The secretary was very surprised, and at Alfredo’s pressing look, he hurried to take his arm.
Jaime was pushed aside by his movement and was stunned. He glanced at their backs, then looked at his palm, his eyes turned fiercely grim.
Did Alfredo avoid his hand? Did he prefer to let his secretary hold it?
Jaime was nervous and panicked, was Alfredo still angry with him?
When Alfredo left home, even though he was disappointed in Jaime and said he no longer cared about him, he could still see that he cared about him.
But now his eyes were devoid of emotion, as if he was looking at a stranger. Since he was a boy, Alfredo had never looked at him with that look, not even when he had gotten into big trouble.
Jaime panicked and his steps quickened so much that he even forgot about his foot injury, limping as he walked and almost falling to the ground.
Alfredo did not return to his study or to his room, but sat in the living room. Jaime felt slightly relieved and slowed his pace.
-Grandfather,” he said softly as he approached, a little overwhelmed and bowing his head. He was as nervous and absent-minded as when he first came to the house as a child. Grandfather, have I done something wrong? Why don’t you let me hold you? Are you still angry with me?
Alfredo raised his head, a sullen look on his face.
In front of him was the boy he had raised for over twenty years, and the two of them had spent almost night and day together. He had even taught him personally, with countless hours of effort.
Jaime was not his grandson, but he took his place, and Alfredo did not discover it for so many years.
As soon as Alfredo remembered that the man in front of him had been pretending to him since he was eight years old, and that his admiration and respect were all pretend, he felt his blood run cold throughout his body and a shiver run down his spine.
Just when Jaime was troubled by Alfredo’s gaze, he finally heard him speak.
-Jaime, sit down, I have something to tell you.
Jaime nodded hurriedly and sat obediently in front of Alfredo, who was finally speaking to him, and he was so euphoric that he didn’t even realize there was a hint of rawness in his voice when Alfredo had just pronounced his name.
-Grandfather, what is it? Tell me.
His eyes were full of respect, but in Alfredo’s they felt a bit sarcastic and disgusted.
It was with this look that Jaime blinded him for more than twenty years.
The secretary had already brought the tea, and Alfredo avoided his eyes by using the action of drinking the tea.
-Jaime, tell me about your father, I haven’t heard anyone talk about your father for a long time. Maybe I’m older and miss him a little.
Jaime froze for a moment, his fingers tightened slightly as his body tensed.
His greatest fear since he was a child was that Alfredo would ask about this man.
Jaime was adopted at the age of three by Luis Seco, and at that age he already remembered things.
He lived in an orphanage until he was three and was a little more precocious than the other children. She was very happy when he came to adopt him.
Her impression was that couples came to adopt children because they had no children of their own.
Luis and his wife had a very gentle face and an exceptional character, they even spoke softly, so at first glance they seemed polite and well qualified.
James liked them both very much, and after completing the formalities, he followed them all the way home, thinking of the future of being spoiled by them.
But when he reached the house, a little boy came running up to them, and Jaime realized that they had a son.
The boy was only a year younger than him, with a charming appearance, no physical disabilities, and he spoke clearly and coherently. He was well dressed and had been well educated at first sight.
All of Jaime’s expectations and good feelings vanished at the sight of this child.
They already had a child, and he was not the only child they would have in the future.
Although he was very dissatisfied, he did not dare to reveal it. He did not want to go back to that orphanage and compete with so many children. They were already the best of all the adoptees.
Jaime, holding back his complaints, entered Luis’ home and became his adopted son.
Luis and his wife were good-natured and good to Jaime, but it was hard to be absolutely fair.
Certainly, they treated their biological son better than they treated Jaime, so some little things gradually became serious.
Until Luis had an accident and the state of the family suddenly took a turn for the worse. Jaime was fed up with their sickly appearance. At first, he thought he would secretly leave when they were seriously ill and find someone who could adopt him again.
But Luis told him that he was the lord of the Seco Family of Sogen City.
Jaime wasn’t sure what the Seco Family was like at the time. After all, the Seco Family was too far from his life, and his adoptive parents had never said so before.
He stealthily checked the Seco Family’s lineage to find out what kind of existence it was, and at the same time, he gave up on the idea of leaving them.
Knowing this, Jaime became even more attentive to the two, always playing the role of the dutiful son, making Luis value and love him very much.
Finally, on his deathbed, he gave him something to do and told him to take his brother to the Seco Family.
He also told Jaime of his intentions and considerations, knowing that he was young but smart enough to know what to do.
After Luis confided everything to him, he took his hand and continued to apologize, apologizing for having used him as a shield before adopting him, and promising that when he came to the Seco Family, Alfredo would make sure he had a good life.
Jaime forgave his adoptive father without any hard feelings, because at that point he had already planned to take his place.
He did not want to be an adopted son if he could be the heir to the Seco Family.
When Luis and his wife died, the first thing he did was to put his supposed brother on a long-distance bus, so far away that even Jaime had forgotten the destination of that bus.
Then Jaime took Luis’ letter, along with various photographic evidence of their lives, and deliberately searched for the photos without his brother’s presence, and arrived in Sogen City.
But after all, he was very young at that time, he was afraid and did not dare to go to the Seco Family.
After spending all his money in Sogen City, he even became a beggar, and did not make a decision until he saw Umberto at the door of the cake store.
Fortunately, he made it. He cried in front of Alfredo, presented Luis’ letter along with some photographic evidence. Alfredo believed him and announced his identity to the public without even doing a paternity test.
When he first entered the Seco Family, he brought up his father’s affairs many times to gain Alfredo’s sympathy, which gained a lot of attention from him. When he was a little older and his position was secure, he hardly mentioned Luis anymore.
Every time he mentioned this person, Jaime felt uneasy, as if he was reminded again and again of his false identity.
And what worried him most was that he was afraid of accidentally telling someone he shouldn’t mention and making Alfredo suspicious.
It must have been six months since the last mention of Luis.
Jaime was a little nervous when Alfredo suddenly asked him.
But in dealing with this sort of thing, he was experienced and soon relaxed. Coupled with the fact that he had just had a fight with Alfredo, if he now mentioned the matter of Luis, he should be able to gain Alfredo’s sympathy and lighten the atmosphere between them.
This would do him no harm.
So Jaime told a modified version of his experience in front of Alfredo, speaking with tears when he reached a sad point.
He was almost thirty years old, sat on the couch crying very sad, looked at Alfredo and said in a hoarse voice:
-Grandfather, I miss my father. If he were still alive, he could be by your side as well as mine. I always dream that he might come back.
Alfredo’s eyes used to redden when Jaime said this, missing his son and feeling sorry for Jaime.
But now he was very calm, his eyes were dark and heavy.