RED

29. Bourvardia

Kiana shook her head in disbelief.

"What kind of a mother are you?" Kiana rhetorically asked, before turning away to leave.
"The kind who doesn't sell her body to any man in exchange for a few dollars." Giulia responded quite quickly, causing Kiana to halt on taking another step forward. That very sentence sounded familiar and at that very moment, her heart sank with fear.

Giulia took in a deep breath before taking steps forward and only stopped when she was in front of Kiana. For some reason, Kiana found it hard to look her in the eye.

"I really didn't want to do this, but I'm the type of person who's ready to go to any length to get what she wants." She admitted and Kiana raised her eyes up to her.

"I did my little research on who you truly are, Kiana Stuart, and I found out quite a lot that my son and... probably the entire school knows nothing about." She confessed and Kiana glared hard at her.

"I got married, but tragically lost my husband to an illness. Tyler is legitimate, but you..." She commented, giving her a disgusted look by the end of her sentence.

"Why don't you make this easy by accepting my offer and doing as I say? It'll be for your good as well." She stated, before stretching her hand out for a handshake. Kiana glared hard at her hand before looking back up to her and by this time, her heart had started racing and she was filled with rage.

She walked right past Giulia and made her way out of the classroom. Her steps down the hallway seemed heavy and war-like. Her eyes had gotten teary as well. She hated being reminded about this truth to her life.

* * *

For obvious reasons, Kiana felt very nervous while seated outside the office, waiting patiently for Enrico to eventually step out. It might have been minutes, but it felt like hours since he has been in there. A part of her curiously wondered about what might be the topic of their discussion. She took another look at the door and there was still no sign of anyone stepping out.

She nervously and lightly bit her lower lip as she rubbed her palms together, then began tapping her feet continuously. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She even imagined the worst and feared the very fact of Enrico finding out the truth from someone else and not her. She knew she did bad. She knew she should have told him earlier and not procrastinate it the way she did. She should have persisted, regardless of the distraction, and then she might really lose him. The thought of it made her heart sink with fear. Unable to sit still anymore, she stood to her feet and took quick steps towards the door.

Suddenly, it was pulled to an open and Kiana's eyes widened with surprise at the mere sight of Enrico in front of her. Her heart thumped loudly from within her chest. For a few seconds, they stood staring at each other, Kiana searched desperately on his face for any expression or signal that would hint her on what was presently going on in his mind. Unfortunately, she found none and it scared her to the core.

"En..." She attempted, but he suddenly took hold of her by the wrist and immediately walked away, dragging her along with him. Although, his very act took her by surprise, she couldn't find the right word to speak up, as she blindly followed him. Her eyes remained on him, but he neither said a word nor stole a glance at her. She only concluded something was definitely wrong when he impatiently pressed the button to the elevator and when it didn't open soon enough, he drew her along with him towards the staircases.

She took a look at his hold on her wrist and it was starting to hurt. His hastened steps down the staircases took a toll on her as she barely caught up with him. Finally, out of the building, Kiana drew to a sudden halt, dragging her hand immediately out of his hold. By so doing, he came to a stop and turned to her. She stared at him for a while, a little out of breath from having walked so fast but yet, he said nothing.

"What's... what's going on?" She questioned, finally seeking a straight answer. If he knew something, it would be better if he shared it with her. She waited patiently for his reply, yet he gave none. She watched him look away from her and she felt a little frustrated about the situation.

"Enrico..."

"She's saying a lot of bad things about you, but, Kiana,... I refused to believe them. I trust your character and I know just how honest you are. I was vexed and couldn't tolerate it anymore, so I left... I had to take you away from there." He suddenly explained as he took hold of her hands in his and drew closer to her.

She stared at him with eyes slightly widened and after what seemed like a moment, she got a hint of what he was talking about.

She told him the truth.

The very sentence rang in her mind and slowly, fear creeped in. The look in his eyes was clearly searching for some sort of reply from her, one that would backup his belief, but Kiana knew she couldn't give him what he desired to hear. That one fact hurt her a lot. There was so much trust in his eyes, yet she was about to break that.

She gulped down hard to control her emotions and found herself blinking several times, as well as she looked away from him.

"What... What did she say?"

"It doesn't matter. It's a lie and you would never do any of the things she said." He interjected right away, as he brought his hand to her cheek and wore a warm smile on his face, but this only made her feel worse.

"I trust you completely." He added, looking her straight in the eyes. The word 'trust' made her feel so guilty. Her heart wrenched and she admitted to the one fact that she was the worst person alive.

"I'm sorry." She apologised almost in a whisper, as she lowered her eyes in shame away from his. Her eyes had gotten teary and by this time, the tears had begun trickling down her cheeks.

Enrico stared at her for a moment, a little confused about the reason for her apology. Slowly, his brows furrowed in expression of the confusion he was going through. A part of him wanted to ask what she was sorry about, but when he saw how much she had begun weeping, a scary conclusion began creeping into his mind and his hand eventually fell to his side.

"Did... Did you actually... accept the money she offered?" He questioned what felt like the right question at the moment, regardless of the fact that it displeased him.

Slowly, she forced herself to look up to him. The look in his eyes was that of a plea. A plea for her to state his desired reply. She shut her eyes for a moment as the tears persisted. She hated having to do this. He didn't deserve any of this. Eventually, she opened her eyes to meet his once more and he seemed so patient about her reply.

"Yes." She confessed, nearly in a whisper and watched as his eyes widened for a moment, surprise evident in them. The look on his face, in his eyes, seemed so different from a few seconds ago. Disappointment washed over him and he took a staggered step backwards before looking away from her.