Chapter 28
The three brothers were perplexed by their father's words, and exchanged confused glances, unable to understand what had upset him.
“Do you want to know why I'm disappointed in you?!” asked the old man, and the three nodded, looking confused. “I told you not to blame Lilian, but why do you continue to blame her? Why do you burden her with something so irrational?” asked Carlos, his eyes shining with deep disappointment.
After several seconds of looking at them with deep disappointment, Carlos' gaze slowly turned to Leandro.
“And I can't believe you had the courage to treat your daughter this way, Leandro, like trash!” Leandro was surprised by his father's words. “You have disappointed me greatly, Leandro, very much!”
He didn't expect his father to find out that he had hit Lilian. In fact, Leandro was confused.
Their father should have been in a coma and wouldn't know what they had done before, but now Leandro suspected that his father had been awake all this time and had remained asleep on purpose.
Leandro was about to speak, but Carlos interrupted him before he could say anything.
“And if Lilian wants to break ties with you, she can still use the Arbex family name, because that is my name, and keep in mind that I, and only I, have the right to decide who will carry it, by my blood or by my will.”
Lilian felt a warmth in her heart as she heard her grandfather's words, and she smiled silently as she lowered her gaze to her feet and tried to hide her tears.
Leandro felt disappointed and angry when he heard his father's words, clenching his fingers tightly, but even so, he couldn't say anything to deny it.
“Now, everyone leave!” Carlos said with a trembling voice, surprising everyone, and when he saw everyone starting to leave, he continued. “Except Lilian and Nicholas, you two stay.”
Leandro and the others frowned, but couldn't say anything, just looking at Lilian suspiciously.
After the door closed, Lilian finally approached the bed, and a warm, broad smile framed her beautiful face as she greeted her grandfather.
They hugged each other warmly to release their longing, and Lilian was especially worried that her grandfather might die, as he was disappointed in her. That's why she came back immediately when she found out he was in a coma.
“Grandpa, you're really amazing at taking care of them!” Lilian said, sitting on the chair next to the bed. “Look at the way you talk to them... I forgot you were sick, Grandpa, you look as healthy as before.”
When she saw her grandfather smile meaningfully at Nicholas, Lilian was suddenly surprised.
“No way! You're not sick? So... you pretended to be sick the whole time?” Lilian asked curiously, and Carlos' smile widened as he took Lilian's hand and touched it gently.
“This is the only way to get you back, Lilian. If I didn't pretend to be in a coma, I bet you would have stayed away even longer, right?”
Lilian was speechless, but she didn't expect her grandfather to deceive her like that, so she turned and saw Nicholas on the other side, but Nicholas tried to avoid her gaze, apologized, and went to clean up the living room, and could only shake his head as he laughed, looking at his grandfather again.
“You have a talent for acting, Grandpa. You really fooled me and everyone else.”
"I know, but I also had help, thanks to my doctor and his team, because with their help it was easier to convince everyone! “Carlos said proudly, but then his smile faded when something crossed his mind. ”Lilian, I'm sorry. “Carlos said, feeling bad. ”My useless children were rude to you, and they don't deserve to be called uncles or even father, and I agree if you want to break ties with them."
Lilian's face slowly hardened as she remembered what had happened before, but she ignored her anger, not wanting her grandfather to be sad.
“It's okay, Grandpa. What they did before was nothing compared to what they did to me at the Legrand family home!” Lilian felt a lump in her throat.
“I'm sorry, Lilian,” Carlos said. “If it weren't for my stupid promise to Ethan's grandfather, you wouldn't have married Ethan and endured the suffering of living with him...”
Lilian's heart ached when she saw her grandfather's face full of regret, and even though he lowered his gaze, preventing Lilian from looking him in the eyes, she could see her grandfather's eyes filled with tears.
“Grandpa, that's all in the past and we don't need to remember it anymore. I survived, and I'm much better now...” She smiled as sincerely as she could to reassure him.
Carlos gave a weak smile before raising his head to meet Lilian's gaze, and when he saw her smiling openly, he realized that behind that smile, that girl was hiding sadness, and they were silent for a moment, just looking at each other.
“Lilian, I know what happened to you, and how your father made a deal with them!” Carlos was ashamed to learn that Marcio and Leandro had made that absurd business deal with Ethan's parents.
“Grandpa, you never knew that?” Lilian was surprised to hear this.
“Actually, my goal was only to marry you to Ethan because of the promise I made to the matriarch of the Legrand family, but I never intended for them to help our company. It was never a business deal!” He took a deep breath, feeling disappointed in all of his children.
Lilian laughed bitterly in her heart, for her concerns had been answered, and her grandfather had never made a deal like that. She felt relieved.
“Grandpa, do you know why they never announced my marriage to Ethan?” she asked curiously.
“Yes!” Carlos replied quickly, but moments later, a frown appeared on his forehead, as if he were confused about something. “Lilian, my dear, why do you ask? I was told that it was you who asked them not to announce and publicize your marriage to Ethan Legrand!?”
Lilian was stunned, as she had never asked them to do that.
“G-Grandpa, who told you that?”