Umberto saw her becoming agitated and hurried to calm her down.
-Albina, don’t be angry. You are pregnant now. Calm down and breathe deeply with me.
Albina, who was angry and not feeling well, followed Umberto’s rhythm to breathe deeply and adjust her mind.
Seeing her calm, Umberto said:
-Tell me what Ariana’s mother did to make you so angry.
Albina, although she had calmed down, could not help but show anger and disgust when he spoke of Ariana’s mother.
-Didn’t I tell you that Ariana’s parents divorced when she was very young and started their own families?
-Yes, I know that,” Umberto nodded.
Albina continued:
-Neither of them wanted Ariana at that time, and the judge gave guardianship to her father, but the father himself, who believed that the woman was worth less than the man, had no affection for his daughter, and she did not have a good time being with him. At that time, she was a minor and missed her mother, and occasionally went to her mother’s house. However, her mother, who had already started her other family, became impatient with her and gave her directly to her grandmother. Ariana’s grandmother, who was a rather kind old woman, felt very sorry for her suffering and did what she could to take care of her, although the economic conditions were not good. When Ariana got a little older, she knew that her parents no longer loved her and little by little she stopped going to bother them.
Albina took a deep breath to repress the anger accumulated in her chest and added:
-And to top it all off, before the passing, grandmother had made a will saying that she would give Ariana the house and all the savings. However, her shameless mother ignored the will and fought Ariana for the inheritance. Ariana was too young to fight her, and she was kicked out of the house and only took a small amount of money with her to cover school and boarding expenses, but that wicked mother even went to the school to claim all of Ariana’s money.
Albina was Ariana’s classmate at the time, and she had witnessed Ariana, looking vulnerable and helpless and standing under the teaching building, being humiliated by her own mother, who hurled swear words at her.
The school security guard wanted to throw Ariana’s mother out, but Ariana’s mother acted crazy, lying on the floor and yelling that if Ariana didn’t give him all the money, she would come once a day to make a fuss.
Ariana, not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of everyone and affect the school’s teaching, had no choice but to give her all the money. And only then did her shameless mother leave.
Albina could still remember the days afterwards where Ariana, with no money, only ate hard bread with water and spent all her free time doing part-time jobs to earn a pitiful amount of money to survive. And in just one week, she lost a lot of weight.
Albina wanted to help her, but she knew Ariana’s proud character very well, so in order for her not to be embarrassed, she discreetly asked her father to finance her.
Ariana was having a very hard time, and her high school classes were so intense that she didn’t have much time to earn money to support herself. As a result, she accepted financial help from that kind person.
Later, somehow, Ariana found out that it was Albina’s father who helped her financially, so in everyday life she took care of Albina as much as she could. And it was at that time that the relationship between the two grew closer and closer and they became the best of friends.
Once she graduated from high school, Ariana stopped receiving financial aid. She was so talented in painting that she made a name for herself and earned money with her paintings. In this way, she soon paid back all the money Albina’s father had given her.
Later, she earned a large sum of money and gave it to her parents as compensation for bringing her into this world.
Seeing Ariana’s ability to earn money, her mother wanted to take advantage of her. But since Ariana had no fixed abode and traveled very frequently, the mother had no idea of her daily routine, so she stopped bothering her.
However, Albina didn’t expect this brazen woman to come back for her after so long.
“How does she know Ariana’s address, how annoying this woman is!”
Umberto was silent for a long time after hearing Albina’s words.
“I didn’t expect Ariana’s previous experience to be like this. No wonder she has such a strong personality.”
Albina, frowning, leaned back against the seat with her arms crossed over her chest and muttered:
-What does this evil woman want to do this time? Does she want to get more money from Ariana again? Or is she up to something more vicious?
Ariana now didn’t have much money to give him. Not to mention that she was hardly selling her paintings lately, and she had a mortgage to pay off every month. So now she had no more blood for him to suck.
-Don’t worry. I’ll call Macos later. Now he lives across the street from Ariana, if something really happens, he’ll be the first to know. Even if his mother made a mess on Ariana’s doorstep, Macos should surely be able to handle it properly.
Albina nodded with relief at that.
-Fortunately, I’ve let Macos buy the apartment opposite Ariana’s. Now he’ll be able to be by her side all the time to protect her.
Umberto glanced at him and said:
-It turns out it was your idea! In my impression, Macos is not so smart.
Albina smiled happily.
-My idea is great, isn’t it? Well, let’s go home now. They must be waiting for us.
Soon, the two of them arrived back at the gate of the Santangel family villa and saw a car parked there.
Albina didn’t know whose car it was, but Umberto showed a somber look.
“Why are they here?”
Thinking about what had happened earlier, Umberto tensed and unconsciously squeezed Albina’s palm a little tighter.
Albina realized that something was wrong with him, looked at him and asked:
-Umberto, what’s wrong with you? My palm hurts because of your squeeze.
Umberto realized that he had been holding her hand too tightly, he let go of her hand immediately and felt a lot of pain when he saw the slightly red marks on her palm.
He took her hand gently between his own and apologized:
-I’m sorry, does it still hurt?
-It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Albina smiled as she stood on her tiptoes and stroked his hair.
Umberto was relieved to see her smile.
Albina looked back at that unfamiliar car, thoughtfully.
“Was it this car that caused Umberto’s sudden change of mood? Whose car is it?”
Only when she stepped inside did Albina realize to whom it belonged.
The atmosphere in the living room was tense and uncomfortable. Daniel and Olivia, sitting to one side, were looking seriously at the people taking seats across from them while the old man sat in the main seat, sipping his tea with a light expression.
Across from Daniel and Olivia sat the four members of the Aguila family.
Camilo’s parents wore a stiff expression and Camilo, with sweat on his forehead, was talking smilingly with Olivia and Daniel. Miguel, in turn, had his head down, his hands in his lap, showing little emotion.
Albina felt oppressed as soon as she entered and stepped back with some discomfort, leaning against Umberto’s chest.
-Don’t worry, I’m here,” Umberto whispered in her ear.
Then Olivia’s harsh words were heard:
-I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s all up to Umberto and Albina. After all, they are the protagonists and the injured parties.
The old man, who was sitting right in front of the door, noticed a slight movement, looked towards the door and said smiling:
-Just Umberto and Albina are back. Well, you can talk to them directly.
The Aguila’s stood up in a hurry when they saw the couple come through the door.
Miguel’s parents, with guilt-filled faces, turned to their son:
-Miguel, go and apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Santangel.
He pursed his lips and first looked at Albina, then at Umberto and said:
-Mr. Santangel….
As soon as the voice came out, Umberto threw himself on him and punched him in the mouth without giving him a chance to finish his words.
At the scene, everyone in the room was stunned.