Chapter 78- EMPTY HOUSE

Leonardo wanted nothing other than to run away, he could not believe that his entire life was falling apart. The woman who he had been married to for the past seven months, the woman who was to be the mother of his child and now he was finding out that she was an imposter and the woman that he was supposed to be married to was standing there, a few feet away from him.

Leonardo nearly fell onto the ground but luckily Ricardo caught him right before he could hit the ground.

'Relax my friend, relax" Leonardo heard Ricardo whisper into his ear.

'Please tell me that this is a dream, please tell me that this is a dream" Leonardo begged his best friend as he tried to come to terms with the fact that his entire marriage has been nothing but a hoax.
**

Aurora ran out into the road, she was ready to go wherever she had to go but she would not be returning to the same house where she and Leonardo lived in. Her husband was a murderer, the very same murderer that killed her mother all those years ago. She had lived a lie all her life and everyone around her kept that lie going.

'Aurora stop running" Signora Meta called out to her. The older woman ran after her, Aurora stopped and she turned her face the older woman. Aurora's eyes filled with tears as she looked into Signora Meta's eyes.

'Why did you guys not tell me that my mother was shot all those years ago? You all lied to me, you told me that she had died of an illness" Aurora asked, raising her voice at the older woman.

'I'm sorry that I could not tell you the truth, we did not want to hurt your feelings, think about it. Imagine telling you that your mother had been brutally shot by an evil young man in the forest while searching for your favorite berries, would you have forgiven yourself?" Signora Meta asked Aurora, who's lips quivered as she looked at the beautiful woman Aurora had turned out to be.

'So you had known all along that my mother's death had been caused by my husband, then why did you allow me to marry him in the first place?" Aurora asked, she slumped onto the floor and cried into her hands. Signora Meta crouched down, removed Aurora's hands from her face and looked into Aurora's teary eyes.

'Trust me my dear, I did not know about all this. I walking past one of the rooms, I heard the conversation between Ricardo and Leonardo. I then followed Ricardo when he left the room and I tried to make him tell me what they were talking about but refuse to tell me a single thing. I knew that what they were talking about was closely related to the death of your mother, considering the timeline it made sense. It was only the woman in the shadows that told me everything and with all the evidence"

'But what if it was all a mistake, what if my husband did not murder my mother?"

'Your husband really did kill your mother and instead of being an honest person and being telling the truth, his family had pinned the blame on Ricardo. Ricardo was being the good friend, which is why he took the blame for what Leonardo had done. The Romano family did everything they could to the extent of paying off authorities to close your mother's case"

'But why would Ricardo keep such a secret from me, was he trying to save my life or was he trying to warn me all this while? I thought he was blackmailing me because he was a jealous friend"

'My dear, there is no need to think so much. We have to go to a nearby hotel that way you can rest and think about things better. All this thinking is not good for your baby, you need to relax" Aurora carefully placed her hand over her stomach, wanting nothing other than to protect her unborn child.

'I think you are right, I should be thinking about the life growing inside my womb and how all this would have a negative impact on my unborn child" Even as Aurora said all that she could say, she wished more than anything to tell Leonardo her side of the story on why she pretended to be Avena but upon hearing of her mother's death, Aurora's mood had worsened.
**
As time went by, Leonardo allowed his mind to flow, everything had happened so fast. The one moment he was happily about to marry the woman of his dreams and then the next it was all crashing down. Even as Leonardo's back was turned to the church, he heard food steps walking towards him.

'Ricardo mind you, I am not in the mood to speak to you or anyone right now. I just want to focus on understanding all that is happening around me" he pleaded, only to be cut off by his mother.

'I'm not Ricardo, I'm simply here to speak to you as a mother would speak to her child" She told Leonardo. Leonardo let out a laugh in disbelief, after all that had happened his mother was willing to play a mother to him.

'Please mother, save this for someone who wants to listen to your lies! You wouldn't be doing this unless there was something in it for you and how did you come to find out that my wife is an imposter?"

His mother handed him a document, Leonardo looked at the papers that his mother had handed to him and it was the very same contract that he had given to his wife to sign without her knowledge.

'What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked his mother as he carefully examined the documents without taking it into his hands.

'Look at the signatures" His mother told him. Leonardo took the papers from his mother and looked at his signatures, he could not figure out what was his mother was seeing that he could not see.

'I do not understand what you are trying to say, mother?"

'Look at the papers clearly my son, your wife is the biggest liar"

'Just tell me what you see on this document that I cannot see!!"

'Your wife signed onto this very document but her signature is a different name to that she claimed to be and when this document came back to us, we knew something was wrong. Your father and I started digging deeper and we found out that she was just a maid at the Russo household" His mother informed him, she had nothing but hate in her tone of voice for Aurora.

'And how did you come to find the real Avena?" He asked his mother, swallowing the pain down his throat but still wanting to know more.

'Believe it or not, she came to us and told us how Aurora had convinced her to leave with a lover. That Aurora told Avena all sorts of lies about the kind of man you are, she had told Avena that you were a cruel man and that made the poor little girl feel fear you. Avena then ran away and that is when Aurora took a chance and took her place. That woman is despicable!"

'Do not say that about my wife!" Leonardo stood up, angrily pointing his index finger at his mother. Even as he was angry with Aurora, he could not bear the thought of someone speaking bad about her character.

'Open your eyes my son that woman that you married is not your wife and she is nothing but an imposter. My dear son, can you not see it?"

Gathering all the strength in his body, Leonardo threw the piece of paper onto the floor and he walked further down the steps. He was still in disbelief that his wedding day had turned into a nightmare.

'I have to go home"

'You can't go home!" his mother pleaded with him, even though he heard her call out to him, Leonardo chose not to turn around. He walked out the church, got into his car and drove home. He needed to speak to his wife as soon as possible, maybe try to get some clarity as to what was going on.

**
A tear ran down, Leonardo's face as he walked into his house, it was empty and it was silent just has it had been before he had married his wife. His home was once filled with love and warmth and now there was nothing and it felt like a cold store room with nothing in it. His wife had made their house into a home, the little touches that she had added such as their wedding pictures was what tied the house together.

Looking at the wall where there was a picture hanging of him and his wife on their wedding day, the only picture of them smiling or rather pretending to smile. He had imagined for days how he would have to replace this picture with a new wedding picture of them smiling as a couple.

He removed the picture off the wall and threw it onto the floor and he watched as shards of glass flew everywhere. The anger inside of him knowing that all this was a fake. Just like their first marriage. All that they had built together was nothing as but a fake and nothing but a game that his wife was playing.



*Flashback*

As soon as Ricardo walked out of the room, she hid in the darkness of the stairway and watched him walk out of the back door towards the garden area. Signora Meta knew that she had to speak to him for she did not know what plans that he was cooking up. She known Ricardo only for a little while but she had figured out that he was nothing more than a villain.

She followed behind him until she saw him on his phone speaking to someone and he was looking side to side as if watching to see if anyone was listening to his conversation.

His eyes landed on her and he quickly ended the call and put the phone into his pocket, putting on a fake smile as though everything was ok but she was not going to fall for it.

Placing her hands onto her hips like a true Italian woman, Signora Meta walked up to Ricardo. Even though Ricardo was taller than her she looked up at him ready to beat him up and put him in his place.

'Is today not beautiful?" Ricardo commented, looking up at the blue sky and the sun as the sun shorn bright. She knew that Ricardo was a cunning man and that she should not fall for any of his tricks. She had warned him a few days ago to stay for away from Aurora and her marriage and it seems as though the more she warned him, the closer he wanted to ruin their marriage.

'I warned you about trying to ruin my daughter's wedding and it seems as though you're still planning to do it. Do not make me teach you a lesson that won't forget and let me remind you that I still have your little secret" Signora Meta warned her.

The Italian's Runaway Bride
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