"Why did she not have money for treatnt? Surely, she had to have sothing stashed away..."
Alia’s mother had passed due to health complications. If she was a Hawthorne, they would’ve had enough money to treat her illness. Or even if they didn’t, her death could’ve been more painless and with less suffering.
Her father winced.
"Millie, your mother didn’t take a lot with her when she left her family. And her father had frozen her accounts, so we were living on hand and foot for a while. After a period of ti, Elaine... your mother... she just refused to use the cards she brought any further. She was determined to cut ties with her family completely."
He sighed. "Not to ntion, Millie, you also fell seriously sick when you were younger, rember? We had to use up most of whatever she managed to squirrel away for your treatnt."
Alia nodded, vaguely rembering the multiple hospital visits she had when she was very young, a sickening sensation in her gut. If she hadn’t fallen ill as a child, her mother might still be alive.
"Don’t cry, Millie..." Her father reached out and clasped her hands. "We would have done the sa thing if it ant saving your life. I never thought that the Hawthornes would find you again, let alone accept you into their fold after how they treated your mother... but now, I guess there’s no going back."
A bleak look entered his eyes.
"Millie, you must be careful. The world of the rich is dangerous. Those Hawthornes cannot be trusted... and Matteo Montgory cannot be trusted!"
Alia sighed. Her father was fully unconvinced that Matteo was a good man.
"Dad, you’re not being fair. You just have to give him a chance, and you’ll see that he’s not as bad as you think," Alia said. "Look, he helped discover my true identity!"
"That makes it worse! What if he knew who you actually were all this while, and decided to get close to you because of it? And look, now you’re even living together after only knowing each other for a few weeks. Everything is moving so fast!"
Alia couldn’t deny that such thoughts entered her head on the drive back. "Dad, he didn’t need to get an in-road into the Hawthorne family. Emline was right there, rember? If anything, he didn’t need to bother with at all, after our first eting."
"Then why did he?" her father asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Darling, in my eyes you are the best woman in the world, second only to your mom, but why would a man like Matteo Montgory go through all this effort for you if he did not know who you were deep down inside? Maybe he wanted to marry into the Hawthornes, but he hated the other girl so much that he searched for you instead!"
Alia paused. For once, she had no satisfactory answer. Matteo wanted to get out of the engagent with Emline, and she was a convenient escape. They had gone on a date, but it was more for the dia than it was for themselves.
Did he want her for her? Or was it like her father said― that Matteo wanted to marry soone who was related to the Hawthornes, but not Emline?
"I... I don’t know, Dad," Alia confessed. "But you don’t have to worry about , I won’t be falling in love with him so easily." She tried to convince her father, and most importantly, herself. Yet there was a niggling thought that it was too late― she was already too far gone.
"I’ll make many surprise visits," her father promised darkly. He wanted nothing more than to move in with Alia and Matteo, but Matteo’s ho was simply not convenient for him to live in. "That man better not try anything funny!"
***
Other than the talk with her father, the move back was highly uneventful. Alia returned the device to Dimitri, but he gestured for her to keep it.
"You’ll never know when it’ll be useful," he said simply. "I’ll make sure to create one that can record audio too. Now that Ronan has spread the word, I predict I’ll see an influx in orders soon enough."
"Thanks," Alia said. "And I’m sorry to trouble you regarding my Dad. If there’s anything, please let know." Her father was going to be staying with Ronan and Dimitri for the ti being.
"I should be telling you that," Dimitri said. "But rest assured, I will treat your father better than I treat my own."
Alia could only laugh awkwardly, because how else was she supposed to reply?
She bid Ronan, Dimitri, and her father goodbye, before leaving for Matteo’s ho. The drive back was silent, save for the radio which was broadcasting the latest news.
And of course, Alia’s new identity was now made known to everyone with a working pair of ears. Feeling curious and masochistic, Alia searched her na online to find that Lady Vanity had already put up an article about her true parentage, highlighting the romance between her parents and how love, in the end, won over all the odds.
Her engagent to Matteo was the second piece of news.
"Guess it’s no longer a secret," Alia mused.
It never was, to be fair. It had been announced by Matteo himself, but with Emline pulling the strings in the background, the status of their engagent was overshadowed by Emline’s insistence of theirs. Now that Alia’s identity was revealed to be the Hawthorne heiress, she was a perfect fit for Matteo― or as Lady Vanity dubbed, a ’perfect Cinderella story’.
Then her phone rang. It was Horace Hawthorne, her newly found grandfather. Alia picked up the call.
"Hi... Mr. Hawthorne?" Alia said.
"Who is Mr. Hawthorne? You should be calling Grandpa!" Horace Hawthorne complained goodnaturedly at the other end of the call. "Things were too hectic just now, so I forgot to tell you sothing."
"What is it, Grandpa?" Alia asked, humoring him.
"I want to invite you and your father to the Hawthorne household for a family dinner. Too many years have gone by, and I wish for us to know each other better. Will this weekend be good for you?"
"I think so," Alia said. She chanced a look at Matteo, who nodded. "Can Matteo co along?"
"Of course! He’s your fiancé, isn’t he? We might as well use this opportunity to discuss wedding plans. And family planning. It’s never too early to start planning for children!"
Alia nearly choked. Oh god. Wedding plans? Family planning? Children?!
anwhile, a small, pleased smirk crossed Matteo’s lips. He certainly had no complaints about it. If he had things his way, he would drive straight to the courthouse this instant to sign the wedding certificates with Alia, but she deserved a proper wedding after the travesty that was her marriage to Caleb Walton.
And of course, he would like to have children with her. He would especially love the process of making said children with Alia.
"Sure thing," Alia said weakly. "I’ll see you this weekend then, Grandpa."
"Bye Alia!" Horace Hawthorne hung up cheerily, leaving Alia to stew in her thoughts.
Matteo cleared his throat and asked.
"So... what do you think about a spring wedding?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)