Christmas Day, six o’clock in the morning, and the uneven sound of firecrackers going off around The Villas at Repulse Bay.
Adán Rouco stood by the floor-to-ceiling window with his cell phone, looking at Paulita, who was still sound asleep on the big bed.
Santino Yepes had just gotten out of bed when he received the call: “Hello, boss, good year”.
Adán Rouco replied indifferently and said, “Tell lawyer Pirro to prepare two divorce papers, the finer the terms, the better.”
Santino Yepes was taken aback, “Ah, CHIEF, don’t be impulsive, we haven’t found the woman yet, but the president can’t let her get divorced like that, maybe the woman is still waiting somewhere for him to pick her up …. ”
“Go and get ready.”
Adán Rouco’s tone was always calm and did not sound sad at all.
Santino Yepes looked at the hung up phone, froze for a few seconds and thought, “It’s not very auspicious for a lawyer to draw up divorce papers on Christmas Day. …”
But on second thought, it didn’t feel right.
Santino Yepes patted his head and remembered what Adán Rouco really intended.
The boss wasn’t trying to force his wife to come forward with this “fake divorce,” was he?
…
Eight o’clock in the morning at the Rouco family residence.
Adán Rouco leads Paulita back to the house.
Paulita, sipping warm milk and rubbing her sleepy eyes, says in a milky voice: “Grandpa, daddy woke me up in the early morning, I’m very sleepy and I want to sleep.”
Sister Rouco caressed Paulita’s little head and said with affection: “Go upstairs if you want to sleep, Felipa, take the young lady upstairs to bed”.
“Yes, master.”
After Felipa took Paulita upstairs, Mr. Rouco looked up, clasped his hands behind his back and said coldly, “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming back to this house? How come you’re back after only a few days? I didn’t invite you back.
Adán Rouco dropped the kraft paper bag he was holding directly onto the coffee table in front of him and said, “I’ve come back, first of all, to bring Paulita and, secondly, to give this to you, please give it to Estrella Berrocal.
Mr. Rouco’s eyes twitched and his gaze fell on the kraft paper envelope, frowning as he asked, “What is this?”
Adán Rouco said, without expression: “The divorce papers, as you wish”.
Mr. Rouco frowned more: “Do you want to divorce Estrella Berrocal?”.
Adán Rouco looked at Sor with disdain: “You don’t want me to get a divorce? Now that I have even signed the papers, what is it that you don’t like?”.
Mr. Rouco grabbed the tap of his cane and pursed his lips as he stared at him, as if trying to see something in his eyes, but the words “I want a divorce” were clearly written in Adán Rouco’s eyes.
“Are you really going to divorce Estrella Berrocal? Didn’t you leave everything for her before? How can you change your mind now?”.
If he had not known Adán Rouco well, Mr. Rouco would have felt heartless and heartless.
Adán Rouco’s face was cold, devoid of all emotion, indifferent, so indifferent that the old man became a little exasperated.
He sat on the edge of the sofa, his tone was a bit cynical, “As you said, that was before, and I can’t love only one woman in my life, I like Estrella Berrocal yes, but cost me my future and the reputation of The Rouco family, I’m not that inconsiderate.”
“…”
The old man was speechless for a moment, was Adán Rouco really an unfeeling bastard?
The old man just felt strange, “Didn’t you see me forever for her two days ago? What are you doing now…, boy, you’re not trying to rip me off, trying to force that girl out with the divorce settlement, are you?”
“Think what you want, I signed the papers anyway.”
“You … bastard…”
For a moment, the old man could not understand what Adán Rouco was trying to do.
After releasing the divorce papers, Adán Rouco did not linger much longer and said: “Today I have a dinner party, those seven uncles are invited, have the sister-in-law bring Dante and Paulita to attend”.
Every Christmas, Adán Rouco rarely visited the homes of his relatives, and even when he was on annual leave, he would find some random excuse to get away.
Paulita, on the other hand, was very excited, since she was a little girl who liked to have fun, and because she could get lots of candy when she went to her relatives’ house on New Year’s Day.
Adán Rouco was about to walk out the door when Olivia Montes came down the stairs and called out to him, “Adán, are you back?”
Adán Rouco emitted an indifferent “hmm”, “Sister-in-law”.
“You just got back from Christmas, why are you leaving, wouldn’t it be nice to stay home with Paulita for a few more days?”.
“I have to work.” Adán Rouco was very brief.
“Wait, then.”
Olivia Montes ran to the table, poured herself a glass of sugar water and handed it to him: “A glass of sugar water for Christmas, to sweeten the year. Have a few sips before you go.”
Adán Rouco looked at the sugar water and did not drink it, his tone was light: “I’m getting divorced, it’s not sweet”.
With those words, he turned and walked out the door.
The old man and Olivia Montes froze.
The old man pointed to his back with his cane and gasped, “This bastard, who’s he talking to?”
“Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Who knows about him! He thinks one thing and does another.”
The old man opened the kraft paper bag on the table and saw that Adán Rouco had indeed signed the divorce papers.
He asked, “Do you really want a divorce?”
Looking at the terms of the divorce, each one of them was very clear, including Paulita’s custody and compensation for Estrella Berrocal, etc.
Olivia Montes asked, “Dad, are you saying that … Adam is divorcing Estrella?”.
“Yeah, the bastard doesn’t know what to think, just a few days ago he was arguing with me because of that girl, and now he wants a divorce as soon as his back is turned.”
The old man always felt there was something wrong.
Olivia Montes was in a state of quiet exhilaration.
It seems that … Adán has finally had enough of Estrella Berrocal.
…
Ronda, 9 a. m.
Dulcina Calvo is up early and dressed early, and Dulcina’s father and mother wonder why the girl is not in bed today.
“Dulcina, we’re not going out to party today, your uncle and the others are coming for lunch.”
Dulcina Calvo got dressed and said, “Mom and Dad, I … may not be home for lunch today.”
“Do you have a date with a friend or classmate?”.
Dulcina Calvo let out a “hmmm”: “I have a class reunion at noon”.
It was a soft lie.
Dulcina’s father and mother said nothing, but when Dulcina Calvo left the house, she thought to herself: “At this hour, Esteban Zaragosa must not have had breakfast at the hotel, the Hotel Medio Circulo de Ronda is a small three-star hotel, the breakfast provided by the hotel must be unappetizing to Esteban Zaragosa, and he would probably dislike its unhygienic character, so she sneaked to the kitchen to get a thermos lunch box, and took ten freshly cooked pizzas with meat and capers, and put them in an ecological bag.
As he walked out the door, he went so far as to say in a special way, “Mom and Dad, I’m leaving, I’ll be back later.”
“Don’t worry, have a sip of sugar water before you leave.”
Dulcina’s dad brought a glass of sugar water to Dulcina Calvo’s mouth, and she took a big sip before walking away happy.