Marisa’s face full of undisguised disappointment….
-Well, I see you have a good appetite lately and I heard Antonio say you sleep well, so I wondered if you were pregnant, and your symptoms were exactly the same as when I was pregnant with you….
Apparently remembering the time Kimberly was in her heart, Marisa’s mouth has a soft smile….
So it’s genetic?
Katarina’s mood became increasingly bitter.
Antonio slowly stood up.
Again, there was relief and a deep sense of loss, and also, why did Katarina just ask him that question?
If I’m pregnant, do you want it…..
-It’s okay, it’s okay, you are young, you will have children sooner or later, come on, let’s eat when Antonio comes back.
Marisa said as she got up and started to prepare the food.
Antonio went to wash his hands and sat down next to Katarina.
He usually gave her a plate, half the time, he found that, the plates he gave her, she didn’t eat them, piled up in the bowl she didn’t even touch them….
Antonio’s heart stiffened and he was overcome with a wave of uneasiness that made him panic as never before…
While putting away the dishes, Marisa noticed the leftovers in Katarina’s bowl and only half realized it was Antonio’s for her, a little surprised and sighed, what is wrong with these two kids….
Before leaving, Marisa took her daughter out to the balcony and said to her in a serious voice.
-Katarina, what’s wrong with you, Antonio’s company and the hospital are already exhausting, don’t give him any more trouble, the only thing mom and dad want is for you to be well, if there is something between you and the couple, communicate it properly, don’t keep it inside, ok?
Katarina looked at her mother, her heart in her throat, her mind stunned by the horrible truth, and finally nodded the first.
-Mom, I know.
Marisa stroked her head with a loving look.
-Katarina, the person who loves you the most in the world, apart from mom and dad, is Antonio, and even one day his love will definitely surpass ours, you are still young and you may not appreciate how happy it is to be able to be well together, but you will understand later, listen to mom and don’t be capricious.
Katarina nodded nonchalantly, her hands dangling, her fists so tightly clenched that her nails dug into her flesh without her noticing.
-Well, don’t worry, I’ll have a good talk with him tonight.
Marisa then calmed down slightly and looked back at Kimberly before leaving.
The concierge has also returned and Katarina has gone back into the next room. Antonio is standing by the window and he hears the door open and turns to look with a complicated expression.
Katarina ignored him, grabbed her clothes and was about to take a shower when Antonio came over and, with his long arms outstretched, leaned against the wall to block her way.
-Katarina, can you stop this, what have I done wrong, you scold me, you hit me, don’t sulk?
Katarina raised her head, looked at him and spoke.
-Brother…
Antonio’s pupils shudder, Katarina, what Katarina called him….
Katarina looked at the astonishment in his eyes and scoffed, brushing his eyes.
-Grupo Carballo, it should have been you, you are the legitimate heir, you knew from the beginning that you were Fabiana and my father’s son, didn’t you? You also knew, from the beginning, that I was yours?
Antonio reached out his hand with a single force and clasped her in his arms, hugging her tightly, not letting her continue, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating, panic completely out of control….
-Katarina, it’s not, where did you hear that nonsense….
-Then let’s have a DNA test too, to see how we are related! The technology is so advanced now, you can verify it by taking two hairs, I’ve already taken your hair and my father’s hair for a test! It’s no big deal to test us again….
Katarina struggled, but the more she struggled, the tighter her grip became, the clothes in her hands fell to her feet and the calm she was struggling to hold on to finally came off in a tearful whimper.
-Antonio cabron, go to hell! How can you do this? You want Grupo Carballo, I give it to you, you want money, I give it to you, you give me back what belongs to me, you give me back my father, why do you have to mess with me, why do you have to put our family, me in such a horrible situation with your mother, Antonio, let me go….
Antonio’s heart ached so much that he couldn’t breathe… what he feared the most, did she still know?
So she disliked him, detested him and wouldn’t even eat what he served her?
Would he look down on her, not even give her a glance?
She was struggling so much in his arms, he was afraid of hurting her, but even more afraid that if he let her go this time, he would never have the chance to hold her again?
-Katarina, Katarina, I don’t want anything, I just want you….
Antonio’s voice was hoarse with a hint of suffocation….
Katarina’s heart was beating helplessly and she gave up the fight, her heart as dead as a stone.
-Antonio, do you wait for him every day, hoping that my father will die soon, and when he does, will you immediately take me out of the country, to a faraway place, to bury the truth?
Antonio hugged her so tightly that he wanted to rub her bones and blood.
-Yes I wanted to take you far, far away, yes I wanted to hide you, but I didn’t want daddy to die, I wanted him to be well, because that’s what you wanted too. Katarina, I’m not lying to you, my love for daddy is real…..
Without waiting for Antonio to finish, Katarina interrupted him.
-Yes, I’m sure, you don’t act like you’re pretending, after all, blood is thicker than water, you have his blood in you, just like my dad likes you so much, but you, why did you come to mess with me…..
-I can’t help it Katarina, I can’t help it, I’ve watched you for so many years, I became lonely that I didn’t want my mother to give Marcos the chance to get close to you, I didn’t want him to play you…..
-Oh, that’s not better, Antonio, that’s better than you coming to play with me….
Antonio’s heart breaks…
-No! Katarina, I’m not playing with you, I really love you, give me another chance and I’ll still approach you too, I’ll still marry you, I’ll still….
Katarina struggled frantically again.
-Bastard, have you thought about how I feel? Have you asked me if I want to? Who are you to unilaterally decide to take me to hell with you?
Antonio slowly released her…
Hell…
What he once said a place with him was heaven has finally turned into hell….
His heart ached to the point of breaking, and he dared not look into her eyes for fear of seeing the disgust, the hatred in her gaze, that would kill him with grief….
Without her embrace, Katarina felt a chilling coldness…..
-Katarina, all this, how do you know?
She had already guessed from the conversation she had just had that it had something to do with Fabiana, but she had yet to get a definite answer.
Katarina couldn’t stop trembling when she thought of the day she planted herself at the door of the pavilion, shocked by the truth, and clenched her fists, beating her chest with fist after fist, almost screaming.
-It was your mother, it was your mother Fabiana! She bribed the previous caretaker and had someone in the bodyguard you had arranged, working from the inside out, I was only away for half a day that day and your mother came and told her, your own son, married your own daughter! My father had a brain hemorrhage because your mother was so angry with him.
At the end of the sentence, Katarina stopped moving, her chest was suffocating and her throat was blocked by the cotton, so uncomfortable that she was suffocating, and she vaguely felt a pain in her belly….
Antonio took a step back…
A week ago Katarina suffered the pain of knowing everything alone, without saying a word, until today, because, today, finally, the DNA results were out….
Suddenly she remembered that the other day, when he was running anxiously back from the office, he came across a familiar car outside the hospital and didn’t pay much attention to it at the time, but it turned out that it was her car!
Fabiana!
With a spark of anger in his eyes, Antonio turned around and was about to return to the Franco family home, opening the door for a moment, stopping without turning around, with an extraordinarily firm voice.
-Katarina, remember what I told you, whatever happens, I won’t let you go, from the moment you were willing to commit yourself to me, you will always be only my wife. I have never, ever thought of you as a sister.