."

"Why"

"In the beginning, I didn't believe Laura was gone for good. I thought she was just bluffing and I, I guess... I wanted to hurt her. I never thought it would get this far..."

"So it was all a lie. It was never anything but a lie...", she said as she released him, letting the tears fall freely now. 

A scream had formed in her throat. She let it out as she sat on the floor. She felt warmth around her body and realized Mathias had stepped closer and hugged her. She let him. He kept saying things, apologizing even harder than before, but she wasn't really listening. His stream of words could not penetrate her grief.

It took a while for her to calm down. To cry all that she had suppressed for so long. At some point, Mathias made her tea. She drank it. It helped a little. 

She got up from the floor when she felt she was freezing. The plushy rug couldn't help her, because the cold came from her insides, from somewhere in her soul. 

She realized Mathias was still there, staring at her.  

"I'm going to drive for about half an hour, when I come back I want you gone," she said, strangely serene, sounding alien even to her own ears. 

He did not reply, just brushed his hair with his fingers. 

"Angy..." he began.

"Please, don't call me that."

"Angela, listen." He grabbed her hands when she walked past him. She struggled with his strength.

"Let me go," she ordered simply.

"Ok, all right," he said as he released her. "I'm just... I'm sorry."

"What you feel now is irrelevant. I want you gone."

"If you do this, if you destroy our marriage, they will win. You'll let them win."

"They've already won."

"Please.."

"Pack your things and go." 

Without a farewell, she took the car keys and was out of sight.