Severo frowned imperceptibly and said in a subdued voice: “As you wish.
Allyce’s eyes flashed with derision, “That won’t work, if you never go public with the divorce, won’t I always be labelled as the LK president’s wife, a woman’s youth can’t afford to waste away, I have to find another boyfriend.”
Severo’s face, already a little pale, suddenly turned a few shades whiter, his jaw was tense and his eyes were a little scary.
Such a Severo was familiar to Allyce.
She used to look at other men twice and Severo would give her that look.
He was about to say more when he saw Desiderio approaching from behind Severo.
He did not bother to try to understand the meaning of Severo’s expression as he walked past him and addressed Desiderio.
As he walked, he fixed his clothes.
When he reached Desiderio, he had a decent smile on his face: “Uncle”.
Although she has had some arguments with Desiderio over what happened two years ago, she has not yet completely broken up.
He was glad they hadn’t, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to stand in front of Desiderio and talk to him like that.
Desiderio smiled back, as friendly as ever: “Allyce, what brings you here?
Allyce’s smile was slightly lopsided, and it seemed so natural that she didn’t see anything wrong: “I heard there was a big auction here in Sky City, and I wanted to come and see what it was all about.”
After saying that he added with some embarrassment, “Man, you’re not going to tell me off, are you? …”
She still had to play the role of her niece well until there was a pause.
Desiderio said with an unchanging face: “Since you’re interested, come and see more, say what you want and I’ll buy it for you, there’s nothing to do in the company”.
Allyce had been watching Desiderio’s expression change without moving a muscle.
But to his astonishment, there was not a single flaw in Desiderio’s facial expression during the entire process.
He acted normally, his tone of voice, his demeanour, everything was correct.
A shudder ran through Allyce at the thought that the man before her had lived as someone else for more than three years without anyone noticing.
He tried desperately to control the expression on his face: “Thank you, uncle”.
Desiderio nodded imperceptibly and then dropped his gaze behind her.
Allyce turned unconsciously to see Severo appear behind her at some point.
Severo stepped forward and stood beside Allyce, his face clear and cold: “Señor Alvidrez.
Allyce couldn’t help but pull away, Severo was too close to her.
“I wonder if Mr. Betances is also interested in these auctions. A hint of surprise crossed Desiderio’s face.
Four more words came to Allyce’s mind: Just the right amount.
He hadn’t thought about it before he knew that Desiderio was an imposter, but now he realised that Desiderio’s every gesture, tone of voice and behaviour seemed to have been pre-arranged to behave in the right way.
“Isn’t it the same with Mr. Alvidrez?”
Severo said, with a small smile on his face, and then, grabbing Allyce’s arm, he said to Desiderio: “We have something to talk about”.
Without waiting for Desiderio’s reaction, Severo pulled Allyce aside.
This time Severo led her straight out of the room and into the corner of a deserted corridor.
Allyce was not as strong as he was and was dragged until he stopped and she was unable to remove her hand.
She couldn’t help but exclaim in exasperation: “What are you doing?
“That’s for me to ask you, what the hell are you doing? Severo still wouldn’t let go, and he looked at Allyce with a cold face, an invisible sense of oppression spreading.
“What’s wrong with you? What do you care what she does? What do you care about her when you’re already divorced!
Severus scoffed: “You just stood in front of Desiderius, your whole body was frozen to the ground, do you think Desiderius didn’t see it?”.
Allyce froze, “Is this the case?”
She thought she was acting normally, she didn’t think it was so obvious to Severo that she was stiff.
In fact, Allyce wasn’t acting much different from normal, but Severo had a keen eye and knew Allyce well, so naturally he could see her perversity.
Only she didn’t know what had brought her to Ciudad del Cielo unexpectedly, and how uncomfortable she had acted in Desiderio’s presence.
Allyce, however, was struck by something else.
Although she was not yet certain that this Desiderio was an impostor, her psyche was already leaning towards the possibility.
And Delfina was involved with Desiderio, and Alonzo was Severo’s biological son, so there was a connection with him, right?
She had to tell him, didn’t she?
“You can’t act.” Severo reminded her and released her, turning to walk towards the shop.
He had barely taken two steps forward when he was met with a tug on his sleeve.
He looked back at Allyce with a look of impatience and question in his eyes.
Allyce was quick to let go and said, somewhat hastily, “I have something to tell you.
Severo turned to her and stared at her, gesturing for her to speak.
Allyce looked around for a moment before pointing a finger at him: “Come closer.
Severo frowned slightly, but leaned a little closer to her.
The two were so close that Severo could instantly smell her faint scent, and he pulled away slightly, clenching his hands in restraint and copying them into the pockets of his suit trousers again.
Allyce hadn’t been this close to him since the day he had signed the divorce papers.
She calmed down, lowered her head to him and whispered, “This Desiderio could be an impostor, the real Desiderio could be dead, and since he knew Delfina, it’s very likely that he knows about Alonzo, you …”
She blurted out what she knew and her suspicions.
Having said that, she stepped back and saw Severo staring at her.
He looked at her more closely and did not seem to be looking at her again.
Severo didn’t say whether he believed her or not, he just asked her rhetorically: “So what was the purpose of your visit to Ciudad del Cielo, to pretend you didn’t know and then find out who she really was?
That’s what Allyce thought, but when Severo asked her, she felt as if she had done something wrong.
It was a feeling that made it difficult to know what to say.
Severo didn’t wait for her to answer, he continued, “I’ll find out about this, don’t act without permission, I already sent someone to look for Delfina and Alonzo, if Desiderio is really someone else’s replacement, we can start with Delfina.”