The cab stopped in front of Saverino manor.The place which had looked like a real life palace was gated and he had to ring the bell and had a throughout security check before he could even enter. A security guard stopped him and asked him what his business was. He calmly told him he was needed to see Gianluca, he had had some business to do with him, which was not entirely a lie. The security guard looked carefully at him before dialing Gianluca, who at the moment was sitting in his home office doing some works.
"State your business" he mentioned his mother's name and nothing else. With the mention of the name, Gianluca froze and cleared his throat before ordering the security guard to let him in. The gate was opened and Matteo walked inside. He knocked on the front door and a middle aged woman which he assumed was one of the house staff (since she was wearing a rather plain maid's outfit) opened the door for him. At first she looked a bit bewildered by the stranger's presence, but he stated the purpose, she allowed him in and lead him into the living room. She asked him to wait on the sofa while Gianluca was out.
Matteo thanked her and the maid left. As he was observing the beautiful house, his heart was beating rapidly, he did not know why but he was nervous to meet his biological father. Yes, he had never known the man in his whole life before, but still, he was his father, and without him, he wouldn't even born in the first place. When he heard footsteps coming from the stairs behind him his heart raced even faster. He could feel the old man's presence in the room. He stood up from his seat and turned to see him. Their eyes met for the first time, and there was a little bit of surprise in Gianluca's face when he saw the young man looked strikingly similar to his younger self.
He went to shake Matteo's hand and offered him to take a seat. Gianluca did not know what to expect, he was just as nervous as Matteo, but as the older one between the two, he tried to maintain a calm manner and gently asked him what his business way. Matteo knew it would be to pointless to explain, so he pulled out the letter from his bag and handed it over to Gianluca, who cautiously took it and read the whole thing.
His eyes went wide open when he reached the middle part. His mind suddenly recalled everything that happened almost thirty years ago.
When he was just started his journey on becoming a young and successful businessman, he was also newly engaged with his current wife Chiara Consiglio, who he had known through family relations. Around the same time, there was a new maid in his household who was assigned close to him. At first he had not paid too much attention to the maid, but one night when he was extremely tired, he stumbled across her when she was already out of her plain maid outfit and immediately found her to be attractive. She was not the most beautiful woman on the planet, in fact most people would agree that Chiara was far more beautiful than the maid, but she possessed that natural country side beauty which captured his attention. She was a refreshing contrast in comparison to Chiara and she had this innocent, naïve like façade around her which roused the beast inside young Gianluca.
Since Chiara and him were not living together (although she did visit him quite frequently). He had plenty of time to enjoy her company. The Sicilian rose became one of his favorite person to be around with. She never asked for much, but he willingly bought her plenty of gifts and showered her with material and physical affection she had never dreamt of before. It was easy for someone like her to fall for his charm, and he knew that much.
It was his plan since the beginning. He wanted to deflower the rose. To be her first and when he found out she was still a virgin, his desire to be with her became much stronger. He could not forget the night when they had sex for the first time. He had invited her to his room, and he was purposely naked that night. She was blushing at the sight of his young body, unable to divert her attention, he captured her right away. She too, was willing, for she had been swept of her feet by the charm of a young multi-millionaire. Both of them were careless, and after spending so many nights together. Something unexpected happened.
He remembered that she woke up one morning looking unusually pale, unlike her usual self. He had asked her what was wrong, and she replied she had been throwing up since early in the morning. Initially, as a good man, he was worried for her, so he gave her some money and assigned someone to bring her to the hospital to get her health checked.
Little did he know it would be one of the biggest mistake he ever made. That evening, as he was inviting her to his room. She looked nervous and excited at the same time. Once again, as he was laying on the bed, he pulled her close to him while asking her what was wrong. She bit her lips and diverted her eyes from him, but not out of lust, it was a completely different emotion.
"Gianluca, I had myself checked today, and the doctor told me something"
"Oh yes, so what did the doctor say?" for a split second she looked like she was contemplating on something, but after taking a deep breath, she finally revealed the news.
"I'm pregnant, Gianluca. And it's our baby" and from the look in her eyes, she had hoped for some kind of tender words. But Gianluca still remembered exactly how he felt at the moment. He froze, his words were glued, his eyes widened in disbelief, and instead of a smile, he had a frown on his face. He was terribly upset. Panic started to rush over his skin, he moved back, leaving her puzzled with his response. He shook his head. It could not possibly happen. He knew if she was pregnant, it would be his child, because she was not the type who would sleep around with other men, and with the amount of sex they had done, it was highly possible.
Still, he could not accept it. He could not accept the baby that was growing in her belly. He was Gianluca Saverino, a great man on his way to becoming one of Italy's most powerful businessman, and he was already engaged with Chiara, who came from the prestigious Consiglio family, whom despite not being as wealthy as the Saverino, had a huge connection all across the country. He had his whole reputation at stake if anyone found out he was impregnating a mere maid. It would cause a huge scandal among Italian high society. He could not risk to lose everything for a mere maid.
He turned his back toward her to think, if he was going to think, he needed to think fast. He needed to cut off any possible connections with her. Because if her belly eventually grew within the perimeter of Saverino's manor, people would have a lot of questions to ask, and suspicions would rouse.
So he made the only decision he could think of.
"Abort the baby" her face fell as he heard his order. He kept on turning his face away as if looking at hers had become a sin. She wrapped her hands around his shoulder, asking him to re consider it. She did not want to believe he would even make such a decision, with him being a practicing catholic and all, she had thought he would at least allow the baby to be born and know his father.
But she was too naïve. Way too naïve.
"Don't you hear me? I want you to abort the baby. And starting next week, you are fired, Leave this place as soon as possible. Don't worry about the abortion fee and everything. I will take care of them. Your job is to get away as far as possible from me" he stated with a stoic expression.
In that moment, she knew the man she loved had disappeared forever, he was replaced by the savvy businessman who cared more about his image than his own blood. Her heart was shattered before her. He stood up from the bed. Put on his clothes and walked out of the room, leaving her in his master bed which had gone cold.
A week later, she did leave. He had transferred a huge sum of money for her abortion and some extra money to cover up his guilt, but he did not know after she was gone, she disobeyed him and kept the baby.
Back to the present, he lifted his gaze from the letter to the young man before him. His eyes widened once more in disbelief. If the letter was indeed written by her, which he was sure it was since they used to exchange letters before back in the day and he still remembered her handwriting, then the man before him was his son.
"You're my son?" he questioned. Matteo nodded. It was sentimental for him, Gianluca did not know how to react. But then he heard a gasp coming from the side, and there stood a teary eyes Chiara. She had her hand on her mouth as she witnessed everything. She had overheard their conversation and understood the circumstance right away. Gianluca stood up from where he was seated and reached out his hand to her, trying to calm her down. Matteo also stood up and faced her. He had recognized the woman as his father's legal wife. Which meant she had to be Chiara Consiglio.
Everything she had just heard must have shattered her heart.
"Chiara, I can explain" but before he could move over to her, she had clutched tightly to her chest and fainted. He immediately rushed over to catch her. He slightly shook her body trying to wake her up. Matteo who witnessed it was equally as stunned by it.
Perhaps he had made a mistake coming over there.