Page 7 of For his Surrender

That made it clear that the board no longer cared about my behavior, they wanted me and my concern for my father’s legacy to fuck off, put someone else in my place, no matter how I behaved, how many new clients I acquired or how many hours I worked.

What did I want to do when I saw that?Call a meeting and lecture on the hypocrisy of that round table.After all, of the six, I knew of rottenness and indiscretions of at least four without ever having sought them.As for the other two, I have no doubt it would be easy to find if the right people looked in the right places.

What have I done?I got drunk at a gentlemen’s club and came home the next morning, barely able to walk, I was staggering.

The result?I vomited all over the lobby, and as if that wasn’t humiliation enough, I passed out on top of my own vomit.It was undoubtedly the most miserable moment of my life, and if it wasn’t for Antonella, it could have been my last.

Had she not arrived sooner than she should have, found me and called for help, I might have suffocated to death on my own vomit at the age of thirty-two.How fucked up is that?I spent most of the time unconscious while being rescued, but in the brief moments I was able to open my eyes, the only thing I saw were hers.

Not the straight hair, not the fair skin, not the hideous uniform.All I saw were those dark globes that couldn’t decide between honey and chocolate and that, even in my miserable situation, seemed to scream things at me.

When I woke up, I tried to find out who had helped me.And it was a surprise when I found out that it was the woman who had been working in my house for eight months, and until that morning I had never been aware of her existence.Antonella passed through my rooms and bedrooms for almost two hundred and forty-five days and made herself as remarkable as a wallpaper.

I could have a wife if she behaved like this… I thought, sitting on my bed, shortly after receiving the explanation and feeling my head weigh as much as an anvil.

I made fun of the situation, but I remember as if it were now the sensation that made my body stick to the head of the bed when I realized that I really could have a wife like that.And more than that, a wife like that was exactly what I needed.

The fact that she was the perfect answer to the board’s hypocrisy was a hell of a bonus.After all, they wanted to make me marry because of my relationship with female employees, something the motherfuckers did long before I was old enough to fuck anyone.Besides, they were ready to promote an asshole who did the same thing, just didn’t have the balls to let other people know and comment freely.

So, marrying an employee would send the message I’d been shoving down my throat for nearly two months and failing miserably to accept.Nobody controls Marcos Valente, damn it!

I may be the fucking heir and be promoted to managing partner with an impeccable job, but no one has a fucking thing to do with my personal life!

Untrained eyes could see my conclusion only as the perception of a madman.But my eyes...Ah, my eyes see only perfection.And, as if summoned by name, Antonella’s eyes fill my mind.

Screaming eyes.I had never seen or heard anything like it.And though I have no idea where the real ones are at this point, those I see in my mind challenge me so expressively that I frown as I realize the words that could never be spoken by them, but that I can hear as if they were being uttered by rosy, voluminous lips.

They question me, they ask me if I’m sure their owner is what I need.After all, having been invisible doesn’t necessarily mean she’s sweet and submissive, does it?

I narrow my eyes to my own thoughts and let them be filled with memories of my little meeting with my future bride earlier in the evening.Constantly looking away, her head being lowered again and again and her eyes, again and again, telling me things to which she gave no voice, out of shame or any other reason.

Oh yes! She is exactly what I need. Sweet and submissive.A perfect embellishment, whether or not she likes to be called that.In front of me, on my desk, some scattered papers agree with me. A marriage contract.

I smile. I never thought I would say that, but I found the perfect woman.

COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE CONTRACT

(FOR ALL THE EFFECTS, DENOMINATED MARRIAGE)

Separation of property

By this particular instrument of Common-law Contract of lasting, public and continuous coexistence, based on art. 226 of the Federal Constitution of 1988, Law No. 9,278, of May 10, 1996 and art. 1.723 and the following of Law 10,406 of 2002, was decided and contracted among the undersigned:

PART 1, Antonella Machado Rodrigues, single, profession maid, RG[1]nº 281859754 and CPF[2]14270734712, resident and domiciled at Rua Doutor Carluxo Sampaio nº 26, apartment 402 Neighborhood Casa Verde, City of São Paulo, Zip code 02519-000, and,

PART 2,Marcos Leal Valente, single, profession lawyer, RG nº 618954528 and CPF 12552863841, resident and domiciled at Rua Felizardo Guimarães nº 58, penthouse, Neighborhood Morumbi, City of São Paulo, CEP 05606100, who agree by mutual agreement under the terms of the Law as follows:

FIRST CLAUSE:The ENGAGED PARTIES, since 08/10/2021, live under the same roof, at Felizardo Guimarães nº 58, penthouse, Neighborhood Morumbi, City of São Paulo, CEP 05606100, in consortium, with the animus to constitute a family, committing both respect, consider, assist, loyalty, mutual dedication and common effort in order to achieve the necessary harmony and well-being that the warmth of the home can offer them.

SECOND CLAUSE:The ENGAGED PARTIES declare that the period of relationship prior to this contract was exclusively dating, where each lived in their home, without the animus of starting a family, as they were in the acquaintance period.

THIRD CLAUSE:The duration of this contract is two years and, during the term of the relationship, THE ENGAGED PARTIES shall observe the most austere respect and dignity towards each other, as well as the observance of all duties and care required for a solid and perfect coexistence.

FOURTH CLAUSE:During the duration of this contract, the regime adopted is the absolute separation of property, provided for in art.1687 of Law 10406/2002, that is, any movable or immovable property, rights and income acquired by any of the parties before or during the term of this contract will belong to the person who acquired them, not communicating with the properties of the other party.The hereditary goods will not be communicated.

FIFTH CLAUSE: Each MARRYING PARTY declares, for all legal purposes, to be aware of:the economic, financial and patrimonial situation of the other;

that all properties and rights existing today were acquired before the beginning of the relationship or for a previous cause (legitimate, donation, subrogation, etc.)

---