I feel every beat of his heart and I let that center me, allowing his presence to calm me.
He is my gravity.
I look up and meet his concerned gaze.
I shake my head.
I know he’s aching to wrap his arms around me, but he doesn’t want to let them know he’s free of his bindings.
Somewhere in that head of his, he’s still trying to map out an escape plan.
But somehow… I know it will be futile.
This man is much too powerful.
“Ria…” Aunt Patty’s voice breaks into my harried thoughts and I focus on her.
“Why are you here? Did you know who I was this whole time?”
Her gaze flickers between Santos and Penny before she finally addresses me again.
“Yes and no.”
She grabs hold of her arm, rubbing it where Villegas had grabbed her.
The fear in her eyes is unmistakable, but there’s also a tinge of blame as she glances at me.
“My engagement to Vincent was an arranged one. It was a business deal between our parents to help repay the debt my father owed his father. Shortly after Vincent and I got married… I-I stumbled upon pictures of you as a baby in his study. I questioned him, asking him who you were. In response, he offered an alternative solution to clearing the debt my family owed. My family was still in the process of paying our debts to the Santos family, so Vincent relieved our debts in exchange for watching over your mother.” Her gaze turns inward, like she is reliving those moments again.
“Watching over you… I did it without hesitation. I had just found out I was pregnant with Penny, and naturally, I was curious about your mother.”
Aunt Patty’s eyes flutter close for the briefest of moments before she opens them again, eyes brimming with tears.
“I grew close to Chloe, your mom in that time. She was the sweetest, most kind and trusting person I had ever met. I couldn’t wrap my head around how she could have fallen for Vincent, but I understood why he came to love her. I had grown to love her like a sister for those same reasons. But I had to remind myself—she was Vincent’s side piece. Whether Chloe knew it back then or not, I didn’t care. I had Penny to consider, and it was my job––a job that almost cost me my life.”
Anger flashes in her eyes before she remembers who is watching her. She lowers her head as she composes herself and continues.
“Your mom found out about my relationship with Vincent.”
She huffs out an irritated breath. “I told her over and over again she didn’t need to come to Penny’s graduation, but she refused to listen. She came with you in tow. She saw Vincent there and pieced everything together. She stopped updating Vincent on your life causing him to question my loyalty and threaten me. Then your mom, out of sheer spite, moved the both of you and we couldn’t find you. It wasn’t until we were alerted by the hospital that we learned of your whereabouts because Chloe still had Vincent listed as her emergency contact. And that’s when we came up with the Foundation––”
“The foundation?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes. The foundation.Truthfully, there was never a foundation. It was all me. I paid every single cent you and your mother owed. I took you in and took care of your every need. To this day, I still can’t wrap my head around Chloe’s actions. I can’t believe I fell for your mother’s fake persona. She was not the person I thought she was. She didn’t deserve any of Vincent’s help, yet she had it in spades and still she refused. Your mother decided she was going to be a martyr and instead of accepting help, she had you working your ass off to pay her hospital bills. You were disgustingly thin when I saw you again. What kind of mother does that? She was nothing but a selfish bitch. A whore.”
Unknowingly, I had taken steps towards her as she recounted her role in all this.
Once I get to her, my hand goes up of its own volition.
I slap her across the cheek and then my eyes snap to my hand as the sting of the slap burns my palm.
“Don’t you dare talk about my mother like that” My voice comes out in a shaky whisper.
Suddenly, Santos gets in between us, his face red with rage.
He grabs the back of Aunt Patty’s neck and yanks her forward.
“I thought I told you to never ever speak about her like that, especially in front of my daughter!”