Chapter 54- IN-LAW

The next day

Leonardo had once again gone to work, leaving Aurora to fend for herself at home. She had wanted to go out on the town but had given up on the idea. She had spent her morning bothered about her mother in-law's call the previous day, Leonardo had still refused to tell her why they had left his parents' house and what had upset him that day.

Aurora picked up her phone multiple times and attempted to call her mother in-law but she had stopped herself, not wanting to be at odds with Leonardo, Aurora had given up on that idea.

The doorbell rang, causing Aurora stop what it was that she was doing, leaving her to wonder whom it was that had decided to visit her and the only other person that she could think of was Ricardo.

Walking towards the door, she prepared herself for the storm that she would unleash on him as soon as she saw him, because something about Ricardo left her feeling unsettled. She unlocked the door and just as she was about to speak, Aurora stopped.

She had expected to see Ricardo's arrogant face, instead, it was her mother in-law standing there and staring at her. She was not smiling, rather she looked pale and worn out.

'Mother, you're here! I did not think that you would come here" Aurora told her as surprise masked her face, almost in disbelief that her mother in-law was standing there right in front of her.

'You would have known if you had answered your phone when I called yesterday" her mother in-laws words cut through her heart, feeling guilty that she was the cause of her pain.

'Mother, I wish you could understand—anyway, come on in" Aurora welcomed her mother in-law, moving aside to allow her step right in. Aurora watched with great patience until her mother in-law had walked into the house fully.

Upon shutting the door, she realized just how quiet and lonely the house was without her husband. Signora Carina looked around the interior of the house, not a hint of emotion on her face until she turned to face Aurora.
Aurora smiled, trying to soften the mood, however her mother in-law did not smile back at her. She had always respected signora Carina but she needed answers and she needed them now.

'Mother what happened?" She heard herself ask firmly. Aurora seemingly shocked herself, for a woman who had spent most of her life being a yes girl and never arguing, she was not used to asking questions and demanding answers from those who were demeaned to be of a higher class than her.

Her mother in-law's raised eyebrow did not scare her as she looked deeper into the older woman's eyes, almost challenging the older woman to answer her.

'I thought my son would have already told you this by now?" She asked Aurora. Aurora looked away, embarrassed that she had not gotten her husband to tell her the truth.

'I did not feel like asking him, he speaks when he feels like it" Aurora's words were plain and simple and she hoped that it was enough for her mother in-law.

Silence filled the room as her mother in-law continued observing the interior of the house, the look on her face, screamed of a woman who was disgusted.

'Is there anything the matter, mother?" Aurora asked, the word ‘mother' sharper than a double edge sword.

'No, nothing. It is just that I could never understand why my son loves living like this" she pointed at the home decoration.

'I beg your pardon, mother in-law"

'My son is a heir to a multimillion dollar fortune yet he chooses to live like a peasant" Her mother in-law's words stung, Both Aurora and Leonardo had spent days decorating the house so that it felt more like their home rather than Leonardo's home alone.

'Has it occurred to you that maybe Leonardo values love and relationships more than he values money?" she told signora Carina who raised a questionable eyebrow at Aurora and smiled.

Aurora had always known that her mother in-law was rather vein and materialistic but it seems as though her true colors were coming and it was happening right in front of Aurora's eyes.

'You know when I chose you for my son I never imagined that you would be so—so—"

'Simple, plain?"

'No, more dumb. For a while now you have seen the sweet and kind mother in-law and I am here to show you that I am not that kind of woman. I have a goal and I will achieve it at any cost" Aurora's eyes widened, surprised that her mother in-law would say such words. Her words held no motherly warmth like it had in the previous months, because the woman in front of her looked like her mother in-law but acted like some villain in a movie.

Aurora stood on the same spot, unable to move as shock paralyzed her past the point where she could reason like a sane person.

'Oh what, are you shocked that I am talking to you like this? Avena you had one job and you could not even do it right which makes me wonder what good are you to my son" Signora Carina slowly walked towards Aurora like a sly fox, ready to devour its meal and by this time, Aurora began moving back.

'Mother is this you really talking?"

'Of course it's me… well, it's the real me after all. Forgive me if I am not that sweet and, loving mother in-law that you thought you would have but you need to speed things up"

'I do not know what you mean?" Aurora asked her mother in-law, confused as to what the older woman was insinuating.

'Oh please Avena, do you really think that I arranged this marriage because I wanted my son to find love? And even if I did, I would not with your soiled history. I wouldn't have had my son marry if it wasn't for the deal"

'What deal?"

'The very same deal that was to be made when you married him and you did not keep your end of the bargain"

'I—"

'Do not play dumb with me Avena! You were supposed to sign over some of your family's lands to us and every day that passes we lose millions because of you. I am not here to talk about my son or your tacky house deco. I am here to have you sign the documents" Signora Carina pulled out some white paper from her bag and threw it onto the coffee table.

'That over there is the contract and all you have to do is to sign it"

'And if I refuse to sign it?" Aurora dared to ask her mother in-law who did not look too pleased with Aurora for questioning her.

'Then you would not want to see the bad side of me, because of you my husband and I are losing a lot of money and I get really angry when people stand between me and my money" her mother in-law's words had come out like a sharp sword, a roaring thunder that shook throughout the interior of her home.

Aurora could not piece together how things had gone wrong between her mother in-law and herself but what she did know was that she would no longer be intimidated by people such as her mother in-law.

Being a maid at the Russo mansion, she was always pushed around and thought of as nothing less but here she was, no longer that meek girl. Walking towards her mother in-law with courage, boldness and she looked into the older woman's eyes.

She could see the hate in the older woman's eyes and never in Aurora's life would she have thought that that would happen to her.

'I repeat, I will not sign those documents no matter what" she said firmly, her words as clear as daylight and not a hint of doubt in her voice. Her mother in-law's sly smirk had Aurora taken aback, she had expected the older woman to lash out at her in anger.

'You have grown wings since the last time I saw you, but remember, I can cut those wings off too"

'Well, I have your son and he stands right beside me and he will not allow that to happen" she informed signora Carina, confident in Leonardo's ability to stand beside her as she would for him.

'Well then, I guess I have to clip my son's wings as well" the satisfied smile on signora Carina's face left Aurora speechless. Never had she thought that her mother in-law would ever say such things about Leonardo.

'Are you aware that you are speaking about your only child?"

'Yes I am well aware and I say this to you now, I will get rid of anyone that stands between me and my wealth… even if that person is my very own son"

'What rich people would do for money?"

'Oh please Avena, you grew up rich so this isn't new. Although I must admit you are quite stupid for an heiress"

'I am might be an heiress but I am not greedy for money" Aurora told her, gritting her words through her teeth as anger coursed through her.

'Oh please save me that, you act as though you won't be getting a share in our winery as well. You act all modest but weren't you the one who sent my son that ridiculous list of the things you wanted after the wedding?" her mother in-law taunted her.

Aurora looked away briefly, she remembered the list that Avena had compiled and it was now coming back to haunt her. She could not tell her mother in-law the truth otherwise, everyone would know that she is really Aurora and not Avena.

'Cat got your tongue?"

'Maybe, but what I did before my wedding has nothing to do with what I feel for my husband now"

'Oh please don't tell me that you are in love because that is the works of fairytale movies and not reality my dear"

'So you do not love your husband then?" Aurora taunted her mother in-law.

'I love money more therefore I radiate towards money more" signora Carina confessed and truly, her words no longer surprised Aurora.

'Then I suggest you leave my home, after all, this house is small and not up to your taste and we do not have the money that you so desperately crave"

'But you are my meal ticket"

'No I am not, please leave my home" she instructed her mother in-law, pointing her index finger towards the door.

'Okay, I will leave your—home, if that is what we call squabbles now. Here is the contract and I hope that you sign it before it is too late" her mother in-law informed her, dropped the contact onto the table and left.

As soon as the door shut behind signora Carina, Aurora breathe a sigh of relief. If there was ever a major turn in her life, this was it, her mother in-law's true colors were shown.