Dropping Ariana off at her destination, Macos set up her drawing board, bought a few snacks and stacked them next to her, looking at her cheerfully:
-If you’re hungry from painting, eat something and rest for a while. When I’m done, I’ll go keep you company, and if you want to go home, call me.
Ariana looked at him and couldn’t contain her smile either.
Seriously, no one had ever said that to her while she was painting.
She looked at the big bag of snacks next to her and then at Macos:
-This bag is enough for me to eat for a month.
Macos rubbed his head in embarrassment:
-I forgot, you are so thin you can’t eat much. There were still some snacks left from this morning, I thought they weren’t to your liking.
Ariana froze for a moment at these words, and felt something indescribable in her heart.
She really couldn’t eat much. This morning, she tried her best to eat and still had some left over, to fear that Macos would think she didn’t like the food, she left it secretly, not expecting all this to be noticed by him.
-I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t like to eat, you made it delicious?
-I know,” Macos hastened to interrupt him. I’m not blaming you. Next time I’ll make you smaller portions. Don’t force yourself to eat if you can’t, it’s not good for your stomach. I asked Albina and she said you have a bad stomach.
Ariana didn’t really know what to say for a while. She just looked at Macos in a daze, her eyes slightly red.
Apart from grandma and Albina, it seemed that no one else cared that much about her, not even Santiago.
She often forgot to eat when she painted, and eventually developed a stomach problem. After her grandmother’s death, only Albina reminded her to eat when she drew, and now there was someone else.
-Thank you.
-You’re welcome.
Macos saw her eyes redden, but she tried her best to smile at him. His heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a needle, and he walked away sourly.
Eight hours into his shift, Macos came by three times. He bought lunch for Ariana and brought her tea in the afternoon, with great enthusiasm.
Until the end of the day, taking her home together.
Ariana received a call from Albina in the car.
Her voice was soft and sweet:
-Ariana, Umberto and I are going to the supermarket. There is no more food at home, you two should also see if there is anything you want to buy.
Ariana accepted him.
Indeed, she and Macos had been in a bit of a hurry when they arrived. When they were tidying up last night, they realized they had brought a few things less.
The four of them met at the entrance of the supermarket. As soon as Albina saw Ariana, she trotted over excitedly and grabbed her arm:
-Let’s go.
Umberto stepped aside and watched Macos and Ariana.
Only when the two girls entered, he went over to ask Macos:
-Any progress?
Macos always kept in mind that Umberto was a friend of Santiago and shook his head solemnly at his words:
-Mr. Santangel, I am not going to ruin anyone’s relationship.
Umberto was not convinced and continued:
“Then why do you watch a video that teaches you how to get a girl’s love quickly.”
But thinking that he too had secretly watched that teaching last night before going to bed, Umberto felt a little embarrassed. He ignored Macos and took a big step to walk beside Albina.
Only when Macos saw that he wasn’t pursuing the matter did he let out a fierce sigh of relief.
Though he had been attentive to Ariana, he hadn’t let her notice his feelings. He simply felt that this girl was too heartbreaking.
The four handsome guys were together, attracting the stares of many people.
Umberto and Macos had in mind to protect the two girls and followed them closely. When they finished shopping for their daily needs, they went back to food shopping.
Of the four of them, only Umberto was a cook, so the task of choosing the food fell to him. Macos followed closely behind Ariana, taking advantage of the fact that Umberto was a little further away to talk to her.
Macos talked about the funny things that had happened today in the company, which made Albina and Ariana laugh from time to time.
Albina smiled beautifully, and, Ariana gave an equally charming slight smile.
Lila hid behind the shelves, with a look of hatred for the three of them, gazing fondly at Macos before settling on Albina and Ariana.
BaAlbina shuddered unconsciously and looked up.
Noticing her strange appearance, Ariana also looked around asking:
-What’s wrong?
-I always feel like someone is spying on us. That sight makes me uncomfortable,” Albina frowned. It can’t be…
Before she could finish her words, she heard a high-pitched voice:
-Two bitches, go to hell!
A black figure rushed forward, holding a bottle in his hand and splashing towards them.
Lila had timed the moment, and the position, so that they could both splash. As long as they had this, no matter how beautiful these two were, their faces would turn bloody as monsters in the future.
Macos was closer to Ariana and pushed her out of the way at the first opportunity.
Umberto sensed something was wrong and hurriedly ran to Albina, his eyes full of blood.
-Albina!
This happened so suddenly that Albina had not reacted. After Macos pushed Ariana away, she rushed towards Albina as well.
But it was already too late.
At just the right moment, a tall, slender figure rushed at her and hugged her tightly.
The liquid from the bottle spilled all over the man’s back.
Albina was hugging him, and her nose was filled with a familiar smell, with a bitter medicinal taste, which made her eyes redden.
-Miguel…
Her voice was hoarse as she murmured.
Umberto hurried to Lila’s side and twisted the hand holding the bottle behind his back. The glass bottle fell to the ground with a crunching sound.
The surrounding people had scattered around the scene, shrieking in surprise and confusion.
Security guards also came and held the woman by Umberto’s hand.
Fang Li hissed frantically.
-Let go of me, I’m going to kill those two bitches, I’m going to make them ugly!
The voice was so frantic it sent shivers down her spine.
Albina ignored the furious curses. She hurriedly pulled herself out of Miguel’s arms and went to take off her clothes at the first opportunity.
The liquid Lila had spilled was concentrated sulfuric acid.
Albina had known some first aid measures, and shouted to Macos next door:
-Get out the towels and the mineral water we bought earlier! Hurry up!
Ariana hurried to get out the towel and Macos hurried to get mineral water, while asking the security guard to call an ambulance.
Albina’s fingers trembled as she flew to remove the clothes from Miguel’s body.
When he had bathed earlier at home, he still had beautiful muscles, but now they were only pale and thin.
-Albina, don’t cry, I’m fine.
Miguel smiled wanly and wiped away her tears.
Albina’s voice faltered and she tried to speak, but she couldn’t make a sound. She could only continue to shed tears.
When she saw him like this, she became especially sad and pained.
-Don’t say anything. Save your strength.
Her voice was choked with sobs.
-I’m not badly hurt,” Miguel explained quietly.
He was not feeling well these days, although the weather was already warm, whenever he went out, his family made him wear thicker clothes.
This time he had worn a jacket with a layer of clothing underneath, so he wasn’t particularly injured.
But the concentration of the acid Lila used was so high that the two layers of clothing had long since been burned off and his skin was still wounded.
He lay on the ground, revealing his back.
Albina carefully diluted the area where she had been injured with a good absorbent towel, then took the mineral water from Macos’ hand and rinsed it vigorously.
This was an emergency measure that should alleviate the injury.
As she did so, she knew that Miguel must be in pain, but he just let out a few grunts and let her treat the wound.
If Albina had not felt the tightness of his skin, she would have thought he was no longer in pain.