The ride back ho was silent. Alia’s mind was whirling with thoughts, and Matteo...
Matteo seed to be struck dumb, his mind a million miles away.
Alia’s eyes darted over to her future husband. Initially, she wanted to question Matteo about the orphanage on her way ho, but then she held her tongue.
If Matteo had kept it a secret from her, clearly it wasn’t sothing he was comfortable with sharing. They have shared the most intimate parts of themselves with each other, and their relationship has never been better.
Wouldn’t it be selfish for Alia to stick her nose to where it didn’t belong? The old adage of letting sleeping dogs lie rang in her head.
But then again, Matteo was going to be her husband. After the clusterfuck that was her relationship with Caleb, she did not find herself enthusiastic about a second husband that was planning to keep secrets from her.
Yet, another part of her mind argued that Matteo wasn’t going to treat her like Caleb, and a marriage should be built on trust to begin with.
Which led her back to the point of Matteo’s lack of explanation. Was it because he didn’t trust her not to react positively to whatever news he was trying to keep secret? That thought hurt Alia more than she wanted to admit.
"I want―"
"Your father―"
Both of them spoke at the sa ti, before falling silent. Alia gave Matteo a wan smile. "You first." Maybe he’ll bring this up himself.
Instead, Matteo said, "I know you must be very worried for your father. I’ll send you to visit him first thing tomorrow morning, and I’ll arrange a dical checkup for him too, just in case. Don’t worry about work. I can handle it."
Alia’s heart ward at this concern. "Thank you, Matteo. I was just going to ask you that..."
She wasn’t, but she couldn’t deny that bringing her father to the hospital would allay her worries. Also, she would have the opportunity to question him about the orphanage.
"I’m still curious about who called Emline," Alia said instead. Before the news of her father’s injury, that was all that rattled in her mind. Since Matteo was now a captive audience, he had no choice but to listen to her multiple suspicions.
"Do you think my uncle could have gotten her contact information and tried to blackmail her, but he failed and so he took his frustration out on my father? Or maybe... maybe she was the one that put him up to it. Maybe she saw that I was ruining her efforts to sabotage , and decided that getting back at my father was the best course of action."
"Chances of that happening are very slim, but not zero," Matteo said, his lips quirking into a brief smile― as though he was simply indulging her. Alia tsked and crossed her arms irritably.
"I’m being serious right here. I know you said that such an attempt would be beneath her, but maybe she thinks striking at my father wouldn’t draw my grandfather’s ire."
After all, there was no love lost between the two n. Throughout the entire wedding planning process, they had never even shared a single enclosed space with each other.
"Besides, this is Emline we are talking about," Alia continued. "Since when has she been the epito of forward-thinking and cautious? Just rember the ss she made at the wedding boutique!"
Matteo sighed. "If you believe so, then so be it. I’m just saying that in all my years of knowing her, such behavior is very uncharacteristic of her personality."
"Are you defending her?" Alia asked sharply with narrowed eyes. The late hour, paired with her father’s accident, was making her crankier than usual.
That, and the reminder that Matteo had known Emline for a long ti. That was the very reason why Emline was so persistent in making Matteo hers.
"Definitely not. Besides, I didn’t say anything that wasn’t untrue," Matteo said hastily, sensing that he had misspoken but he wasn’t sure where he went wrong. He would have put up his hands in a conciliatory manner if not for the fact he had to keep both hands on the steering wheel.
Alia still seed pissed, so Matteo continued to clarify.
"I did know her for a long ti, which is why I’m very certain that I don’t want to know her any longer," he said firmly, glancing at Alia from the corner of his eyes. There was a wry grin on his face.
"Are you jealous, my precious future wife?"
Alia cleared her throat and settled back into the car seat, mollified by his words. Jealousy was most likely the reason for her crankiness.
"I guess I’m just upset that you have known her for longer than you’ve known . We’ll have to be in our fifties before I can tie with her."
Matteo looked like he wanted to say sothing. Alia stared at him, wordlessly prompting him to speak. She was hopeful that he would take the chance to explain things. But in the end, he only let out a small sigh, and the ride fell back into silence.
***
In the next morning, Matteo sent Alia over to her dad’s, just as he promised. Unfortunately, sothing cropped up in the office, so he had to leave before driving her father to the hospital. Alia kissed him goodbye as he left with Ronan, and turned her worried eyes towards her father’s face.
Her father’s bruises looked worse in the daylight, the dark purple patch of skin simply hurt Alia to look at. However, her father balked at the need to see a doctor.
"Millie, this is nothing a good night’s rest can’t cure!" Her father protested.
"I highly doubt you rested well with your face aching in pain," she retorted. "And if you don’t want to go to the hospital, I’ll get Dimitri to send the doctor over. You know he would do it."
Dimitri, who was nursing a fierce cup of dark coffee, nodded in agreent, his phone already in hand. "I have a friend who makes house calls."
Her father grumbled, but since he refused to leave the house, Dimitri made the call. In the anti, Alia decided to grill her father.
"Dad, rember yesterday night you ntioned sothing about the orphanage? Can you tell more about it?"
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