Chapter 2
Rio jumped slightly as the alarm rang in her ears again.
She groaned and lazily tapped her screen without opening her eyes.
When the ringing stopped, she kept her eyes closed and laid face down on her pillow.
Last night, after finishing cleaning, she had passed out on the bed—she hadn’t even taken off her blouse and her badge from work.
Her whole body ached.
She didn’t know if it was from the stress, the lack of sleep, or just sheer exhaustion.
Rio’s ears perked up the moment she heard footsteps coming down the stairs,
which meant Agatha was awake.
Her body stilled for a second.
She didn’t know what to do.
Should she get up too?
Would Agatha just ignore her?
Would she thank her for helping her out yesterday?
Would she yell at h—
Rio stopped her train of thought by pinching her arm roughly, just like she did yesterday when she…
She groaned, burying her face harder in the pillow.
Her headache intensified.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
She didn’t even have the energy to check her emails.
She made up her mind and reached for the door.
Her hand trembled slightly as she gripped the metal handle.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
She twisted the handle and, with tentative steps, walked out, heading to the kitchen.
They usually avoided each other.
If one was in a room, the other made sure she was at the opposite end of the apartment.
But Rio couldn’t keep avoiding Agatha.
For god’s sake, she was her wife.
The soft light of the sun seeped through the blinds covering the windows, blinding Rio’s eyesight for a second before her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
She blinked a few times.
Her gaze immediately swept to Agatha, who sat on the kitchen stool, her elbows resting on the kitchen island.
She was eating cornflakes—the older woman always ate them when she was hungover.
Usually, Rio would have smiled at the thought, but this time, it only made her heart ache.
The familiar rush of warmth she felt when she saw Agatha in the morning seemed to have vanished.
She cleared her throat softly, trying to get the other woman’s attention.
Agatha’s head lifted slightly, her eyes barely open.
Rio tried to start a conversation.
“So… um… had fun last night?”
Her voice lacked its usual confidence and sharpness, as if she were walking on pointed shoes.
Agatha’s eyes squinted slightly, as if she were trying to analyze Rio’s appearance.
Her response had a sharp edge to it.
“Why do you care?” Agatha’s voice was slightly husky.
Rio was taken aback.
She didn’t know how to respond.
Her mind went blank as she tried to come up with an answer.
Her wife’s voice was laced with an unfamiliar coldness.
She gulped and gripped her arms as if trying to anchor herself somehow.
“No… no, I… I just wanted to know how you were feeling.”
Agatha’s humorless laugh cut through the air like a knife, striking Rio’s chest and making her heart tighten slightly.
“Rio, we haven’t spoken a word to each other in five days, and now you’re telling me you want to know how I am?”
Agatha’s words were harsh, almost making the younger woman flinch.
Rio’s heart started to pound, thrumming in her ears.
Her limbs were frozen under the other woman’s icy glare.
She almost didn’t recognize the woman she had fallen in love with.
“I…”
Rio’s voice was weak, a mere whisper—it almost sounded broken.
Agatha rolled her eyes.
“God, don’t be such a crybaby.”
At the comment, Rio’s eyebrows furrowed, her eyes widened slightly, and her mouth parted.
Her expression was a mix of pure shock and confusion.
Agatha had never dared to speak to her like this—at least, not in a serious context.
As if something inside Rio switched, her expression hardened.
Her eyebrows furrowed deeper.
“What the fuck is your problem, Agatha?”
Her voice rose slightly, taking the other woman by surprise, as if she had expected Rio to take the harsh treatment and walk away.
She continued before Agatha could interrupt.
“You think this is easy for me? Huh?”
Rio slipped her hands into her hair, gripping the roots in frustration.
Her voice broke slightly from all the pent-up emotion in her chest.
“I don’t even have the time to think of myself because I spend my WHOLE day working, cleaning, worrying about where you are,”
she continued, her voice rising further.
She didn’t even notice the tears spilling from her eyes.
“Because, of course, you won’t tell me. God knows what you’re doing and with who,”
she said, letting out an exasperated laugh.
“I barely sleep. I have to force myself to eat, to drink, to wash myself because I mentally can’t do this anymore.”
Her hands gestured in the air vehemently.
“And the cherry on top is that almost every night, I have to drag your passed-out drunk ass into the house so you WON’T FREEZE TO FUCKING DEATH.”
She punctuated the last words as if throwing all her frustration and anger at Agatha.
Without thinking, she took a few steps closer as she continued.
“I don’t even know who the fuck you are anymore.”
Her voice cracked with emotion as she forced herself to continue, her nails digging into her palms to stop herself from crumbling.
“So don’t act like I had anything to do with Nicky’s death. You think I’m not feeling the weight of his absence too?”
She took a deep breath and landed the last blow.
“I was his mother too.”
Rio’s chest moved quickly, her heart still pounding, her breathing ragged. Her trained eyes never left Agatha’s.
The older woman’s eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly parted.
Her eyes flickered with something Rio almost recognized before they returned to that cold, unattached expression.
“Don’t try to push the blame, it’s your responsibility to take care of me. You’re the one who wanted to marry me,”
Agatha said, her voice laced with disgust.
“Suck. it. up.”
Then she got up and stormed upstairs without even looking back.