Alia bit her lip as she looked at her phone for the umpteenth ti. She had no clue what happened during the dinner, and part of her was afraid to check the news headlines, fearing that she would find out about the dissolution of her engagent from the dia.
But hours passed, and there was still no announcent from Lady Vanity. Her eyes were beginning to close; she had eaten a nutritious dinner with Isaac and Aiden and was now slowly entering a pleasant food coma. Aiden had promptly made himself scarce after dinner ended, claiming that he was going out on a bike ride.
He invited Alia out, but Alia shook her head. While the anti-nausea dicine was working its magic to ensure her dinner stayed inside her, a bike ride might prove too much for the pills to combat. It couldn’t even help the niggling anxiety that was threatening to overwhelm her, whenever she thought about the dinner at the Montgory household.
How could she compete with the mory of Matteo’s deceased mother? If she was in Matteo’s shoes, it would have been an impossible choice. Matteo might fall in love with another woman in the future, but he only had one mother.
With a sigh, Alia prepared for the worst. If Matteo did undo the engagent, she was still an heiress and... her hand instinctively went to her belly, stroking it contemplatively. She would have to figure out what to do with the baby, assuming it even existed and it wasn’t an overly aggressive intestinal bug.
Finally, her phone rang. Matteo was on the line! She quickly picked up. Before she could ask, he spoke first.
"It is resolved. They will not give you any more trouble."
Alia’s heart froze. "What do you an? Are you marrying Emline?" Was he sacrificing himself to keep her safe so that she would remain unaffected?
"No, of course not. I rely told them what I thought of their paltry sches and told them to shove their offer where the sun doesn’t shine." Matteo let out a rare chuckle, and Alia detected the slight disbelief― not at her words, but at his own actions.
"But... What about your mother’s things?" Alia protested. "All her heirlooms..."
Matteo paused. "I have made peace with that. I’m sure if she’s watching from heaven, she’ll agree with my course of action."
"Oh, Matteo... I’m so sorry," Alia couldn’t help but gasp. She wracked her brain for words to comfort him but could find none. The depth of his feelings was threatening to overwhelm her, and her eyes were wet with tears. "If it weren’t for , you wouldn’t have needed to make such a choice."
There was a pause, and Matteo sucked in a heavy breath.
"Alia... I know you said you wanted so space... But can I see you?" Matteo asked hopefully. "I know it’s late, so I won’t stay long. Are you still living at Ronan’s place?"
"I’m actually at Isaac’s," Alia said apologetically. "He lives right next to Ronan. I guess Ronan didn’t update you?"
Matteo grumbled under his breath. "He forgot to ntion that important fact when he went on his ntal vacation."
Alia smiled, even though she knew Matteo couldn’t see it. "You can co over then. As long as you’re not staying over, I don’t see the problem."
"I’ll see you soon. Love you."
"Love you too," Alia said, and he hung up. Alia sucked in a breath. One hurdle down.
To celebrate, her stomach seed to churn more vigorously than before. She fought down the urge to retch, ntally cursing herself. If this happened in Matteo’s presence, he was bound to be worried and suspicious. She popped another one of the anti-nausea ds and went out to inform Isaac of their new guest.
Isaac blinked. "Oh, then should I go? I can hide at Dimitri’s for the ti being."
"There’s no need for that," Alia said. "This is your house! And Matteo and I―" Her face flushed as she spoke, "We won’t be doing anything that requires more privacy than usual."
"Are you sure?" Isaac asked. "I’ll leave condoms out just in case. By the way, are you going to tell him about the possible baby?"
Alia coughed. "Maybe when everything is resolved."
Isaac nodded in understanding and then proceeded to leave the house. Alia hoped Dimitri liked this little surprise.
In what seed like no ti at all, Matteo arrived at the apartnt. With a racing heart, Alia quickly opened the door to see the love of her life standing there, with roses in his hands.
"I see you made a detour," Alia said, choking up as she took a mont to stare at his face.
In these days of separation, he seed to have lost weight, and his eyes looked more sunken than before, with prominent dark circles casting hollow shadows on his face. Basically, he seed to look as crappy as she did when she first moved to Ronan’s ho.
Alia’s heart ached. "Matteo..."
He moved forward and engulfed her in a hug, plastering himself to her body as though he was a compass pointing north, and she was the road ho. The bouquet was tossed haphazardly on the floor.
"I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much."
"Sa here, I missed you too," Alia confessed shakily, wrapping her arms around him and taking a deep breath of his familiar scent. As naturally as water flowing downhill, she raised her head and their lips t in a heady kiss.
Matteo all but corralled her against the wall as they traded desperate kisses. It was as though he was determined to make up for the absent ti, where he couldn’t kiss her at all hours of the day. Alia felt her body heating up with desire, and she wanted nothing more for Matteo to continue further―
Then her stomach lurched, nausea rearing its ugly head, and she had to push him away before she did sothing so disgusting she would have to kill herself to make up for it.
Matteo loved her, but she doubted he loved her enough for her to vomit on him!
"Alia? What’s the matter?" Matteo asked worriedly.
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