I took my time getting ready, feeling too embarrassed by what had happened in the past hour to be eager to face Cathy. It was almost half an hour before I left my room to enter the living room. Cathy was talking to Marc and as I walked in, she stood up and walked towards me.
"There you are, my dear Carmen," Cathy said very calmly, as though nothing happened. She pulled me towards the sofa and patted the place beside her. "Come and sit with me, Carmen."
I looked at Marc who was staring at me with many emotions on his face, as I sat beside her.
"How are you, Carmen? I am so sorry I couldn't come and visit you later at Piemonte, as I was quite busy taking care of the business, while Marc was resting." Cathy gracefully explained her absence.
Was I supposed to understand her situation, while she had lied behind me? I did not say anything and kept mum.
Cathy felt my withdrawn behaviour and leaning over, touched my arm, her face gently looking at me with warmth.
" Carmen I am sorry that you don't trust me, as I have given no reason for you to trust me at all." She paused and then continued. " I want to tell you a story." She said softly.
"I don't want to hear," I muttered.
I got up and Marc said tensely. " You have got to listen. I have called Mother here so that you hear it. If I told you you wouldn't have believed me. Listen to my mother, Carmen, Please. It is something which I am not proud of but Mother had suffered more and only I know the courage she had to gather to tell you the things she had endured and kept to herself to keep our family together."
"Cathy has proved she will lie if you want her to," I said angrily.
"She is not lying this time," Marc said desperately.
"How do I know that? I will never believe a word she says again." I said stubbornly.
Marc stared at me, then gave a hard glance at his mother.
Cathy held my hand and said. " I don't need to tell you that many years before Marc met you, my husband had been trying to persuade him to marry Bella."
I bit my lip. "No, you don't need to tell me that. Your husband made that very clear to me a long time back."
Cathy sighed and then continued. " Yes, Antonio had an obsessive desire to see Marc marry an Italian girl. He was never in favour of Marc marrying someone from outside the community. He also did not like the idea that his son had a mind of his own. He wanted to impose his wishes on Marc but Marc had a will of his own.
He was very much like his own father not ready to bow down in front of another man's strength. They fought bitterly about it. Antonio was very open on the subject. Bella knew that she had been selected as my son's bride."
Cathy looked at Marc and sighed. "Unfortunately, Bella was very eager to take that place."
"I'm not listening to any of this," I said huskily getting up. "Cathy I appreciate whatever you are doing, but for heaven's sake I had enough."
"I have got the proof to show you that, the morning when you saw Marc in Bella's arms nothing had happened between them," Cathy said calmly.
I stared at her and slowly sat down.
"I have Bella's confession recorded for that matter," Cathy said gently, looking at me for a second. " I'll show it to you in a moment. I still haven't told you my whole story. Now be quiet and listen to me."
She looked at me the lines of her face forceful. "That morning when you had fought with Marc and ran away to your flat, Marc had a terrible fight with his father. He was in a disturbed state, Carmen. He got very drunk that evening. I found him in the chair in his library at midnight and I called for four servants to put him to bed." She grimaced.
"
I'm afraid Marc was dead to the world. We couldn't wake him. The men put him to bed and left him there. Bella was in the House of course. She knew what had happened. She came out of her room and made some very unpleasant remarks about
his condition and the fight he had with you. I was sharp with her and she went off, boiling with rage."
Marc interrupted, "I slept like a dead man all night. When I woke up I found Bella in my bed. My head was pounding like a drum. I felt sick and the last thing I wanted was a woman, particularly Bella ."
"My God, Carmen, I could have had her any time, if I snapped my finger." He saw me wince and said. "I know that sounds crude but I'm afraid it's the truth.
Bella particularly offered herself to me on a platter many times. I just wasn't interested. I wasn't interested then, now, and never will and I told her to get out." his face glittered with rage and pain ." She laughed then and she told me that I was too drunk and I slept with her and showed me the hickey's all over her body I was shocked as I was sure I hadn't touched her but then when she told me that you had come back and walked in and found her in my bed. I wanted to strangle her. My God, the little bitch. You should have seen her face while she was telling me! She knew damn well what she had done and she was getting quite a kick out of it."
Marc stared at me intensely. "I got dressed and rushed out to see you. But I did not expect to see you in Taylor's arms and it was a blow for me. Taylor was very lucky that I didn't kill him, first I wanted to but I was really angry with you for betraying me."
Cathy took up the story as he paused. "He came back to me in a terrible state. I was shocked by what he told me but I was coming to see you myself. I knew you would tell me the truth and I told Marc to leave you alone until I had seen you and to know what happened but you vanished and the next thing we knew you sent Marc the divorce paper and told us that you were having a baby but did not mention it that it was Marc and your child. So he assumed that it was Taylor's as you simply vanished without any trace."
"
I know you were angry with me for betraying you and I wanted to explain but what I saw enraged me I thought that you had given yourself to Taylor and had gone away with him and after that, you sent the divorce papers, so naturally, I thought that it was his child. But I was not ready to give you divorce because I wanted you to suffer." Marc concluded with a pleading expression.
"Carmen, Marc is not lying as I know how broken he was and he returned to get you back but you vanished and Antonio made sure that Marc would try and forget you. But after a month Bella came to the villa and announced that she was pregnant with Marc's child and we were shocked as I knew that Marc had not touched Bella that night. The servants are proof for that as I told them to keep an eye on him while he was sleeping. And no one could surpass them."
My heartbeat stopped for a second Bella was pregnant with Marc's child.
But Cathy ignored my reaction and continued. "Marc made it clear to her that the child was not his and wanted to have a paternity test as he wanted to show to the world that Bella was lying but because Antonio supported her and so the paternity test was done the similarity was as high as 99.5%."
My breathing started to become strained as my eyes turned red. I felt as if someone had stabbed my heart. Marc had another child with Bella. Oh God! I didn't want to listen to anything further and was about to run away when Cathy stopped me.
"But Carmen don't come to a conclusion as there's more. When the truth came out Antonio my husband forced Marc to marry Bella but Marc was adamant that the child wasn't his and moved to the States after that and did not come back till his father had a sudden heart attack and by that time Bella was married to another man, a businessman from Milan." Cathy explained pleadingly.
"But what happened to the child?" I asked hesitantly as the child was innocent and the last time the Costas had come to visit them she did not see any child along with them.
I could see Cathy was trying to control the tears that were about to fall and looking at her she said helplessly. "Oh, Carmen I am sorry it was because of me that Marc had to suffer. After the results were out Marc said he didn't want to have anything with the child as he was sure that it was not his so Marc left. Antonio was furious but he promised Bella's father to take care of her and make sure Bella's child bears Garcia's name so he bought a villa for Bella and gave her five per cent of his shares to her. I was furious with him but I was not sure about Bella's pregnancy so I did not say anything after left Antonio was hardly home as he was busy managing the business so he was hardly home. One day I tried calling him his cell phone was switched off so I called his assistant only to be told that he had gone to visit Bella. Then I realized that even though I had not seen her for a long time had to ask her many questions so I decided to visit her too."
Cathy looked at me and paused for a few minutes.
"Carmen when I entered the villa the door was opened and I could see Antonio's car was also outside in the parking so I went inside only to find an empty living room my heart started beating very fast and I started walking upstairs and when I reached the bedroom my heart broke into pieces as I saw my husband sitting on the couch naked with Bella on top of him and she was moaning with pleasure. For a few seconds, I just stared at them as they were busy being intimate but after I realized what was happening I turned around, my eyes were all blurry and filled with tears as I walked out of the door but suddenly Bella spoke to Antonio and it caught my attention.
"Antonio, I am so happy that I have your seed inside me fill me with more of it. I want to have more babies with you. And this one in my belly is precious as it's yours. I love you, darling."
I stood there not because I wanted to see those adulterers but wanting to know about their relationship as now I knew that the child Bella was carrying was Antonio and Bella's child. then I heard Antonio say.
"I love you too Bella but not more than Cathy but what we have is special and I will do anything for you. We can't have more children as it was already enough trouble hiding your pregnancy and getting Marc involved in it. But at least because of the DNA no one doubted and I could keep you by my side secretly. I can't give you Cathy's place as she is the only woman I love."
"But don't you love me, Antonio?" Bella asked seductively.
And the next thing I heard filled me with disgust. "Bella, I only love Cathy in this life but I like you and need you and I promise will always keep you happy if you satisfy my needs now do you want me to show you how much I need you." After that, I couldn't bear to hear anymore and ran away."
My heart ached to see Cathy cry like that as I knew how difficult it was for her to tell me these things after all she was married to him for like thirty years.
I held her hand and said. "Cathy it's alright no need to explain."
"No, no Carmen you should know about this as you are part of our family and I don't want you and Marc to have more misunderstanding. It's alright as it doesn't matter anymore as he is already dead."
She wiped her tears and continued.
"I ran back home after that and packed my bags got the earliest flight to New York and ran away. I wanted to think about everything before I made my decision. I told Ria and Mathias that I had to deal with some urgent matters related to their grandparents so that they wouldn't worry and there was no point in informing Marc as he was going through his own ordeal.
Antonio had been calling me continuously but I didn't want to talk to him so I ignored his call. I didn't want to confront him as I did not want to be deceived again after all he was the only one I had ever loved. I wanted to tell Marc but feared that he might do something to Antonio so I let it be after a month I received a phone call from Mathias saying that Antonio had an accident while he was taking Bella to the hospital and he was in a critical situation.
My mind went black and I don't know how I dragged my body back to Milan. When I reached I was informed that Bella had a miscarriage but was safe. Antonio had gone into a coma and doctors were not sure when he would wake up when I went inside and saw my children sitting by his side and crying for his father I knew I had to be strong. Once they saw me they hugged me and cried.
I urged them to go home and rest and sat down beside Antonio looking at him after a month of separation I could see that he had grown very thin and looked very pale and when I saw him looking at me I could see tears rolling down his cheeks as he couldn't speak he was partially paralyzed. It was as if he was seeking my forgiveness but I wasn't ready to do so I didn't want my children to suffer because of his mistress so I made a decision.
I checked on Bella's condition with the doctor and he said she was fine so I went to visit her.
But when I entered her ward I saw her parents seated there and looking at me gloomily.
"Cathy look at what your husband has done he has killed your grandchild and no wonder God has punished him for his deeds." Stephanie Costa said angrily.
"Mom stop !" Bella said pleadingly but I knew she was trying to act in front of her parents.
"Shut up Bella, you are too kind-hearted. Her son got you pregnant and got away and now her husband was about to kill you but thankfully you are safe. And you are still trying to defend this woman." Stephanie Costa said glaring at me.
I looked at Bella without losing my temper and said. "Can you tell your parents to go out I need to talk to you, alone?"
"What...I..." Stephanie wanted to object but Bella asked her to leave. After they left.
I just smiled and looked at Bella.
"Now that the child is gone and Antonio is in a coma no one will pity you so why don't you name a place and get away from my family as Antonio is not going to wake up soon and you are not getting any younger either."
"You know everything..." Bella asked me hesitantly and I could see the fear in her eyes.