Christie as always, defends her brother in front of them with real zeal and turning to her father, she continues:
“And just so you know, Dad, I just solved the contract mess, I'm leaving this afternoon to help my brother with a problem he has at his publishing house and he says you know what it is, so don't assign me any more work, because I won't be here. Goodbye, I'm going to pack my suitcase!"And with that, she leaves, slamming the door behind her, making him jump in his chair. The mother looks again at the photos of her son, especially the ones where he is smiling happily, and looks up to find that her husband is doing the same."Well, I don't care what you say! My daughter-in-law is Adele and I will continue to fight for them to work things out! Because before he lost his memory, he was happy with his girlfriend, he had bought the ring and everything to get engaged. I don't want him to accuse us tomorrow, when he regains his memory, that we didn't fight haHe shakes his head smiling and answers: "No, I've never been married before, and I don't remember when I had a girlfriend. It's like we're both first-timers, so we'll have to learn together, ha, ha, ha..." he laughs nervously. "Although you were married, you must know.""That doesn't count," I replied. "I never lived a married life with Luis. I'm at zero, just like you. Okay, I've seen my grandparents since I was a child, we'll imitate them. You have to hug me all the time, and help me with everything, both be kind. That's what we'll do, it won't be so difficult. We'll spend almost all our time at the office, and weekends at your house, what do you think?"He watches as I take my panties out of some drawers and start putting his underpants away. I blush and quickly put them in the other drawer. Christian turns and clears his throat. Then he takes a pair of shorts and a pullover and goes into the bathroom. When he comes out, I'm already lying down and complete
He grabs his jacket, takes my hand and we run out, while he calls the driver to have the car ready. We get in and speed off to the house. As we enter, my children run towards us, frightened."Dad..., Dad..., that witch wants to take us away!" Lucas says, terrified.Christian picks them both up and turns to greet us. My mother approaches me and gives me a hard slap."You're a slut...!" she screams, and tries to hit me again, but I grab her hand and throw it away."What do you think you're doing?!" I ask her, trying to control myself, seeing the fear in my children's eyes."What's going on here?"My grandfather asks, very annoyed, entering with Grandma, Eugenia and my father, who also arrives at that moment and opens his eyes wide in fear when he sees my grandmother's gaunt face, holding her stomach and very pale, as if she were going to faint, while my grandfather and Eugenia hold her up."How could you hide from us that you had two bastards?" My mother continues to shout, not caring t
My mother's eyes widen alarmingly as she opens and closes her mouth several times, unable to produce a sound. She looks at me repeatedly, unable to believe it. Christian smiles, seating me beside him and taking my hand. He waits for my mother to form a good impression of us before he continues speaking. He even waits for her to sit down in front of us, looking in the direction where dad went with grandma.She certainly didn't expect that reaction from dad. Well, none of us did, especially not him taking his mother's side so clearly. And even less so that he would be married to the person I am. Christian's voice makes me look at him again."Do you know why I'm still here sitting, talking to the person who has insulted my beloved wife and children in the worst possible way?" he asks.My mother turns pale, resembling a sheet of paper, as she nervously wrings her purse in her hands. Christian continues to stare at her intently, with a chilling smile, and speaks extremely slowly, measuring
I give him a kiss on the cheek and go to my room to tell Christian how much I appreciate what he did. Upon entering, I can't believe what my eyes see. He's asleep in the centre of the bed, with my children in each of his arms, sleeping turned and hugging him."What a lovely picture," whispers Marta in my ear, making me jump with fright."Marta, you scared me! Come on, let's put the children to bed."We each take a child and carry them to their beds. I call to Christian, who opens his eyes and looks around."You can change your clothes now, Christian.""Where are the children?" he asks, looking around. "I promised to be by their side when they wake up. They were very frightened.""Alright, follow me. We laid them down together; let's take them and lay them with us. Is that okay? Will they not bother you? I assure you they move a lot; they won't let you sleep. By the way, thank you.""You don't have to thank me; they are my children, Bella, and you are my wife. I will defend them agains
She replied with her eyes full of sparkle. "Yesterday I heard him shout and threaten your mother. I agree, because Dad surprised me too. "I'm as amazed as you. All my life I've seen him stay silent when my mother started arguing. Even when she scolded and punished me for no reason, all he did was tell me to shut up. He never intervened or confronted Mum. Even Grandfather was surprised. It was terrifying, and not only that. He picked up Grandma and went with her to the room, leaving Mum at Christian's mercy."She exclaims euphorically: "He's my hero, and he's beautiful. Although you don't look like him or your mother. Who did you take after, Bella?""I don't know, I think I'm a little like my grandmother, tall like Dad." It's something that also intrigues me, I don't look like them.After we finished taking a great walk around the property, and my children were tired of riding their ponies, we entered the house. An agency had its employees organising everything they had bought."And
I leap from my chair, pacing back and forth, feeling trapped. It's true, I agreed to a sham marriage, but not to this. For life? No! I can't accept that, we barely know each other! Besides, I have my life planned out, and there's no room for men in my future. I don't want anyone to make my children suffer. Although, I lied to them just now, telling them that this man who's asking to stay with me for the rest of my life wants to be their father, but he's not. Can I marry him just for them? What madness are you thinking, Isabella?"Bella?" Christian calls out. I stop in front of him."We're not in love! How can we live like this, married?" I ask innocently, my mind not working at the moment."Bella, I'm happy with your family," he says, taking my hands and looking me straight in the eyes. "If one day, you find the love you're waiting for, I'll let you go, without any resentment. I promise you that." I don't know what to say. I watch him, release my hands, and resume pacing. I walk to
"Alright, Bella."We go out and go to the children's room. It's a dream come true, they love it and scream happily. I sigh and think that yes, I'm doing the right thing. Christian will be a good father. I look at my grandmother, who smiles happily, and that image alone makes the tightness in my chest and the urge to cry disappear. In the end, I join Marta and dedicate myself to directing the team, to placing things where I want them inside the house.Christian accompanies me happily. Then we all have lunch, like a happy family. Christian and I keep talking about the children. He wants to know everything about them. When I finally bathe them and get them to sleep, I go out onto a beautiful terrace in the matrimonial room. All my new clothes, shoes, jewellery, make-up, in short, everything I use, is equally divided between the closet and Christian's room. I'm amazed to see that they've brought all my things from my house.I sit on a comfortable chair and rock back
After informing my parents that I was leaving, I head to my apartment. I'm so happy that my brother has come up with the idea of getting married. I don't care if it's true or a lie, I'm going to support him as long as he doesn't marry that shameless Adele. She may have blinded my parents, but not me.First, I'm going to go to France, I have to find out what that slut went to do there when she disappeared during the time Chris was in a coma. She said she had gone to do an internship, she's the only one who believes that, she doesn't even know how to speak French. Besides, I have to see if he left any photographs of the girl my brother was in love with at my grandfather's house. Why didn't he ever want to tell me who she was? Now we wouldn't have this problem, nor would I have been tempted to fulfil my promise not to investigate who she was.I finish packing when I hear the doorbell, I look through the peephole and can't believe it, it's mum. I opened the door wh
They advanced into the mansion, observing their surroundings where time seemed to have stood still. Nothing had changed since their last visit many years ago. They sat nervously where the maid directed them."Son, calm down," Mr Sardino urged Santiago, who was fidgeting incessantly. "Everything will be fine. You weren't to blame for anything!""Don't say that, Dad!" Santiago protested. "I should have realised sooner! Bella is her spitting image! Why didn't we notice when she was a child? Besides, it's been so many years. Do you think she'll remember me?"They were interrupted by the smiling entrance of Mr Rivera, who approached them, shaking hands and embracing them enthusiastically. Although they had grown apart after what happened with their children, they had always been great friends and still maintained many business interests in common."Good afternoon, Santiago. Are you alright?" Mr Rivera asked, noticing his nervous movements. "What brings about thi
As they arrive, they see everyone still waiting for news about the children. They turn upon hearing them, while Christie goes and embraces her brother, covering him with kisses, crying."What is it, Chris?" Christian asks, pulling away."It's Bella.""What's wrong with Bella?" Santiago and the grandfather ask simultaneously."We've just run into the doctor treating her. He was looking for you to tell you that they need to fetch Bella's mother. None of the others are compatible with her, and the only hope left is that her mother might be, as she has the same blood type.""As soon as we know about the children, we'll go for her," Grandfather Sardino says."No, it has to be now," Mr Thompson replies very seriously."Why?" Santiago asks."Because if they don't perform the transplant immediately, the doctor doesn't think she'll survive.""Oh God, don't tell me that, don't tell me that! My Bella can't die before I ask for her forgiveness
At that moment, they see Doctor David, who was inside the operating theatre where the adults were, running towards them."Christian, you need to come urgently," he requests with urgency."Has something happened to Bella?" Christian asks, standing up frightened."No, it's not about Bella," Doctor David assures him."Then who? I don't want to move from here, from beside my children," he says, sitting back down."Néstor is out there, demanding they give him Adele, and I thought you could say you're her fiancé and prevent it. She's really in a critical condition, she has two gunshot wounds to the torso and has lost a lot of blood, just like Luis. The worst of all is the other woman.""Vivian?" Christie asks intrigued."Yes, she'd already been shot once and they gave her two more," David replies. "She's in a very bad way, I don't know if she'll make it. But come on.""Vivian must have prevented Eva from killing the children," says the
Néstor Guzmán was furious. Since she escape, he hadn't been able to find where Adele had gone. Initially, he'd stopped looking for her when he found Christie Thompson, thinking she'd make a better wife for him and that it would be easy to acquire her, as he was accustomed to doing. But due to his actions in their company, he found himself in serious trouble with the government, caused by Mr Thompson.He realised that Thompson was indeed very powerful and could cause him significant harm. So when he learned on television that Christie had married her boyfriend, Dr David, he cursed angrily and resumed his search for Adele, intending to leave, as his father was pressuring him to return due to the mess he'd caused with the Thompson family."Sir, we're not sure if it's true," said one of his men, entering his office. "But one of our lads says he saw Adele with a chap called Luis Ibáñez. They were in a car heading out of the city. He followed th
The two thugs covered the phone, having confirmed their suspicions, and spoke to each other in fear."What should we do? Old man Sardino says he'll give us all the money we want. What if we kill Eva and the others, save only the children, and get all that money?""Are you mad?" Roan replied, visibly frightened. "I'm sure they'll find us out. The bodyguards saw us taking the children and trying to kill everyone."As they heard Patriarch Sardino's voice change from almost begging them desperately on the phone a moment ago to now becoming furious and threatening, they paid attention to what he was saying."If you don't tell me right now where they are, I'll hunt you down and make you pay as if you were the kidnappers," Patriarch Sardino's cold voice sent a shiver down their spines. "I swear I'll find you even if you hide underground! If my great-grandchildren die because you didn't tell me where they are, I'll make you pay dearly. I swear it! Where are
Two cars were hidden opposite the Sardino mansion. In another, further away, Eva, in disguise, supervised the operation. They had initially planned to go directly to Christian's house, but after learning that Isabella took the children there every day, they decided to follow her and kidnap all three on the way."I say, Ruan, doesn't this house look familiar from the telly?" asked one of them who had never been to the place before."From the telly? What do you mean by that?""I reckon this house was on the telly. It belongs to the Sardinos.""Which Sardinos? The millionaires?""Yes, those very ones. Are you certain that woman isn't deceiving us? Whose children did she say they were?""Now that you mention it, she's never told us whose children we're nabbing. She just keeps saying the family has enough money to pay a hundred million for them without batting an eyelid. That she'll give us fifty, and the rest will be hers. Are you sure it's the Sardinos'? Haven't they sold it?""I don't k
Everyone was deeply shaken by what was happening. It was something they hadn't expected."Spare no expense," Mr Thompson interjected, embracing Christian. "I'll give my entire fortune if necessary, but they must return them alive, do you understand? All I care about is saving my grandchildren!""Unfortunately," Grandfather Sardino said, "we haven't yet received any news from the kidnappers. We've alerted all our contacts and police agencies. However, no one knows anything, no one saw anything. It happened in a very strategic location near the house, where there are no traffic cameras. It was fortunate that Bella managed to call before she lost consciousness.""Dad, it looks like the doctors are coming out. Let's go," Santiago said, walking to meet the doctor emerging from the operating theatre. "Well, doctor, how are my daughters?""The operations went well," the doctor began to explain. "Marta had some severe fractures in her legs, but we managed to reconstruct them. Fortunately, the
It was Saturday, and Christian sat with his family in the living room, sharing happy stories about the children who often stayed with them. Christian's eyesight had improved slightly; he could now see light and some blurry shapes."Hey Chris," his sister called, "why don't we ask Bella to let Lucas and Lucy stay tonight and pick them up tomorrow? It's quite late now. She said she'd bring them after the supermarket, but they haven't arrived yet. It's dark already; perhaps she changed her mind about bringing them.""No, Marta warned me they might be late, but said they'd come even if it took an hour. The children say they have a surprise for me. It's a good idea, though. I'll ask Lucas—he's the negotiator. I don't know where he gets his intelligence from.""Ha ha ha," Mr Thompson laughed. "Listen, dear, did you hear what your son said about not knowing where Lucas gets it from? Don't our grandchildren remind you of those two when they were little?""That's right, love. Chris, when you w
Marta stared at her now-sister for a moment. Bella seemed to go through life without understanding anything, which is why she said, somewhat irritated:"Do you still call her mum? That woman isn't your mum, Bella. Goodness knows who she stole you from!""Look, Marta, even though Dad showed me that paternity test, I don't believe it. And do you know why?""Why?""Because if Eva isn't my mum, then who is? How could Dad not know who my mum is?" Bella asked very seriously and added, "That's why I suspect he wants me on his side against Mum in the divorce mess. That's why he wants me to think I'm not her daughter, so I won't object to him leaving her with nothing.""Bella! How can you believe such a macabre thing about Dad? Listen, and I'm telling you this for Lucas and Lucy's sake! Wake up, because that woman is wicked and capable of doing anything to your children and to us! Dad isn't capable of deceiving you like that. Just look at the way he looks at you and loves you; he wouldn't do s