Mrs. Espina watched their backs disappear and sat on her bed, fingers on her knees, clenching the engagement invitation tightly in her hand.
She opened it and inside was a picture of Umberto and Albina.
The two of them were facing each other, both with a faint smile, and they looked very happy.
His fingers trembled as he touched Albina’s cheek on the photo and he sighed.
-How wonderful it would have been if your father could have seen it with his own eyes!
When Albina was taken back by Juan, she was still a child.
Juan and his wife loved her very much and were especially fond of her, even more than their own daughter.
At that time, the grandmother was against it. Juan could not have children, and in her opinion, all his family property should belong to Alex. Suddenly, one more daughter was going to take away Alex’s property, so she didn’t like Albina.
As a child, Albina could not understand the expressions of adults, but she knew that her father loved her grandmother very much, so she also wanted to be close to her.
Treating her as his grandmother, he would give her candy, but all he got in return was the indifferent and bored look from her.
As time went on, Albina grew up and it became clear that no matter what they did or how well they treated Grandma, she didn’t love her, so they gradually distanced themselves from her.
Of course, Grandma knew she had let them down, but at the time, she didn’t take them seriously and only cared about her oldest son.
Now that she was in residence, she often thought of her second son’s family. Memories of the past she had despised came flooding back.
She remembered clearly that her second son had praised her daughter in front of her, saying that he should personally be the guardian of her future marriage partner, and that she should choose a husband who would be the best for her daughter, or at least better than him.
Now Albina had found a very good husband who treated her very well, but John could no longer witness it.
The grandmother remembered the past and thought of her second son, her eyes reddening and her heart overflowing with grief.
Umberto and Albina left the room and said goodbye to the headmistress.
The headmistress stopped them warmly.
-Lunch is ready, you may stay for lunch.
But the two of them did not stay for lunch.
Meals at the nursing home were accounted for, and even with the financial support of the Santangel Group, it was a struggle to feed so many elderly people.
It was not convenient for the two of them to stay.
When the two left, they did not speak on the way. Albina leaned back in her chair and looked out the window.
Umberto knew she needed quiet and did not speak so as not to disturb her.
When they reached the center of town, Albina was in high spirits and said to Umberto:
-Let’s go find Macos, deliver the invitation to Ariana and get free food.
A smile appeared on her face as she remembered the huge box of food Macos used every time he went to work.
-Macos has been practicing his cooking skills lately and cooks a lot of food every day, the two of them can’t eat everything anyway.
He said it very subtly, but Umberto understood instantly. Macos’ way was a bit old-fashioned, but it was really very useful for chasing girls.
Ariana already ate with him every day, and it looked like he would soon be able to live with her.
The two headed straight to Ariana’s house, knocked on the door, and the person who did indeed open the door was Macos.
At first, Macos still wondered who would come at this hour, and after seeing the two of them, his face suddenly turned sour.
He gritted his teeth and whispered.
-Why did you come here?
Today was Saturday, neither he nor Ariana went to work. It was sunny outside, so Ariana didn’t go out to draw.
She had managed to get home for lunch by taking the opportunity to cook. He had a chance to be alone with her, and had wanted to take the relationship even further, but he had just sat down, and unexpected guests arrived.
Macos’ eyes beckoned them to leave, thinking that before Ariana knew it, she would say that someone had knocked on the wrong door.
Albina pursed her lips, smiled at him, and shouted:
-Ariana!
Before Macos could stop her, Ariana walked over, saw Albina, and was surprised.
-Albina, why are you here, didn’t you say you would be at Umberto’s house these two days?
Albina looked at Macos, entered from her side and raised the invitation towards Ariana.
-This one is for you, Umberto and I were delivering the invitations and we stopped by, so I brought it for you.
The wedding invitations were arranged by Sergio, and being traditionally minded, he liked the color red, which was considered festive.
The cover was beautifully carved in fretwork and gave a feeling of happiness when looking at it.
Ariana received the invitation and turned it over and over. Then she hugged Albina.
-Albina, congratulations on getting engaged.
Albina was a little embarrassed and looked at Umberto who was standing in the doorway.
The two had been married before, in fact, at first Albina thought it would be nice to remarry and have a wedding. But Umberto objected.
What he had not given Albina before, he had to make up for now. What others had, she had to have as well, and he could not let her have any sorrow.
The two looked at each other and both couldn’t help but smile.
Macos looked at them enviously, which instantly took away his desire to eat.
-Ariana, I’m really hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since 7 a. m. until now,” Albina smelled the aroma of food and blinked at Ariana.
Ariana pinched her nose and laughed.
-You have a good sense of smell. You came here at lunchtime on purpose, didn’t you?
As she said, she let the two of them come in and eat together.
-Macos said he had done too much and we couldn’t finish it, so you’re on time.
Albina followed Ariana and entered, Umberto also entered naturally, directing a glance at Macos.
Macos could understand him.
He was saying:
-Look, I’m right.
He was reminding him again that Ariana did not consider him as a man.
Macos gritted his teeth indignantly and looked between his legs. He was a man with a lot of capital and he was manly, why didn’t Ariana think of him as a man?
Did it had to be a little more obvious?
This thought grew stronger in Macos mind, after frowning and thinking for a while, he slowly came up with an idea.
He closed the door and walked to the dining table. They had already started eating.
Umberto nodded approvingly as he ate.
-You’ve certainly inherited my talent and it tastes great.
Macos was speechless, all this he had learned from the videos, Umberto was too good at bragging about himself!
After eating, Umberto and Albina didn’t stay much longer. When they left, they slyly said to Macos.
-The rest of the time is all yours, you get to spend time alone with your sweetheart, are you happy?
Macos gritted his teeth as he looked at their expressions, and said after a long time:
-I thank you!
At first he had used this excuse to enter Ariana’s house, and now that he had finished eating, what reason did he have to stay and spend time alone with Ariana?
It was so irritating that they still said that on purpose.
She had a sad expression on her face, Albina saw that Ariana had already entered the house, and whispered to Macos.
-Don’t be angry, I will make it up to you in the future and I will definitely find you two a chance to get along again.
When he heard this, the sadness on Macos’ face instantly disappeared and he smiled.
-You have to be true to your word.
Albina was speechless.
His attitude had changed so quickly that he had almost fooled her.
Leaving the neighborhood, Umberto took her back to his house.
When they entered, they saw Sergio, Daniel and Olivia, who were sitting on the couch. The atmosphere in the living room was so strange that the air seemed to freeze.
Sergio and Daniel were a little better, their faces were expressionless. But Olivia’s face was full of anger.
-How can the Seco Family be so shameless, it makes me so angry!