Fati pressed her back against the door, her breath hitching as if she were chasing a mirage; she trembled with the fear that he might follow her and catch the shattered look in her eyes. Hearing him call her name, she rushed to the shower, letting the water pour over her while still in her robe. She wanted the roaring water to swallow her sobs and its coldness to extinguish the fire of the truth she had just uncovered: his marriage to her had been nothing but revenge.
Outside, Jaguar stood stunned before the scattered glass shards covering the floor. He called her name repeatedly, but her silence, shrouded by the sound of the water, made him think she had heard nothing. He returned to his phone, finishing his conversation with his grandfather in a tone filled with regret and resolve:
- Look, Grandfather... Fati has been through too much, and I don't want to burden her any further. She deserves our love and respect, not our possessiveness. Let me be the one to tell her the truth today... I will do it myself.
The grandfather replied with a hint of suppressed emotion,
- Fine... you have today. But know this: the moment I see her, I will take her in my arms and call her... my granddaughter.
Jaguar hung up, lost in thought; how could he tell Fati everything? He looked at the wreckage before him, assuming the curtains and the wind had knocked the vase over. He quickly called room service to clear the debris before she emerged, as if trying to erase any sign of destruction from around her.
Her voice broke through his thoughts from behind the door:
- Jaguar... could you step out of the room? I have nothing to wear, and my bag is outside.
He wanted to tease her as he usually did, but the weight of the truth about her mother choked the words in his throat. He left without a word, returning minutes later to find her dressed and wearing a mask of forced composure. He went in to shower, emerging soon after in a polo shirt and Bermuda shorts.
Jaguar noticed something odd and asked,
- I saw the robe in the middle of the bathroom soaked with water... as if it had been washed
Fati replied, her voice strained with the effort to sound normal,
- It fell while I was showering. By the time I noticed, it had absorbed all the water.
He replied calmly, still unaware she had heard every word:
- It's okay... I'll ask them to clean the place.
They sat together at the table. Fati helped herself to a few vegetables and two pieces of cheese, paired with a black coffee, as if her appetite for life had evaporated like the steam from her cup. Jaguar glanced at her plate with a worried look and asked,
- Has what happened yesterday stolen your appetite?
She replied coldly,
- Yes... a little.
Jaguar reached out, placing his hand over hers with a warmth she now saw as a facade. He said in a tone he tried to keep tender,
- Do you remember the request you once made? To bring your grandfather back to you?
He paused, watching the flicker that ignited in her eyes, before continuing:
- I cannot bring him back... but I will give you my grandfather, to be a grandfather to you. What do you think? Would you accept him?
Fati pulled her hand away, feeling a surge of disbelief at his audacity; he was offering her the "truth" as if it were an act of "charity." Jaguar watched her retreating hand and added, justifying himself:
- I know he's not like your grandfather, and he's very short tempered, but believe me... life made him that way.
She didn't utter a word. Instead, she simply gave him a faint, cryptic smile the smile of someone who has uncovered the deception and is merely waiting for the final collapse.
The silence sat between them like a wall of ice, heavy enough to suffocate. Jaguar tried repeatedly to break the deadlock with carefully chosen words, but Fati remained drowned in a frozen silence, unresponsive and unyielding. He assumed she was still under the shock of yesterday, unaware that her ears had already drunk the poison of his call, and that her soul had already left the room.
Jaguar sighed, his mouth opening to reveal the truth about her mother, but his phone rang, cutting the words short. It was the grandfather's secretary again. He silenced it, trying to ignore the persistent call so he wouldn't slip up in front of her, but the phone rang incessantly. Finally, he apologized, standing up restlessly:
- One minute... it's an important call.
The moment he stepped away, Fati seized the chance. She turned to the waiter, her heart racing: - Are there any buses leaving from here to the city?
- Yes, ma'am,
The waiter replied calmly.
- The next one leaves in twenty minutes.
Fati had finally found her escape. Her goal wasn't just to travel, but to flee from Jaguar's prison and the overwhelming sense of disgust crawling beneath her skin. She had to disappear before she completely crumbled under his deception.
When Jaguar returned to sit with her, Fati stood up and said,
- I'm going to go get something from the room.
Jaguar immediately started to stand as well.
- I'll come with you.
But she insisted,
- No, stay here. I'll be back just give me ten or twenty minutes.
- Alright,
he agreed,
- don't be long.
She headed upstairs quickly, but as soon as she reached the top, she realized she didn't have the key card to the room. She knew Jaguar would eventually come looking for her, so she hurried back down. This time, however, she bypassed him and went straight to the reception desk. She asked where the buses to the city stopped. The receptionist replied,
- Just go out the door and turn right; you'll find a white bus with red stripes. But you must purchase the ticket here first.
Panic surged through her as she realized she had no money; her bag and everything she owned were still trapped in that room. She carried nothing but her phone and a trembling spirit.
- I need to leave right now, and I have no money,
She told the receptionist in desperate haste.
- I'll give you anything!
Remembering the delicate gold chain on her wrist, she unclasped it and held it out.
- Please, take this as the price of the ticket!
The woman's heart softened at her distress. She gently pushed the chain back and said,
- It's alright, keep your chain. Consider this ticket a gift.
Fati's eyes welled with tears as she whispered,
- Thank you... thank you so much! I hope you never need me, but if you do, I am a neurologist at Capital Hospital in the city. My name is Fati Jack Bite.
She boarded the bus and took a seat by the window, watching the resort fade away. She suddenly recalled her intuition from yesterday while riding the helicopter; she had sensed she would return alone, and now that prophecy had come true. Her heart had known what her mind refused to accept: that Jaguar would always fail her, just as he always had.