Miguel hesitated for a moment, then handed over the cell phone:
-You’ll know by looking at it. It’s best to use pictures to talk about this kind of thing.
Albina took the cell phone suspiciously, not knowing what Miguel was talking about.
But when she saw the pictures on her cell phone, she understood everything. Albina’s face became paler, and her lips trembled uncontrollably while there was an abnormal blush on her face. She stared at the screen with tear-filled eyes. Blue veins appeared on the back of her white hand.
There were only two images, which were taken in the same place, the background of which was the door of a room where the lights were dimmed.
In the first image Umberto was seen leaving the room, followed by a uniformed doorman, to whom he was talking something. Albina could not see his expression clearly, and could only see that there was a slight blush on his face. Umberto’s shirt button was open and his coat was wrinkled.
The second picture showed Yolanda holding her clothes and hurrying out of the room. She probed her head and looked very cautious. Albina saw that her hair was in disarray, her face was flushed and there were footprints on her neck.
-What is this? -Albina asked, bearing the sharp pain in her heart.
Looking into her red eyes, Miguel said:
-Albina, you should already know that Umberto and Yolanda were together in this room last night. I think you already understand what happened after looking at these pictures.
Seeing that Albina almost fainted, Miguel quickly held her up.
-Are you all right?
-Don’t worry,” Albina moved Miguel’s hand and handed him the cell phone, “How did you get these two pictures?
Miguel looked at her with complex and deep eyes:
-My friend was at this club last night and took the pictures accidentally. He knew Umberto and Yolanda had broken off their engagement, and was surprised to see them together, so he sent them to me.
Seeing Albina’s stunned expression, Miguel clutched her shoulders and looked at her seriously,
-Albina, I know that Umberto is chasing you again these days, that’s why I want to show you these two pictures. I want to tell you that Umberto is lying to you, so don’t believe what he said. In those three years, wasn’t it bad enough that you were cheated on? I don’t want you to experience it again.
-Stop it! -Albina screamed and realized she was too excited.
-I’m sorry, but…
She wanted to explain, but found herself unable to say anything, so she bowed her head and continued apologizing to Miguel,
-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be mad at you.
-It’s okay. I know you can’t accept it for a while, don’t blame yourself! I can understand,” Miguel comforted her gently.
Albina continued:
-I’m sorry. I’m in a bad mood, it’s my fault I’m angry with you.
She took a deep breath and smiled stiffly at Miguel,
-I’ll think about it. Don’t worry. I’m not the girl I was before, this time I won’t be fooled so easily.
Something occurred to Miguel when he saw her so stubborn, but she interrupted him with a smile,
-Wait for me, I’m going to wash up and I’ll invite you to lunch.
Seeing her trying to express herself naturally, Miguel said nothing at the end and only answered calmly:
-Okay.
As soon as Albina entered the bathroom, the smile on her face instantly disappeared and her fingers trembled uncontrollably. Thinking about those two pictures, she felt a pain in her heart, which made her whole body go rigid, as if a lightning bolt went through her insides.
She thought of many things last night. She wouldn’t mind if Umberto made love with other women, because she didn’t accept him publicly, and she had no right to intervene in his life.
However, that woman was Yolanda!
She told him that she would leave work at six o’clock and that her appointment time was at seven o’clock. So, Umberto should have made good use of this one hour. If the woman in his heart was Yolanda, why did he explain so many things to Albina? He told her that he didn’t like Yolanda, and that he was forced to commit to her. Was that all a lie?
Albina could no longer distinguish between the truth and the lie. She couldn’t stop crying, thinking that all her illusions seemed like a joke, and that Umberto must be making fun of her.
“Only stupid women take seriously what a man says!”
Albina didn’t dare let Umberto hear her cry, so she did her best to stifle her voice, biting her hand hard. After a long time, when she gradually calmed down, she washed her face and brushed her teeth, wet the towel and covered her swollen eyes.
Miguel was standing outside the bathroom door.
Actually, this door is not soundproofed. Albina’s suppressed screams came intermittently from inside. The hoarse choking and mournful atmosphere made Miguel feel distressed.
But he did not regret showing Albina those two pictures, either for her or for himself.
In those days, Umberto was getting closer to Albina step by step and finally got her forgiveness. Miguel clearly knew that Albina loved Umberto very much, which meant that she could easily be seduced by him. If they were together, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
With a slightly somber face, Michael clenched his fists tightly and apologized in his heart to Albina. Then he went back to being as kind as before.
Albina calmly walked out of the bathroom. Despite her puffy eyes, nothing was out of the ordinary.
-Let’s go eat.
***
At six o’clock in the evening Umberto called Albina, and began to speak in a hoarse voice:
-Albina, I’ll be at your place later.
Albina picked him up quickly. She supposed that she would not be able to control her emotions when she heard Umberto’s voice, but she managed to do so, and answered him calmly:
-Umberto, I can’t today, let’s meet another day. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you when I’m free.
Umberto was silent for a moment, and continued:
-All right. Have a good rest.
After hanging up the phone, Albina breathed a sigh of relief. Staring dazedly at the cell phone, she suffered an inexplicable pain in her heart.
Umberto, who was in a bad mood, was also looking at his cell phone. Since last night, he felt that something was wrong. This call was just a test, but that made her feel that something must have gone wrong.
She became too cold and started drawing boundaries again.
Holding the cell phone, Umberto, whose eyes were extremely cold, had to get everything straight.
In the following days, Umberto wanted to approach Albina as before, but she refused with various excuses.
She was avoiding him. Umberto was very sure of this, but he could not understand why and was extremely irritable. When he went to the company, his face was grim.
Ruben, who had been following him, was trembling with fear, for fear that something would go wrong with his work. Just like now, Ruben stood at the office door, listening to Umberto getting angry with the marketing manager, whose furious voice scared him a lot.
After a while, out came with complicated expressions the manager, who carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead.
When he saw Ruben at the door, he quickly approached and asked:
-What happened to the boss? Or is there some problem with the company?
Ruben pouted, explaining that Umberto was not in a good mood these days. Since yesterday, when he joined the company, all the managers asked him the reason, and some of them even guessed if the company was bankrupt.
Unable to bear Ruben’s silence, the manager said seriously:
-Tell me the truth. We will not give up the company and we will work with Mr. Santangel to get out of the difficulties.
Knowing the manager’s loyalty, Ruben sighed, not knowing what to tell him.
Umberto wouldn’t care so much about the company’s bankruptcy. In fact, his boss was so angry just because of it.