Her Fake Lover

Chapter 49

Emmeline stared back at the blank direction in front of her. "I don't know. Only Mr. Piers can explain it. He has no choice but to explain it." Emmeline sighed loudly. "He sobbed when he called you. And now he's sick. My assistant called me and told me he's been sick since I left for Italy. He certainly didn't expect me to suddenly go here before he had the chance to see you. I also did not say anything to him when I wanted to come here. Though usually I always say a lot of things to him. Maybe the time has come for him to tell the truth." Emmeline then turned to Aude. She held Aude's hand. "It was God who brought us together, Aunt Aude. I know now why we're connected."

Aude Altieri looked at Emmeline with teary eyes. Apparently the information from Emmeline had shaken her so much. "Why? Why did Vin say he had no family? How could he say that?" Aude's tears started to come out.

"Aunt Aude." Emmeline grabbed Aunt Aude's body and hugged her. Emmeline herself was crying at that time. Emmy stroked Aunt Aude's back and tried to calm her down, though she didn't feel at ease herself.

"What that kid has done, oh, my God. I can't believe this."

"There must be a reason, Aunty. He must have his reasons. Vin is a very nice person. Could he be doing all this for no reason? I hope I don't recognize him wrong, but all I know is he's very good." Emmeline burst into tears.

Aude freed herself from Emmy's arms and replied, "He is a good man. Since childhood he has been a good child. But then what happened to make him able to create such a big lie?" Aude looked frantic. "Piers! Piers! I have to call Piers!" Aude rushed to reach for her cellphone which was lying on the bed.

"No, Auntie, no. Mr. Piers is in the hospital. It's the same as putting him in danger, if we call him now!" Emmy held Aude's hand. Aude threw a protesting look at Emmeline.

"Then how? How can I calm myself then? How, Emmeline? How? Oh, my God." Aude held her head.

"Aunt Aude!" Emmeline said a little loudly. "Aunt Aude, are you all right?"

The door was forced open. Corbin, who had been standing at the door all this time, forced his way in because he heard a commotion. Then Anna was seen trailing behind him.

"Aunt Aude!" Corbin came swiftly to his aunt and held her close. But Aude moved her hand, asking Corbin to back off.

"No. I'm alright." Aude looked closed and then opened her eyes firmly.

"Auntie don't be like that, I beg you!" Emmeline hugged Aude swiftly while crying profusely. "Please, be strong. We don't know what really happened yet. Calm yourself."

Aude's tears broke again in Emmy's arms. Corbin and Anna looked at them in disbelief.

"What is this?" asked Corbin. "Why are you crying?"

"Yeah. W-why are you two crying?" Anna walked closer to Aude and Emmeline.

Emmeline still hadn't let go of Aunt Aude's arms. Until Anna grabbed her shoulder. "Miss, what's wrong? Tell us what's wrong?"

Emmy then looked up, towards Anna who was standing beside her. Emmy's gaze then also turned to Corbin after that, and Corbin asked the same thing. She slowly released her embrace but Aude was still sobbing. Emmy wiped the tears on Aude's cheeks. "Aunt Aude, who's going to explain to them? You or me?"

Aude was still trying to wipe her tears. "Explain. You explain it to them. I'm not in the mood to talk." Aude left the place emotionally.

"Aunt Aude," Emmeline called, and she was ready to go after Aude but Corbin held her back.

"Wait," Corbin said as he grabbed Emmeline's arm. He then turned to Anna, and said, "Anna, you follow Aunt Aude."

"OK," Anna nodded obediently. She then left.

"You stay here and tell me what happened," Corbin told Emmy. "Sit down." Corbin directed Emmy to sit back down.

Emmy's eyes still look so puffy. The rest of the tears were still under her eyelids. Corbin rubbed it gently. "Calm yourself. Then tell me what made you and my aunt cry."

"It's … it's about your brother," Emmy replied. Corbin furrowed his brows.

"My brother? What do you mean?"

"Yes. It's about ... Vincenzo Valsecchi. Your brother. My best friend. My mentor." Emmy started to sob again. But she tried to wipe away her tears and refrained from crying even more. Emmeline then told him what had happened, as well as everything she had discussed with Aunt Aude. Everything she said took Corbin by surprise, and he could hardly believe it. It was too shocking, he said.

A few moments passed. Emmeline had finished with her story. Corbin was standing with his back to Emmy, looking serious in thought, and a sense of shock was still taking over him.

"I didn't know," said Emmy, "I really didn't know Mr. Piers was hiding such a big fact. He's making such a big lie. But why?"

Corbin himself was still silent. He didn't know what to say. He only said back after a few seconds. "This is not true." Corbin closed his eyes and rested his hands on the table in front of the mirror. He then opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. He let his thoughts drift. "I visited my brother several times in France either while he was still working at Silas HA or after leaving the company. Although I've never met the one named Mr. Piers. How was all this possible?"

Emmy's gaze seemed to drift for a moment. Back reminiscing about another part of Vin's story. "You're right. Vin did work at Silas HA before. Before leaving there, and ... and he then spent a lot of time with me. He taught me a lot. I won several awards in jewelry design because of his help. His specialty is watchmaking, but he understands jewelry, and he also introduced me to Mr. Piers. Although I also learned from college, but what I got from them I think is far more valuable. They also forge me directly in the field. The three of us would often get together and prepare me for many jewelery design competitions. Vin introduced me to the courage to build dreams. Professional jewelry designers began to recognize me, thanks to the competitions I won. Until one day, Vin told me he wanted to see me build a jewelry and watch company."

Emmeline paused for a moment. Her memories wandered, recalling fragments of memories from the past.

"I laughed then. But he didn't laugh. He looked at me seriously. And that's when I realized he wasn't kidding. He said, "Emmy, I'm not kidding. I have savings, and I'm going to build the company. But I won't be alone. I will build it with you. You're experienced enough, and for the sake of your dreams you must be brave." Emmy sighed. "I was shaking at that moment. For the first time in my life I felt my soul called to something that really excited me. Vin showed a lot of faith in me and it made me feel instantly that I could face anything. I then decided to build the business. Because I really want it, so I spend as much capital as Vin. We named the company Karfis & Vin, because Vin didn't want to put his name up front."

Emmy recalled another memory fragment. "I don't know for sure, but at that time Vin ... was kind of out of sync with Silas' company. He never wanted to talk about Silas HA at length. From my point of view, Silas seemed annoyed that Vin left their company. Vin was one of their mainstay young designers at that time. Vin's watches at Silas HA have always managed to get the company special attention from many people."

Emmeline paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Karfis & Vin immediately got the attention of many people even at the beginning of its establishment, which for me is also inseparable from the reputation of Vin and Mr. Piers. Because Mr. Piers is also a highly respected senior jewelry designer. But ... " Emmeline swallowed heavily, like she was swallowing a rock, "a year after Karfis & Vin was founded, the incident that took Vin from us all happened. He left me and all the dreams we built." Emmeline's eyes filled with tears again.

Corbin, walked closer to her, then sat in front of her without saying anything.

"We started getting to know each other around ... about three years before Karfis & Vin was founded. Vin was still working for Silas' company at the time. And from the first time we met, Vin told me he had no family. I met him at a jewelry show," Emmy glanced at Corbin for a moment, " um ... in Paris. I ... accidentally bumped into a model who was about to perform with Silas HA jewelry. Vincenzo was there at the time, and then he came over to see what was going on. "

Corbin, furrowed an eyebrow, felt strange at the information.

***