-What?! -exclaimed Antonio and Bianca at the same time.
Hector sheepishly covered his ears so as not to hear the two, and with a terrified look on his face, he stammered:
-I just don’t think it’s the right time?
-It’s been more than twenty years since we’ve seen her!
Antonio had a look of hatred and emotion.
Albina still didn’t know who he was and didn’t know that his parents were waiting for him to come home.
“Our eldest son seems serious, calm and self-confident. He pretends to be good on the outside, but deep down he’s not to be trusted.”
Bianca also frowned and patted Hector on the shoulder.
-Hector, that’s not right. Knowing Albina is your sister, you should have told her sooner, let her know we existed and brought her home sooner.
They had missed Albina’s twenty years of growing up, and they really wanted to make up for it all, so they didn’t want to waste a second.
-I… I can’t help it.
Hector hesitated for a moment and recounted the news he had found out, including Albina’s parents’ affair, her blindness, her feud with the Carballal Group, her divorce and remarriage to Umberto.
Hector’s tone was heavy when he spoke of the Espina family, and he gritted his teeth at the mention of Umberto.
If it weren’t for the fact that Albina had remarried him and was pregnant with his child, Hector would have said anything to take Albina away and get his sister to divorce him.
That man should be mistreated for putting Albina through so much.
“Well, it was also my sister’s fault for being too soft-hearted to be so easily fooled by this man and forgive him.”
Bianca had already heard everything and had tears in her eyes. To think of her daughter’s family in ruins, alone on her knees in the snow with her adoptive mother in her arms, begging for help from people passing by, was as if her heart was tightly gripped by an invisible hand and she couldn’t breathe.
Who can bear that suddenly a normal person can’t see anything and the world is nothing but black?
Albina had suffered enough in Bianca’s eyes when she married Umberto to save her adoptive mother.
At the moment when her daughter was suffering the most and needed the most help, she, her own mother, knew nothing.
Bianca thought carefully about what she was doing at that moment. She seemed to be curled up in the warm house with Diana, laughing and chatting and watching TV and eating.
What had once seemed like a touching image now appeared harsh in the face of any comparison.
She adopted someone else’s daughter and raised her as a princess, while her own daughter suffered.
Bianca wept inconsolably and nearly lost her breath.
Both father and son cajoled and comforted her in one way or another.
But whatever they said, the hearts of the two men felt sad.
Albina suffered much, missed much, and they owed her much.
-Later, when Albina comes back later, I’ll love her twice as much, that’s for sure!
Bianca’s voice was cracking with sobs and the words came out hoarse and trembling.
Antonio and Hector nodded at the same time.
-We will both love and care for her. We will never let her suffer one bit.
Bianca was then satisfied.
-I forgot to mention it.
Something suddenly occurred to Hector and his voice became even lower.
-Albina is pregnant, she’s already five months along.
Antonio and Bianca were surprised to hear it.
-Pregnant?! -exclaimed Bianca.
Hector restrained her.
-Calm down, listen to me. She is indeed pregnant. She found out about her sudden pregnancy before the Santangel family gave her and Umberto an engagement party. The certificate has already been issued, but the wedding has not yet been celebrated.
Hector continued, giving a laugh:
-That’s a good thing, they won’t have the wedding until they have the baby I think, by then we should have met. We can be the maiden’s family and give Albina a push so that no one else will dare underestimate Albina.
Antonio looked at him with disgust.
-Come on, you did it on purpose, didn’t you? You didn’t tell us before.
After hearing all the things and Albina and Umberto’s story, they were no longer so surprised to hear the news of the pregnancy.
Hector blushed slightly, but said stiffly:
-I… just remembered.
-And when are you going to tell Albina? When are you going to let her come home? -Antonio asked.
Bianca also looked at Hector with perplexity at his words.
Hector paused and became serious.
-I spoke to Umberto on the phone and he told me that we had to let us settle things at home before bringing Albina back, but that it would be up to Albina to acknowledge us or not.
Bianca’s eyes were a little dull.
Antonio frowned.
-What does that mean? We always have peace in the Espina family, what’s to worry about?
Their family was smaller than the other wealthy ones, with few servants and a simple population, and there was no nasty business of a love affair, so there was nothing to worry about.
Hector looked at Bianca, hesitating a bit, unsure whether to say anything.
Bianca noticed the expression on his face and spoke directly:
-Say what you have to say, don’t worry about me.
-Then I’ll say it,” Hector cleared his throat. First of all, there is the matter of Diana and how my sister would feel if she came back and saw that someone had already taken her place….
-How could I replace her? -Bianca interrupted Hector directly, “Although I have raised Diana for so many years, Albina’s presence can never be replaced.
From the moment Albina was born and the doctor put her in his arms, Bianca’s heart softened and she wanted to give her all the best in the world.
Even though Diana had been with her for so many years, she would always remember what Albina was like and had not forgotten her for a moment.
Not only that, but the time from Albina’s birth to the age of two had been etched in her heart and she had not forgotten it in over twenty years, but over time it had become clearer and clearer.
-“Mom, I know the three of us have never for a moment forgotten Albina, and when Grandma died, she urged us to find her,” Hector took her by the shoulders and said patiently. But that’s only what we know, Albina doesn’t know. She’s been through a lot before and I’m afraid she doesn’t trust people so easily. We have to give her enough reassurance.
Bianca agreed with Hector, but then frowned.
-But Diana has also been in our family for many years, are we going to throw her out?