Tangled Hearts

Chapter Four

Anabelle Acosta’s Pov.

There stood Mrs Guila Emilio, the woman I’ve dreaded the most.

Immediately she recognized me, her countenance changed to the worst I’ve ever seen.

She stepped elegantly out of the elevator with her bodyguard behind her, looking so intimidating.

She walked towards me and I stepped back to let her pass, but she still kept walking in my direction, I stepped back till my back collided with the walls of the hall.

Her eyes were like fire, I couldn’t look directly into them so I stared down at my feet, fidgeting.

“You good for nothing gold digger, why are you still hovering around my son like a fly”

Oh my God that was so harsh, I couldn’t reply instead more hot tears spilled from my eyes.

“how much do you want? Huh! How much do I need to give you to make you stay away from my child. Are you planning on ruining him first?”

“am so….rry ma’am…… I…..” I struggled with my words.

She quickly opened her bag and threw some Euro notes on me.

“This is the last time I’ll be this merciful to you, the next time I see you near my child, I’ll be sure to make your pathetic life a living hell!”

“Mrs. Giulia!” I heard a familiar voice yell and raised my head to see Gina crying profusely.

What must’ve happened?

“Oh my princess” Mrs. Giulia replied opening her arms as Gina ran into them for a hug, crying on her chest.

“what is wrong my child” Mrs.Giulia asked full of concern.

“Vicenzo yelled at me!” She cried harder.

“I’ll talk to him ok? He’s probably just having a bad day” she said rubbing Gina’s back comfortingly as she dabbed the tears on her face and turned to me.

“this is the woman my son is going to marry, so stop day dreaming, you’ll never end up with him. Not on my watch. Now get out of this premises, I never want to see you here again”

Gina who was crying now stood with her shoulder tall and smiled so annoyingly, enjoying the treatment I was receiving and the support she was getting.

I bent down with a start to pick up the notes scattered on the floor, because I am never going back to Silvio’s house.

“what a gold digger” I heard Gina say and they both laughed at me as I picked the money on the floor.

“This is the last time I'll be treated in this way from you all, Silvio included, I have money of my own, I don't need your worthless piece of cash” Their eyes widened before determination and anger filled them both together, I saw why Silvio's mom wanted Gina to marry her son, they were birds of the same feathers, even their actions mimicked each other perfectly.

I threw the euro notes into their faces and turned around to leave the building when they yelled out for their security.

“See to it that she leaves this company” Mrs. Guilia ordered her bodyguard as she walked hand in hand with Gina towards Silvio's office.

"Yes ma'am" he replied and averted his gaze from his boss to me sternly.

I hurriedly stood up adjusting my pants and walked towards the elevator as the guard followed after me watching me like a hawk.

When the elevator opened all eyes were on me as I strolled towards the company exit and towards the gate.

I looked back one more time with tears still pouring out of my eyes before boarding a taxi and leaving, making sure to not go back to Silvio's mansion.

After wandering for hours I finally settled down at my favorite park to think.

Where do I go from here? what do I do? These questions ran through my mind but no matter how I thought about it, the answers to them never seem to come to me.

I thought about Silvio, I know I shouldn't be thinking about him, but I couldn't help it. I was crying again, my heart felt like they were torn in shreds.

For the period of time we dated I tried to endure the fact that his family do not accept me, and I tried to be happy. But this is what I get for my commitment to him. Am such a fool!

"are you okay?"

I heard a tiny voice speak to me, I looked down to see a cute little boy with a cup of ice - cream in his hands, he looked at me with a lot of concern.

I wiped the tears off my face and bent down to pat his head gently

"am fine" I replied him with a reassuring smile and he smiled back

"my mom said a pretty lady does not cry" he continued

"really?"

"yeah" he replied

"actually..... they cry sometimes" I told him with a smile

He stretched out his ice-cream to me "ice-cream makes people happy"

I felt so touched and smiled at him, "don't worry about me hun i'll be fine"

He smiled at me and walked away happily.

My stomach rumbled, and I considered what the little boy said to me, I needed some Ice-cream.

I strolled towards the Ice-cream booth and stood at the back of the line waiting for my turn when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I starred at the screen and it was my childhood friend, oh how much I've missed this sweet soul.

"Sia, my love" I started happily

"hey cutie pie" she replied giggling

"how have you been?" she asked

"i've been great.......... I think" I trailed off trying to hide the crack in my voice

"have you been crying" Great! I guess I can't really hide anything from Sia.

"no, not at all" I replied clearing my throat

"you're really bad at lying you know?"

"am fine, am just having a bad day, but I'll be fine with time"

"who is it this time, is it that Silvio guy?" She persisted

"I really don't want to talk about this" I replied close to tears. I fought them back as it finally was my turn to get an Ice-cream.

"what flavor do you prefer miss?" the guy at the booth asked

"Vanilla"

"well you have to, coz am screwing up whoever made you cry" Sia said over the phone

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration, Sia never liked Silvio for reasons don't really know. She has always warned me against him, I guess she's been right all this while.

"here you go miss" the guy stretched out my Ice-cream to me which I collected and left the line

"umm i've broken up with him" I responded weakly

"and why's that ?"

"I can't explain over the phone"

"then come over to my place right away, I have some time before my shift at the restaurant begins, I'll cook up something nice for you"

"okay, i'll be there in a few" I replied lacking the energy to argue with her any further.

Elysia has been my friend from childhood, she's they only family i've got. When we left the orphanage we lived together till I met Silvio. She's a Chef and a really good one at that.

I scooped my Ice-cream and thought about my life, I thought of my paintings I left at Silvio's and bit my lips. I guess I'll have to leave them there because am never going back.

I finally stood up, walked out of the park to a stationery store to get some art accessories, I need to paint so badly, to clear my head.

After paying for them, I boarded a cab to Elysia's house and entered without knocking as I usually do.

"oh my cutie pie" she said her eyes filled with worry as she saw me. She embraced me into a deep hug and pecked my cheeks.

"look at you, you look like a stray cat who got lost"

I sighed and slumped on her sofa

"am hungry" that was all my brain could process at the moment

"I made pasta, you'll love it " she said as he hurriedly went to the kitchen to serve my meal.

"ummm........m" I moaned as I scoped the pasta into my mouth, it was really delicious

"this is so nice Sia" I replied munching the food

"take it easy boo, the food is not running away" she replied smiling at me.

I ignored her and continue to fill my mouth with the pasta, damn am so famished.

"so what exactly did that jerk do to you, to make you break up with his ugly ass"

"c'mon Sia am eating, can we talk about that later"

"okay" she said giving up

"you can't hide it away from me forever" She added after a short pause and left me to eat

I starred at my blank canvas with my paint brush in my hand, unsure of what to paint. I noticed Sia at the door of the room and sighed

"He cheated" I answered before she asked

"what! he did what?" she yelled in surprise

"he cheated on me Sia" I said as tears spilled from my eyes

"I knew it, I knew that jerk was up to no good, I warned you belle"

I continued crying and she came and embrace me dabbing my face

"am so sorry belle, you didn't deserve that at all. Should I go screw him up?"

I shaked my head still crying, I want to have nothing to do with Silvio, I want to forget him already

Elysia continued to console me till I stopped crying.

"I want to leave, I want to leave this place, infact this county. I want to go where I never have to see or hear about Silvio and his family any longer"

I said desperately to Sia, as she looked at me pitifully.

"how about Russia?" Sia asked which left me surprised

"Russia? what about it?"

"remember the scholarship training I told you I applied for"

"yeah I do" Sia had always wanted to take her career to an international level so she applied for a scholarship

"sometime last month a chef in Russia saw my portfolio and said he'd want me to train under him on scholarship"

"wow! that's great news Sia what have you been doing about it since then"

"well......, I've been thinking about it you know. Didn't want to leave you here all by yourself. But I guess we can go together, if you'd want to"

"of course! i'd love to go to Russia" finally I will get to have some fresh air

"you're such a darlin Sia, I love you so much" I replied embracing her tightly as she chuckled at my childish behaviour, patting my hair gently.