Altezza returned home feeling distressed. Antony clearly threw his hands up, openly stating he wouldn't help. Gian did the same. Even Tessa claimed she truly didn't know Adaline's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Joanna, the woman, only stared at him with disgust when Altezza approached her residence.
"I thought you were a good man. But it turns out, you and that woman are just the same," she replied coldly. She didn't even allow Altezza to enter her apartment. "I don't know where she is. In case you forgot, both Adaline and her mother are orphans. So they have nowhere to go."
"As for Aunt Emma, I don't know where she's from. We're not close enough to chat. But even if I knew where Adaline is right now, I have no obligation to tell you," Joanna replied again. The woman stood casually at her apartment door with her arms folded in front of her chest.
"Please, Joan. Help me," Altezza pleaded.
"For what? What's in it for me? Didn't I tell you before, asking you to make her happy? I told you that Adaline is not a patient and strong person. But you keep testing her patience."
"Even I, just being a listener, can't bear the anger anymore. Let alone her."
"Do you think she's a saint? Do you think she's a monk?"
"She's just a regular human. You just have to pray that she changes her mind and chooses to come back to you," Joanna returned to her apartment, leaving Altezza to wrestle with his own thoughts.
Angry, Altezza punched the wall in front of him until his knuckles turned red.
Where was everyone when he needed them?! He cursed inwardly.
No. Altezza was wrong.
Everyone was by his side when he needed them. They all warned him. But he was the one who disregarded everyone's warnings.
He ignored all the threats from people. And most importantly, he disregarded his wife's feelings over the patience she showed. He was the one at fault.
Joanna is right. Adaline is not a saint. Adaline is not patient. Adaline is just an ordinary human who Altezza has hurt time and time again.
Why does he always demand understanding from his wife without understanding her needs himself?
He's the one who constantly demands from his wife, unaware that she's already tired of giving. And he asks his wife to wait without giving her any clarity about the time frame.
Altezza growls in anger.
He throws his car keys aside and returns to his room. He reads his wife's letter repeatedly, hoping that somehow there will be a clue about where she went. But her words never change. There's not a single hint in his mind about her destination.
He never truly understood his wife. And he barely gave her any time. Suddenly, his conversation with Antony about Jovanka comes back to him.
"You know she will come back to you, and she knows you'll always be there waiting for her. To me, you're like an entertainer who's always there if she wants you. If in the end, she doesn't choose you, then you have to make your own choice. At least as a man, we must have dignity."
All those words replay in his mind. They're the words Antony directed at him about his sacrifices for Jovanka in the past.
Antony clearly knows the pain Altezza feels. And now the tables have turned. He's the one who selfishly replaced Jovanka and put Adaline in her position.
He believed that Adaline would always be there waiting for him. But he was wrong. Adaline is not as spineless as he is. She's more decisive than him.
She's always there if Altezza wants her. Just like Altezza, who was always there for Jovanka before. Even Adaline was there for him in his worst moments.
Namun, he never was there for his wife during her worst moments. Usually, it was Antony, Gian, and their family who had helped her first. What's the difference between him and Jovanka? They're both equally awful. A perfect match, he sneers.
And in the end, Altezza is the one who made the choice to take care of Jovanka. What did he say before? Humanity? No. It's not humanity. It's more because of his cowardice.
Because he's afraid that in the future, he'll be blamed if something happens to Jovanka. He's too much of a coward while his wife-his wife-has a braver attitude than him. She chose to leave.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
Altezza roughly grabs his hair. He groans loudly and punches the mirror in front of him with the same hand until it shatters, leaving his hand wounded and bleeding.
"What are you doing?!" Altezza turns and sees his mother standing with a shocked expression at the door.
"Mamma..!" Altezza walks toward his mother, sitting on the floor as his mother approaches. He hugs his mother's legs, tears uncontrollably streaming down his face. "Mamma.. Adaline disappeared." He whispers amidst his sobs. "Mamma.. where is Adaline?" Altezza looks up, gazing at his mother with wounded eyes.
His mother returns his gaze with pity.
"I know you know where she is. Please, Mamma. Tell me." He pleads.
"For what?" His mother responds softly. "Why are you looking for her? Just let her go. She deserves to be happy."
"Mamma!" Altezza releases his grip on his mother's legs. "She's my wife..."
A harsh sigh is heard. "A wife you've wasted? Just like you wasted yourself and your time on someone like Jovanka?
"Adaline deserves to be happy.
"If you can't make her happy, then let her make herself happy. Isn't all you want from her just the baby she's carrying?" His mother's question makes Altezza look up at her incredulously. "Do you think I don't know about your agreement?
"I've known from the beginning, Altezza. I just pretended not to know."
"Just like I chose to pretend not to know about your marriage with that woman." Once again, his mother's response leaves Altezza startled.
"I may not be a good mother. But I always try to be a good mother.
"All this time I let you be with that woman patiently only so you could realize it by yourself.
"I didn't want to disturb your happiness, and I hoped that one day your eyes would open wide to everything.
"But you never realized it. Until your aunt took action two years ago." Altezza furrows his brow.
"Do you think the contract signed two years ago by that woman just appeared out of nowhere?
"No, Al!
"Clearly Brianna was involved in it.
"She made that woman choose between you and her job. And she chose her job. But you still didn't come to your senses and happily waited for her.
"And once again Brianna snapped her fingers and made a contract that made that woman unable to refuse it again.
"In the end, I could breathe a sigh of relief because that woman chose her job, and you finally came to your senses and chose to leave her." Altezza stares at his mother in silence.
"We care about you. Your aunt does too. To her, you're like her own child, even though she never said it directly. But she loves you just as much as she loves Antony.
"Just like me, loving you and Antony.
"We mothers don't want our children to be hurt. Not even a bit. But we know the boundaries of when we should interfere or not. And we feel it's the right time to act.
"And indeed, our actions bore fruit.
"Although once again, I feel ashamed because you trapped a woman who needed your help, paid her to carry your child.
"Do you think you can trade that child?!
"But after seeing Adaline, I actually don't want to let her go. I fell in love with her at first sight. I want her to be my daughter no matter what."
"Even if I have to hurt you, I don't care. For Adaline's sake, I'm willing to do anything. Even though I hope you change your heart and can fall in love with her.
"But you're too stupid!" Delila looks at her son coldly.
"You think too much of yourself. Your ego. And that woman. A woman who isn't even better than a pile of rotten meat.
"I never even liked her.
"What kind of woman makes her own mother a maid and her father nothing more than a gardener?"
Altezza stares at his mother in disbelief. "You don't know, do you? But I do.
"Her family, whom you said were off the island, was just a figment of her imagination. From the beginning, her family has always been with her.
"Her mother is nothing but the maid you pay every month to clean the house, wash the clothes, and cook delicious meals for her own daughter.
"And her father is the man you pay to fix every damage, to clean the yard and the swimming pool that his daughter uses.
"And her sister? She's the woman who has been a servant to her own sister all this time.
"That woman never even appreciated her own family. Never loved them as she should have. And you expect love from a woman like that?
"Wanting a child from a woman who even disregards the heaven at her mother's feet?
"What will your child become? A babysitter's child?
"And meanwhile, you ignore a woman who's even willing to pawn herself for a mother who didn't even carry and give birth to her?
"Testing her patience. Hurting her repeatedly. Asking her to wait and be patient?
"Even though she willingly did it, I couldn't bear to see it!" Her mother's shout echoes in the room.
"I know the pain of waiting." Her mother says softly. Tears are clearly streaming down her aged face. "And you know that too. So why make someone else feel the heartache we once felt?" She asks Altezza, who is still frozen.
Delila leaves Altezza to ponder her words about Jovanka's parents, redirecting the conversation back to Adaline.
"Mom..."
"Let her go. Let her find happiness in her own way.
"You want your child? She will give it to you after those two children are born." Delila starts to leave her son.
"Mom...!"
"Go to that woman. The woman who even made you accuse your own mother of cruelty.
"Go to her. Woo her. Keep her. And hold onto that woman by your side. I swear I won't interfere in your lives.
"And if you feel all this is unfair to her. And if you want all her wealth to be hers again. Then ask your aunt, Brianna, for it. Because she's the one who controls that woman's life.
"Although I hope she does something more despicable than that." Delila truly leaves Altezza alone. She ignores her husband who stands motionless in front of their son's door.
Altezza sits in his place as his father enters and takes his mother's place.
"Al?" The man calls softly.
Altezza raises his head. He looks at his father with pleading eyes.
"How could you make the same mistakes I did, son?" His father asks with pain. "I am proud of you and your intelligence. But it seems my foolish and cowardly attitude has rubbed off on you."
"Padre?"
Benjamin sits on the bed and gently wipes his face. "Do you know why your mother is treating you like this? Why she's so cruel to her own child and instead defends your wife?" Altezza shakes his head. "Let me tell you the reason."