-Oh, Albina! Please, you must help your brother this time! -Mrs. Espina shouted in such a loud voice that the people who were chatting not far away turned their heads to see what was going on.
And they saw the three of them dressed like beggars come running towards a beautiful girl.
The old woman knelt down directly in front of the girl, and grabbed the hem of the girl’s skirt as she cried her eyes out.
A little startled, Albina stepped back a little and asked:
-What are you doing!
-Your brother was cheated and borrowed from loan sharks, so he owes them a lot of money. We have done everything possible that we can, but we are not able to collect so much in such a short time, so now you are the only one who can save us now,” Ramon said helplessly while wiping away his tears.
Albina, who had achieved her goal and no longer needed to pretend to be nice to them, asked coldly:
-My brother? My mother only gave birth to me, how come I have a brother?
Ramon still did not perceive Albina’s indifferent attitude, pulled Alex to his forehead and said:
-I’m sorry I was wrong. He’s not your brother, but your cousin, Alex. This guy is unpromising. He took out a loan to set up his own business with a former partner of his when he saw that our family’s financial situation is bad. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and lost all the money he borrowed. Now he is forced to pay off the debt within a week. Now he has only a few days left and if he can’t pay back the money on time to the loan sharks, our whole family will be left with nothing.
At that moment, Alex left his haughty appearance he used to have in front of Albina and begged her sobbing:
-Albina, I am too stupid and I have been deceived by others. I know I was wrong, please help me this time. Please help me pay off the debt first. I will pay you back later, okay?
The old woman also pleaded Albina aside:
-Yes, Albina, we are from the same family. Your parents are gone and we’re your only blood relatives, you’re not going to stand idly by, are you? Those people said they would cut off your cousin’s hand if he didn’t return the money on time. You’re not going to let your cousin get crippled, are you?
The three of them had already attracted a lot of attention from many people with their dirty and torn clothes. Now they were screaming and crying, which attracted more attention and many pedestrians gathered to see the spectacle they were putting on.
Seeing the old woman crying miserably and Ramon, a middle-aged man, also kneeling on the ground pleading for the young girl, some old men felt sorry for them and persuaded Albina:
-Girl, they are all your relatives. If you are able to help them, please, just give them a hand.
-That’s right. I just heard about them being your only relatives, I think you should help them if you can.
Both Mrs. Espina and Ramon showed a look of joy as the onlookers around them spoke for them, and then pretended to cry even more. Ramon pinched Alex on the thigh, who as a result hung his head more and swore repeatedly in tears that he would never make such a mistake again.
Albina cast a light glance at those old men who spoke for the Thorns, and let out a wry laugh.
-I’m not going to do them this favor in any way! -Albina refused.
-What? -The three members of the Espina family froze on the spot.
-Girl, why are you so indifferent…? -an old woman next to her had just said half a sentence when she was suddenly interrupted by a fierce look from Albina.
She looked at that old woman and said:
-Why don’t you ask them how much money they owe? They are just crying in front of me and asking me to help them, but they don’t mention anything about how much they really owe.
Albina looked down to look at Alex and spoke:
-Alex, tell us all how much money you owe.
His eyes were full of resentment.
They had purposely not mentioned how much they owed, intending to trick Albina into agreeing to offer help first, but they didn’t expect Albina to be really smart and not fall for the trick.
Seeing that Alex did not respond, Albina looked back at Ramon and her grandmother:
-Ramon, grandmother, you must know how much my cousin owes, right? If you tell me nothing, how can I know how much money I have to pay back for you?
Mrs. Espina gritted her teeth, and whispered after getting a gesture from her son:
-Five hundred thousand euros.
Her voice had been greatly reduced, but even so, the people around her heard it.
Instantly, surprised voices rang out from the crowd:
-Five hundred thousand euros! What a huge debt!
-That’s right, since you three can’t pay off such a huge debt, why do you think that I, an orphan, can pay back so much money for you? -Albina looked at the three of them coldly.
Hearing this, the old woman looked up sharply to look at her granddaughter:
-How is it that you are not able to pay it? You are now Umberto’s girlfriend. He is so rich, and as long as he agrees to help us, this debt is nothing. Umberto even said he would give you 10 million as excrex, so if you accept the excrex and marry him, won’t you be able to help us pay off the debt?
Hearing these words, the crowd to the side fell silent.
Ramon really hated this mother of his, who was too talkative. Originally, he had planned to take it one step at a time, but his mother threw everything at him in one go!
Albina pretended to make a sad face and said:
-Grandmother, do you want to sell me and use my excrex to pay off Alex’s debt? My parents are dead, and my house and family assets are all appropriated by you, how can I have so much money to help my cousin? Yes Umberto will be able to pay off this five hundred thousand euro debt, however, what qualification do I have to ask him to help Alex? If I blatantly asked him for money before marrying him, what would his relatives think of me?
After saying that, he made a pitiful and weak face.
-You don’t consider me as a family member and just take me as “a money-making machine” to you, do you?
Those elders, who at first had spoken for the Thorns, began to feel sorry for this girl upon seeing this scene and criticized the three of them by pointing their fingers at them.
Noticing Albina’s indolent and mocking tone, Alex became anxious and couldn’t help but shout in a stern voice:
-Anyway, you will marry Umberto sooner or later, what does it matter if you marry him a little earlier? You have so much money, what’s wrong with paying back a little debt for me? I’ll pay it all back later when I’m rich.
-Heh, heh. Do you think you’ll get that day? I’m afraid you won’t pay me back in this lifetime if I pay this money for you,” Albina glared at him.
Exasperated, Alex said:
-Even if I can’t pay you back, our family will be able to support you after you join the Santangel family.
Albina replied mercilessly upon hearing this:
-Bah, don’t throw any more nonsense here! To be my backup? You can’t even take good care of yourselves, and yet you want to be a firm backup for me? Aren’t you ashamed to say it?
Hearing her words, Ramon felt quite embarrassed and humiliated, he looked somewhat sadly at his niece and said sobbing:
-Albina, are you really not willing to help us? Your father and I are biological siblings and we were very close since we were children. If your father knew that you were standing idly by without lending us a hand, I’m afraid he would not be at peace.
Seeing that this one used his late father to blackmail him again, Albina let out a chuckle and stared at him as she spoke:
-If my father were alive, I’m afraid there would be the same as me. Besides, how are you able to mention my father without showing any sense of guilt, murderer?
Ramon froze instantly when he heard her call him by “murderer”, he looked up with trembling lips and stared at her, trying to see what she was thinking, however, he only saw infinite hatred in her clear and cute eyes.
“Hate? Weren’t her eyes full of respect for me when I looked for her a few days ago? How come now in her eyes there is only pure hatred left?”
-What nonsense are you talking, why are you calling me a murderer?! Albina, I can understand if you don’t want to help us, but you can’t falsely accuse me of being a murderer! It’s pure slander!
Looking at his nervous look, Albina scoffed and reminded him:
-That day when Alex called you at the mall, a friend of mine overheard his conversation with you. Alex personally said that you had played some malicious trick on my father’s car, causing his death and making me go blind.
As soon as these words came out of Albina’s mouth, Ramon looked sharply at his son.
Alex was stunned, and then he couldn’t help but show panic, it came out in his eyes.
It was true that they were talking on the phone that day with his father in a bathroom at the mall, but he didn’t know he was eavesdropping.
Very aggrieved and startled, Alex looked up to look at his father, wanting to explain it to him, but not knowing how to do it, he just said:
-Albina is lying! Dad, don’t believe what she said.
Albina came up to him and whispered in a very low voice:
-I have a recording. Don’t deny it anymore.
Alex instantly fell silent, putting on a dejected look.
At that moment, the old woman, as if she had just recovered from her daze, looked incredulously at her son and grandson, and asked in fright:
-Is it true what Albina said, are you the ones who have killed Juan?!