Antonio, Bianca, Umberto and Albina were at the door when they heard some loud slapping and thought something had happened, so they rushed in.
The result was to see Diana sitting on her knees with her cheeks swollen, one hand on the side of her waist and her eyes full of tears.
This image made both Antonio and Bianca freeze.
-What’s going on here?
Bianca’s eyes startled and she unconsciously looked at Hector.
-Did you hit her?
Bianca thought Hector was taking it out on Diana for what happened at the party.
Hector took a deep breath and said:
-Mom, I didn’t do it. She did it to herself.
Looking at Diana with derision, he continued:
-What are you trying to set me up with this? Are you trying to lie to mom and dad by saying I hit you on purpose?
In fact, Albina thought the same thing when she walked in the door and saw Diana’s predicament. She used to spit out those kinds of tactics with Ariana when they watched dramas on TV, but she didn’t expect to see a live one today.
Before Diana could say anything, Adrian, who was in Hector’s arms, became aroused. He let go of Hector’s arms and ran to Antonio and Bianca, lifting his wrist and showing them the marks.
-Dad, mom, I can testify that it wasn’t brother who hit him…. No, brother kicked her, but it was because she was harassing me and he got angry. She slapped herself without my brother lifting a finger.
She spoke clearly, with a sobbing tone in her voice, and trembled from time to time. It was clear at a glance that she had just cried a lot.
Seeing him like that and hearing what he was saying, everyone in the room glared hatefully at Diana.
In particular, Albina had rage in her eyes and wanted to break Diana’s legs.
She was now pregnant and was slowly watching the baby grow in her womb and what distressed her most were these little ones.
Seeing the deep marks on Adrian’s wrists, his voice already hoarse from crying so much and his swollen eyes, Albina’s heart ached beyond words.
-Diana, how could you be such a brute to do this to a little boy!
Bianca’s eyes reddened with pain at the aggrieved look of her youngest son and she immediately called the maid to bandage Adrian.
It took quite a while of shouting before a servant rushed over.
-Where have you all gone and why is no one here?
Bianca’s voice was tinged with anger and, instead of her usual gentleness, sounded furious.
The maids were also taken aback and were quick to say:
-We have gone to clean the banqueting hall, there is not enough manpower there and all the maids have been busy.
Angry and compunction, Bianca hurried to ask her to take Adrian to medicate, before several pairs of eyes turned in unison to Diana, with anger in all of them.
-Diana, what else do you have to say?
Antonio’s voice was majestic and filled with anger. He had little affection for Diana and had long been impatient with her for her private actions. Now that Hector had caught her mistreating Adrian, Antonio was even more disappointed in her.
If she had confronted Albina, it would have been hardly justifiable. After all, there could be a competitive relationship between a biological and an adopted daughter. But Adrian had grown up with Diana and truly looked up to her as a sister. It was too cruel for Diana to do that to him after so many years of affection.
Diana fell to her knees and tears streamed down her face. She was so sorry.
But not because she had hurt Adrian, but because she had not controlled her emotions and had let Hector catch her in the hallway. She was sorry for the incident.
She sobbed uncontrollably and said in a hoarse voice:
-Mother, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I found out from the maid that Adrian had revealed my identity as an adopted daughter, and in my anger I went over to question Adrian and inadvertently injured his wrist. I forgot that Adrian was a delicate-skinned child, I’m sorry.
Diana used puns. She did not deliberately misrepresent the facts and conceal the reason for her harassment of Adrian, but put it all down to Adrian revealing her identity as an adopted daughter, avoiding the obvious and saying she was “angry”.
People were not rational when they are angry, and Diana turned her subjective behavior into passivity. She then said that the reason Adrian’s wrist injury looked so bad was because of his “delicate skin.”
Albina couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
-How shameless of you to make such excuses. It was Adrian who expressed himself badly, he got hurt because of his delicate skin, so you are not to blame for anything?
Hector also said:
-You only did that to Adrian because he revealed your identity as an adopted daughter? Are you going to be able to do that to us in the future when we touch your other stuff? Besides, was Adrian wrong? You are the adopted daughter of our family, why don’t you face what you are and want what you don’t have? What vanity! Besides, there is no wall in this world that is impervious to the elements, and besides us, the Romero family knows who you are. Javier’s mother would reveal your identity sooner or later.
Diana listened to the siblings, indignant, but with shy eyes that looked pitiful with her red, puffy cheeks.
She looked at Bianca and said:
-Mom, you know I am a very obsessive person and I was afraid that my previous foster parents bullied me when I was young. I was afraid that people on the outside would look down on me if they found out I was an adopted daughter, so I begged you by all means to help me hide it, but I never thought Adrian would tell. Mom, I was so scared, that’s why I lost my mind.
Then she pointed to the marks of five fingers on her cheek.
-Mom, it was when my big brother kicked me to the ground that I finally came to my senses, so I slapped my face hard and hated myself for what I did to Adrian. He is my dearest brother.
She wiped away a handful of tears and looked at Bianca with reddened eyes.
-I can make amends. As long as Adrian doesn’t hate me, I’ll do what I want. I’ll kneel before him and even slap myself, I’ll do whatever he wants.
Bianca took two steps back, startled by his look, and then looked at Diana with some anger.
-What are you doing!