Santiago didn’t know that Natalia still had the courage to meet Ariana.
He was a bit confused all day. When he was about to leave work, Camilo asked him to have a drink with Umberto.
Santiago told Ariana honestly about Camilo’s invitation.
-You don’t have to tell me everything, I don’t want to limit your life,” Ariana replied helplessly.
After hesitating for a while, Santiago went.
They had not met for a long time, besides, Umberto and Camilo were not only friends.
In the family room, the three of them were sitting together. Camilo looked at Umberto, then at Santiago, and sighed.
-What’s wrong with you? One looks more haggard than the other,” he pointed to Umberto, “Why do you look like you haven’t slept for days?
Although he was still handsome, his face showed fatigue. Umberto’s skin was fair, his dark circles under his eyes were a bit obvious and his eyes were bloodshot.
Umberto took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice:
-I have admittedly not slept well for several days and recently I have had insomnia again.
It had been a week since Albina had last contacted him. He missed her very much and felt he was hearing hallucinations.
Camilo turned to look at Santiago, this man looked even more discouraged than Umberto. Not only was the fatigue on his face obvious, but he was also very depressed. He was completely different from the energetic and arrogant appearance he used to have.
-What about you, Santiago, hadn’t you adopted an indifferent attitude to everything and stayed out of everything? How did you become like this?
In fact, it was very rare for Santiago to look like that. In the past, he spent two sleepless nights and never looked so tired.
Santiago drank wine glass by glass, his eyes red-rimmed, and looked at Camilo with a sigh.
-Camilo, love is something people can’t really understand.
Camilo was surprised by what he said and got goose bumps all over his body.
-How affected you are! -When did you become so hypocritical, weren’t you always a man who has seen many beauties? Why do you suffer for love?
When Umberto heard his words, he looked at Santiago and said:
-What happened to you and Ariana?
As soon as these words came out, Santiago choked on his drink and coughed violently.
Camilo quickly helped him pat his back and turned to look at Umberto.
-Do you know what happened?
He was busy with his brother and company business these days, so he didn’t chat with them about his affection and couldn’t keep up with them.
Umberto coughed slightly, looked at Santiago and said:
-Ariana called me last night and asked me about Albina. When she spoke, she tried to hide something, as if she was investigating something, but she didn’t ask anything. After saying a few words, I hung up the phone -she said and looked at Santiago-. Did you use me as an excuse last night? Tell me, I also want to know what happened to you last night. After all, I was involved.
I didn’t want to be blamed by Albina for this.
In Albina’s heart, Ariana was too important.
Umberto’s indifferent eyes looked at Santiago, he felt nervous and unconsciously called out:
-Umberto…
-Don’t hide it. By your appearance, you must be under a lot of psychological pressure. It’s better to take the opportunity to unburden yourself and talk to us, which is more relaxing than drinking alcohol yourself.
Camilo patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, his eyes were full of curiosity.
Santiago thought about it, then told what he had done and the problems he had with Ariana.
Umberto and Camilo were silent.
After a long time, Umberto said:
-Santiago, as a matter of fact! You deserve it!
When Santiago heard the words, he looked up and felt very aggrieved.
Camilo sighed and looked at him sympathetically.
-You’re even a psychiatrist and you’ve had so many girlfriends. I don’t know if you’re too nice or really stupid. If I were Ariana, I wouldn’t give you a chance and break up with you directly.
Santiago felt extremely bitter.
-I only feel sympathy for Natalia. She is alone in Sogen City and has no relatives….
-Wait! -Umberto interrupted him directly- -What if she is alone? When you rejected her, you told her to go back to her hometown. She insisted on staying in Sogen City. This is her choice, no matter what difficult situation she encounters, she has to put up with it.
His voice was cold and he looked at Santiago.
-The only thing you can do is to avoid suspicion and remember that you have a girlfriend.
In the past, he didn’t talk about Santiago’s relationships and was never interested in this, but this time was different.
First, his girlfriend was Ariana, Albina’s best friend.
Most importantly, this time he could see that Santiago was serious. He didn’t want Santiago to have an ending like his in the past and he didn’t want him to regret it.
But it turned out that not all psychiatrists knew what their girlfriends thought. Even if he had many girlfriends, it didn’t mean he knew how to deal with women.
What Santiago did this time really pissed people off.
Camilo looked at Santiago’s dejected appearance and patted him on his shoulder.
-Santiago, I won’t talk about the traffic accident. But you accompanied her to find a house and let her work in your company. That’s not reasonable. Just think about it, if a man likes Ariana, and she allows him to be by her side every day and accompanies him to rent a house, could you stand it?
As Santiago thought about that scene, that Ariana was laughing with another man, he couldn’t help crushing the glass in his hand.
-I can’t stand it.
He didn’t dare think about Ariana being with another man.
Camilo smiled.
-Right, why do you think Ariana could stand it? Girls are more sensitive and can’t take it.
Umberto listened to them talk and took a sip of wine in silence.
He didn’t dare tell them that Macos loved Ariana and lived in Espina’s house.
But Macos had no excessive and ambiguous behavior towards Ariana. He simply liked her. Although he was Santiago’s friend, he could not stop his feelings.
So, Umberto just said significantly to Santiago:
-You’d better make more efforts, otherwise you will definitely regret it. Girls like Ariana, must be popular.
Santiago’s expression froze and his heart suddenly panicked. To hide it, he could only drink the wine one by one.
Umberto received a message from Albina, a picture of her behind the show.
She had delicate makeup, fair skin and beautiful facial features, she was smiling and glowing under the light.
Although she looked a little tired and seemed to have lost a lot of weight, he could see that she had a full life these days, after all, this was what she dreamed of.
Umberto’s expression softened, his beautiful face was full of tenderness in the dim light. His facial features were extremely handsome, high nose, thin lips, and his amber eyes looked like stars.
His appearance made Camilo envious.
Camilo looked at Umberto, who was sweet on the left, then at Santiago, who was dejected on the right. He remembered that his brother had also been frustrated some time ago, and sighed deeply.
He didn’t want to fall in love with someone in his life, it was too afflictive and frightening.
Umberto responded to Albina’s message. Suddenly something occurred to him, and he turned to look at Camillo.
-How is Miguel lately?
-The back injury has recovered and the mental state is the same as before. I haven’t been to the hospital for a while. He’s gone on a trip and I haven’t seen him in a long time. But he also talks to me every day, and he sounds great.
When Camilo spoke about this, his expression became much more relaxed, it seemed that his younger brother had really let him go. The rest was just a matter of time.
Umberto listened to him, but frowned, sensing that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t tell.