Chapter 50

When Demetrio arrived at the address, he couldn't breathe. Something told him that something very bad was going on. He ran quickly when he heard his children crying.

My God, may they be all right, he thought, sweating.

He walked down some corridors until he came to a room. He stopped at the sight of the room. Eva's clothes were scattered on the floor, and in contrast, she was wearing a red dress. Santino was next to her and it looked like they had a romantic dinner.

Jealousy entered her mind at that moment. But the sight of Santino and Eva sweating told him what was going on. He rushed over to Eva; she was freezing cold and not breathing. His heart fluttered at that moment, a tightness in his chest wouldn't let him breathe.

"Eva!" he moved his shaking body. "Eva, my love, please wake up," he cried again without any response.

No matter how much he moved her, Anderson's body did not respond. A series of spasms rumbled through his body as he realized that they had stopped shaking and his breathing had stopped.

...

Massimo knew that he had not been the best father to Demetrio. After Camille's death, he had distanced himself so much that he had neglected him. Now he wanted to make up for lost time, and he did not want to see Demetrio suffer. He and his grandchildren were her greatest treasure, and she would give her life for them if necessary.

He was in the delegation with the police, they had organized several groups to find Evangelina. But Rome was very big and apparently Santino was very skilled, they had not been able to find him.

Some photos with a small phrase rang on Massimo's phone. He picked up the phone and opened his eyes wide in shock at what it said.

It was Santino who sent it. The photo was of him as a child and a picture of his mother. Massimo felt like he was drowning. He knew the woman well, it was a girl he had a one-night stand with in a bar, when they were young, the woman came to him months later to tell him she was pregnant and he kicked her out of the villa, not believing her. Not only because he was the most sought-after man in town at the time, but also because there was a possibility that the child in her womb was not his. Fearing that Andrea would disinherit him, he ran to the young woman and never heard from her again, but how could he know? She was just a random woman on a night of drinking.

Apparently, life had played a dirty trick on him, because that past slip had consequences, and that was a resentful man, insecure and thirsty for revenge. Because Santino San Roman only wanted to take revenge on the man who had hurt him so much, dragging along Demetrio, who to him was a thief who stole what belonged to him because he was the firstborn.

A tightness in his chest took over completely as he read what it said. Thank you for not taking care of me when I was a child, you turned me into a monster and now your dear son will pay the consequences. Panic took over Massimo. A pain enveloped him, because after many years he was looking for that little boy to undo his damage. But he didn't find him, and now it turned out that it was Santino, that lonely young man who was his son's friend, but why didn't he say anything? Questions rolled through his mind, unanswered, because San Roman had taken them to the grave.

The police had tapped San Roman's cell phone and had managed to pick up the signal of their meeting. This time, he must have been so nervous that he forgot to get rid of the phone, or he must have wanted to be found.

An officer approached Massimo, who had disappeared, phone in hand, to inform him of the new development and where they were going.

"Mr. Laureti, I need a moment alone with you," Massimo nodded and followed the man.

"Any progress on Santino and my daughter-in-law?" he asked haltingly. He could barely speak.

"We have found the man's whereabouts, he recently sent a message," the authority informed Massimo, who immediately flashed his phone in surprise.

Suddenly, the house on the outskirts of Rome was surrounded by numerous patrols, the detective and top FBI officials.

As Mássimo entered the house, his heart squeezed with pain at the sight of Santino's lifeless body lying on a bed, and even more so at the sight of Demetrio hugging Eva, screaming in pain.

"Please, I need to know if the lady is alive," the police intervened.

Massimo pulled Demetrio as far away as he could from Evangelina, who tried her best to cling to her.

"Daddy, he killed her!" the Italian whispered in deep pain.

The police took the woman's vitals and quickly called out:

"Her pulse is weak, but she's alive, quick, get her to the ambulance!" they shouted.

Massimo approached the man checking Santino and asked:

"And the young man?" his eyes were shining at that moment, a great urge to scream overcame him.

"No, he died, sir," he explained.

Thick tears ran down the man's cheeks. It pained his soul that Santino had become a monster for lack of love and attention.

She moved closer, touching his face and whispering in his ear:

"Sorry."

...

Two hours later, the twins were being monitored. Santino had given them some sleeping pills and they were cleansing their little organism. Unlike Eva, who had been poisoned and they were waiting for the antidote to remove the poison because it had been administered too late.

"If Eva dies, I will die with her," Laureti whispered, choking back tears.

Massimo swallowed hard. He embraced Demetrio, who would not stop crying, kneeling with his forehead on the floor.

A doctor caught the Italians' attention.

"Relatives of Evangelina Anderson?" the doctor asked.

"I am her husband." Demetrio stood up quickly and walked over to him. "Please tell me, how is she?" he asked hurriedly.

"The lady is very weak, we managed to clean the blood from the poisoning, but let's hope she will be as strong and overcome this crisis," the doctor explained.

Laureti's heart shrank at that moment.

"May I see her?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes. Please follow me," she said, walking behind the doctor.

As she entered the room, a chill ran through her body. Eva was pale, her lips were parted and her face was as white as paper.

He reached out to take her hand. She felt as if she couldn't breathe.

"You know, when you came into my life with those glasses and those old-fashioned clothes, I never thought it would last." He sobbed, wiping away the well of tears in her eyes. "Now that it's all over, I just hope you wake up and don't leave me alone. The triplets are waiting for you and the twins need you and I will die without you. I can't stand life without Eva," he whispered and squeezed her hand.

Suddenly Eva's eyes opened between heavy lids. A grimace formed on her lips, and Demetrius looked at her tenderly, drawing a smile.

"Are you crying? The richest man in the country and..."

"It's been a long time since I've had anything, Eva, you taught me that without you I'm nobody," he whispered, touching Eva's emaciated face as she struggled to speak.

"I must be ugly," Eva said, feeling the strangeness in her body.

"Hideous," Demetrius replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You're conceited, if I could stand up, I swear I'd punch you in the face," Eva said with difficulty.

"But no, thank God you can't, I still remember how much you mistreated me," Demetrio exclaimed with a raised eyebrow.

Eva suddenly looked down.

"Did he die?" she asked with a crack in her voice.

Demetrio nodded his head. Eva felt a dagger pierce her heart. Santino was crazy, she knew, but it didn't stop her from being hurt by his end.

"Do you know what he told me before all this?" Eva looked at Demetrio who shook his head. "That he's your brother." Laureti looked up in surprise.

"What are you saying?" he asked confused.

"Yes, he told me he was your father's son with another woman, but I don't remember anything else. Demetrio, Santino is your brother. "

Demetrio looked down as he wiped away his tears.

A nurse interrupted and told him that the patient was very weak and should rest.

Demetrio kissed Evangelina's cracked lips and went out to see the children. At first, he had wanted to see them, but he wasn't allowed to, he didn't even know what gender they were or what their names were.

She pushed all thoughts of Santino out of her mind, even though she felt a deep pain in her chest, but she didn't want to dwell on it yet and went to the crib where the little ones were kept.

His heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. There was a girl and a boy. Demetrio took them tenderly into his arms. They were truly beautiful.

"Hello, little ones," he touched their small faces. He had not had the joy of having them so small, the triplets when he met them were about four years old, and now that he saw such tiny children, he was filled with emotion.

The babies nestled against his chest. Demetrio could see their beautiful blue eyes, a little darker than the triplets', and their hair a little more golden. They were angels in every way.

He talked to them for hours until they fell asleep. A voice brought him from his trance.

"Can we talk, son? There is something important I want you to know," Massimo called from behind him.

Demetrius turned to him with hatred. His clear eyes turned dark.

He put the children in the crib and approached to drag his father into the hallway.

"How come Santino was your son?" he grabbed his strong arm.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, son," Massimo exclaimed with a dejected look. "I only found out today."

"Did you cheat on my mother?" he asked angrily.

"No, no, I never cheated on your mother. That's why I don't know if it's true that Santino is my son, he must have been the same age as you, but the son I supposedly had with that woman was five years older than you."

"And you expect me to believe you, father?" he looked at him with hatred.

"For God's sake, Demetrius, why would I lie to you?"

"No, until I know for sure that if you were so cowardly as to betray my mother, I want nothing to do with you," he pointed his finger at him. "Besides, I still can't believe you were capable, Daddy..." her voice cracked. "...To have a son in hiding and that all this happened thanks to you."

Massimo looked at his son with pain, was he really to blame for all that had happened?

"I'm not to blame for anything, son, I just didn't know that he..."

"From you, I can believe it's Daddy. For so many years you didn't care about me," his voice cracked. "Now don't tell me you're the selfless father, because you're not."

Demetrio walked down the hall; his face red with anger. He heard the thunderous emergency alarm in the ICU. He ran frantically, something told him it had to do with Eva.

His hands were sweating as he ran through the corridors to get to the room.

When he was in front of it, his heart stopped as he saw her being resuscitated. She had gone into respiratory arrest.

"Eva, my love!" he cried in despair.

The doctors ran back and forth like mad. Demetrio stood still as they all stood over the love of his life, trying to revive her, when the machine that was monitoring her heart stopped all of a sudden.

"Noooooo!!!" he screamed in despair.