Chapter 66- STRANGER IN MY HOUSE

She quickly grabbed a vase from a nearby table, holding onto the vase tightly and ready to knock whoever it was that was coming her way.

With the footsteps walking closer towards her and her heart beating violently inside her chest, Aurora waited for the stranger to show up until she saw who it was and the heart rate relaxed. It was none other than Ricardo standing before her.

With a smile on his face and a carefree attitude, Ricardo placed his hands inside his pants pocket and seemingly unbothered that he was in their house. Aurora placed her hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating she placed the vase down back onto the table and looked at Ricardo.
'You scared me" She told him, only for Ricardo to burst out laughing.

'My apologies Avena, I did not mean to scare you. I simply came to visit you and Leonardo" He explained himself.

'Oh! That's fine but how did you get the keys to our house?" Aurora asked him as she wondered how he has gained access to her home.

'Oh, I swung by Leonardo's work and he handed me the keys. I am surprised that he did not tell you that I would be staying here until the wedding"

Aurora simply stared at Leonardo, surprised that Leonardo would gladly give their house keys to just anyone. That was until she thought about it and realized Ricardo was not just anyone but rather he was like a brother to her husband. As soon as Aurora understood this, smiled at Ricardo and welcomed him into their home.

'I wish that Leonardo had told me that you would be coming for the wedding" Aurora lamented.

'Are you not excited to see me?" Ricardo and he seemed hurt by her admission, realizing that Ricardo had misunderstood her, she quickly tried to correct the misunderstanding.

'No it's nothing like that, it's just that if he had told me I would have gotten the guest room ready for you. But don't worry, I'll do that immediately meanwhile you can get something in the fridge"

'You don't have to bother yourself, I can sort it out myself" Ricardo explained, not wanting to cause Aurora any more stress than she was already experiencing.
'No need to explain anything, I will get everything sorted. You can stay here and I will get your room ready" Aurora explained. Before she could leave she caught Ricardo staring at her as though he were studying her features.

'Why are you smiling like and did I say something funny?" She asked him. Ricardo looked down onto the floor and look back up at Aurora and smiled.

'It's nothing really, I'm just so happy that my friend— I mean my best friend has found such a beautiful woman to love him" Ricardo confessed.

'I'm pretty sure that you know that Leonardo did not have an easy life and growing up and now you are here, to make him the happiest man and for that I would like to thank you" Ricardo thanked Aurora, she smiled feeling shy about the compliment that Ricardo had given her.

'Are you just saying that?"

'No I'm not just saying that to flatter you, it's just that it's nice to finally see him smiling. He was not one to smile growing up, he was always grumpy as I remembered" Ricardo teased.

'Yes I understand, he told me that his parents weren't always the most—"
'Loving affectionate parents? Yep, that explains a lot. Unfortunately that's just how his parents were" Richard informed her, reinforcing all that her husband had told her about his childhood.

'You took the words right out of my mouth but I don't think that they are that bad" Aurora tried making an excuse for her in-laws but it was the rolling of Ricardo's eyes that drew her attention.

'Well then, I wouldn't blame you, you haven't lived long enough with your in-laws to know how violent and cruel they can be"

She watched Ricardo as he walked over to the kitchen window and looked out as though he was waiting for someone to arrive.

'Please do not tell me that you hate them?" Aurora asked him, hoping to hear a different story to that of Leonardo. Ricardo walked away from the kitchen window and looked at Aurora.
'I don't hate them, I just find that their way of raising kids or Leonardo is a bit non-conventional if I might say" Ricardo explained. His choice of words brought some hope to Aurora.
'Well it's good to hear something less— Violent about my in-laws once in a while"

'I can see why Leonardo chose you as a wife"

'I still do not understand what you're trying to say to me, can you please explain me what you mean by what you just said?" Aurora asked.

'I don't mean to pry but you're not like the rest of the girls he used to hang out with in his younger days, you're different" Standing in front of Ricardo not knowing what to do or what to say, Aurora placed her hands over her chest and a waited for Ricardo to explain himself further.

Moving his hands from his pocket and clapping them together. The smile on Ricardo's face disappeared, he was now serious as he was looking at Aurora.

'What I meant to say is that, he's not used to having a woman who is as kind as you are. I mean even after your in-laws treated you and your husband badly you still tried to find the good in them. There aren't really much women in the world who would do such a thing and that's why my friend is madly in love with you" Ricardo's words had comforted her, she never thought of herself a being the reason for Leonardo being as happy as he was.
She was aware that Leonardo had changed from being a miserable man to a loving man who only had the wellbeing of their marriage and love as his first priority.

'That's really nice of you to think that about me but I assure you, I am not special"

'Firstly you are very special and that's why my friend loves you so much. It is because you are kind loving and you are so honest, by far the most honest woman that I've ever met"

Aurora thought of Ricardo's words, saying that she was an honest woman who she herself knew the truth behind her lies. Luckily for her, she had managed to keep that side of her away from the public eye.
'Thank you very much for the compliment, however I would really love it for my husband's family to be at our wedding but it feels as though that is impossible at the moment" Aurora replied sadly.

'If I know my best friend well, he will make a way… he always makes a way for the ones he holds dear to his heart. Just like I make away as well. And since you are my best friend's wife you can consider me your brother, I too would go and extra mile for you too" Ricardo's words reassured her, finally she was getting the family that she had always wanted.

'Thank you for the reassuring words, it really means a lot to me. Anyway, I'll get your room ready" Aurora informed him and she quickly rushed towards the guest room to get it ready for Ricardo.
**
Rhea walked into her house, looked at herself in the mirror and she grabbed her hand bag and threw it against the mirror on the wall. Breathing in heavily as she watched the mirror crash onto the floor and breaking a million pieces.
She removed her heels. Kicking it aside and walking towards the shattered pieces of mirror on the floor. Rhea looked at her reflection in the broken pieces of mirror, her reflection revealing her wash down mascara running down her face.
Her day that had gone smoothly had quickly gone downhill, and it was all thanks to one woman, the one woman that has ruined her life. That woman had taken all that she held dear to her heart.

The pain Rhea felt was nothing compared to anything she could have imagined. Rhea had watched had how a simple woman such as Aurora had taken the love of her life away from her in a short period. Aurora had single-handedly done what Rhea herself had failed to do since she was a teenager.

A day that had begun as Rhea looking through the town until she had seen someone through the glass window of a wedding gown store. She had wanted to go there and to find out what was going on but she stopped herself as anger overwhelmed her.
Even as Rhea she stood from across the road and watched how Aurora marveled at the dress that she wore. Rhea gripped onto her shopping bag and almost tore it apart.

Like some mad woman, Rhea sat across from the bridal shower at a nearby coffee shop and watched as Aurora walked out of the store.

She carefully followed Aurora as she walked out of the Bridal shop, like sly fox Rhea followed Aurora into every store that she walked into and pretended as though she too was shopping for herself. Rhea had a plan as she cornered Aurora and caught her by surprise.

Aurora put up a smile, being the perfect chameleon she always she could change into any character she wanted.
'Avena, I did not think that I would find you here" Rhea told Aurora, putting on a perfect smile while knowing deep down that she had wanted nothing more than to strangle Aurora right in the middle of the store.

Aurora unlike Rhea could not put up a fake smile nor could she blend in like a chameleon and pretend she was alright. Her face depicted exactly how she felt and by the looks of things, she was shocked and not too pleased to see Rhea at the shop.

'Rhea, I didn't think that I'll see you here. Are you not supposed to be at work?" Aurora asked.

'Yes I was supposed to but since I'm moving into a new town and all, I thought that it's best for me to take a few days off work to fix my house you know. The house is very big and I did not think that living by myself would be this lonely"

'Oh I see, well I hope you can get everything sorted and perhaps get someone to help you pack your things" Aurora suggested and Rhea smiled back, knowing that she had other ideas planned out in her mind.

She had always known Aurora to be gullible and now it seemed as though this was the perfect time to play on her emotions. She needed to get her plans in order.

'You know, come to think about it. I'm alone and I don't know that many people, why don't you ask Leonardo to come and help me pack up? I mean he's strong and I can't even lift up a box" Rhea's suggestion left Aurora feeling shocked, so much so that Aurora raised her eyebrows questionably and then broke into a smile.

'Gotcha" Rhea thought to herself as she already smiled that by Aurora's action, she already got what she wanted. This was her perfect chance to corner Leonardo and get him to herself completely