Albina cocked her head to one side at the words, her expression puzzled.
In her memories, all Olivia did was shop, chat and compliment the noble ladies, play cards and go for spa treatments.
Such a woman, Umberto admitted, had many tricks?
Albina was puzzled, but she didn’t doubt what Umberto said. He didn’t have to lie to her.
-Keep talking.
Seeing her curiosity, Umberto hooked his fingers in her hair, saying nonchalantly:
-The current head of the Cortes family is our mother’s nephew, but before him, it wasn’t his father who was in charge of the family business, it was our mother.
-What? -Albina was a bit incredulous.
It was surprising that Olivia had been in charge of a family business and that the Cortes family felt comfortable giving it to her.
“Aren’t they afraid that Olivia’s direct, fiery personality will offend people and ruin the business?”
Seeing the surprise on her face, Umberto pinched her cheek with amusement.
-It was true that she had a bad temper and a love-hate relationship, but she could make a good relationship with someone if she wanted to. The Cortes family was on the verge of collapse, and thanks to her they made a lot of contacts. Even now the Santangel family relied on her for most of their contacts.
It was true that the Santangel family was very strong and is already considered at the top of the pyramid in Sogen City, but neither Alfredo nor he are sociable characters.
The father, who disliked corporate affairs, rarely meddled in them and it was fair to say that other relationships were maintained by Olivia.
Albina nodded approvingly as she remembered how Olivia had behaved at the party.
“Olivia is unrivaled when it comes to socializing.”
Even she, who picked on Olivia so much and by rights should have a deep hatred for her, was now, under her unconscious guidance, no different than a true mother and daughter.
-Now you have it clear already,” Umberto finished explaining and looked at Albina with a smile. So you can leave the preparation of the studio, the hiring and all that to our mother. You are a designer, just design, and when you are well, you can make another plan.
Albina was convinced by him, that the whole family was now worried about her health, and that if she insisted on going out, she would be letting everyone down.
-Wouldn’t it be too much trouble for mom? -Albina hesitated.
Umberto’s eyes relaxed as he saw her attitude soften.
-Don’t worry, Mom couldn’t be happier.
When she heard that Albina was going to open a personal studio and invited her, Olivia was delighted for a long time. What’s more, for the sake of her daughter-in-law’s body and her future grandchildren, how could Olivia not say yes?
Indeed, after the two discussed the situation, Olivia immediately nodded happily.
-Don’t worry, Albina. I’ll take care of everything.
By the time the preliminaries are done, Albina’s body is expected to be almost ready to recover.
With this matter settled, Albina now only had to recover.
In the evening, Umberto stayed by Albina’s side to take care of her.
He patted her back and reassured her with a warm and soft voice.
Umberto’s greatest fear was that she would worry about her body and feel some bad emotion. Until finally she was completely asleep, he sighed with relief, rested his head against Albina’s forehead and closed his eyes as well.
In fact, Albina had a very restless sleep and continued to have nightmares.
After her revenge, she had rarely dreamed of the car accident then, but today her father’s accident came to her mind, his head covered in blood on the steering wheel.
Then it was her mother’s tragic death, her own forced divorce, being forced by David to jump into the river, and finally she dreamed of today’s elevator accident.
“And the man in the elevator!”
-Ah!
Albina shook herself out of her reverie and sat with a dull expression on her bed. Sunlight was streaming in through the slits in the curtains and the air conditioner was on in the house, but she still began to sweat.
Then hurried footsteps were heard in the bathroom and Umberto came running out, his hair still damp, with only a casually wrapped towel and a worried expression.
-Albina? -he crouched carefully in front of the bed, his slightly cold fingers touched Albina’s cheek with concern- -Have you had a bad dream?
Albina turned her head mechanically, the clarity in her eyes not yet restored, and, touched by his cold fingers, she suddenly winced and clenched her fingers violently.
-Umberto, I remember. The man in the elevator…
-What elevator man? -Umberto’s face darkened a little.
“How could a man appear after one night?”
Albina then remembered that she had not mentioned to him what had happened in the elevator and hurried to explain.
Then she said:
-At the time I thought we had met before, or that we had known each other for a long time, but I discovered that he didn’t know me at all and I thought I had been mistaken.
Albina looked a little shaken.
-But now I remember correctly. I did see that face, but it wasn’t him I saw!
-Tell me clearly,” Umberto felt it was of vital importance and sat on the edge of the bed to listen carefully.
Albina became excited and her fingers clasped his hand.
-Do you remember the day Sergio took us to the river to show off? The day Alfredo’s wallet rolled at my feet and I saw the picture?
-Yes,” Umberto nodded.
It was also on that occasion when Albina suggested that Jaime and Alfredo’s son did not look alike, thus discovering that Jaime was not a true descendant of the Seco family.
When she remembered, Albina’s cheeks flushed.
-The man in the elevator looked a lot like the photo in Alfredo’s wallet. Aside from the different temperament, the face, the features, were sculpted from the same mold.
Umberto made an astonished face.
-Are you saying that the man in the elevator is probably from the Seco family?
-Yes,” Albina nodded, “but at the time I just looked at him casually and didn’t think anything of it. Besides, the last time I saw Alfredo’s photo, the print was blurry and I can’t be 100% sure.
-It’s easy to confirm.
Umberto stood up, took out his own phone and flipped through it, opening a photo and handing it to her.
-Look, does it look like him?
Albina picked it up and looked at it, it showed a set of photos that were taken when Alfredo’s son was still in the Seco family.
Umberto used this set of photographs when he asked people to look for the true descendants of the Seco family.
If Albina was a little unsure before, after seeing the photos, she is at least 90% to 100% sure.
“The man in the elevator could very well be Alfredo’s real grandson.”
Albina looked at the photos, one by one, and there was a small video of them.
The quality of the video was not very high, and it was a bit old, but the faces and movements could be seen clearly. The protagonist of the video is Luis Seco.
At that time, Luis was a distinguished young man, with a clear face, kind temperament and elegant bearing, who almost crushed the rich young men of his generation.
Albina, her eyes shining, took Umberto’s arm and said:
-Now I am almost certain that the man in the elevator is the true heir of the Seco family.
Now she regretted not having spoken more with the man in the elevator. If only she knew his name, it would have been easier to find him.
Albina sighed, but it was gratifying to know that at least now that man was in Sogen City. As long as he hadn’t left, she could find out.
Umberto chuckled and tapped her on the forehead.
-Don’t you forget that there’s surveillance on the building? They should have taken him to the hospital for examination after rescuing him.
Albina immediately looked up at his words.
-Yes, how could I forget this? I’m really a sucker for pregnancy. So you’re going to have someone searching Sogen City now? -Albina asked, and then said, with some concern, “Jaime is also in Sogen City now, it would be a bit of a problem if he found out.
Umberto smiled.
-I certainly won’t have anyone looking for him, I’ll give the news to Alfredo.
Now that man was in Sogen City, and if Umberto found him and sent him to the Seco family, he would be suspected of having ulterior motives, so it was better to give Alfredo the information and let him find him himself.
Umberto immediately called the building manager and asked for information about the man involved in the elevator accident.
The result given there was a bit surprising.
Since the man left no identifying information, they were also turned down when they offered to take him to the hospital.
No one knew who the man was or what he was doing here, there was only a small surveillance video from outside the elevator.
Umberto’s gaze twitched and he asked for the surveillance video.
Soon the person in charge sent him the video and Umberto clicked on it to take a look.
Just from a glance he had identified him.
“That man is definitely Alfredo’s grandson!”