— Let’s head somewhere to the beach?—Kyle suggested, tenderly hugging her waist. — Enough sitting in this stuffy city when there’s so much beauty and sun around. You’re fixated on work.
— Darling, just let me finish the deal on this new development,—Diana replied, pointing to the laptop screen,—and we’ll fly right away. I promise.
— No, that’s not an answer,—her husband began to get irritated. — Normal people know how to relax and switch off. And I’m married to a workaholic who can’t even look at the sky. I want a normal wife, not a robot who just performs wife functions.
To avoid provoking conflict, she compromised again, and after some time, they did go on vacation. Kyle relaxed fully—unwound, enjoyed nature and freedom, while Diana constantly checked her phone, worrying about how things were going at the company.
— Look what a wonderful house I found!—Kyle joyfully declared one evening. — And it’s not expensive. Let’s buy it and go there on weekends. It’ll be great!
Diana glanced at the photos her husband showed her on the tablet and immediately began evaluating the house by professional criteria: distance from the city, infrastructure availability, building condition.
— No need to calculate all this now,—Kyle interrupted, noticing the habitual analysis in her gaze. — Look at the house like an ordinary girl, not like a realtor. Forest around, lake nearby. It’s just a fairy tale!
And again, Diana yielded, although she personally didn’t particularly need the house. Sometimes she asked herself if she was happy in marriage. The answer to this question depended on her mood. On one hand, she wasn’t alone. But on the other hand, her husband often reminded her of an expensive purebred pet that needed care, feeding, and attention, without forgetting to solve its problems in time. He didn’t become her equal partner; rather, he didn’t even strive for it. The role of a passive companion suited him perfectly.
Somehow unnoticed, a child appeared in their life. Eva was born when Diana was already heading the company, and she couldn’t afford a long maternity leave. The girl was left with a nanny from six months old. Diana, of course, was drawn to her daughter, but she realized that her place was in the company. No one else could manage the business like she could.
— You’re guarding your workplace as if I’m going to take it from you,—Kyle once said with offense in his voice. The nanny got sick, and Diana asked her husband to stay with Eva while she was at an important meeting. — If we had a normal family,—he continued,—you’d stay home with the child like a real mother. And I’d go sign the documents. But no, you have to be in the center of everything, control every step. You can’t let go of anything.
Diana understood that his words were dictated by resentment. Kyle had already tried more than once to take over the company’s management, but each time he faced her resolute refusal.
Her husband acted unobtrusively but persistently, as if hoping that over time his wife would give in. He constantly offered himself for negotiations or signing important contracts, and when Diana invariably refused, he made an offended face and could not talk to her for several days. And now the situation repeated.
— You don’t consider me a man at all!—Kyle flared up, seriously angry. — How is it for a guy to sit with a baby and change diapers? Why can’t you give me power of attorney? You keep me under your heel, and then ask why you need me!
Diana wearily sank into the chair, watching their daughter Eva, sitting in the playpen, enthusiastically playing with a rattle.
— Kyle, this is my father’s corporation, and only I should…
— Your father has been dead for a long time, if you’ve forgotten,—Kyle sharply interrupted with a sarcastic smirk. — And you’re sitting like a dog in the manger! I won’t even mention that in a normal family, everything should be shared. And you…
— What about «you»?—Diana raised her eyebrows challengingly, staring at her husband.
— You only care about your company,—he continued, shifting his gaze to the daughter. — You don’t even care about the child! You leave her with the nanny or with me, who has no idea how to handle her. Just to run out of the house with painted lips and feigned importance. I didn’t expect this from you…
He said it with such confidence that Diana realized: everything he had just said had been brewing in his head for a long time. And now it all burst out. But she managed to resolve the conflict. However, she drew conclusions for herself: soon they had not one, but two nannies, as well as additional help from an agency. Diana understood—she could never trust anyone with managing her company; intuition wouldn’t allow it.
Over time, Kyle seemed to reconcile and stopped demanding a place in the business for himself, but Diana connected this with the fact that their relationship improved after the daughter grew up. The question of whether she truly loved her husband arose before her often. Sometimes it seemed to her that their marriage was just a compromise, and her husband more resembled a capricious pet that needed constant care. But she couldn’t allow herself to remain alone, and thoughts of divorce caused internal protest in her. And Eva—their shared child, and leaving her without a father was wrong.
Relations with Kyle’s parents also remained complicated. If her mother-in-law tried to stay out and not interfere in their affairs, then his father, the former owner of the company, constantly tried to influence the firm’s matters. This led to a major conflict. Kyle was beside himself when his wife threatened to fire Richard for trying to close a deal behind her back.
— How could you do that to him?—Kyle raged. — He built this company from scratch, and now you want to throw him out like a puppy!
— He sold the company,—Diana calmly replied. — And he knew perfectly well that without my consent, no one can do anything. He violated that rule, and I can’t turn a blind eye.
— He didn’t do anything like that!—Kyle objected, but Diana had already made a decision.
— In my company,—she enunciated,—I make the decisions. If your father wants to close deals, he should have warned me.
Since then, relations with her father-in-law practically ceased. Any meeting with him ended in insults toward her. Diana’s work required a lot of strength and time, especially during business trips, like now.
The young woman had to travel often across the country, and sometimes even fly abroad, to always stay informed of new trends and not miss opportunities for profitable deals. The real estate market was changing rapidly, and to stay afloat, it required almost round-the-clock analysis of the situation. And now, sitting at another business conference, she was already dreaming of when the last speaker would finish his, in her opinion, endless and boring lecture, so she could head to the station sooner.