Having no idea where Leonardo was taking her, but knowing one thing in her heart, that she trusted him.
Shortly during the time in which she packed their bags, her mother in-law had come to their room, banging on their door because she too was in tears. Aurora had stopped packing, exited their walk-in closet, only to find Leonardo sitting on their bed and ignoring his mother’s please.
Without being told, Aurora knew that it was best that she did not interfere in matters between mother and son. Aurora slowly slid back to the walk in closet and continued packing their bags.
Upon exciting the room with their bags in the hands, Aurora did not dare look at her mother in-law in the face but her sorrowful apologies run in her ears. Even as she stepped her feet out of the house, she felt like she had left a part of her within those walls.
She badly wanted to turn back and question her mother in-law, just because she needed answers. But she stopped herself a
**Flashback**Leonardo walked out of his room, leaving his wife on their bed. He wanted nothing but to make his wife a meal and get back to her. Her smile had made his long trip back home worth the while.He could not help but smile as he walked down the hall, past his mother’s room and he stopped as he heard his mother and his father’s voices. Signora Carina has never been an early bird and just as Leonardo was about to unlock on their door, he stopped.“You need to come up with another plan as soon as possible” Signor Metteo told his wife, his voice less than friendly as he spoke to her.“I am trying to but this son of ours is stubborn and his wife is not as gullible as we thought she was. I want her to do one thing and she does another” Signora Carina told her husband, irritated that her task was being made more difficult than it needed to be.“The
Leonardo entered the house and locked the door behind him, he smile at himself as he knew that Aurora was not home but the smell of her perfume lingered in their home. For the longest time Leonardo was used to living in his house alone but now that he was married, his house felt more like a home.His day at school had been extremely tiring and even as he rushed home, all he wanted was to hold Aurora in his arms once again. Leonardo removed his jacket and rushed in for a cold shower and even as he took his shower, images of his naked wife flashed before him which made matters worse for him.“Avena, where are you my love” he muttered to himself as he increased the pressure of the water.**Aurora read her book as she sat at the restaurant and ate her food, it was a semi hot day and the restaurant was the best place to spend her day right up until Leonardo arrived back home.She looked at her watch and her heart nearly droppe
Without seeing whom it was, Rhea was pulled into the classroom and someone’s hand came over her mouth from behind her. Her heart rate increased, thinking that she was about to be kidnapped or even worse… killed.She tried fighting her way out of that person’s strong grip but it was useless, the person holding onto her was clearly too strong for her to maneuver her way out of their grip.“Relax” she heard a familiar voice tell her. The person let go of her, Rhea quickly turned around to confirm that it truly who it was that she was thinking and just like that, she was proven correct.A smile came onto her face as she realized that it was none other than Leonardo looking at her, his face serious but she did not mind because he was here with her and in a dark room.“Leonardo! If you wanted us to be alone together you could have just told me, you know I would have made a plan” she teased him as she approached him but
“My love, I want you to meet a friend of mine. Ricardo this is my wife Avena, Avena meet Ricardo” Leonardo moved out of her way and her heart sank to her stomach as she saw whom it was.Aurora had never been one to believe in coincidence but right before her was the biggest one of them all. She watched as Ricardo walked towards her and stretched out his hands to her.“Gooday, I am Ricardo, Leonardo’s longtime friend” he greeted her, smiling at her, knowing just what she was thinking.“Avena, my friend is greeting you” Leonardo nudged her and Aurora snapped out of her thoughts and shook Ricardo’s hand.“Nice to meet you too—Ricardo” Leonardo stood silent watching both his wife and his best friend as they stared each other down.“Am I missing something?” Leonardo chimed in, hoping to break the icy glare between both his wife and best friend. Ricardo quickly turned to face h
“I could see that you were very happy seeing your friend again” Aurora pointed out as she folded the clothes from the laundry, the ones that Leonardo had washed all by himself with the aim of making her workload lighter.“Yes I was happy seeing him and a little upset with him”“Why?”“What do you mean why? He literally almost knocked you over with his car, do you know how fast sports cars are?” Leonardo asked her and Aurora covered her mouth, holding in her laugh.‘It’s not funny Avena, you could have seriously been hurt” He told her. His sad eyes burned into hers and for the first time, she could see fear in Leonardo’s eyes. Aurora placed the folded cloths on their bed, walked over to him, placing her hands on the side of his face.“But I am right here, nothing is wrong with me” she told him, her voice soft, tapping into his emotions. He looked at Aurora and he cou
The next dayLeonardo had once again gone to work, leaving Aurora to fend for herself at home. She had wanted to go out on the town but had given up on the idea. She had spent her morning bothered about her mother in-law’s call the previous day, Leonardo had still refused to tell her why they had left his parents’ house and what had upset him that day.Aurora picked up her phone multiple times and attempted to call her mother in-law but she had stopped herself, not wanting to be at odds with Leonardo, Aurora had given up on that idea.The doorbell rang, causing Aurora stop what it was that she was doing, leaving her to wonder whom it was that had decided to visit her and the only other person that she could think of was Ricardo.Walking towards the door, she prepared herself for the storm that she would unleash on him as soon as she saw him, because something about Ricardo left her feeling unsettled. She unlocke
One week laterLeonardo gripped onto the steering wheel but even when he had his attention on the road, he could not help to steal glances at his wife. For the past week he had been occupied with work and due to this, he had to cancel her surprise but even as he was driving her to the spot, she was completely silent.The connection between them during the day was plain and boring and the only time where she would come alive was when they were in bed together, wrapped in each other’s embrace.Leonardo no longer able to take the silence between them, he stopped the car on the side of the road and killed the engine. To his surprise, Aurora had not noticed. Her hand still on her neck, playing with her locket and looking into a far distance.“Avena if you are mad that was busy the entire week then you can go ahead and tell me” Leonardo told her, his voice stern. Aurora turned her head around slowly and looked at Leonardo as though sh
Aurora looked at the interior of the house and she was truly stunned, although the house was not as enormous as her in-law’s home, it was still bigger than the house that she and Leonardo shared.She turned to look at him, he was smiling while she on the other hand was confused as to what they were doing there. Leonardo had driven her ten minutes to this house and outside they were greeted by a man in a suit.“What is this?” she asked him, Leonardo’s hands were crossed over his chest. He enjoyed watching Aurora study the exterior and the interior of the house.“Do you like it?” he asked her.“But—”“Do you like it?” Leonardo interrupted her as he asked her once more. Aurora looked at the house once more and she looked back at him, still lost for words.“It, it’s very modern but at the same time it still has a bit of vintage—”“Just say the
“No! This cannot be true, I am the sole owner of all the Russo properties and I will not share it with anyone” Avena yelled, running down the stage with the intent of attacking Aurora but only for Leonardo to trip her into falling on the ground.Within seconds, the church was swarmed with police officers, the main officer walked towards Avena lifting her up from the floor and cuffing her.“Why are you cuffing me, what have I done?”“Avena Russo, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Rhea, please be quiet as anything you say shall be used against you in the court of law” The officer told her. Before they knew it, Avena was being dragged away kicking, screaming and her mother following right behind her, asking the officers to leave her daughter alone.On the other hand, Ricardo was being arrested for the murder of Aurora’s mother committed twenty one years ago. Leonardo’s parent were arrested as wel
“Oh sorry to disturb this wedding but we have urgent matters that need attending to. We are looking for Carina and Metteo Romano” One of the men in the suite asked, his question leaving everyone to stare at Leonardo’s parents.“Yes it is us” his mother responded, pointing at herself and her husband.“I've just come to inform you that the document that was signed for the land has been rejected”“Why has it been rejected?” Signora Carina asked, stunned by what the man in the suite was saying.“Unfortunately only the true heir of the Russo family is allowed to sign on these papers”“What do you mean the papers have been rejected? I am the only heir to the Russo fortune and I personally signed those papers not so long ago” Avena stepped forward as everyone stared at her questionably.“Yes you did but unfortunately you are not the heir” E
Over the past few days Avena had tried to get closer to him but he had not given her the opportunity to because even though Aurora was gone from his life, Leonardo did not want to move on so quickly. The only reason he was at his own wedding was because he wanted to make his parents happy.Standing on the podium, he looked at the crowd and there was not many people around but his parents and his soon-to-be wife's parents.Leonardo looked at his mother's face and she was smiling at him, yet Leonardo himself could not force himself to even smile. Today was indeed an unpleasant day for him, as he will be marrying a woman that he did not have any feeling for. This marriage had begun just as his first marriage with Aurora had begun but he had no doubt that this match would definitely be disaster and he was sure of it.Over the last few days he could not help but compare his wife Aurora to Avena. Aurora was calm kind and selfless, whereas Avena was vein,
One day later“I should have known that sooner or later you would betray me” Rhea told Avena, who stood in the center of her living room. For months Avena had refused to let Rhea in on the big secret and if it were not for Ricardo telling her the secret, she would never have known anything.The more she spoke, it felt as though nothing she said had gotten through to Avena who had her hands crossed over her chest and was smiling. An action which only infuriated Rhea more. Looking at Avena, Rhea felt as though she wanted to strangle Avena. After all, Rhea had lost her one chance of having Leonardo to herself. She had thought that by working with Avena, she would get Leonardo but only for her to lose him in the end of it all.“Rhea why are you so upset? I thought you said that you wanted to break up Leonardo and Aurora’s marriage? They are over now, so why are you upset?”“Because I wanted Leonardo t
“How did this happen? How was there a switch between the woman I was supposed to marry and the woman that I married to now? I think its best that you start explaining to me because you will not like it when I get angry” Leonardo threatened them. Everyone who sat in the room looked uncomfortable, until one brave soul stood up and it was AvenaIt was the first time that Leonardo had seen her since he had left the altar and now as he looked at her, Leonardo noticed that she was quite a pretty young woman but nothing like his wife. Both women were beautiful with dark-ski but Avena’s beauty was still no match to that of his wife.Avena looked frail and scared of him, looking down at her feet and playing with her hands rather than looking up at him, until she finally looked at him with tears welled in her eyes.“Hello my name is Avena, I know that you do not know me quite well and that was mainly because Avena took my place the altar. I
“From a Distance you look like such a sweet and innocent lady but just like your little girl, you are full of secrets” Ricardo told Signora Meta not holding in any venom in his tone of voice.“You are such an evil man”“At least I do not hide that I am a villain, unlike you and your daughter who hide behind smiles. What do they call it? I forgot the words, oh I think it's called ‘Wolf in sheep's clothing” Ricardo ridiculed Signora Meta whom was not fazed by Ricardo’s words.“When you think about it, it is actually you who is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I mean you have proven yourself to be an impressive liar” She reminded him.“When have I ever lied about who I was?”“Well, you are you walking around pretending to be Leonardo's friend but actually wanting to take his wife from him, Is that not what you would consider a wolf in sheep's clothing? I t
Leonardo wanted nothing other than to run away, he could not believe that his entire life was falling apart. The woman who he had been married to for the past seven months, the woman who was to be the mother of his child and now he was finding out that she was an imposter and the woman that he was supposed to be married to was standing there, a few feet away from him.Leonardo nearly fell onto the ground but luckily Ricardo caught him right before he could hit the ground.“Relax my friend, relax” Leonardo heard Ricardo whisper into his ear.“Please tell me that this is a dream, please tell me that this is a dream” Leonardo begged his best friend as he tried to come to terms with the fact that his entire marriage has been nothing but a hoax.&nbs
“Calm down young man, if you keep shaking like that you might drill a hole through the Church floor” The priest cracked a light earning him a laugh out of Leonardo.As excited as Leonardo was, he could not help but feel a storm brewing and it was one that he could not explain. He knew it because he felt it in the core of his stomach, something is definitely wrong. Leonardo scanned the interior of the church and there was no sign of the blackmailer inside.The pianists began playing, ‘here comes the bride’ and the butterflies in Leonardo's stomach began flying around. Leonardo was truly nervous as he watched his wife walk down the aisle in a white dress and veil covering her face, with Signora next to her. He could not help but to think that his wife did not look happy, it had looked as though something was wrong with both women but he shrugged it off. He put a smile on his face as he watched them walked down the aisle to the altar, where
Two days laterIt felt as though this day was nothing other than a joke, carefully planned out but with a surprise looming. Aurora looked at herself in the mirror of the Old church down town, Leonardo had once again rented out an entire church just for them.She smiled thinking how romantic her husband was, always making sure to make her happy. Her only fear was that, Ricardo was Leonardo’s best man. Signora Meta had kept to her word, the poor woman had done nothing other than to find a way to keep Ricardo’s mouth shut. Aurora had no idea what Signora had told Ricardo but all Aurora knew was that Ricardo refused to look at her ever since then.Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled. Finally she was a true bride and not a replacement. She had no idea where Avena was but she inwardly thanked her for running away that faithful day. If it were not for Avena running away, she would never have married the man of her dr