Albina looked at Macos’ fist and his dejected look, patted him on the shoulder and sighed.
-Other things aside, emotionally, you’re better than Santiago.
Macos was very honest with his feelings, good-natured, and capable of putting his body into making a girl happy. Knowing that he liked Ariana, he did not hesitate and immediately took action.
The most important thing was that he would always be by Ariana’s side when she needed comfort.
The more Albina thought about it, the more complicated her expression became. Macos was actually more reliable than Santiago and more suitable for Ariana.
Seeing her with a strange expression, Macos told her:
-Don’t tell her. She has Santiago as a boyfriend now. If she knows how I feel, it will bring her a lot of trouble, and we could also drift apart because of this.
So Macos had already added the advantage of being sympathetic, and had taken advantage of all of them.
Even Albina couldn’t help but want to take his side, even though she had long since sided with Macos.
Albina raised an eyebrow and said to him:
-If you don’t tell Ariana, are you still going to be in love with her on the sly? Do you plan to just watch Santiago and Ariana being affectionate? A while ago you were looking at her back and your eyes didn’t say that.
Just now, when Macos looked at Ariana and Santiago’s backs, his eyes showed a lot of jealousy. If the eyes were knives, he feared Santiago would be stabbed to death.
Macos sat obediently in his chair, his head bowed.
-What else can I do but remain in love on the sly! If I ran after her at this moment, I’d be just like a lover!
Saying that, as if something had occurred to him, he looked at Albina in surprise.
-Do you, Albina, want to help me? Are you going to help me conquer her?
Albina froze for a moment and formed a cross with her fingers.
-No, I don’t.
Although she was more optimistic about Macos, she would not get involved in Ariana’s relationship.
She herself was an example, Miguel wasn’t mean and treated her well, and besides she liked him, but she already had Umberto in her heart. So if she was forced to accept Miguel, or if any means were used to make her accept him, she would not be happy.
What Santiago was like in terms of feelings, no one would know better than Ariana. If she no longer liked Santiago and had let go of this person in her heart, then she could help Macos fight for her.
But if Ariana couldn’t let go and still liked Santiago, then rather than helping, she would be causing more problems. For Ariana it would be like being forced to drink water, and for Macos, being with a woman who had someone else in her heart was also a form of torture.
Macos could understand what she meant and smiled.
-Yes, I know, that’s why I’m waiting.
If Santiago continued to be like this, sooner or later, he would one day exhaust all the love in Ariana’s heart. At that moment, that would be his real chance.
Albina looked at Macos in surprise and shuddered at the depth of his eyes.
She really didn’t expect Macos, who looked silly and sweet, to be a little dark when he was serious.
Yes, a person who left his family to start his own business, fought for so many resources and made his company successful, how could he be a baby?
***
At that moment, Santiago and Ariana were walking through the neighborhood together.
The two had left the Espina family home and had not spoken.
Santiago glanced sideways at Ariana from time to time, and noticed that her mouth was slightly forming a smile. Walking beside her with a bland expression, he pursed his lips, and was about to speak, when he suddenly noticed the red marks at the corners of her eyes.
-Ariana, you, did you just cry?
He had known Ariana for a long time and had not seen her cry much, perhaps because she had grown up experiencing the coldness of human feelings. She had a very indifferent and calm personality, and she was very strong mentally, so she didn’t pout or cry as much as normal girls.
When Santiago saw her red eyes, his heart fluttered hard.
If Natalia’s tears could make him feel sorry for her, then Ariana’s tears were too powerful for him.
At that moment, he also stopped walking and stood in front of Ariana, held her wrist and looked at her with worried eyes.
-Who bullied you?
That question was exactly the same question Macos had asked before, but Ariana didn’t feel the same.
When Macos asked her, she only felt aggrieved and gagged, but when Santiago asked her, all she could think of was the image of him walking into the patient’s room and whispering love whispers to that woman, which she found ironic.
-No one intimidated me. I went out this morning and the wind was really strong, so I got sand in my eyes and they got a little puffy,” Ariana said casually and nonchalantly.
Her eyes looked watery as she looked at Santiago.
-By the way, Santiago, I don’t think I’ve asked you since we’ve been together?
He stopped there, and gave off a slight smile.
He didn’t know why, but when Santiago looked at her smile, he felt uncomfortable, it looked like she was about to ask something important.
Indeed, the next second, Ariana asked him:
-How many girlfriends have you had in total?
When those words came out, Santiago stiffened for a moment, because this subject was a bit difficult for him to deal with.
After breaking up with Natalia, he had had quite a few girlfriends, especially the first few, all of whom had more or less some similarity to Natalia, until he outgrew her.
-Just, just a few… -Santiago didn’t dare look at her and stammered.
Ariana had never asked him these things and had always been very nice to him. Therefore, when she asked him this, Santiago was not prepared.
-Do you have pictures you can show me? Don’t worry. I don’t want to rake over the past. I’m just curious to see if they’re as pretty as I am.
When Ariana spoke at the end, there was a slight purr in her voice, as if she was jealous.
Hearing that tone, Santiago relaxed. He thought Ariana was asking him a question because she was angry.
-Do you really want to see them?
Ariana nodded with a smile.
-Of course I do. I like you and I want to know about your past. Relax. I’m not mad, after all, the past is in the past.
Santiago then let out a sigh of relief.
-I don’t have your photos saved on my cell phone. I can find someone to show them to you.
After breaking up with his ex-girlfriend, he never contacted them again, which was one of his strengths.
Ariana’s eyes relaxed and she waited for Santiago to hand her the cell phone to flip through it in a hurry.
In the first pictures, each girl had her own characteristics, but they were all beautiful without exception, until the last few….
Ariana lowered her head, slid her fingers down and squinted her eyes.
Every part of these girls’ faces bore some resemblance to the girl she had seen in the hospital.
Until she stopped looking at her as she passed by the last image.
Ariana handed the cell phone back to Santiago.
-Is that all of them?
Santiago looked down, erasing the pictures, not daring to look her in the eyes, and answered vaguely:
-Yes.
It was not honest.
Based on his understanding of Santiago during this period of time, perhaps he had deliberately hidden the photo of that girl in the hospital.
He felt guilty.
His fingers twitched slightly. Ariana still didn’t decide to reveal it. Instead she smiled and took Santiago’s hand, and spoke:
-Your ex-girlfriends are all quite pretty.
-None of them are as pretty as you,” Santiago immediately added, swearing to the heavens. You are my favorite and I will only like you in the future, really.
Ariana laughed and changed the subject, chatting with Santiago for a while. He looked at the dark circles under her eyes and said:
-Didn’t you sleep well last night?
Santiago froze for a moment and said unnaturally:
-Yes, thinking about work matters and the fact that you were not by my side, I could not sleep.
Maybe I didn’t have time to sleep after taking care of that woman all night.
Ariana was still sneezing, but her eyes were slightly cold.
Santiago looked at Ariana with pity. He tried to reach out to take her hand, but Ariana avoided him.
He looked at her empty hand and was a little surprised.
Suddenly, he heard Ariana point to the blue flowers on the lawn next to him and said in surprise:
-The weather is getting warmer and warmer and already so many flowers are blooming. Look, how beautiful!
Santiago withdrew his hand and smiled. He was surely thinking too much.
He approached Ariana and squatted down, looking at the flowers with her.
-As expected of a painter, Ariana, you are able to find the beautiful things in life,” he complimented her.
-Yes,” Ariana replied casually.
She was also capable of discovering things that others wanted to hide.