On the way back to Villa La familia Rouco, Estrella Berrocal sat in the back seat distracted the whole time.
Paulita blinked for a few moments with wide eyes, his little hand grabbed her arm and shook her, “Estrella, I want to play a game, can I borrow your phone?”.
“Oh, okay.”
Estrella Berrocal shakes herself and takes her phone out of her purse and hands it to Paulita.
Adán Rouco, who was driving in front, looked in the rearview mirror at his wife and daughter and warned them: “Paulita, playing with your cell phone in the car is bad for your eyes”.
Paulita murmured, “I’m going to play for a while.”
The little girl pouted and Adán Rouco did not worry about her, but he did worry about Estrella Berrocal, who was distracted from her talk with Árbitro Teodoro.
Adam Rouco frowned slightly and could not help but ask, “What did Arbiter Theodore say to you, why didn’t he say anything to you all the way?”
She should be happy to have reached the final, why do I see her so sad?
Estrella Berrocal hadn’t thought about what to say to Adán Rouco, so she pressed her palms together and said, “Nothing, it’s just that I’m suddenly in the final and I’m feeling a little stressed, so I have to go thinking about new designs.”
“You don’t have to treat this as a competition, it’s just a game, it’s good to win and you don’t have to get discouraged if you don’t win. You don’t have to have too much of a burden, just enjoy the process.”
Estrella Berrocal curved her lips and said obediently, “Good.”
Everything is easy with Adán Rouco.
There was always a soothing magic about this man, perhaps because every time she got into trouble, he managed to smooth over the mess, or perhaps simply because Estrella Berrocal loved him and was willing to trust him.
When they got home, Paulita ran to the screening room to watch some cartoons and Estrella Berrocal, completely drained of the excitement of making it to the finals, sat alone in the backyard, watching the sunset, a bit hesitant.
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the world’s leading fine arts school, especially after her marriage to Adán Rouco, she has focused almost entirely on her husband and children, and even more so now that she has just given birth to her second child.
Before, she had always thought that when Lucio was three years old and could talk and dance, she could go out and learn something or continue her old hobby of art, but come to think of it, these were just her perfect plans. After a woman has a baby and is away from society and the work environment for a few years, can she take a job just because she feels like it?
In this world, there are no two ways about work and family, it’s just a matter of sacrificing one to accommodate the other.
…
Adán Rouco worked for a while in his studio and when he came downstairs, there was no trace of Estrella Berrocal.
Felipa was preparing dinner, so she said, “Young landlord, a moment ago I went to the yard to pick vegetables and found Young hostess sitting alone in the yard for a long time, she was very worried. Young landlord, you and Young hostess have not quarreled, have you?”.
Adam Rouco’s eyes crossed with a hint of concern, “No, I’m going to check the backyard.”
…
Adán Rouco went to the backyard and found the little woman with her face downcast, thinking hard about something.
“What do you have in mind?”
The man approached her and stood on her long legs, his large, slender hands fell on the nape of her white, delicate neck, rubbing it gently.
When Estrella Berrocal heard his voice and lifted her small face to see his handsome and noble face, a certain emotion and decision came over her.
She sat down on the bench, wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his arms, her small face pressed against the point of his stomach.
“Guess what Arbiter Theodore said to me alone today?”
Adán Rouco looked at her with downcast eyes, “Do you like your designs and want to buy them?”.
Estrella Berrocal shook her head and teased with a soft smile, “I guess you’re the only person in the world who wants to buy my designs, no one else does.”
“…”
Estrella Berrocal raised her head and her watery eyes looked directly at him.
Adam Rouco is so handsome, so handsome, so noble, that the sun sets on the side of his face, creating an orange glow, and with it, a faint glint in his dark eyes.
Seeing the little woman in his arms staring at him, Adán Rouco raised his hand to scratch the bridge of her nose and asked somewhat affectionately, “What are you looking at me, do you want something from me?”
“Arbiter Teodoro told me that they were offering a place to continue studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts to the designer who won the innovation award this time. He also told me it was a unique opportunity and told me to think about it.”
The pale light in Adam Rouco’s eyes faded a little, and the color of those eyes became so deep that it was impossible to distinguish between joy and anger.
Although her face was unperturbed, Estrella Berrocal felt that her arm around her was a little stiff.
Estrella Berrocal sighed softly, “Adam, I won’t go if you don’t like it, it’s just that I’ve thought a lot about this place of study, in fact, strange as it is, this place, much less important than my family, I … ”
“How long will it take to get there?” Adam Rouco suddenly interrupted her and asked this.
Estrella Berrocal froze, trying to see the emotion on his face, but he hid it so well that she didn’t know if he was angry or not. “I don’t know, I haven’t asked, but to study, it would take a year and a half in any case. Lucius is only two months old, he’s not weaned yet, I wouldn’t feel comfortable even if I went, I won’t go. ”
In fact, it is not just Lucio, although nowadays it is easy to get around, but in a year and a half, England and The Holy City being so far away, and Adam Rouco being a not very busy person, and if he goes there to study, she will also be quite busy, and there will be very little opportunity for the two of them to see each other, and she will be sorry to leave him. She would not want to leave him for so long.
Even before that, there had been two or three separations, but they had been brief, the longest only two or three months, and if it had lasted a year and a half, Estrella Berrocal would not have been able to bear it, she would have missed him.
But when this fell on Adán Rouco’s ears, he automatically interpreted it to mean that Estrella Berrocal wanted to go but had to pass up the opportunity for her family and children.
Adán Rouco adores Estrella Berrocal, not only keeping her close to him and treating her with the utmost care, but also supporting her in achieving her dreams.
Adán Rouco raised his hand and stroked the back of her neck as he used to do with Paulita’s. “If you really want to go, Paulita and Lucio, you don’t have to worry about them, there is a nanny at home, the nanny and the maids will take good care of the two children while you go to England to study, and I will be home early to look after them.”
“Adam?” said Estrella Berrocal, frowning slightly.
Adán Rouco slipped the lump in his throat, loosened it slightly and said, “It’s almost dinner, don’t sit out here, come back.”
The atmosphere was somewhat strange when Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal entered the house, one after the other.
The house opened for dinner and Mr. Rouco sat down. Felipa called Paulita to come out of the projection room and Paulita babbled about something that Estrella Berrocal did not care to hear and was left wondering what Adán Rouco meant by those words.
Did you support her going to England?
His face, however, looked weak, not to say angry, but not happy either.