BIANCA’S POV


    I quickly increased my pace and caught up with him. We both walked a reasonable distance in silence. It was afortable silence. That was the way our nightly walks normally were, so it didn’t bother me in anyway. I was much more suprised when he tried to strike a conversation.


    “So you are the only child of your parents?”


    “No, I’m not.” I replied. “We are two. My elder sister is Amara. She got married and relocated to Florence with her husband a few years back. They have a daughter now. Anneliese.”


    “Nice.” He muttered. The silence ensued between us again. This time it felt awkward. Maybe, I had been thrilled that for some reason, he was interested in knowing more about me. Maybe I was wrong. After a few minutes, he spoke up again.


    “I hope you do not mind me asking?”


    “Shoot.” I rushed out, already happy he was asking me yet another question that was most probably about myself.


    “Uhhmm….. yesterday, while on the call with your parents, I heard you crying. Did something go wrong at home?”


    Okayyyy… I hadn’t seen thating. Had I been so loud?


    “You weren’t loud, I have quite the receptive ears.” He muttered. He read my mind then.


    “Well yes, something bad happened at home.”


    “For real?”


    “Yeahhh.” I sighed. “My cousin, who is actually more like a sister to me. I guess we both rte the same way you rte with my boss.” I exined, and he nodded. “So, her four year old son was kidnapped the same day your men had taken me.”


    “Oh no.” He muttered, only making me tear up.


    “Ethan is such a sweet little boy. He doesn’t deserve to suffer that way.”


    “Nobody does.” Manuel mumbled. “Has he been found yet?”


    “Not yet.” I released a deep breathe of mental exhaustion as I halted my steps.


    “Do they have an idea who may have taken him?” On hearing his words, I suddenly felt the need to talk about it all, because I felt nobody understood how much M’s predicament worried me.


    “It’s a long story.” I muttered.


    “We have all night.” He smiled. I nodded on agreement and started walking again.


    “5 years ago, M had run down to italy, sustaining serious injuries, while in search of my family.”


    “Who is M?” He asked.


    “My cousin.” I replied. “I had only heard papa speak about her a few number of times, and she was the only cousin we had from papa’ste sister; Aunt ire. Aunt ire had married an wealthy American, who had died a few months prior to M locating us down to Italy. Papa and mama had been so shocked to see her standing in front of our home that fateful day. Papa needed no introductions in order to recognize her as histe sister’s daughter. M was a spitting image of Aunt ire. When they had brought her in and enquired the reason why she was in Italy with a literal gunshot injury on her arm, she revealed that she was on the run.”From N?velDrama.Org.


    “On the run?” He asked, and I nodded.


    “Apparently, her father married a second wife after Aunt ire had died. It turned out that her stepmother had masterminded M’s arranged marriage to an American billionaire; MacCarter Spencer.”


    “Arranged marriages are quite normal for the elite. It’s a way of strengthening the power and wealth of the two families involved. The Russo family isn’t a stranger to arranged marriages, so it’s really not so bad.”


    “This was a man M had never known before.” I rified. “They had never for once met, and she was just expected to be his wife under such a short notice? It was bad Manuel. But it was much more worse when udia; her stepmother, had made her move in with Carter before the wedding. Naturally, Carter and M disliked each other due to a few misconceptions about each other, which had been as a result of udia filling each party’s head with foul informations about the other. But eventually, Carter and M began getting along. A while after M moved into Carter’s ce, her bedridden father had died. M had been so sure that udia had a hand in her father’s death.”


    “Did she report to the authorities?” Manuel asked, and I shook my head.


    “No. She hadn’t any tangible evidence.”


    “So what happened?” Manuel pressed on, seeming very interested in my story.


    “The thing is…. before M’s father had died, hispany had gone bankrupt. udia had somehow convinced him to sign thepany off to her before he died. The man had also handed hisrge and stable poultry farm to udia as well. That was part of the reasons why M had gone ahead with the arrangement to marry Carter. udia had threatened her with the fact that Carter was her only saviour out of a life of poverty, as her father had clearly left her with nothing. Not even the bankruptpany, or their thriving poultry farm.”


    “That is so messy.” Manuel looked annoyed.


    “I’m sure M thought so too. After her father’s death, hiswyer had called for the will reading. M already knew the oue of the will reading, so she was very reluctant to go. But then, Carter had motivated her to go. Guess what happened during the will reading?”


    “Let me guess,” He eyed me suspiciously. “Her father miraculously left thepany and poultry to her.”


    “No, he didn’t.” I chuckled. “But it was something like that. Her father had a whole lot of properties abroad. He even owned an estate here in Italy. Apparently, udia hadn’t an idea about these properties. Actually, no one did, except hiswyer. He had left them all to M. Just like that, M became extremely rich.”


    “Is this some soap opera?” He chuckled. “It’s interesting though. Go on.” He urged me, and I continued my story.


    “So….” I hadn’t even said much when he cut me off.


    “Let me guess, she decided to call of her marriage ns to Carter because she was now a wealthy woman?”


    “No!” I chuckled. “This is not a soap opera. Well, she couldn’t.”


    “Why?”


    “Because she had already began to fall in love with Carter.”


    “I thought as much.” Manuel smirked in victory. “Not all arranged marriages end badly.”


    “I guess so.” I gave a small smile.


    “So what happened? How did she end up in Italy with a gunshot injury? It’s not adding up.”


    “To cut the long story short, her stepmother had kidnapped her a day to her wedding with Carter.”


    “That’s a lie!”


    “Very true.” I nodded. “Coincidentally, the same night she was kidnapped had been her bachelorette party, and she had gotten into a huge misunderstanding with Carter. His ex jad shown up and a few misconceptions had been. She wasn’t able to sort out her issues properly with him before being kidnapped, so he thought she had disappeared on him. Carter had been jilted by the woman he loved on their wedding day.”


    “That’s a disaster.”


    “That’s not even all.” I scoffed.


    “Clearly.”


    “When udia had kidnapped M, she had tortured my poor cousin, and made her sign away her newly acquired properties under duress.” I could see Manuel’s eyes widen in shock. “After that, her goons had thrown M into an ocean, where she was left to die. Now, that’s a disaster.”


    “Keep going.” Manuel muttered, looking intently at nothing exactly.


    “Fortunately, someone had witnessed the entire scene, and had rescued M. The man had been a very loyal employee of herte father. He had gotten her out of the water, but she had been unconscious for a few days. When she woke up, she had been very worried about Carter and wanted to rush back to him in time for the wedding. Then, she was told the wedding was supposed to be held two days prior. She had been so broken and disappointed. She wanted to go back to Carter and exin all that had happened, but her saviour warned her not to. They had no idea the things udia was capable of doing. She had literally attempted to kill her own stepdaughter without batting an eye. They had to y safe. So she remained at her saviour’s house for…”


    “Is his name saviour?” Manuel asked, making meugh.


    “I doubt. I just don’t remember his name, especially as he had died.” I mumbled.


    “He died?”


    “Yes, he did. He died. Somehow, udia had figured everything. Mr Dumbrey had an….” That was his name!


    “I guess you remember his name after all.”


    “Yeahhh. I guess.” I nodded, before getting back to my story. “So as I was saying, Mr Dumbrey had a hunch that udia had found out, and started making ns to send M to Italy, where she’d locate us. On their way to the airport, they had been intercepted. Mr Dumbrey practically gave his life, to save M. He was a good man. Fortunately, M had managed to escape with a serious gunshot injury. She had been held at the airport and almost not let out of the country, but she was lucky enough to be let go. That was how she got to us in Italy. A month after she hade, she realized she was pregnant with Carter’s child.”


    “Wow!” Manuel raised his hands in disbelief of how the story had be so twisted.


    “I know right?!”


    “So I guess she reached out to Carter then?”


    “No, she didn’t.” I sighed.


    “But why?! She was going to be having his kid? It’s very bad of her to not let him know.”


    “But she was trying to go under the radar. Moreover, they had been several news stating that udia had taken over her properties after her death. She wasn’t still safe.”


    “She would never be safe. All she needed to do was to face her fears and fight.”


    “Christ! She was only 19! She was scared to put Carter’s life and the life of their child in danger! It wasn’t an easy one for her! Trust me Manuel, it’s easier to imagine when we aren’t wearing the victim’s shoes. M had it really rough.” I sighed. “She was supposed to have twins, but had lost one. Do you know all the strength it took for her to keep going? She went through a lot of pains, trust me. I admire my cousin, Manuel. She’s anything but weak.”


    “I didn’t say she was. I just didn’t like the fact that Carter had no idea she had his child.”


    “Well, heter did. M travelled back to America a few months back, like a rat being chased out of its hole.”


    “Finally!” He pped in mockery, and I just shook my head at the funny man.


    “Yes. She traveled back just in time to crash his wedding to his supposed fiancee, who happened to be none other than udia’s niece.”


    “Fuuckkk!” He dragged. “That’s pretty messed up.”


    “Just what I thought.”


    “So did she win Carter back?” He asked curiously, realizing I wasing to an end of my story. “Well, added to the fact that he thought she had jilted him at the altar, it was harder to win him back when he found out she had kept his son away from him all these years.”


    “Exactly what I told you!” Manuel rushed out, making me chuckle. “No man would take that Bianca.”


    “Well, things had finally begun to go smoothly between them, when Ethan and Carter’s sister got kidnapped few weeks back. All fingers are pointing towards udia.”


    “Fuck! She hadn’t gotten the woman arrested yet?! Your cousin’s du…”


    “M isn’t dumb.” I cut him short. “Not everyone has the resources like you, to fight against dangerous people.”


    “They are rich!”


    “So is the enemy in question. udia is rich and dangerous.” I spat. “udia was actually about being apprehended, when she disappeared into thin air. I guess her way of retaliating was by kidnapping Ethan.” I sighed. With each minute that passed, I felt worse. Ethan was in dire danger as it stood. I didn’t even realize when I had started crying. “I’m sorry.” I rushed out, quickly cleaning away my tears. Still trying to bit down my sobs, I looked at Manuel to see him looking quite nervous. Or should I say irritated? Or maybe, confused? I couldn’t say for a fact, which it was. But before I could say any other word, he had pulled me into his embrace. After a while, he started to pat my back. Initially it felt like it was a forced action, but eventually it started to feel natural.


    “I’m sorry about your nephew, Bianca. And I’m sorry I kept you away from your family while all of these were happening.”


    “It’s fine.” I pulled away from him the moment my heart started beating abnormally. “I believe everything would be fine with time.” The moment I stopped feeling his body warmth, I felt the cold breeze kissing my skin and I shivered.


    “Are you okay?” He rushed out, and I nodded.


    “Yes. Just cold. Could we get back to the beach house now?”


    “Now? But we haven’t really walked as much as we normally do.” He muttered.


    “I know. I just feel tired already. Mentally exhausted.” I looked away.  After a few seconds, I heard him sigh.


    “I understand perfectly.” He nodded. “Let’s go.”


    We began walking back to the beach house and just when we were close enough, I could sight a movement on a tree a bit farther from where we stood. Gazing more intently at the shadows, I could finally make out two different figures who were….. Christ! They were… they were having sex! I didn’t realize when I gasped. The next minute, I heard Manuel chuckling behind me. He had probably seen what I had just seen too. Just then, I realized something too important to shove aside. In the whole of this ind, we were only two women. I and….. Oh my goodness!


    “Eleanor and Phillippe have seemed to be at it a lot, these past few days.” He just confirmed my thoughts. It was Eleanor after all! And… Phillippe? I suddenly remembered the events that urred earlier today.


    I hadn’t thought much about it then, but Phillippe had stepped out of the same corner which Eleanor hade from. He had seemed a bit disorganized just like Eleanor, who had her skirt hiked up at a side. Wow! I was really oblivious to a lot of things happening here then. No wonder she had been so nervous and lied about going to see Manuel, when in fact, she had been receiving the drill of her life.


    “How would they cope when it’s time to finally leave?” I asked, feeling sorry that their likeness for each other was about going through a rough phase.


    “What do you mean by that?” Manuel chuckled.


    “I should be asking what you mean by your question.” I shot back.


    “What more could I mean? Phillippe is probably having fun and satisfying his desires while he can. I don’t think it’s as deep as you think.” Hearing Manuel say that, I couldn’t help but feel that chill on my skin. This was how it was for them, I guess. It was just for the fun of it. Same way it had been between Manuel and I a few days back. I guess being a virgin kind of made thingsplicated for him, but it didn’t change the fact that all it was ever gonna be to him was for the fun. Even as he had found I was a virgin, nothing had changed. He had even tried to find a way of letting me know our time together meant absolutely nothing to him. Slowly beginning to feel disgusted at everything in general, I increased my steps and walked away from where I could still see Phillippe and Eleanor going at it. I felt so sad for her.