My Blind Fiancée

Throughout the morning, Ava couldn’t get Mateo’s strange behavior out of her head. What was happening?

While they were having breakfast, Lola noticed her acting strange and restless. She immediately approached her to find out what was going on.

“My dear, what’s bothering you?” Lola knew her so well, and just by looking at her, she could tell something was amiss, even though Ava tried to hide it.

“It’s nothing, Nana.” Ava didn’t want to worry her, especially after everything she had been through during her abduction.

“Ava Miller, I’ve taken care of you your whole life, so don’t tell me that nothing’s wrong. Come on, tell me what’s troubling you. I can sense it.”

Ava looked at Lola, realizing that she couldn’t deceive her no matter how hard she tried. Lola had an uncanny ability to detect when something was amiss with her.

“It’s Mateo, nanny, I’ve noticed him acting strangely, I don’t know what’s going on,” she said deeply distressed.

“Dear, if there’s one thing I’m completely sure of, it’s that this man loves you. Whatever doubts you have that torment your soul, it’s better to talk to him face to face. So, it would be best if you took a delicious lunch to his office and use that opportunity to see what’s going on.”

“You’re right, nanny, I’ll try not to torture myself with these negative thoughts.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

After breakfast, Aurora asked Ava to help her plant some roses. She liked planting them herself; red roses were her favorites. The gardener took care of the rest of the garden.

Ava gladly accepted to help her, while the nanny looked after Matt. The little one tried to put everything he found in his mouth, and Aurora and Lola were trying to keep Ava distracted.

“These red roses are my favorites. My husband used to give me one every day. He never stopped doing that as long as he was alive, of course,” Aurora said with sadness as she remembered him. Ava realized that Mateo’s parents had deeply loved each other. Upon entering the mansion, Aurora showed her a picture of her husband.

Guido had removed the photos and paintings of his wife and son and had placed them in a special room dedicated to them. It was his refuge, a forbidden place.

“Mateo looks so much like his father, just like my son.”

“That’s right, the three of them are identical. In the photos from when they were children, they seem to be the same. I sincerely hope that you and Mateo can have a relationship and a love as great as the one we had. I know that Mateo loves you deeply; you mustn’t doubt that.”

Ava felt embarrassed that Aurora had noticed her thoughts and her distrust of Mateo. The girl was so transparent that it was impossible for her to hide what she was feeling.

At lunchtime, Ava decided to follow Lola’s advice and take some food to Mateo at the office. She asked Lola to help her prepare his favorite dish and took extra care with her appearance and that of her son, Max, who was accompanying her. Mateo had decided to entrust his security to Max; there was no one better than him to protect her.

The girl arrived at the corporate building, immediately took the elevator, and went up to the office. As she passed by, employees observed her, realizing that Matt was identical to their boss. Undoubtedly, that little boy was his son. Ava approached the receptionist. Guido had hired her in Mateo’s absence; she was a very serious and efficient lady.

“Buona serata,” the girl greeted cordially.

“Buona serata, miss. Whom are you looking for?” the woman asked since she didn’t know her.

“I’m looking for Mr. Licciardi; I’m his fiancée,” she said before the woman could refuse to inform Mateo that she was looking for him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss. Mr. Licciardi left a while ago; he said he’d be back in a few hours. He asked me to cancel all his appointments for the day.”

“Did he leave with Mr. Guido?”

“No, Mr. Licciardi left alone,” Max, who had gone up with her to help with the food basket, was sweating nervously. If only his boss had informed him, he would have come up with any excuse to cover for him. He wished he could disappear from there to avoid Ava asking him anything.

“Did he mention where he would be?” Ava didn’t want to come across as a crazy, obsessive person, but Mateo’s behavior raised many doubts in her.

“No, he just said that, that he’d be a while and to cancel his appointments. Now that I remember, he had a very important meeting. I don’t know how I forgot it. I apologize.” Ava wasn’t foolish and realized that the woman was trying to cover for her boss, which is why she was lying.

The secretary’s response didn’t instill confidence in Ava. Mateo seemed to be up to something, and she, who wasn’t usually jealous, felt a surge of annoyance seeing him so cheerful with that girl. She picked up her phone and dialed Mateo’s number, but it went straight to voicemail, increasing her nervousness. She said goodbye to the secretary, left the food she had brought, and departed.

In her car, she began to imagine various possible scenarios between Mateo and that girl. In all of them, she saw them naked on a bed. “Could it be that he was tired of her?” After all, being with her had caused him too many problems. She couldn’t help but wonder about these things.

Tears began to well up as she imagined all of this. She tried to hide her face so her young son wouldn’t see her crying, and fortunately, Matt was engrossed in his favorite toy.

Ava felt ashamed of her behavior. She didn’t want Max to see her in this state. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, took a deep breath to try to calm herself, and hugged Matt tightly; she needed to feel the warmth of that embrace.

Max watched her through the rearview mirror, noticing that she was crying. His boss was in quite a mess. As soon as Ava got out of the car and entered the mansion, he called Mateo again, and this time, Mateo answered the call.

“Soon.”

“Sir, Miss Ava went to the company with her son to bring you lunch. Your secretary informed her that you weren’t there, and she’s been trying to reach you. I noticed that she’s upset and has been crying.”

“Don’t worry about it, Max. She’ll get over it. Right now, I’m very busy. I’ll pick her up later.” Mateo replied hastily and then ended the call before Max could say anything else.

Max sensed something was off. Mateo sounded agitated. “Could his boss be up to something improper?” Mateo never did anything without consulting him or requiring his services. He scratched his head and went back to his work. The doubt was preventing him from concentrating. “What was happening?” Suddenly, he didn’t feel as indispensable as before, and that made him nervous.

He had enough savings to live comfortably for the rest of his life, but working alongside Mateo had always been interesting. He was aware of his boss’s eccentricities and knew about his “relationship” with Morgana; Mateo had told him about it himself. But that was in the past, it didn’t matter now. He chuckled every time someone hinted that Mateo liked men. He was used to seeing and keeping quiet, but he genuinely wished he could put an end to all those rumors.

She had known Clara since the beginning of her relationship with Mateo. That girl was so pretentious; Ava didn’t like her at all. Clara used to demand things with entitlement, thinking that everyone was beneath her, and she believed she deserved everything. She was very different in appearance and attitude compared to Ava.

Ava immediately won over anyone who met her; she had an unparalleled sweetness. She was precisely the kind of girl Mateo needed by his side to be well.

Because she was a beautiful girl, she attracted the attention of other men, and that made her boss uncomfortable. Since Ava had returned, Mateo had to fight to keep her by his side. But now, he was behaving strangely, and Max feared he might lose her.

By the evening, Mateo arrived home, looking calm as if nothing were happening. He greeted his mother, his grandfather, and Lola; the three of them were in the living room. Then he went upstairs to his room, where Ava and her son were. He complimented Ava when he saw her but immediately went into the bathroom without approaching them. This struck Ava as extremely strange.

Ava heard him turn on the shower right away. She resisted thinking negatively, but Mateo’s behavior was not helping her. She couldn’t understand what was happening.

Her imagination wasn’t helping either; instead, it was showing her different possible scenarios of what might be going on.

Ava sat on the edge of the bed; she had taken great care with her appearance, but he apparently didn’t appreciate it. The compliment he had given her upon arriving, she felt Mateo had said it out of obligation. “Why didn’t he come over to greet her with a kiss as he always did? He didn’t even pay attention to her son. Why was he in such a hurry to take a shower? Where had he been?”