Her Fake Lover

Chapter 48

Emmeline walked slowly, drawing closer to Aunt Aude. The old woman stood near the mirror. Then when she looked into the mirror, and saw Emmeline's reflection, the woman looked surprised. "Oh, Emmy, you're here?" Aude turned her body towards Emmeline.

Emmeline, shaking even more. She saw there, several photo frames lined up. There were two faces she didn't recognize, and there was one face she was very familiar with. The picture frames stood in a row in front of the mirror.

"Hh," Emmeline's tears came out again. A heavy sigh escaped her mouth. She moved closer to the photos, and grabbed one. Vincenzo Valsecchi's photo. "Aunt Aude, this is .... " Emmy started to cry again.

Aude wiped Emmy's tears, with an expression that looked like she was about to cry too. "Yes, this is a photo of Vincenzo Valsecchi. My nephew. I know you know him. Piers says you know him."

"What? Piers?" Emmeline repeated.

"Yes. Piers. You know him. He works for your company, Dear."

Emmeline gasped. She looked like she couldn't believe it. "Mr. Piers?"

"Yes. He called me a few days ago. He asked permission to meet. It was the first time we've spoken in years. Piers said he wanted to come to Italy to see me."

"Em-ah!" Emmeline couldn't find the right words to describe her confusion and shock.

"You're surprised that Piers and I know each other?" Aude said. "We know each other and are friends, ever since Vin knew him and became so close to him. Piers has no family, I mean he has no children and no wife, so he loves Vincenzo like his own son even though they only knew each other by accident after Vin moved to France. Vin treated him like his own uncle, so he introduced Piers to me one day while I was visiting Vin in France."

Emmy closed her eyes tightly. She still didn't know what to say. She knew about the closeness of Vin and Mr. Piers, but then what did Mr. Piers and Vin mean in unison that Vin had no family? Now Emmy knew Mr. Piers and Vin had teamed up to cover up the fact, and lied to Emmeline, but for what? Emmy felt like her head was about to explode thinking about it all. She opened her eyes slowly. She was also trying to muster the composure so that she could unravel everything one by one.

"Aunt Aude, what did Mr. Piers say when he called you?" asked Emmy slowly.

Aude looked at Emmy for a moment, then took Vin's photo from Emmy's hands and put it back on the table. Aude said, "Come on. Let's sit down, if you want to talk." Aude led Emmeline to sit on the bed.

"Piers," Aude said after they sat down, "called me twice. The first time—ah, I remember, I was surprised to find him calling me after all these years. He changed his previous number. But I'm sure he still has mine, with which he was able to get back to me. The first time he called me he asked how I was doing. And what surprised me was when he said he wanted to come to Brilfaxa to meet me, and talk about something important, which he said he couldn't talk over the phone. I was shocked at the time, but I gave him a chance to do as he wished. Our conversation ended then."

Aude paused for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Then on another occasion, he called me again, confirming when he could come to Brilfaxa—well, sort of finalizing the plan. And then I was just talking about Anna, who I thought was doing really well, at a fashion show in Elderville-Bryxton. I was talking about Anna, because Piers used to know about Vin's sibblings even though they had never met in person. But when I mentioned it, Piers—Piers sounded like sobs. It wasn't obvious. Just a little, but I heard it."

Emmy furrowed her brows here.

"I certainly feel surprised," continued Aude. "Then I asked him what was wrong. But he again said he needed to meet in person to talk. This is where I feel, what he wants to say is not something simple, and maybe it's really serious. He then said that he already knew about Anna. Anna appeared for a fashion show organized by the company he works for. And you, who treated Anna with such affection on the catwalk, are someone who knows Vin very well. You and Vin are closely related like brother and sister, but you don't know Vin's family. You don't know who is Anna. I thought it was so weird then I asked him 'why didn't you tell her then?' He said it wasn't time yet. I actually felt weird about that answer, but I didn't think about it any further. Besides, once knowing you and Vin knew each other, I felt my longing for Vin rekindle. I suddenly imagined if I could share memories with you about Vin ."

Aude stroked Emmeline's cheek with a loving look. "I can't always be by Vin's side since he moved to France. But I love him very much, as much as I love Corbin and Anna. Knowing he had to ... " Aude looks teary, "he had to go through the end of his life without us, I feel bad. Every time I think about it, I feel like my heart is being sliced ​​into pieces. Then I thought of telling Anna to take you. You seem to love Anna so much, and I thought maybe Anna could persuade you to come here. We can talk a lot about Vin. "

Emmeline was stunned. "Is that why you asked me to come to Brilfaxa?"

"Yeah. I don't care even though Piers hasn't told you about us, I don't know what important thing he wants to tell me, I don't know and I don't care. My desire to meet you is related to my own feelings. I thirst for everything about Vin. I always feel sad when I remember that Vin had to leave us all when he was so young. I wonder why he wasn't given more time to enjoy the many pleasures of this world. And I don't know any of Vin's other friends in France, too bad."

Emmeline's gaze now glowed, towards the blank in front of her. She wrung her own hands emotionally. It was as if there had been so much emotion mingling in her heart and head at that moment, and a part of her felt as if she had been betrayed.

"There's a lot. Yes. There's a lot for Mr. Piers to explain. That's why he wants to see you," said Emmeline, still staring blankly in front of her without turning to Aude. "He's not only going to have to explain it to you. But to me as well."

"Oh, Dear," said Aude, feeling anxious because Emmeline didn't seem well. "What is it?" Aude grabbed Emmeline's hand. "Are you all right? What do you mean Piers ... have to explain everything to you?"

Emmeline said, "He had to explain to me why he lied to me. Not only did I not know you, but I didn't even know you existed." Emmeline turned her face to Aude. Aude gasped.

"What do you mean, Dear?"

"Vincenzo and Mr. Piers told me Vin has no family. I didn't know you existed, Mrs. Aude. They lied to me!"

"Oh, my. What?" Aude was taken aback, and she covered her gaping mouth for a moment. Like being struck by lightning in broad daylight, she had a hard time believing what she was hearing. "What does all that mean, Dear? What do you mean?!"

***