by Marian Tee
The way Luca Valencia was looking at his second wife, and the way she was looking at him—-
It became rather shamefully clear to all the parents and faculty members that the marriage between the two was a love match.
Luca didn’t allow himself to even smile as he stared at his wife. He would bet his entire fortune his wife had gone to a salon and had a makeover, thinking she needed to look stand out next to his exotic Italian ex-wife. And so she had succeeded, and his lips compressed to a thinner line at the thought.
She stood out perfectly, with her tri-colored hair.
Vivian came to a stop just a foot away from his table, and it was testament to just how thick-skinned Maria was that she didn’t even seem to sense Vivian’s presence. The way she tossed her hair about while gushing over her so-called bonding with Eula told the billionaire that while she did notice more people staring at them, Maria’s vanity had convinced her that she was the reason for it.
He looked back at his Vivi, and she stared back at him, everything he wanted to see and hear written in her eyes.
This, he thought, staring at the way her hair started out with the shade of carrots from the roots, turned midnight blue in the middle while the last few inches were the shade of neon green.
This was the Vivian he had fallen in love with.
An adorably imperfect girl...who only had eyes for him.
Ants in her pants, ants in her pants, Vivian thought dazedly as she stared at her husband. She should stop acting like she had them, but she just couldn’t. Everyone was staring at her and although most of the parents seemed able to tolerate her presence, there were still a few who openly sneered and snubbed her. It made Vivian want to crawl under a rock, but she valiantly fought against the urge to hide herself.
She was done being a pushover, done letting public opinion dictate her life.
She loved Luca and Eula.
She loved her family.
And she was willing to fight for them.
Armed with these intentions, Vivian was about to take a step forward when she heard Luca’s ex-wife announce dramatically, “I have a confession to make.”
Vivian froze. Confession? She suddenly remembered Maria’s email and the hairs at the back of her neck stood. Was Maria about to ask Luca to take her back? And if Maria did, would he—-
Her eyes flew back to her husband, but the Italian billionaire was no longer gazing at Vivian. Instead, his smoldering blue eyes rested on his ex-wife, and Vivian had an appalling urge to run forward yelling and beating her chest like a caveman about to defend her property.
No!
Even as Vivian remembered the videos and photos that Maria had sent her—-
The way a younger Luca and Maria had smiled into each other’s eyes as they had their wedding dance—-
The torrid kiss he had given his first bride—-
She didn’t care.
She loved Luca now, and—-
Vivian saw the billionaire’s ex-wife reach for Luca’s hand, and she gasped.
Chapter Eleven
Maria heard the gasp coming from behind her but pretended not to notice even as satisfaction filled her. Thinking that she had shocked another parent with her forwardness, Maria kept her hand on her ex-husband’s in hopes of giving people enough time to take lots and lots of photos.
She wanted Vivian slapped with evidence of Luca’s interest in her. The American nobody Luca married was so ludicrously easy to read, and one look at her told Maria that Vivian was the type to suffer in silence, a mouse that would run away crying at the first sign of her husband’s betrayal. She was exactly the type of woman that was easy to get rid of, and Maria was all for that.
When Luca started to retrieve his hand, Maria’s grip tightened, and Luca raised a brow at her.
“I still haven’t made my confession,” Maria reminded him.
“And you need to hold my hand because—-”
“This might come as a shock,” she uttered in a low voice, “but Eula told me she’s been suffering verbal abuse from your wife.” Maria waited for an explosion that didn’t come, and frustration ate at her. Why wasn’t he reacting the way he was supposed to?
Luca had always been deadly serious when it came to Eula, and it had even been one of the constant reasons behind their frequent quarrels. The billionaire had wanted her to care more for their daughter while she believed he cared too much.
He must be in shock then, Maria decided. And that was all the better. Hopefully, everything would fall according to plan, and Luca would send Eula to her way for the little girl’s so-called safety.
She only needed just a bit of time alone with Eula, and Maria was convinced that she could get her daughter to say everything she wanted.
And after that, all her worries would be over.
Maria’s normally cold heart actually skipped at the thought.
“What kind of abuse?” the billionaire asked unexpectedly.
“That she wanted Eula out of the way because she wanted to have her own baby,” Maria rushed to lie. “She wants our baby girl to think she won’t be a part of your family for long.” Maria allowed her voice to tremble, and raising her voice, she finished dramatically, “Do you know that Vivian went as far as saying that she wished Eula was dead?”
The words easily reached Vivian, and she stared at Luca’s ex-wife, dumbstruck at the woman’s gall to utter such lies.
But then anger kicked in a moment later, and she began to bristle.
To heck with playing nice!
To heck with keeping things civil!
How dare Maria say something so vile about her?
Vivian charged without thought, but before she could reach for Maria’s hair, hoping to drag the other woman to the ground so she could bitch-slap the truth out of her, Luca had already moved with lightning speed, blocking her way to Maria.
Startled at Luca’s sudden movement, Maria turned around and then it was her turn to gasp at seeing Vivian standing behind her. But then Maria noticed the other woman’s hair, and a scathing laugh escaped her. “Dios mio, you really are a twelve-year-old trapped in an adult’s body!”
Even as she felt her face heating up at the somewhat apt description, Vivian forced herself to lift her chin, saying defiantly, “S-shut up...you...you...” But now that she was no longer blinded with anger, Vivian couldn’t make herself call the other woman any names, and in the end all she could do was say, “You...you liar!”
But Maria had already turned her back on her, and Vivian gasped when she saw the other woman heading her way to Eula.
“I can no longer bear it,” Maria cried out, seeing the opportunity to make a dramatic exit that would portray Vivian in a bad light at the same time. “You are obviously crazy! You come here accusing me of such things when you are the one who Eula cannot depend on! I can no longer trust my daughter with the likes of you!”
Maria rushed to where Eula was, hoping to get to her daughter before anyone else did, but she had forgotten just how annoyingly cunning her ex-husband was.
Luca was already with Eula, having left the two women while they had been exchanging words.
Maria forced her to a stop. Shit. She had planned to carry Eula away to make it seem as if she was protecting her daughter from an unstable-looking Vivian. Quickly regrouping, she appealed to Eula, saying, “Eula, you must come with me. I want you to stay with me. Don’t you want to stay with me, too?”
When Eula only stared at her mutely, Maria said very, very softly, “Be a good girl, Eula. Come with me.”
Vivian stiffened.
Something about the words made alarm bells ring in her head.
Luca stiffened when he felt his daughter jerk in his arms. “Principesa?” Looking down, he saw that Eula’s eyes were filled with tears. “Che cos’e?”
“Come, Eula,” Maria cajoled. “Come—-”
“Shut up,” Luca hissed.
“I won’t shut up when it’s my daughter’s safety at stake,” Maria snappe
d. “Your wife is deranged.”
“Watch your words,” Luca warned in a hard voice. “I’ll sue you for slander if you say another thing about her.”
Vivian knew she should defend herself, but right now she only had eyes for Eula, whose tears were running down her cheek. She had a feeling she already knew what was wrong, that all the puzzle pieces were there and she just had to make sense of them.
Maria had turned her attention back to Eula and stretched her arms towards her daughter. “Tell your papa you want to come with me, Eula. You want to be a good girl, don’t you?”
“No, Eula.” Luca’s harsh tone made his daughter jerk in his arms, and he immediately regretted speaking to her in a fashion.
Maria kept her eyes on her daughter. “Come, my dear little girl.” In contrast, her tone was soft and cajoling, but the look in her eyes held a steely warning. “Be a good girl and come to Mummy.”
Luca was shocked when Eula’s body started to lean towards Maria even as she kept crying. “Principesa...”
“That’s a good girl...”
The words echoed in Vivian’s mind.
Be a good girl.
Be a good girl.
She remembered how Eula had looked when Vivian used the same words.
Eula had looked hurt and alone, petrified and betrayed.
It was the exact look the little girl was wearing now.
Instinct took over, and before she could even figure out what to do, Vivian was already moving, crying out, “No!” She snatched Eula away from both Luca and Maria.
“Give me my daughter back,” Maria screamed.
“No!” Vivian moved further away, holding on to Eula. “Not until Eula tells me it’s okay.”
“You bitch!” Maria was about to yank Eula out of the other woman’s hold when Luca’s bodyguards suddenly held her back. Her head snapped up, and she demanded shrilly at Luca, “What do you think are you doing? Eula is my daughter!”
Luca gazed at her with hard eyes. “Esattamente, Maria. She is your daughter, and yet look at how hard she is holding on to my wife.”
Vivian hugged Eula to her tightly, and the way the little girl’s body shook with her tears wrenching her heart. “Hush, principesa. I’m here. Papa and I are here for you.”
“I want to be with Mama,” the little girl whispered to her.
Vivian’s eyes stung. “I s-see.” She had made the most appalling mistake then.
Hearing Eula’s words, Maria covered her mouth with both hands as she tried to look overwhelmed by her emotions. “Oh, Eula, I want to be with you—-”
“No!” Eula had shouted the word out, and she hugged Vivian fiercely. “I want Mama!”
The words repeatedly stabbed Vivian, and her arms around the little girl started to loosen.
“Noooooo!” Eula, who correctly guessed that Vivian was about to give her up to Maria, let out a loud, hoarse sob. She looked at her stepmother pleadingly. “I want Mama. I don’t want to be with Mummy. I want to be with you, Mama.”
Vivian paled.
Oh.
Oh!
She...was...Mama?
Vivian wiped the tears off Eula’s cheeks. “Don’t cry.”
Eula whispered, “But you’re crying, too, M-Mama.”
“I’m not,” she sniffed.
“You are.”
A pair of strong hands settled on their backs, and the two looked up at the billionaire’s handsome face, its aloof, aristocratic edges softened by a look of tenderness.
“There’s no need to argue.” He pressed a kiss on Eula’s cheek and touched Vivian’s lips. “You both are crying.”
Not wanting to be forgotten, Maria tried to struggle away from Luca’s bodyguards but when they didn’t let go, she called out desperately to her daughter, “Eula, my little baby, why did you cry? You gave me such a fright—-”
Even though she was still in Vivian’s arms, Eula couldn’t help shrinking back at hearing Maria’s voice. Her arms once again tightened around Vivian’s neck. “I want to stay with Mama—-”
“Eula!” Fury had Maria’s face contorting into something unrecognizable and ugly, and the sight of it had the little girl shrinking back further. “Think about what you are saying.” Maria managed to keep her voice steady even though she was itching to yell at the brat and discipline her with a good hard slap to the face. “Think about what Vivian and your papa want to hear you say.”
Maria’s words reminded Eula of her nightmare.
Your papa doesn’t love you.
Vivi doesn’t love you.
No one loves you.
Chapter Twelve
Eula turned to Vivian, saying brokenly, “I want to be with you, Mama—-”
Vivian couldn’t understand the way Eula was staring at her. It was as if she had broken the little girl’s heart, and she said fiercely, “And I want to be with you, too.”
But it was as if Eula hadn’t heard her, and the girl continued haltingly, “Maria says you won’t want me when you have a new baby.”
Vivian’s eyes widened.
“She says papa won’t want me, too—-”
Luca cursed.
Eula choked out, “Because Mummy said you’re giving me away—-”
The penny dropped, and Vivian and Luca turned to Maria in unison.
Luca’s ex-wife shook her head, panic written all over her face. “Eula must be lying—-”
Luca took a threatening step towards her.
“I mean, she must have misunderstood,” Maria anxiously corrected herself. “She’s a child. She makes up things.” She forced herself to laugh and looked at the people around her. “That’s normal for a child, right?” But the crowd of parents and teachers that had formed around them stared back at her stonily.
Luca had enough of Maria’s antics. “Take her out,” he ordered his bodyguards. He looked at Vivian. “Will you two be alright if I leave you alone for a few minutes?”
She could only nod, still shaken at discovering the Maria had the gall to psychologically torture her own daughter in such a way.
When Luca left, the crowd slowly dispersed, and in an effort to get things back on track the principal announced the official start of the conference. Left alone with Eula, Vivian told the little girl tremulously, “You’ve been my little girl from the start, you know.”
Eula shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes,” Vivian said fiercely, “you are. I’m a princess, and you’re a princess, and you are my daughter because you came from here.” She touched her heart. “That’s how you became my baby.” Her voice caught. “That’s w-why you’ll always, always be my baby—-”
“But what if you have another baby?” Eula asked haltingly, not meeting her eyes.
“When your papa and I have a baby, you will have a l-little brother or sister. The baby will live here—-” Vivian touched her heart. “And in your papa’s heart, and lastly...here.” She touched Eula’s heart. “This is how we stay connected to each other. This is what makes us a family, and why—-” She paused meaningfully, willing her daughter – her lovely, wonderful daughter of her heart – to connect the dots.
A smile slowly broke over Eula’s lips. “We’ll live happily ever after?”
Her throat tightened. “Yes.” Vivian’s lips curved into a wobbly smile of her own. “That’s exactly right.” And because she could no longer help it, she hugged the child tightly.
Eula hugged her back just as tightly. “I love you, Mama.”
Vivian’s arms tightened around her little girl’s. “And I love you, too. I love you so, so much, my princess.” It was a bittersweet moment, knowing how much Eula loved her, but also knowing that Eula and even Luca had suffered so much pain without her knowing it.
The crowd around them, long forgotten by the two, wiped their eyes at the poignant scene, and so caught up were they that they weren’t aware of the way Luca Valencia’s bodyguards had stealthily escorted Maria out of the premises.
A bodyguard open
ed the backseat door of the billionaire’s limousine, and knowing she had no choice, Maria forced herself to join her husband inside.
The door closed with a strong thud, and she flinched.
“This is the last time we shall talk, Maria.”
Terror crawled all over her at the chilling sound of her ex-husband’s voice, and when she turned to face him, she leaned back against her seat involuntarily, Luca’s ruthless expression spelling out her worst fears.
“I only gave you a chance for Eula’s sake, but I know now it is my greatest mistake. You have gone too far, Maria.”
“I’m sorry!” Maria didn’t even think of lying this time, knowing that he would catch her if she did and he would be even less inclined to forgive her. “I was desperate. I’m broke, Luca. I knew I needed her as leverage—-”
Luca’s expletive shut her up, and when cracked his fist, she flinched, thinking he would strike her.
The billionaire stared at his ex-wife, knowing that he had it in his power to do whatever he wanted with her. And right now, the way rage still coursed through his veins—-
He wanted to kill her, or even just cause her any kind of pain, to avenge his daughter.
And the old Luca – the one who didn’t believe in love – would have.
But fortunately for Maria, he was no longer the same man he had been before.
Luca’s fist slowly dropped to his side, and he said under his breath, “You could have just asked.”
Maria couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
His head jerking up sharply, he said tautly, “You should have just asked.”
And that was when Maria realized just how much Vivian had changed her ex-husband. She had thought that telling him the truth wasn’t even an option. The old Luca would never have cared to help her. The old Luca would forever despise her for betraying him and abandoning Eula—-
But this new Luca was different.
And yet, it was too late.
“Please.” The word came out choking, and this time Maria didn’t even need to pretend she was crying. She was frightened, deeply frightened, of what the future held, and it was nothing.