Katarina is in a hurry…
Just to hear Antonio speak unhurriedly.
-I didn’t tell you because I had an X-ray and the doctor advised me not to have children for three months, but I got Katarina pregnant at the end of the trimester and I was afraid the baby would still be affected. We want to make sure the baby is stable before we tell you. If the baby is not healthy, it will save you heartache…..
Antonio’s voice was remarkably calm, his gaze sincere, and Marisa believed without hesitation that it was her own ill health that was to blame for her daughter and son-in-law taking the trouble to look after her emotions….
Katarina’s heart beating wildly slowly calmed down, so she had really thought of an excuse long ago, this excuse, really reasonable, flawless, even if the child is really tested later, remove it, it is still natural, it will not make the mother suspicious….
But Katarina is not happy, this is deception, telling a lie requires countless lies to round up, the snowball of lies will only roll bigger and bigger….
Marisa asked again, half anxiously.
-So why did you go for x-rays if you were fine?
said Antonio very softly.
-A while ago I kept feeling chest pains and the doctor suggested it, so I did it, I didn’t think about pregnancy at the time, it was an oversight on my part.
Katarina had a glint of sarcasm in her eyes, she really thought about all the things mom might ask before and after….
Marisa sniffed and became even more worried.
-So the test results are okay?
-Don’t worry, I’m fine, I’ve been better since I took the medicine.
Marisa nodded then, reassured, and her gaze shifted for a moment to Katarina’s flat belly, her heart full of mixed feelings, before she turned to the altar where tribute was paid to the gods, lighting incense with a devout look on her face.
-God bless the ancestors of the Carballo family, and Kimberly, all of you keep safe and sound the first son of Antonio and Katarina….
An incoherent prayer from Marisa and a twinge of pain from Katarina.
-Mom, I’m a little tired, I’m going upstairs to rest first.
Marisa hurried over with a worried face as she introduced the incense.
-Well, you two are for real, mom is not so fragile, tell mom to take good care of you, no wonder Antonio explained in the kitchen that the three meals should be substantial and nutritious, fruits and so on should be the best imported, mom is too careless, you two go rest, are you hungry, do you want to have a late snack?
Looking at her mother, who was incoherent with worry, Katarina became more and more upset and tried to sketch a smile.
-No, go to bed early, I’ll go upstairs.
-Well, come on, come on, get an early night’s rest.
Katarina can’t keep the smile on her face once she turns around….
Climbing the stairs, opening the door, numbly entering the room, squatting on the edge of the bed and squeezing her head in her hands, Fabiana’s words echoing in her ears throughout the day.
-You won’t end well with him, not having a healthy child will cut the Carballo family!
A healthy child?
By the way, I haven’t taken my folic acid today…..
Katarina got up and went to the drawer to get the various medications prescribed by the doctor to be supplemented during pregnancy, her hands shaking vaguely….
You married your own brother and you’re proud of it? You’re a mess…
Fabiana’s voice rings in the ears again, followed by Antonio’s voice.
Katarina is the only one I love and I will not let her go unless she dies….
Katarina felt a strong headache, put the medicine in her mouth, took a glass of water and poured it into her mouth in big gulps….
How did she let things get to such an unmanageable point…?
Antonio went up to his room and saw Katarina sitting on the floor with her back to the bed, clutching her head and stinking of sadness….
Antonio’s heart shrank as he closed the door and went over to help her up….
-Katarina, the floor is cold, get up….
Katarina avoided his hand and, without looking at him, she looked at her knees, her voice lifeless, and said again what she had said to Micaela and Alba.
-Antonio, don’t you think it’s wrong for us to have this relationship? You knew our relationship from the moment you saw me, you, what is this emotion of yours, a paranoid possessiveness or a monstrous love affair?
Antonio bent down and looked at her, his eyes full of seriousness and affection.
-Katarina, I am not paranoid and possessive of you, I am not monstrously in love, I know you will resist the blood ties between us, and I have tried not to love you, but I cannot, and to think that if I do not marry you, you will marry another man makes me so jealous I want to kill that man, Katarina, I have always looked at you as a man looks at a woman…..
Katarina clenched her fists and buried her head in the crook of his arm…..
Antonio also remembered what his mother had said to him during the day, remembered the day she had told herself to take her to hell, and his eyes were suddenly filled with bitterness.
-Katarina, I’m not going to touch another woman…..
Katarina clenched her fists and raised her head to look at him.
-Go away, I don’t want to see you.
Antonio astonished…
Katarina’s cold and rejecting attitude is more than she ever had when she was chasing herself….
-Katarina…
-Either you get divorced, get rid of the baby, or you don’t appear in front of me, mom, then you explain yourself, maybe you tell a lie, my mother trusts you so much that she won’t suspect.
Katarina spoke with unmistakable calm, then she leaned back on the bed and got up, picked up her pajamas and walked towards the bathroom, halfway, stopped, turned and looked at Antonio, who had also slowly gotten up, his broad back, unmistakably forlorn, made her heart flutter again.
-By the time I get out, I hope you won’t be here anymore.
Katarina’s voice was quiet and unmoving, and Anthony did not turn to see her tears sliding in a steady stream from her eyes like broken beads…..
Antonio put his hand to his chest and took several deep breaths, waiting for that surge of pain in his heart to pass….
Katarina turned around and went into the bathroom.
When they came back out, Antonio was gone.
Katarina sits on the bed and picks up her phone, which still has the message Antonio just sent.
-Katarina, I told you, whatever you want, as long as you don’t leave me, and I waited for you to find out that you, like me, cannot live without me.
Katarina breathed shakily for a few moments, her fingers trembled, and then abruptly erased her number, everything.
How sad…
Katarina lies down and curls up under the covers….
How can she be so sad, the tearing pain in her heart makes her gasp, Katarina, are you going to fall into despair too….
No, not at all, you have to turn the situation around, there has to be a way to prevent mistakes like this from continuing…