“You already know Sarah’s history. Her infidelity and birthing two children for Sabestien.” Adonis began. “She married twice right, but did she love either of them? The answer is no.”
That stunned Cara.
“Not even the first one?”
Adonis’s mind went back to the man he killed a few months ago, the memory touching the surface of the emotions he felt that night.
Such a pity he died for a love that wasn’t real.
“No.” He replied. “Her one true love was Salvatore’s son. I know you still don’t get it, but hold on to that.”
Miguel arched his brow, fixating his gaze on Adonis
Sarah loved Adrian? But he didn’t say a word.
“My father knew of Sarah’s dealings; that’s also another fact, which resulted in everyone believing I wasn’t his biological son; that,” Adonis stressed, “… isn’t a fact but a miscommunication- an intentional one at that.”
The elderly man couldn’t hold back this time,
“… intentional?”
Adonis hummed, wincing as the vibration reached his ears, “Yes. Nonno and father told you all what they wanted you to believe. Although it’s also true to an extent. Sarah had the child for my father when she knew he wasn’t his. But there’s a saying about birds of the same feather-
“How do they move together?” Cara supplied earning a thankful squeeze from her husband.
“She was wild-a whore. Yet a perfect match for my father, who also had his flaws. He wasn’t a saint either. During one of his self-pity wallow episodes about the woes of his love, he ended up doing it with a maid. That maid had me.”
Cara flinched, “Unbelievable! Dad, didn’t we establish the fact that Sarah’s betrayal was caught after the birth of the second child? How then would his father have known you weren’t his.”
The question was directed to her father, who was just as surprised, although he did his best to control it.
“Entonces pense. En buen momento, querido (So I thought. In good time, dear). He’s heading somewhere.” Then gesturing to Adonis, he extended a palm in encouragement, “Go on.”
“You guys are forgetting something. You were made to believe what they wanted you to-. A woman who had been a whore from the very first day of their marriage, you think he wouldn’t suspect the child she bore wasn’t his?”
Adonis continuation caused him to lean up, crossing and uncrossing his legs with furrowed brows.
Whatever the young man was trying to prove was becoming clearer.
“He was obsessed not stupid. I may have hated my father, but he was a smart man. So, the very day I was born, Sarah also had her first child.”
The stoic expression that had remained hardened all through the various confessions during their discussion cracked as Adonis finished.
The puzzle fell into place. As absurd as his words sounded; if aligned with the events of each of those days, they made sense.
Miguel recalled the memory of that particular day, “Your father disappeared. I remember because Dimitri called me saying your grandmother was going to have his head for abandoning his wife on such an important day.”
The sharp snap of Adonis’s finger cut through the tension in the room,
“Thank you. He was never missing. That was the day he found out that the maid, who had resigned a few months back, was having his child, which he never knew about.”
“But he couldn’t have known the child wasn’t his yet…”
“That’s why he’s a bastard.” A throaty chuckle erupted from his throat. “He had an inkling; the one he was sure of, he wanted to save. Guess it worked in my favour, eh?” He gave a lop-sided grin, heaving heavily as the stress of his conversation began to take a toll on him.
“Don’t do that.” Cara shuddered. “You sound like Antonio.”
She didn’t want to ever be reminded of that man. Moreover, was it possible to have a total 180-degree switch of mood because of a coma?
How come Adonis, who had never been in the habit of joking, was beginning to find humour in everything he said? And that too, with the straightest face ever.
She eyed him suspiciously,
Did he hit his head?
Perhaps she should reach out to Doctor Bruno just to check, but before she could get around to doing it, her father interrupted.
“So it was all a scheme then?”
Adonis’s posture mimicked his, as they shared a look of understanding.
“Totally. One he revealed to nonno, who agreed to play along like nothing ever happened.”
A pang shot through Cara for a brief minute. Was it because of her experience these past few months?
She could somehow relate to exactly how he was feeling. The man must’ve had no choice.
“I’m sure it was because your father loved her still. Your grandfather wanted his son to love; however he might have wanted it.”
“That, and they knew of her connections to Salvatore’s son.”
At this stage, Miguel was on top of it all. He knew now where they were coming from, paving the way for where it might lead.
“Pense que todos me llamaban paranoico cuando segui buscandolo. Dimitri tampoco me creyo. (I thought they all called me paranoid when I kept searching for him. Dimitri didn’t believe me either).”
“Grandfather believed the massive attack you guys staged and the killing of Romano Sr. was enough to put an end to any threat. He didn’t know that his son’s wrong choices in love would jeopardise it all.”
This was another thing Cara kept at the back of her mind to address at a later time.
How was it that Adonis could speak two languages fluently and she couldn’t even understand one completely?
Growing up as a Spanish-American, her previous parents made it a habit to teach her Spanish, but she still found it hard to grasp their conversation.
Everyone had looks of concentration on their faces but with different focuses. Miguel’s thoughts were far different from hers. He found it weird that the truth was hidden.
If Dimitri decided to remain quiet about such a huge finding, he was probably trying to hide something greater. Bracing himself, he asked
“What changed?”
Adonis’s eyes twitched, his own concentration was to prevent his head from exploding in pain. The stress of the long conversation had finally cut up with him.
With a lot of strength, he bit out,
“Sarah was his mistress.”
Time stopped.
And then, a loud painful groan escaped involuntarily slipped out of his lips, his self-restraint snapped,
“I need a shot.”