-What album is this? -Albina asked curiously.
The album was thicker than a dictionary.
Mrs. Santangel explained with a smile:
-The album contains many photos of the Santangel family members.
Before Umberto’s grandfather, the Santangel family was very prosperous. For example, the great-grandfather had many brothers and sisters, moreover, he had many mistresses and illegitimate children.
The grandfather, who was his legitimate son, had grown up in an environment full of lies and had a hard time keeping the Santangel Group firmly in his hands.
It was at that time that he had expelled all those illegitimate children and severed his ties with the family, and even to this day, the descendants have not dared to come forward in front of the Santangel family.
Before, Albina did not know so many stories about the family. She understood very well that Mr. a Santangel wanted her to get to know the family better, so she paid close attention to her presentation.
Mrs. Santangel opened the album and Albina didn’t know any of the people in photos on the first few pages, but she could guess that they were the oldest deceased in the family.
There was a photo that showed a large set of family members, certainly it was a giant compared to today.
After a few pages, photos of Sergio Santangel appeared.
Then Albina realized that what grandfather said on the way over was true, he certainly looked very handsome when he was young. He had delicate features with nice eyebrows, his raised chin made him look very confident.
Albina silently looked in Umberto’s direction and found that compared to her father-in-law, Umberto looked more like her grandfather.
But…
Albina narrowed her eyes and smiled. To her, Umberto was the most handsome.
His features were extremely beautiful, he looked like the prince she always dreamed of meeting since she was a little girl, so for her, Umberto was her ideal life partner.
Just at that moment, Umberto turned his head and they both stared at each other.
In an instant, Albina was mesmerized by the sight of his amber eyes.
Albina’s passionate state made Umberto smile unconsciously, and he stroked his chin with his fingers.
” It seems that being handsome also has many advantages, at least I can attract Albina so she won’t be distracted by other men.”
Madam Santangel who was presenting the album suddenly raised her head and saw Albina’s eyes shining like stars.
She followed her gaze, and saw the beautiful face of her son.
Her eyes softened.
“This girl really is in love with my son. I trust she will be a good companion for my son in the rest of his life.”
-Albina.
Lady Santangel coughed lightly to wake her up.
When Albina looked at her, she still maintained a groggy state.
Mistress Santangel opened a new page and instructed her to look at a picture.
Albina looked at it and froze for a moment.
It was another family photo, but compared to the previous photo, this one was taken a year later and there was a beautiful new child.
Albina looked at Mrs. Santangel and asked:
-Who is he?
Mr. a Santangel looked slyly at Sergio Santangel and whispered in his ear.
-He is the illegitimate son that grandfather’s father liked the most.
Albina widened her eyes, looked at the grandfather in the photo, her face was cold and her whole body emitted irritability.
The grandfather’s mother in the photo also had a bad face, the only ones who were smiling were the grandfather’s father and his illegitimate son.
-So where is he now? -Albina asked quietly.
Mrs. Santangel snorted coldly.
-Grandfather showed him no mercy, threw him out of the family and sent him abroad without leaving him any property. To this day no one knows where he is.
Albina took a deep breath, looked at Sergio Santangel who was sitting opposite Umberto with a frown, thinking about his next move. It was hard for her to imagine that he had been so cruel to her brothers.
At that moment, she realized why Umberto’s personality was different from theirs, it turned out that he inherited it from his grandfather.
The grandfather had not appeared anymore in the following pages of the album until when he appeared again, there was a girl accompanying him at his side.
The girl looked very young and naive, she had very clear eyes. Sergio Santangel looked at her sideways, and although the photo was black and white, you could see the affection in her eyes. As he watched, Albina smiled unconsciously.
-You can tell that grandfather was very much in love with grandmother.
Mrs. Santangel looked at the girl in the photo with a nostalgic expression.
She didn’t have a good temper with others, but she had never argued or had a bad temper with her mother-in-law for so many years.
Grandmother had always been a woman spoiled by her husband and son for her entire life, even when she was of age, she was still naive, liked by all the people around her because of her cheerful personality.
Moreover, before she became Mrs. Santangel, grandfather did not agree that his son should marry her, but it was grandmother who convinced him to accept her marriage.
-Grandfather had only one wife in his entire life and as you know, Umberto’s father is his only son, that’s why the Santangel family has few descendants. Albina, I’m too old to have more children, so I have a lot of hope in you to make our family prosper.
Albina lowered her head shyly at his blunt words. She looked at the nice girl in the photo and then at Umberto’s father.
Then she discovered that, he didn’t look like her father, but his cheerful and lively character that was just like her mother’s.
Although the grandfather apparently did not like his son, in fact, he gave him all his love that one could imagine, even did not force him to take over the company.
After all, he wanted his son to live his life the way he liked it.
By having a grandfather and father so faithful to their partners, Albina was now more confident that Umberto would be a good husband and father in the future.
The next few pages were almost filled with multiple photos of Grandpa next to Grandma. Soon after, there were also photos of Umberto’s father when he was a little boy, it was clear that he was their favorite son.
Mrs. Santangel continued with much tenderness her presentation of photos and Albina was leaning on the table, watching in silence. She seemed to know their stories and felt the emotions of those moments.
Soon after, a photo appeared where Umberto’s father was already grown up, and the person next to him was Mrs. Santangel.
As I imagined, Mrs. Santangel was very beautiful when she was young and she looked like a cheerful person when I saw her laughter in the photo.
-This was me, I look very different, don’t I? Actually, I’m not a bad person, I was a fool to have believed in someone else, if I had known the truth, I could have treated you well,” Mrs. Santangel said embarrassed.
Albina nodded with a smile.
-Yes, I know.
Mrs. Santangel stroked Albina’s cheeks.
-I only have one child and I swear that from now on I will treat you as my own daughter,” she said seriously while unconsciously raising her fingers.
That behavior was very much like Umberto. When Albina found Umberto secretly calling Santiago, he had also sworn with raised fingers.
-Yes, I believe him.
At once, they both laughed.
Mrs. Santangel continued to leaf through the album, and suddenly, Albina’s eyes focused on a photo.
-Wait, I want to see this one!