Albina followed Olivia’s gaze and spotted a man in rags at the Starbucks on the first floor. She could see that the figure was very tall.
The suit was of a good cloth that could be seen with the naked eye, but it looked torn and tattered, almost shredded into rags, with faint traces of blood on the exposed skin.
He wore a cap on his head so that his face could not be seen well, but that alone was enough of a mess.
Albina looked at the man who must not be one of those hustlers posing as beggars and felt a little sorry for him.
She was often overwhelmed with sympathy when she was pregnant, and this would be the same. She felt her pockets and found a single coin, she used to play with it when she was bored at home and had brought it with her on her way out.
Albina thought about pulling out her cell phone, she walked over to the man and tossed the coin she had in the cup he was holding, and was about to ask him if he had a QR code when she heard a thud from the cup.
The sound made them both freeze for a moment.
Albina suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
She and Olivia seemed to have misread the situation, the people might not be beggars at all and they were just squatting in the doorway… drinking coffee…
The man in the tattered clothes held a cup of iced coffee in his hand with a coin now sunk into the bottom of the cup. He looked up dumbly to see Albina’s face, and a few moments of surprise suddenly sprouted on his face.
-It’s you, at last!
The man said this and jerked to his feet. He was tall and wore a shade of oppression, his face was slightly blotchy, but his face was handsome and handsome. Even if his clothes were torn, it did not detract from his aura.
-Have you forgotten? We were trapped in the elevator together earlier? -he said, a little incoherent with emotion.
It was none other than Mateo!
-You, you, you….
Albina finally replied, looking more surprised than he was, pointing at him with an excited look.
Wasn’t this the same person Umberto had spoken of earlier? The one suspected to be Alfredo’s own grandson?
The person that various forces had searched for so many days without finding had just appeared in front of her! Although the process was a bit awkward, it was all too fortunate!
Albina, too excited to speak, reached out and grabbed him by the wrist.
-You, come home with me.
Matthew was very confused.
“You’re going to take me to your house when we hardly know each other?”
Mateo, a little shy inside, didn’t react for a moment and let himself be dragged by Albina for a couple of steps.
Olivia stood there, stunned.
“Who is this guy, what the hell is going on here, why is Albina so close to him, so happy to see him, and even wanted to take him home?”
“Umberto would be pissed when he found out.”
Olivia hurried past and discreetly separated them, looking askance at the strange man.
– “You, who are you, do you know my daughter-in-law?
When Olivia spoke, she used the word “daughter-in-law” with a strong note of condemnation.
“It’s in bad taste to kidnap someone else’s daughter-in-law!”
“Daughter-in-law?”
Mateo froze for a moment….
“She was married?”
When he froze, Olivia continued to add fuel to the fire and touched Albina’s belly in a very exaggerated way.
-Albina, you were so excited a moment ago, is the baby in your belly okay?
It was so obviously abnormal, of course Albina sensed it and flashed a smile.
-It’s fine.
-Baby?! -Mateo was surprised again.
Yes, my daughter-in-law is three months pregnant and very well married! -Olivia said smugly.
Looking at Olivia with her chin tilted up and proud, Albina finally couldn’t help herself and stepped forward to take her arm.
-Mom, you are wrong, this is the person Umberto has been looking for.
-Umberto? -Olivia asked, giving her a questioning look.
Albina approached her and whispered in her ear:
-This man could be the Seco family’s own grandson and Luis Seco’s only son. Jaime is an imposter.
Olivia’s eyes and face were full of astonishment at these words, and she looked incredulously at Mateo and then at Albina.
-Really, really? -she asked in a trembling voice.
-But it’s not safe yet, that’s why I’m in a hurry to get him back.
Albina looked up, saw Mateo looking at her curiously and smiled at him.
-I don’t know what you’ve been through, but first follow me and cool off. When we get to my house I’ll explain everything to you.
Matthew vaguely sensed something in the whispered conversation the two had just had, and his eyes glanced at Albina before he finally nodded without complaint.
When they were in the elevator, she was able to give him kindness and friendliness even though they were complete strangers, so for sure she wouldn’t use it.
But even if the odds were against her, she would accept it.
Olivia didn’t object now, but she was more positive than Albina and looked at Mateo eagerly.
-Our car is here. Boy, don’t worry, I’m not a bad person. Look at this poor guy, his clothes are torn like this and this wound is bleeding. Come to my house to heal you.
Mateo looked at Olivia almost smiling like a flower. Her look looked like that of a child trafficker, and he was unconsciously suspicious when she said she was not a bad person.
Albina coughed slightly, tugged Olivia’s sleeve and whispered:
-Mom, you’re scaring him.
Olivia reacted and hastily picked up her expression. In fact, she was too excited to say that in the entire Santangel family, the person who hated Jaime the most was none other than Olivia.
Jaime had tried to have his son killed twice. If it were anyone else, Olivia would have hounded him to death, but Jaime was protected by the Seco family and Alfredo, so she could do nothing about it.
Now that she knew Jaime was an impostor and that the real one is right in front of her, how could she not be delighted!
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Mateo was so stunned by Olivia that he got into the car and only after climbing into the passenger seat did he realize how he had fallen for her trick.
“This woman is so enthusiastic that she can really fool people.”
Albina watched the scene with amusement and patted Matthew’s shoulder.
-You don’t have to worry, my mother means no harm and we won’t hurt you.
Mateo’s mood lightened a bit at the sound of her soft voice.
-Ahem, it’s okay, I’m not worried.
As the car started, Mateo was silent for a moment and then suddenly spoke:
-You, are you really married and pregnant?
Before Albina could answer, Olivia spoke up.
-Of course, my son is Umberto, have you heard about him? I think there is news of the previous engagement party on the Internet, you can look it up.
Mateo was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked down and smiled.
-Umberto, I know, he’s famous and cool.
There wasn’t a mother who didn’t like to be complimented on her son, and Olivia looked at Mateo with better eyes.
-You have a good eye for people. My son is very good and treats my daughter-in-law very well. They have a very good relationship.
Olivia again insisted that, although Mateo was a friend, there was still ground to defend. The man was clearly in love with her daughter-in-law and she had to turn him off before he got too hot.
She wasn’t going to let another Miguel show up, her little heart couldn’t take it.
Albina’s cheeks flushed a little and she tugged at Olivia’s shirt.
-Mom, you’re tired, aren’t you? Do you want to take a break? It’s still twenty minutes to the house.
Olivia’s words were so obvious that she hadn’t thought about it, but when she emphasized it, she felt strange, as if people really had something in mind for her.
“I’m not money, how can I be loved by everyone? Mom really thinks too much.”
Matthew sat in the front and watched the interaction between the two in the back through the car’s rearview mirror. He blinked and lowered his head without saying anything.
Before this, he did have a soft spot for Albina, the only person in all these years who had no ill intentions about him and made no bones about her kindness.
Like a little sunshine, she sent a ray of light into his dark life. A ray that could easily make a man bend to him like a moth to a flame, even at the cost of much.
Matthew remembered that warm embrace in the elevator and held out his palms. In them was a coin in his hand, the one Albina had just poured into his coffee cup.