I jump to my feet and we head to the dance floor. He wraps me in his arms and we dance non-stop for over an hour, laughing and completely happy with my husband, who also seems to be enjoying himself. We return to our table to rest for a bit. The girls are lost, but we're not worried, they're well taken care of. I see Christian furrow his brow and follow his gaze, and I can't believe it. Adele is a little further away, with a woman I can't quite identify, but she seems familiar!
"Bella, by any chance are you wearing something my parents gave you?" Christian asks suspiciously as he inspects me."No, my love, why do you ask? You know I don't like jewellery, I only have these earrings that are gifts from my mum and the ring you gave me, nothing else." "I'm starting to suspect that one of us has a follower who tells them where we are," he says as he takes another sip of his drink, still looking towards where she is. "You're ruled out, I don't have anythI catch Christian's face and kiss him, making him forget about them. I keep doing it for the rest of the night, even when we get into the limousine, I don't let go of him. We are all a bit drunk. But Christian instructs the driver to stop."Christie, take this key and go with David and Marta to the hotel where my company's party will be held.""Why my brother?" she protests. "I'm very tired! Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow.""I want to check something. Please, Chris, do as I ask," he turns when he sees she is really drunk. "Take care of them, David. Let's go, Bella."We get out of the limousine, which drives away, leaving us in the complete darkness of the street. Another car approaches, and we get in; it's one of the security guards' cars."Where to, boss?" the driver asks. I am also a bit drunk, so I just follow my husband without knowing what he wants to do."Take us to the estate," he orders very seriously, and I still don't understand. "I di
Standing before my father, who observes me in silence, I patiently wait for him to speak. What does it mean that Christian is here in his house, and what did the doctor mean by that? He gestures for me to follow him into the study, and I do so quietly. He sits at his desk and switches on the computer."I want you to see this, Bella. Before I tell you anything, and for you to understand why your husband did what he did."I approach slowly, feeling like I'm about to witness something unpleasant, but I need to know. As I arrive, I see a video of a young man stumbling around a house, his gaze vacant as if he doesn't recognise anyone. I focus and realise it's not our house; it's another one. When the man turns, I see that it's my father when he was young. There's another person being taken away whom I can't recognise because their face is blurred."What does this mean, Dad?""That drug they gave your husband yesterday. That day, my girlfriend was supposed to meet me and disappeared; I neve
I don't know what to think or say right now. I told him so many things, shared my fears, talked about him, about Mum. Now I understand why my secret friend knew how I thought and understood perfectly without much explanation of what I told him, and gave me such good advice. I run towards him and hug him again, happy that he shows me in that way how much he loves me."Are you not upset?""No, I'm not.""Can I now be your best friend instead of your secret friend?""Yes, yes, Dad, I would really like that!" "Then answer me honestly all those questions I asked you." I pause, right now I want to tell him the whole truth, but I'm ashamed of what I did, going to the club, not knowing who the father of my children is, and above all, that Christian is not. I promised not to tell anyone, but Dad is no one; he's my dad! I slump into a chair not knowing what to do or say. It's not just my secret; I need to discuss it with Christian and even with Grandpa. For now, I'll tell him only what I can
"Dad, I have to tell you something now that you said that.""What thing?" he asks as we walk towards the room where Chris sleeps."Yesterday afternoon, when we went to the market to buy clothes to go to the club, we ran into his parents, and my father-in-law..., my father-in-law...""What about your father-in-law, Bella? What did that heartless man do to you?"Upon hearing him shout furiously and seeing the terrible expression of hatred on his face, I become frightened and no longer think it's a good idea to tell him. However, I've already started and can't stop now. I will continue to trust my father as I did my secret friend. I won't hide anything from him; he seems to know Mr. Thompson very well."He was looking at me in a strange way, I thought he was comparing me to Adele, but... but... you know I don't have much experience with men, dad. But I think he was looking at me as a woman; I even saw him licking his lips while looking at my breasts.""Heartless womaniser! He hasn't chan
At this moment, they are interrupted by Grandma Tania, who asks them to come for tea. Grandpa follows them immediately, inviting them to the living room. The children's laughter makes them turn their heads to see them running towards them. They arrive and throw themselves into their arms, kissing them happily."Grandpa, you came to see me!" exclaims Lucia excitedly."Yes, my girl, I came to see both of you. We came because your grandma also came to see you.""Does Grandma love us too?" asks Lucas."I have always loved you," replies Grandma as she leans in to kiss him. "You look just like your dad when he was your age.""Really, Grandma? Do I look like my dad?" asks Lucas excitedly."And me, Grandma, who do I look like?" Lucy asks in turn."You look a lot like your aunt, you even have dimples on your cheeks," Mrs. Thompson replies excitedly."Really, Grandma? Why are you crying?" Lucy asks."I'm not crying, I'm just excited and happy to see you.""Mun and Dad aren't here," says Lucas.
As she speaks, she takes out everything she has. They reach the room where Christian is still asleep, having a very restless sleep. Doctor David immediately begins examining him; he has dealt with many cases like this in the association he works for. Santiago informs him of the type of drug Christian was given. At that Munent, Doctor Alfonso also arrives with the results of all the tests he conducted."We need to start him on a drip right away; we also have to give him all his medications. I managed to find out some but not all," Doctor Alfonso says."I have them here, doctor," Christie shows them again. "These are all the medications my brother takes, along with the dosages and how he takes them.""That's very helpful; pass me the information. I think you should all leave now and let the doctors take care of him."Everyone rushes out of the room, leaving the doctors engrossed in attending to Christian. Isabella is very scared, along with her sister. Marta starts making tea in the kit
I watch him leave and I'm left feeling scared. I keep looking at the news in the newspapers and what they're saying about me is horrible, surely Dad will come when he sees this. What was I thinking? And my father-in-law? Will he be upset because I involved him in this plan? I just asked him to accompany me, I knew he would find them, he had them checked. He must know where Christian is, he has something to locate both of them."I won't stay here waiting for the police to come, I'll go to their room, I have to put on a good show, because if they implicate me in Christian's kidnapping, I'm finished. That must be Dad. I take my phone, and yes, it's him. He must have found out everything by now. What the hell was I thinking when I did that?! I take a deep breath and answer."Hello.""Can you tell me what on earth was going through your head to commit such a stupid act?!""Dad, let me explain, I didn't do anything, I just accompanied my father-in-law. The rest happened on its own.""Do you
After leaving the hotel, I went to withdraw the money with the card Adele gave me. I had to pay those guys or I would be in trouble. I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money and that she had tricked me. To my surprise, I had more than enough, so I took out a good amount. After settling my debt, I went and bought a few things for the boy and my wife. Of course, I paid with her card.I was almost done when I ran into Eva. I didn't recognize her at first, if she hadn't pulled on my shirt, I wouldn't have noticed. She signalled for me to follow her, and I did because she was someone else who could give me money. We sat in the café on the fourth floor. We ordered a snack, which she of course paid for."Do you have to dress up like that?" I asked her."I don't want anyone in my family to know I'm in the city. Everyone thinks I'm on a cruise around the world. I need your help.""Help you with what? I don't want to get into trouble with the Sardinos. What Adele did to me was enough. Just whe
They instinctively approach Susan and surround her as if protecting her from the world, while Susan looks at Santiago very scared. Mrs. Tania looks at her son and hurries to say."And your parents too, Susi, would come with you, that mansion is huge. Maybe if Bella hears us all around her, she'll be encouraged to wake up.""It's a good idea, Susi!" her father chimes in. "That way we can see our great-grandchildren all the time and you'll form a relationship with them. We'll go with you and Santiago will be by your side all the time, nothing will happen to you, darling, and you'll take care of your daughter, she needs you by her side.""Yes, Susi, Bella will surely be happy when she finds out you're her mum." Santiago says, excited to be able to live with her."Do you really think so, Santi? Do you think my daughter won't blame me for not knowing how to look after her and letting Eva steal her from me?" Susan asks anxiously.On the other hand, Rodrigo
Marta observes Susan who looks at her excitedly as if she were really her biological daughter as Bella is, from whom she feels she is stealing all those moments. So she feels disconcerted."Oh, God!" exclaims Susan, excited, and steps forward to hug and kiss her. "This is miraculous, I have another daughter. When Santi told me he had adopted you, I was filled with joy and I'd love it if you called me Mum if you don't mind. If not, that's fine, I'll treat you like a daughter, and look, these would be your grandparents. Mum, Dad, don't you think she looks like Santi and me too?""That's right, daughter, that's right. Nice to meet you, Martita, this one here is your maternal grandmother from today onwards," Susan's mother steps forward. "Here, I brought you a gift, I'm a bit confused, are you Isabel or Marta?""Isabel was the name my parents gave me, but then I changed it to Marta. Dad, he's the only one, well, and now my boyfriend Rodrigo, who calls me Isa," explains Ma
Yes, you saved me, Bella. You insisted that I go to work at your apartment, and that's when I realised how well you were looked after, that you had visible and hidden bodyguards, that if I stayed by your side, nothing would happen to me. Forgive me for taking advantage of you in that way and putting you in danger.That's why I stayed to live with you, and you can't imagine how happy I was when your grandparents accepted me and did everything for me. I don't know how Grandpa realised they were following me, but do you know what he did? He put security guards on me too! Can you believe it? Me, an orphan he'd just met, just because you wanted me by your side, he started looking after me!You wouldn't believe how much I hated those rich girls who thought they were better than everyone else, but you weren't like that. You're so different, Bella, that I started to love you from that moment on because it wasn't just a whim of yours. You truly loved me. I was hea
Adele looks at her mother really surprised by what she has just told her, she never imagined that Christie Thompson would help her in this way."She won't want you near her brother because of what you did, but she also doesn't want you to suffer the fate your father had imposed on you by selling you to that guy who was surely going to put you in his harem or auction you off in a brothel in his country. I'm truly grateful that she called me to save you," her mother said very seriously. Then, with a smile, she asked, "How are you feeling? Does it hurt much?""A bit when I move. How long has it been?" she asked, looking at her healed wounds.Her mother looked at her with pity and told her that she had been in that situation for almost two months. They had kept her asleep the whole time because they were travelling from one place to another, hiding her. Besides, there was something she had to tell her, and now that she knew she had a son, she thought it was the right time
On the other hand, in an imposing house, Adele finally opened her eyes and looked around, not recognising anything about the place where she was. A nurse, seeing her, came to check on her, then ran out and returned with a lady. She stood at the door, looking at Adele with adoration and a little fear."Mum? You're my mum, aren't you?" she asked, still unable to believe it, then agitatedly asked, "Luis! Where is Luis, Vivian and the child?""I don't know anything about that, darling. Who are they? Who did this to you?" her mum asked in turn."Can you give me a phone, mum, please?" Adele asked anxiously."Yes, yes, take mine. Who are you going to call?" she asked, interested."My husband, to find out about my son," Adele said confidently as she dialled Luis's number."Son? Do you have a son, Adele?" her mother asked, astonished, knowing nothing about it."Yes, I have a son with Luis Ibañez, who is my husband!" she affirmed vehemently."Whe
After Adele disappeared from the hospital, and after trying to find her in all the possible places her father and Eva knew, without success, they decided to leave for a while to take the heat off him and because he had to return to his country to meet his father's demands. He took Eva and Oswaldo with him, who believed the story that those who had shot Luis, Vivian, the child, Adele and the others, had been Santiago's men in their attempt to save them.They dedicated all their time to creating a plan to get revenge and take over everything from the Thompsons and, if possible, the Sardinos. In other words, Eva and Oswaldo's plan hadn't changed, although they were now sharing it with the arrogant prince, who was furious because for the first time in his life, he had encountered someone who didn't bow to his power.After Eva presented all the evidence suggesting that Mr. Thompson had kidnapped Susan and kept her hidden in a psychiatric clinic for years after rapin
Santiago, while talking to Christian, busied himself checking on and comforting his daughter, feeling a great pain in his chest and a profound helplessness for not having prevented this accident by not catching Eva sooner. He kissed Isabella on the forehead and turned to answer his son-in-law's question."No sign of her, I think she went to Malaysia with the little prince." Seeing Christian's expression of despair, he quickly added, "But don't worry too much, we have a plan to dismantle all of this.""What plan?" Christian asked, letting out a sigh. Like his own father-in-law, he felt utterly gutted by what had happened."With your real mother-in-law, the one they call Susan, my Susi, the one your father tried to steal from me," Santiago explained with a happy expression."I understand now, she's very beautiful, like my Bella. And she seems as lovely as her, I understand why my father wanted to take her away, my father-in-law," Christian said, not taking hi
Christian gently kissed the sleeping Isabella, sighed when he saw that she made no move. So he continued talking to himself. "My first mistake was not searching for you after my father separated us when we were children. I could have written to you, informed you, told you that I loved you more than anyone in the world. That the hundreds of times I said we'd marry when we were adults and I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, I meant it truly. And I came back, Bella, I did," Christian continued his monologue. "I returned for you; it was the first thing I did when we came back to this country. I came like a madman to find you, but I arrived too late. You were marrying Luis Ibáñez." A sob escaped Christian as he remembered that day, one of the most painful he had ever experienced, watching as he lost his beloved Isabella. "That was my second great mistake," he confessed, his voice breaking. "Not seeing in your eyes that it was a farce. Even when I followed you to Paris li
The doctor walked away, leaving Christian a bit more at ease. When he reached the door, Christian noticed some unfamiliar guards who greeted him with a nod before closing it, telling him not to leave until they gave him the all-clear."Can you tell me what's happening?" Christian inquired, concerned."A patient has disappeared," they informed him."A patient? Do you know who it is?" he asked curiously."Adele, your ex-fiancée," the guard replied."Adele?" Christian questioned and immediately surmised, "Surely the little prince, the Sultan Nestor's son, took her.""No, it wasn't him. He's searching for her with his father," the guard corrected him.A few hours earlier, Adele's father had been shouting at reception alongside Nestor. Mr Thompson's men, who had previously caught him, had released him. Upon returning, he received a call from Nestor, who had attempted, along with Oswaldo and Eva in disguise, to abduct Adele in a helicopter