Two Weeks Later

"You're not going to regret this, Mari! I'm so happy you've made this decision, really, I can't tell you how much." Linda McMahon said.

Mari smiled weakly. She had e-mailed Linda a few days after her devastating end with Adam to make what seemed, the only healthy solution. She would resign her position with the WWE and return to her roots as a legal practitioner. Linda had offered her the chance to work on new projects that would benefit people and communities, the reason she had gone to Harvard in the first place; to be able to make a difference. "I'm excited for this opportunity."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Linda said. "You let me handle my husband! After tonight that is. That man is impossible on pay-per-view nights."

"You're telling me." Mari muttered. Tonight was the Royal Rumble and one of Marianne's last shifts if Linda got her way. She expressed her wishes not to leave on any bad terms since she respected the company too much, but Linda waved her off.

"He's my husband; he won't be upset that you are going to continue doing what you are meant to. Let me talk to him, okay dear?" Linda kissed her cheek. "I better go find him before he ruins any more dreams tonight."

Vince McMahon was a powerhouse and so he needed to control everything, especially on a night as important as the Royal Rumble. He was demanding, self-righteous and incredibly hard-headed. But he was a good businessman and everyone knew it. On nights like tonight, he was just more on edge than usual.

She looked at the running order and grimaced when she saw Adam was up first with Nick. She had not spoken to him since their fight two weeks ago, and the few times they had been in the same vicinity they had kept their distance. This was another reason she could not continue working in the WWE: the sight of him was breaking her heart more and more every time.

She wanted so badly to call him and explain everything but even if he believed her now he had not even given her the benefit of the doubt that night, and she had no proof to back up her case, even if she tried. Charles was out of the picture, Kaden took care of that, and even if he was not there hadn't even been a real tape. Someone offered her a plate of fruit and she shook her head.

"No thanks."

Lately she had no appetite. Mari did not know if it was the stress, or the grief, but just the sight of food made her sick. She wasn't sleeping well which left her fatigued all the time. Her feet and back ached – Mari was simply exhausted both emotionally and physically.

Sofie Sinclair approached her and she mustered the strength to happily pretend she was fine. The brunette was beautiful, engaged to the love of her life and doing the job of her dreams – it was hard not to break down when your own wishes seemed so far and distant. At the corner of her eyes she spotted Adam chatting with Trent Barretta.

"Hey lady." Sofie said. "Ready for a crazy night?"

"Not really." Mari responded.

"What's wrong?"

Oh no, Mari was going to cry. No, not now… "Uhm."

Sofie must have noticed something wasn't right because she led her out of the Gorilla position without question and brought her into a private office. Mari sniffed but kept her composure.

"What's going on? Why haven't you and Adam spoken all night? Last time we were all together you guys could barely stop making googly eyes at one another."

Mari half laughed, half sobbed. "Googly eyes?"

"I'm worried about you. Did you guys have a fight?"

Mari nodded. "It's over. He misunderstood a situation but before I could explain – the damage was done. We can never be together."

"No, that can't be. He loves you! You can fix this. Just go to him and explain everything. Randy and I almost ended everything once but we just needed to talk it out… You can't give up!"

"There's nothing more to talk about." Nausea hit her unexpectedly. "Sofie, I don't feel well."

"What is it?"

Before she could answer, Mari was on her knees and emptying her stomach in a garbage bin. Sofie rushed out and returned minutes later with Pete, the onsite medic. Mari shook her head. She did not want a big deal made out of this; it was just a little nausea. She remained seated as Pete asked her questions. Have you eaten today? Have you had any liquids? When he was comfortable it must be stress-related Sofie took over almost instantly.

"Well, that's just it. You're going home. No – no. You're of no use if you're vomiting on the Superstars. Don't laugh. I want you to go and get better. And keep me updated. I have a full team – Vince is here, Carla, Hunter and Stephanie, the board, Dunn, Calvin – we don't need you tonight. I just want you better, Mari"

It took convincing, but Mari agreed to leave the Boston arena. "Alright. Thanks, Sofie."

"Get to bed. I'll call you when the show is over and tell you how it goes. "

When the night finally ended and Adam had finished showering and changing, he headed backstage for the catering and celebration. He hoped to see Mari back there as he had not seen her since the beginning of the night, but so far no sign of her.

He congratulated Alberto whom had just won the forty-man Rumble and the two shook hands. Alberto looked so happy – it made him remember when he had just started out. But that was a long time ago.

He had messed up with Mari and it was eating at him, but he had no clue how to fix it. She was avoiding him and rightly so. He had spoken in anger and said things he absolutely did not mean and he knew she deserved an apology. He was still just so angry with her though – not for going behind his back and seeing Charles, which he knew he would forgive – he was upset she still had not tried to fix things with him. He had expected at least for her to try and at that point he would beg for her forgiveness but the spitfire was stubborn and proud. A lot like him, actually.

Damn it, he just wanted to fix things with her. The last two weeks had been awful and he missed her terribly. The previous night of their fight he had let Matt's break-up affect him so negatively and he lost all common-sense when he found out about Charles. He was worried he would lose her he instead threw her out. Surely he wasn't completely wrong now though keeping his ground – Mari hadn't even tried to contact him since, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

He approached Barbie Blank, who he was scheduled to have a story line with for the next couple of Smackdown shows, to congratulate her on her part in the pay-per-view tonight when he noticed Mari's brother.

"Hey, Adam, great to see you man!" He shook his hand.

"Hey Kaden. Barbie. What are you doing here?"

Kaden gave him a grin. "Just trying to woo a certain lady."

Barbie blushed and gave Kaden a slight smack to the chest. "What a charmer."

Kaden continued, "Great match out there tonight."

"It was shit, I couldn't concentrate. Nick did all the work." Adam furrowed his eyebrow. "Have you seen your sister?"

"No, I imagined she would be out with you. You guys have a lot to celebrate after all!"

Adam was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well after all that shit," Kaden glanced at Barbie, "Sorry for my language love. All the stuff with Charles was fixed up you two must have been relieved. Plus, tonight was a raging success."

"She told you about Charles?" What was Kaden talking about?

Kaden whispered something in Barbie's ear and she smiled at him. She walked away nodding once to Adam. Now that Adam and Kaden were alone, he pulled him into a more secluded corner.

"Yeah, when she called me crying and told me what happened, I almost fucking lost it."

Adam tensed. "Explain."

"You don't know?" Kaden asked carefully.

"Obviously not."

"Ah, Mari… don't blame her, I told her not to say anything until we resolved it, but she could have told you by now… The creep was threatening her with your career and Isaac's. Said he had a fucking tape of you two being… intimate. Fucking low-life scum. Mari was so sure she would ruin this company if the tape got leaked to the media that she called me. Turns out Charles had nothing; he was fucking with her the whole time."

"Wait, what?"

"You really don't know?"

Adam tightened his fists he was so furious. Furious at fucking Charles for putting Marianne into that position and at Kaden for telling her to keep quiet. Adam felt like punching someone in the face. "Start over. Tell me everything from the start."

Author's Note

Keep an eye out for the final few chapters. Love to all!

L Boogie V