Chapter 57- SMALL WORLD

Spending the entire night in their new mansion was beyond anything that Aurora could have ever imagined. And even as she lay in bed with Leonardo, her hands trailing his abs, her mother in-law's words lingered in her heart.
Leonardo had finally managed to tell her the real reason for them leaving his parents mansion, Aurora had been shocked to hear the horrible plans that both Leonardo's mother and father had hatched up to keep them at the mansion.

Although Aurora loved her husband and being the only woman in his life, she could not help but hate the wealth that cam along with it. The kind of wealth that drove people crazy with power, so much that they did not mind sacrificing their own blood to keep their status of being known as wealthy.

'If you keep thinking so much, your head might explode" she heard Leonardo speak and she smiled at herself. He turned and his hands came over her, pulling her closer.

'You are awake?"

'How can I not be awake when I could hear your thoughts?"

'How is that possible?" she asked, nearing her lips towards his.

'I know you, I know you very well and I can feel when something is wrong" he told her. His tone of voice had changed to that of a man on a mission, a man who was serious and so did the look on his face.

'I am okay" she tried assuring him but by him searching her eyes, he could tell that indeed she was lying to him and that all was not well with her.

'My mother is the cause of all this"

'My love—"

'Stop defending her, Avena!" he told her.

'I just think that it is best that we—"

'Forget about it? She threatened my wife and I will not forgive her for such" Leonardo sat on the bed.

'She is your mother"

'Not after she threatened you" he warned, Aurora's pupils growing wide as she could not believe that those words were coming out of her husband's mouth.

'She is your family!"

'No, you are now my family" he told her, serious as serious could be, Leonardo's eyes burned into that of Aurora's.

'What makes you say that?"

'Because at least I can trust you to tell me the truth, you are not like my mother because you would never dream of lying to me like she did" Leonardo's fate in her only guilt tripped Aurora further. Deep down, she knew that she was just like his mother or even worse because the lie she was keeping, was greater than anything that Leonardo could have ever dreamed of.

Aurora descended from the bed quickly, she could not bear to look at Leonardo in the eyes. Many nights she had wanted to tell him the truth, hoping that it was not too late for them to mend and start over again.

'My love"

'Yes!" she answered, still not looking at Leonardo as she put on her cloths.

'Please do not shy away when talking to me. I know that you are bothered but please just give me some time, I will deal with my mother accordingly" Aurora simply nodded her head in agreement. Her mother in-law was the least of her problems, because whether she saw it or not but the atmosphere was off and Aurora could feel it.

**
One week later

A week had passed since both Leonardo and Aurora had gone to see their new home and after much deliberation, Aurora had said yes to the new house. The week had been filled with both Aurora and Leonardo packing things into their perspective boxes as they got ready for the big move in a few days' time.

As always, Leonardo was at work dealing with the last bit of work that he needed to do before they left and thankfully for Aurora, her university was not too fat from their new home and all that was thanks for Leonardo who wanted Aurora to be close to her school.
In a about a week, she would be starting with school and she was more than thrilled, so much that for the past few days her stomach had been upset.

Aurora had rushed to the supermarket to get both Leonardo and herself a few meals before they left for their new house and for some reason she had ended up in the pickle aisle.

'Avena, is that you!" Aurora heard someone call out to her and by the time she looked up, it was none other than Rhea, smiling at her.

'Hey Rhea, how are you?" Aurora asked, plastering a smile on her face as she spoke to Rhea, who was happily holding onto her own grocery basket.

'I am fine but I haven't seen you around, I wonder where Leonardo has been hiding you all along" she joked, Aurora flashed a smile, inwardly thinking of all the lies that she could come up with to get away from Rhea. She had promised Leonardo that she would not befriend Rhea at any cost, but now she was stuck making conversation with the same person she had promised not to talk to.

'No, he hasn't been hiding me, we have been busy with a lot of things"

'Oh I see, hey are you checking out by any chance"

'Yes! I am, just needed to get some pickles and then I will be on my way" Aurora answered, hoping that this was her chance to get rid of Rhea.

'That's great to hear, that way we could leave together" Rhea's response was one that Aurora had not expected and she regretted her decision immediately.

'Are you sure? Because I have a lot of things to pack since we are moving"

'You and Leonardo are moving? That is such a shame, I mean, I wanted to know you better and now you are leaving" Rhea asked her as she displayed a sad face whilst Aurora mentally kicked herself for revealing too much.

'Yeah it is a shame" Aurora replied, pretending to be bothered by Rhea saddened look.

'You know what? This might be the last time that we see each other so l am taking you out"

'No Rhea, you do not have to"

'No, it is my treat to you and please do not say no" Rhea pleaded. Her big hazel eyes pleading with Aurora to go on lunch with her.

'Okay, I will let you treat me, just this one time" Aurora responded, hoping that her lunch with Rhea will not upset Leonardo.

**
Aurora had chosen a seat right by the patio and since the town was small with not many places to go, the pair had chosen ‘The Grand Grill' as their spot to eat.

'Wow, you sure love pickles" Rhea commented as Aurora filled her plate with a side of pickles, even as she looked at her salad, which was mostly covered in pickles that she had ordered separately, her mouth watered.

'Yeah, these days this is my go to food. I just love it" Aurora responded, unashamed of what she was eating and secretly hoping that her eating habits would disgusts Rhea so much that she would leave the restaurant.

'So how did you make Leonardo want to leave this town?" Rhea placed her elbows onto the desk as she questioned Aurora.

'You make it seem as though I hypnotized him into wanting to leave"

'No it's not that, it's just that Leonardo loves this town so much and I bet no one would have ever thought that he would leave"

'You say it like you hate this place?" Aurora questioned her, seeing the disgust on Rhea's face as she spoke about the town.

'Let's just say that it's not really my scenary, everything goes slow in this this town"

'Then why stay if you are not happy?"

'I wish I could but everything that I want most is still here and therefore I cannot leave" Rhea smiled at her. Even though Rhea was speaking in general terms, something about the way she said her last statement, left a chilling feeling running through Aurora.

'Oh, I see"

'I heard you are going to become a doctor" Rhea let out. Aurora paused, and deposited her drink onto the table, surprised at how Rhea had come to know of this.

'Did Leonardo tell you that?"

'No, but I heard him talking to the librarian and telling the old lady just how proud he was of you for perusing your dreams" Aurora tried her best to hide the fact that she was beyond thrilled that Leonardo would brag about her to his colleagues.

'Well that's my husband alright" she smiled. And even though Rhea smiled back at Aurora, she could not put together why it was that Leonardo had fallen in love with such a plain girl.

'Is there something wrong?"

'No, Avena but why are you asking?"

'You seem lost in your own world"

'Oh no, it's nothing. Come to think of it, we should make a toast"

'A toast to what?"

'I don't know, anything. Wait I got it, cheers to getting everything we have ever wanted and spent years to get" Rhea raised her glass at the same time that Aurora did and both women cheered.

'I hope I am not disrupting anything?" Aurora froze as she heard the male voice coming from behind her. Without even turning her head, she knew that it was none other than her husband.
Without anticipating it, Leonardo came from behind her and placed a kiss on her cheeks.

'How are you, my beautiful wife?" he asked her but pausing to look at Rhea. 'And how are you, Rhea?"

'I am quite fine" Rhea answered, her tone of voice no longer filled with joy and now it rather just plain with lack of emotions. Without even asking, Leonardo pulled out a chair and sat right next to Aurora, as he too stared down at Rhea.

'Hey love, how has your day been?" Aurora welcomed Leonardo who turned his head to look at Aurora. She had expected him to be mad at her but rather, he was smiling as though he had won the lottery.

'My day at work as wonderful but it was missing something and that something or someone was none other than you" Leonardo teased her and out of the blue, there was clearing of the throat and it was none other than Rhea.

'Oh my bad, I am so sorry, I did not mean to interrupt. You see sometimes my throat does certain things" Rhea explained.

'No need to explain anything Rhea, you see, my wife and I understand that it's life. Someone people's illnesses can be treated with medicines and others not" Even as Aurora sat next to Leonardo and watched the pair exchange words, she knew that there was something and the tension between both Rhea and Leonardo could be cut with a sharp sword.