Time flies like an arrow.
Ten years later, La Villa Rouco.
It was the eighteenth Bar Mitzvah and birthday party for the youngest princess of The Rouco family, and the large courtyard of The Rouco family was filled with the smell of laundry and endless delicious cakes, scones and champagne on the open lawn.
The courtyard was as bright as day in the middle of the night, and there was great excitement.
In the first floor living room, Roberto Rouco, on his crutches and in a rare good mood, asks his daughter-in-law Estrella Berrocal: “Where is Paulita? The guests are all here, but why hasn’t our birthday girl come down?”.
Estrella Berrocal looks up and smiles slightly, “I’m sure she’s still changing, she’s been so spoiled by you and Adam that she’s never been in the habit of being punctual.”
Roberto Rouco, unconcerned, glared at her, “The precious granddaughter of my Rouco family, it is your honor to make her wait.”
Estrella Berrocal, did not argue with the old man, who was notoriously unreasonable for pampering Paulita.
“Papa, I’m going upstairs to see if Paulita is ready.”
…
Estrella Berrocal went upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door, “Paulita, are you ready? The guests are waiting for you outside, so hurry up, it’s not good to keep everyone waiting.”
No one answered the bedroom door, so Estrella Berrocal pushed it open and went straight in, opening the door to see the window just opposite, which was wide open, and a rope tied to it.
Estrella Berrocal was in a hurry and hurried to look out the window to see Paulita grabbing the rope and sliding down.
“Paula Rouco, what are you doing?”.
Paula Rouco’s hands trembled and she lost her grip on the rope and fell through the air!
“Ah…!”
A scream rang out in the backyard.
Good thing the lawn was downstairs and Paula Rouco had reached the downstairs window when she fell, so the fall wasn’t serious, but she did twist her ankle.
Upstairs, Estrella Berrocal was rushing downstairs to check on her daughter in the courtyard, and ran into her husband, Adam Rouco, on the stairs.
“How old you are, why are you still too busy to walk?”.
Adam Rouco grabbed Estrella Berrocal’s wrist and looked at his wife with a slight frown.
Estrella Berrocal became distressed, “No, Paulita just climbed out of the second floor window and fell out!”.
“What does this girl intend to do?”.
“I don’t know, let’s go take a look!”
Estrella Berrocal pulled Adam Rouco with her and quickly ran downstairs.
…
In the backyard, Paula Rouco’s face was contorted in pain as she twisted her ankle, her hands rubbed her ankle and her dark eyes looked around for someone to help her up.
A quick glance revealed a young waiter standing not far away.
“Handsome! Handsome! Over here!”
Paula Rouco cried out in pain when the waiter didn’t respond, “Help! Hey! Help!”
As soon as someone yelled “help,” the waiter responded and looked toward the girl who had fallen to the grass.
The young man was standing in the floating light, and when he looked back, his eyes were cold and proud, although he wore the most ordinary waiter’s suit, he had an “impressive” air about him.
When she first saw Severo Laris, Paula Rouco had only one thought: what a handsome man.
When Severo Laris approached with his long legs, Paula Rouco looked away and pointed to her ankle: “I’ve fallen and now I can’t get up, can you help me up?”.
Severo Laris frowned slightly and although there was coldness in his eyes, the gentleman in his bones made her extend her hand.
Paula Rouco reached out her own and placed her hand in the man’s large, slender one, and the moment Severo Laris tugged to lift her, she staggered to her feet and fell into his arms.
“… I, I didn’t want to.”
The two were extremely close, one large, warm, masculine hand grasping her small, soft hand, the other holding her back to keep her from breaking her foot again.
The man was so tall that Paula Rouco stood in front of him in slippers, his head just reaching her neck, and when he raised his head, his soft lips brushed the lump in her throat.
Severo Laris’ eyes sank and he released the girl in his arms as if releasing a hot potato.
“Behave yourself, Miss!”
Paula Rouco’s face reddened and she stood with her feet propped against the wall. “The one who respects herself is you! I just looked up, why did you look down! If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have kissed you at all, you did it on purpose!”.
“…”
Severo Laris, with a cold stare, didn’t bother with her and turned to leave.
Paula Rouco pointed to his back and called out, “Hey, come here, you! Are you the waiter we hired?”.
The man did not turn, but spoke in a cold voice, “Yeah, what’s the problem?”.
Paula Rouco didn’t have any bad intentions, she just wanted him to come over and help her, but seeing him so listless … the girl’s heart went into play and hooked her lips.
“You … come and take me!”
The man growled in Severo Laris’ ears and glared back at her, his dark eyes sharp and hostile, “Miss Rouco, although I am a temporary waiter hired by your family, my job is only to serve the coffee and water for this dinner and the smooth running of the whole thing, as for the matter of carrying you As for carrying you, I could have hired a footman at your disposal!”
Anyway, they, The Rouco family, had plenty of money.
Severo Laris’ sarcastic words were a tribute to the fact that Paula Rouco had been raised by her parents and elders and had never been teased that way.
The girl clenched her little fist and said angrily, “What a little gentleman you are! I was only teasing you.”
Severo Laris looked deeply and darkly into the girl’s scarlet and white face, with a serious and hostile tone, “Then remember also, Miss Rouco, that I don’t like to be teased.”
With those words, Severo Laris walked away toward the banquet hall, unconcerned about the girl behind him who was having a tantrum.
She still hadn’t said anything to her Mr. ito, she was even more desperate than her father!
Paula Rouco puffed out her little mouth, her ankle was hurting and she was about to leave when she looked down and saw the waiter’s badge that had fallen to the floor.
Paula Rouco bent down and picked up the tiny gold pin with the name Severo Laris written on it.
His name was Severo Laris. It was a pretty name, and he was a handsome man, but a little grumpy.
As soon as Adam Rouco and Estrella Berrocal arrived in the backyard, they saw their daughter, who had broken her foot and was limping.
Adam Rouco’s brow furrowed, “Paula Rouco, who gave you permission to come down from the second floor – don’t you want to die?”
Paula Rouco’s neck twisted at the sight of her imposing father, “Dad…”
Adam Rouco strides over, looks at his daughter’s ankle and then the height of the second floor and says, “How come you didn’t break your leg?”
Paula Rouco collapses into Estrella Berrocal’s arms, looks embarrassedly at her father and says with a small mouth, “Dad … I wouldn’t dare.”
Estrella Berrocal helped her daughter and said, “Adam, don’t lecture her yet. Why did you come down from that height, your father and I got really scared.”
“My colleagues said they wanted to spend their birthday with me and they had a private room outside waiting for me to celebrate, but when I saw that you had arranged such a big birthday party for me, you wouldn’t let me sneak out if I did, but I couldn’t let my colleagues wait for nothing, so I tried to sneak out the back door by climbing down from the second floor … ”
At the end of the sentence, under Adam Rouco’s stern eyes, his voice grew smaller, a thin gnat’s voice.
“That’s no way to jump from a building, do you know how dangerous that is?”. Estrella Berrocal raised her hand and pressed her daughter’s temple.
Paula Rouco nodded, “Mom, I know I made a mistake, next time I won’t jump out the window.”
…
Among the guests at Paula Rouco’s eighteenth birthday party were Esteban Zaragosa and Mr. and Mrs. Esteban.
Thus, Paula Rouco’s sprained foot was corrected with a “click” from Esteban Zaragosa, and she was able to walk across the floor in no time.
Adam Rouco looked at his daughter and, lifting his chin slightly, commanded, “Thank you, Uncle Esteban.”
Paula Rouco did a couple of hops and, realizing that her feet really didn’t hurt anymore, smiled and said, “Thank you Uncle Esteban!”
“No, thank you, happy birthday girl today.”
Estrella Berrocal took her daughter and said, “Paulita, come upstairs with me and change your clothes, you are dirty and the birthday party will start later.”
Adam Rouco watched as his wife and daughter went upstairs together before entertaining Esteban ZaragosaSr. and Mrs. Esteban and going out into the courtyard together.
“Your son didn’t come today?”
Esteban Zaragosa: “How could he not come. He arrived early and went to play with your Lucio, who is not here at the moment.”
Dulcina Calvo smiled and said, “President Adam, if our Taurus wasn’t a little younger, you would certainly be thinking of asking Paulita to marry our Taurus!”
Adan Rouco changed the subject saying, “The children are too young to talk about marriage, my Paulita is still looking out the window today. It will be at least another ten years before they are worthy to talk about marriage.”
Esteban Zaragosa rubbed his nose and said amused, “Do you really think your Paulita is not worthy, or do you think all the boys in the world are not worthy of your little princess?”
Adam Rouco raised an eyebrow and joked, “I’m very critical of my future son-in-law and it would be better if we didn’t get married for the sake of our families.”
Among the crowd of animated guests, a little boy suddenly burst in, “Uncle AdamUncle Adam!”
Esteban Zaragosa looked at the handsome boy running and panting through the crowd and whispered in Adam Rouco’s ear, “Here comes the future son-in-law who will marry your Paulita.”
Angelo pulled a thick red envelope out of his school bag and said, “Tio Adan, this is a birthday present for Paulita from my father and mother. They had things to do in Imperial and couldn’t make it, so they asked me to greet you and Aunt Estrella for them.”
Adam Rouco accepted the red envelope and, seeing Angelo’s sweaty face, frowned slightly, “Why are you in such a hurry, aren’t you busy with your studies at Imperial?”
Angelo scratched his head and said cheekily, “Uncle Adam, it’s Paulita’s birthday, isn’t it? Uncle Adam, where is Paulita? I’m in a hurry, I’m looking for her.”
Adam Rouco reached out and rubbed the boy’s head hard, “You’re a brat, you just came of age and you intend to kidnap my daughter?”
“Nothing of the sort! I bought Paulita a birthday present, Uncle Adam, just tell me, my custom-made electric piano is heavy enough, I’m exhausted from carrying it all the way!”
Adam Rouco smiled slightly, “Come on, I’ll leave you, Paulita is upstairs.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Angelo grabbed his birthday present and ran off in a huff!
Esteban Zaragosa stroked his chin sidelong and said with a meaningful smile, “I think this boy is good. He makes a good couple with Paulita and, besides, Angelo and Paulita have grown up together as childhood sweethearts.”
Adam Rouco threw a cold glance at his friend and said arrogantly, “I’m the one who has to decide if he’s good or not. If he wants to be my in-laws, I’m the one who has to decide if I like him or not.”