Chapter 66

Emiliano Villalobos was not the happiest of men when he learnt that his daughter, Aurelia, was about to set his plans to blazes.

His daughter had only one task – marry Carlos de la Cruz. And she was going to ruin it all because she was sleeping with the wrong de la Cruz. The very wrong de la Cruz. It was so wrong for several reasons.

First, how was she even one of those disgusting homosexuals? He would not have been so furious if she got involved with another man. But with a woman? There was no way a child of his was going to bring shame to him.

Second, he needed Aurelia to get married to Carlos because somewhere along the line, he wanted to get a political post.

Thirdly, an alliance between both families would result to them having an amazing business deal that favored all the parties involved. Villalobos would have a third of the fishing company and help in expanding their products all the way to the Americas.

And last, but not least, his name would forever be tied to the de la Cruz name. They would be family.

When Villalobos played with the idea at the moment of inception, he knew it was one of his best ideas yet. Nothing could go wrong. And from what he heard, Carlos de la Cruz was quite a business man. He had potentials to do great. He thought it would be great if Aurelia were to marry someone with all that business savvy. Together, as a couple, the sky was their starting point.

But the stupid girl had gone along to have an affair with Esmeralda, Don Alonzo’s second child, who simply stayed in the background. Unlike her brother, Esmeralda was uninvolved in the businesses. He had met her that one time he and his family went to the hacienda. Esmeralda looked withdrawn, uninterested. Were it not for her looks, she would be easily forgettable.

That was the de la Cruz Aurelia had chosen. Villalobos was certain she had done just that to spite him. That had to be the only reason for her misbehavior.

When Carlos had asked to see him last week on Friday morning, he thought it was normal for his son-in-law to be to ask that they met up. Odds were that Carlos wanted to talk with him about something related to the wedding. Well, something positive. This nonsense about her affair with Esmeralda was also related to the wedding, albeit in a bad light.

They sat in one on of the cafe’s located at the edges of town that morning, and Villalobos could not help but wonder the reason for the secrecy and urgency. He did not have to wonder for long. After pleasantries were traded in a genial manner, Carlos fished out a brown envelope from his suitcase.

“What is this?” he recalled asking. Cash gifts always came up first in his mind whenever he saw brown envelopes. He loved that the young man was gifting him something before the wedding. He tried not to seem too eager, and that was why he did not snatch the envelope from Carlos’s hand.

Carlos had a straight face. “Please, open it, sir.”

When Villalobos felt the envelope in his hand, it did not feel like wads of cash. He could not stop the disappointment that crept all over him. Curiosity made him tear open the envelope. He did not bother to take care.

His fingers touched a sleek, flat surface. Right then, he knew it was a photograph. He did not have to wonder about the content of the pictures, because he soon saw it.

His daughter was leaning into Carlos’s sister; they had their gaze locked in each other’s. Esmeralda had her fingers intertwined with Aurelia’s.

“What is this?” He looked up to ask, despite knowing what it was, but he needed confirmation.

“Aurelia is having an affair with my sister,” Carlos said, his voice not betraying any emotion. “I could not have told you unless I had proof.”

Villalobos looked through the series of nine more pictures confirming Carlos’s claim. Each more salacious-looking than the last. The last picture was of the hotel’s guest book. There was Aurelia’s handwriting, only that she used a different name.

“That is proof of the hotel where they went on Wednesday.”

Villalobos was shocked beyond words. How was his daughter a homosexual? She did not even look like one. Carlos’s sister did not look like one, too. This had to be some mistake. But the pictures in his hands showed that there was no mistake. Indeed, Aurelia was having an affair with a woman.

He was disappointed.

He was embarrassed.

He was ashamed.

He was upset.

He was angry.

But he managed to keep his emotions under wraps. If Carlos could be so calm and cool about things, if he could take it as a man, surely, Villalobos was going to man-up and not show his emotions.

“I will talk to her about this,” Villalobos said.

“Please, do. I want to marry your daughter. I have fallen in love with her. She is different from all the women I have ever met. Maybe I was not in love with her at first sight, but spending time with her made me develop feelings for her.”

Villalobos thought Carlos was genuine. “The wedding will go on. I can assure you of that. I will walk her down the aisle and you two will get married.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Few words of assurance passed between them before Villalobos left the cafe. He did not care to get back to the office.

He showed his wife the pictures. As expected, she was shocked. Not that her feelings mattered to him anyway. She went on to wail about Aurelia being a huge disgrace and disappointment to the family. Villalobos wished he had not told her in the first place. All that crying was getting to him. He was about to ask her to cease crying, and then he realised Aurelia seeing her mother in tears would make her feel guilty. He knew how his wife and daughter had a close bond. Seeing her mother cry would make Aurelia feel bad, he thought.

He put a call across to Aurelia asking her to return home.

He was hoping she would deny the things the pictures were saying. Instead, she had gone on to affirm she loved Carlos’s sister.

Her mother’s cries did not even make her think to deny that she was now a homosexual. Aurelia had behaved like someone without a conscience.

Then her phone rang out from her purse. The stupid girl was smart enough to know she should not answer the call.

The ring tone was grating. Filled with rage, he yanked out the purse from her grasp, not caring if he broke her fingers in the process.

He emptied the content of the purse to the floor.

The irksome phone was still ringing as it hit the floor.

From where he stood, he saw the name on the screen. “Lover Dearest” was calling. It had to be the de la Cruz girl. That even got him angrier. His intent was to keep the phone away from her for some days as some form of punishment. But seeing that name displayed on the phone screen, he lost it.

Without thought, he stomped on the phone with the heels of his shoe. Over and over and over until bit-sized splinters was all that was left of the phone. The physical violence he could not mete out on Aurelia was what he vented in breaking her phone.

The study was quiet as his wife and daughter watched him carry out that deed.

Satisfied that he had release part of his anger, he told her she was not leaving the house, and ordered her to leave his sight.

His wife knew better than to say anything.

There was no way Aurelia was going to ruin his plans, he told himself.

Believing that he had taken care of the problem, he called Carlos to tell him Aurelia was not leaving the house, and reassured him there was no way she was going to speak with his sister until the wedding.

Carlos had expressed his gratitude. They ended the call on a good note.

It came as a surprise when Don Alonzo had called him on Sunday. Don Alonzo never called him on weekends. The conversations they had were businesslike, as they were making preparations to make their business deal official.

Villalobos he felt a certain kind of fear. Had Carlos told his father about Aurelia’s shameful behavior? Had Carlos thought through things and decided to call off the wedding?

But the phone call went well. Don Alonzo said he wanted to gift Carlos and Aurelia something. That was good news. It meant all was going to plan. The lie about Aurelia and her mother being out of town was necessary. There was no way he was going to tell Don Alonzo Aurelia was not available to go out. That would raise questions he was not ready to answer.

As the days went by, he imagined Aurelia would come to her senses and apologize for her foolishness. Instead, she had come to see him after dinner, telling him he could marry Don Alonzo or Carlos. The gumption she had! It took all his willpower not to slap her face into the next century.

To assuage his upset feelings, he told himself that Aurelia was going nowhere. The wedding would go on. And all would be well in the world.