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Chapter 18: Tony Windis
🕑 Added 2024-10-09 14:14:14 +0000 UTCAfter dinner, Josh drove Margaret home.
Margaret's home was a small estate on Chicago's wealthy North Side.
As Josh looked at the spacious property and the scattered lights from the servants' quarters, he began to understand Margaret's loneliness a little better.
He gave Margaret a gentle hug and watched her enter the mansion before driving away.
What Josh didn't know was that as soon as Margaret entered the mansion, she saw someone in the living room.
It was no surprise to find a familiar face there at that hour.
The person was none other than Margaret's almost absent husband, tennis star Tony Windis.
"What a rare guest; I thought you'd forgotten you had a home," Margaret said with a hint of sarcasm when she saw Tony, who made her a little nervous at first, but quickly regained her composure.
After all, what did she have to be nervous about? She and Josh were completely innocent; at least so far. Apart from a polite hug, there had been no overly intimate acts.
It was this man standing before her who had been caught red-handed several times.
"Who is he?" Tony Windis asked stiffly, ignoring Margaret's sarcasm.
"Just a friend, and what does that have to do with you?" Margaret replied contemptuously.
"I'm your husband; how could it have nothing to do with me?" Tony Windis shot back angrily.
"Oh? You remember you're my husband? How many days did you spend with me last year? If you hadn't shown up today, I might have forgotten you even existed!" Margaret said sarcastically as she went upstairs to her bedroom.
"I was working!!" Tony Windis replied, a mixture of embarrassment and anger rising in him.
"Working? Oh, what a perfect excuse! And what did you earn? How much did you spend at home? To maintain your respectable image, you even take a large sum of money from me every year! If that were all, that would be one thing, but where has my money really gone? To that little star named Amy? Or that singer named Carly? Or maybe those brothels?" Tony Windis' words ignited Margaret's anger and she replied without holding back.
"You're investigating me?" Tony Windis was taken aback by Margaret's answer.
"Investigating? Do you think that's necessary? Do you really think what you're doing is so secret? Many people have told me about it. Don't think that just because my father is dead that no one cares about me! And don't think that I can't live without you. Tomorrow, I'll have my lawyer draw up a divorce agreement. Now get out of my room!" Margaret said, her anger rising, before she slammed the bedroom door before Tony could react.
"Hey, Margaret, let's not do this. We can sit down and talk about this!" Tony Windis panicked when he heard Margaret mention her father's friends and the divorce.
As Margaret pointed out, his comfortable lifestyle did not come from his identity as a tennis star; the money he earned from tournaments and endorsements was not enough to support one mistress, let alone two.
If they divorced, with Margaret's family connections and her fortune, he would probably walk away with nothing.
"Margaret, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you like this. Let's talk about it and I promise to change," Tony Windis kept knocking on the door, trying to ease the tension between them.
Was he worried about losing face? Not at all! As long as he didn't get divorced and could maintain his current luxurious lifestyle, he didn't care about a little embarrassment.
This time, however, he miscalculated Margaret's anger and determination. No matter how he softened his tone or apologized, Margaret inside the room completely ignored him.
He didn't dare to force his way in; if he angered Margaret further, it would lead to trouble.
Damn it! Margaret used to be so gentle! As he thought about the previous version of Margaret, Tony Windis wondered what could have caused such a drastic change in her.
He soon remembered Josh, who had just dropped Margaret off.
Even though it was night and the streetlights were dim, he could tell that Josh was a tall, young and handsome man.
Hm, so she found a new boyfriend!
Tony Windis quickly blamed Josh, whom he had never met, for the situation.
With that thought, his mood soured even more.
Since Margaret wouldn't answer the door, Tony Windis had no choice but to go down to the guest room.
However, Margaret's behavior made it impossible for him to relax, so he spent only a few minutes in the guest room before leaving to find a place to drink.
Inside the room, Margaret heard the sound of the car engine starting, went to the window and watched Tony Windis drive away. A hint of contempt crossed her face; she knew he was probably going out to fool around. She had seen through the man.
At the same time, her determination to get a divorce grew stronger.
On the other hand, after leaving the estate, Tony Windis quickly arrived at a brothel, just as Margaret had suspected.
In America, brothels had slowly become illegal since the founding of the country.
Despite their illegality, however, there were no specific restrictive laws against them.
Moreover, these operations generally paid their taxes and protection money to local police, so the federal government turned a blind eye.
It wasn't until 1978, when Pennsylvania passed specific legislation, that these semi-public brothels began to be shut down in various states, leaving only Nevada which still exists today.
The brothel Tony Windis visited was the largest in Chicago, located on the West Side.
As soon as he got out of the car, he noticed some Italians in a nearby alley, yelling and beating someone.
Tony glanced over, but didn't pay them any attention and went straight inside.
"Mr. Windis, welcome back! The girls have been asking for you!" The doorman greeted him warmly as soon as he entered.
"Call for Mary and Nancy. By the way, what's going on in the alley? The Italians are causing trouble and Brian isn't handling it?" Tony Windis said, mentioning the two girls' names and slipping the doorman a five-dollar tip.
The West Side was Irish territory, and Brian was the overseer of this establishment.
It was unusual for Italians to cause trouble in an Irish owned place.
"Thank you, sir. Normally, Mr. Brian wouldn't allow Italians to cause trouble on the West Side, but this guy is Italian, too. I hear he owes their boss a lot of money. Normally it wouldn't be a problem; guests are welcome here, but this guy came here looking for girls even though he's broke. That's just asking for trouble. The Italians want to get even with him, so Mr. Brian has no desire to get involved. I heard he used to be a big shot in the Southwest, but now? Haha, his days are numbered," the doorman said, laughing as he shared the information he knew.
"Oh? How much does he owe?" Tony Windis asked casually, understanding that if the guy couldn't pay, his life would probably be forfeit.
"I hear it's several thousand," the doorman replied.
"Only a few thousand, and they want his life?" Tony Windis blurted out.
"Mr. Windis, you're joking. To someone like you, a few thousand is nothing. But for us little people, unless we rob a bank, it would take at least ten or eight years to save up that much," the doorman said with a hint of self-deprecation.
Tony Windis understood immediately what the porter meant.
Yes, before he met Margaret, saving a few hundred dollars a year was a blessing.
Several thousand was enough to buy a life.
He couldn't help but shiver at the thought.
If Margaret really divorced him, would he end up in the same unfortunate situation as that guy?
And the thought began to swell uncontrollably in his mind.
