Chapter 95 Marco and I Need Time Apart to Cool Off: Albert's Misunderstandings and Persuasions.

Elena Garcia's POV:

When I woke up, Marco was already gone. 

After getting dressed and opening the door, I found Albert waiting to take me back to school.

"Where's Marco?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"He figured you wouldn't want to see him when you woke up, so he left," Albert sighed.

I didn't get a chance to properly greet Albert when I got back yesterday. He just watched everything from the sidelines. Now he was asking me in detail what had happened.

"Why did you and Marco have a fight?" Albert's expression turned worried, losing his usual carefree vibe. He seemed genuinely concerned about me.

I bit my lip, not wanting to say. Our argument felt pointless, but we still fought. If I told Albert, he might think we were both idiots.

Suppressing the urge to confide, I changed the subject and asked, "Where's Sara?"

I still remembered last night when she was being dragged by Albert like a puppet.

Albert frowned, looking a bit puzzled. "I'm not sure if it's related to your argument with Marco. Marco had me send Sara back to her father this morning and only gave her a warning. That's totally out of character for him. If Sara used mafia tactics against you, she should face the corresponding mafia retribution. That's the fairness of the mafia."

Albert's eyes seemed to have a storm brewing in them. It looked like he was also pissed off by what Sara did to me. After working for the Bianchi family, his mindset was gradually aligning with that of a mafia member.

I thought that what Albert referred to as Marco's character probably meant the overprotective actions Marco would take when it came to me.

Albert's confusion was indeed related to my argument with Marco because I convinced him.

But I didn't feel relieved after convincing him. Instead, my mood became extremely heavy.

I tried asking Albert whether Sara had really been taken to the seaside for execution last night and if that would impact Marco's standing within the family.

Albert frowned and explained, "Francesco had already figured out your kidnapping before you came back. He thought it was Sara's dad, Ben, using his daughter to indirectly control the family heir."

Seeing me look at him sharply, he continued, "But I think that was his way of minimizing losses after realizing Marco couldn't contain his anger. This can reduce losses, but it's also dangerous. Caesar is still coveting the position of the family head, and although Leonardo has temporarily shown no interest in the position, he may change his mind at any time. They might use this incident to attack Marco and seize the opportunity to strip him of his heir status."

My tense heart relaxed a bit. It seemed my choice was the most beneficial for Marco, even if it wasn't good for me.

Albert seemed to sense something from my expression. His expression became serious. "Did you and Marco argue because of Sara? Did you change Marco's mind? Why did you do that?" He seemed extremely puzzled by my actions.

This time, I didn't resist talking about our argument. I looked at Albert and said, "I can't handle putting him in danger."

"So you let him watch the person who hurt the woman he loves and do nothing?" Albert took a deep breath. "I know you care about him, but your way might hurt him, making him feel weak."

"Then what should I do?" I asked him. My tone became a bit agitated and bad because Albert's tone softened.

He held one of my hands and patted my shoulder with the other. "You should give Marco enough trust and believe that he can handle everything. He's not as fragile as you think. Elena, you should trust him."

"But I just want to do something for him, too. " My eyes started to heat up, and my breathing became a bit difficult.

I looked at Albert. In fact, I still couldn't determine his attitude towards me, but when he treated me like family, the only thing I could do was to confide in him like most people would with family.

"Albert, what I suggested was based on trust in Marco before, but now maybe letting Marco handle it would be trusting him." I looked at Albert. "But I don't know. I started to doubt my relationship with Marco, which might have prompted me to let Marco spare Sara."

"What are you talking about? Why are you doubting your relationship with Marco?" Albert frowned. "Is it about their engagement?"

There was a hint of unease and guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you, but those are all things of the past, Elena."

I shook my head. "Their engagement was the beginning of my unease, but it wasn't the main reason. The main reason that made me pull back was what Caesar told me that their family doesn't allow non-Italian girls to be with their heir."

"I can be Marco's lover or have a short-term relationship with him, but he can't belong only to me." My heart felt like it was shattering as I spoke, each word making the pain more unbearable and the situation more dismal.

"I believe Marco wouldn't intentionally deceive me and be with me, but I'm also uneasy that we can't be together forever. The thought of other women around Marco is unbearable. I care about him more than I thought. So for Marco, I can only accept this unchangeable rule of the Bianchi family. This struggle and pain are what forced me to make Marco spare Sara." My tone, after the pain, became firm. "Even without Sara, there will still be other Italian girls. This has nothing to do with Marco's personal wishes. My choice is to maximize Marco's interests."

"Even if it hurts you?" Albert asked the same question as Marco.

I fell silent.

Albert looked at me and said, "You don't trust Marco. You will regret it."

Maybe I would. I listened to Albert's certain words without making any response.

It hadn't been long, but I felt like I had been away from school for a long time. Probably because the kidnapping had greatly shocked me, making it hard for me to integrate into the campus atmosphere for a while.

When I returned to school, I heard from Noah about the recent events at school and learned what happened behind the call Isabella made to me earlier.

Noah also wanted to know what happened at the party. Since he had withdrawn from the heir race and wasn't interested in the Bianchi family's business, he left early. He only knew that Marco and I had some unpleasantness and didn't know that I was kidnapped and almost murdered afterward.

I told him nothing happened. Thankfully, Noah didn't press further. The events at school had completely captured his attention.

"Laura and Sofia had a huge falling out! Laura investigated Sofia. She lied about Sofia having a boyfriend and then revealed it to the boy she had a crush on. The boy, feeling played by Sofia, revealed that he had been pursuing Sofia for a long time and had helped her deceive Laura. He tried to please Sofia by giving her the love letters Laura wrote to him, but he insisted he didn't know it would hurt another girl." Noah excitedly recounted to me, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

Noah kept going, "You should have seen Sofia's expression! The boys she flirted with posted screenshots of their chats with her online. It's big news!"

Noah went on, "The campus forum is blowing up about it. Someone even took the opportunity to post about Laura and her followers bullying others, though the victims' names were hidden!"

Noah continued, "Sofia's reputation has become terrible. Although many of her supporters are defending her, she knows those people can't help her cover up the truth. I heard she hasn't been seen on campus for a long time. The Garcia family arranged for her to take a leave of absence and reported it to the police."

"But I don't think that will help." Noah shrugged. "It's really shameless, I mean, except for you, the rest of the Garcia family. Their pampering of Sofia is disgusting."

While Noah was talking, Albert was still standing by my side. When he was described as a shameless member of the Garcia family, his expression didn't change at all.

Before leaving, Albert reminded me that if I didn't want to go home for the weekend, I didn't have to. He didn't think our father's birthday was something worth paying attention to.

"Birthday? Your father's birthday?" Noah looked at Albert in confusion, as if he had just realized something, and asked, "I forgot to ask, Elena; who is this?"

This idiot! I found it amusing, realizing he didn't know Albert's identity.

Before I could answer, Albert glanced at Noah and smiled as he introduced himself, "Albert Garcia, the shameless member of the Garcia family you mentioned."

Noah's expression instantly became weak and pitiful.