Chapter 17: Mixed Emotions.

Livia's injured hand had been bandaged, and the mess she had made had been cleaned up. Livia sat on her bed, looking at her bandaged hands with remorse, as images of what had happened earlier flashed through her mind.

Santiago walked in and sat beside her, calling out, "Livia."

Livia raised her head and slowly turned to face Santiago.

Santiago pushed back a strand of her hair and inquired, "Are you okay? If you want me to stay here with you, I won't mind."

Livia asked with a smile, "Really? You would leave your job and come here to be with me."

"Yes," Santiago replied, and Livia laughed and hugged him, thinking, 'Thank goodness, I still have Santiago wrapped around my fingers, I still have the upper hand, Lola will be out of his life for good.'

"Are you hungry?" Santiago asked as he pulled away from their hug.

"Yes, I am," Livia replied, gently tapping her stomach.

"I can't wait for you to come out," Santiago said, touching her stomach.

"He, too, is looking forward to seeing his father. I just want to build a family with you," Livia laughed as she held Santiago's hand.

"That can't happen, at least not right now. I want Lola to ask for a divorce first," Santiago replied.

"How will she ask for a divorce if she is unaware of us?" Livia yelled, her brow furrowed.

"Why are you suddenly talking about revealing everything to Lola ? I don't want her to know," Santiago asked.

"I understand why you don't want her to know; you can't let her go, you can't live without her, that's why," Livia said.

Santiago grabbed Livia's shoulder and shouted, "What are you saying all of a sudden, stop this nonsense, Livia."

Livia flinched as tears streamed down her cheek.

"You like her, you love her, you don't love me anymore," Livia said, gazing into his intense blue orbs. Santiago sighed and closed his eyes. He let go of her shoulder and stood up.

"If you didn't have feelings for her, you wouldn't have yelled at me like you did, Santiago." Livia screamed.

Santiago shook his head, gave Livia an annoyed look, and replied, "Why would you think I love Lola? I don't love her, but I do love you, and nothing can change that; just believe me and be patient."

"Let's go eat something," Santiago said as Livia wiped away her tears. Livia nodded, and Santiago helped her get out of bed, out of her room and down the stairs.

***

Work hours were nearly up. Everyone in the office was preparing to leave. Marco left his office with a file in hand and went to Lola's office. He knocked a few times but she didn't answer.

"Madam, the DNA results have arrived," He said softly, but received no response.

'Did she leave?' He wondered as he grabbed the handle, pushed it down, and opened the door to find Lola, lost in her thoughts as she stared at the beautiful sunset through the huge transparent window wall in her office.

'I'm still thinking about what Amber said to me,' She reflected, recalling what Amber said,

'Livia and Santiago were both behind all the three miscarriages you had. '

'Oh, she's here,' He thought as he approached her table slowly.

"Mr Fernandez," Lola called, and Marco froze and stuttered, "Yes madam."

Lola turned to face him and asked, "I'm feeling emotions I haven't felt in a long time."

Marco blinked and looked around him several times before focusing entirely on Lola.

"Yes, madam," He replied, unsure of the direction of their conversation.

"Anger, pain, sadness, the feeling of betrayal...all at once, and for the first time in my life, I'm unable to control or subdue them, and as a result, I'm unable to think properly," she said, averting her gaze and her voice slightly cracking.

Marco was taken aback to see this side of Lola; 'Madam has never acted like this before,' He reasoned.

'Then I will cheer madam up alittle. '

"Well madam, I think the solution to your problem is to relax, some hot coffee will help with that, or going out of that uncomfortable environment, the place that makes you feel this way for a while," Marco reasoned.

'uncomfortable environment?' Lola's dull expression vanished as she entered her usual expressionless look.

She took the file from Marco's grasp, placed it in her drawer, and proceeded to the door with her bags.

"Good job today," She said as she turned to face Marco, who smiled nodded and left.

She left her office and exited the building .

She pulled out her phone and was about to call Maria as she approached her car when she received a message from an unknown number. She tapped on the message notification icon and read, 'I'm parked outside your company building,' finishing with a wink emoji. Lola looked up and saw Luis standing near his car in the parking lot.

'How did he get my current phone number?' she wondered, sighed, and turned to her chauffeur, ordering, "Go home, I'll be working late."

The chauffeur drove away, nodding.

"It seems you have all the time in the world," Lola said to Luis as she approached him.

"All I want is for you to realize that you're still in love with me." Luis stated , he winked at her , grasped her shoulders and pushed her towards the door to the passenger seat.

"So I decided that I'm taking you out today," Luis said, he opened the door to his car's passenger seat and gently pushed Lola onto the seat. He shut the door, opened the door to the driver's seat, and started the engine.

"Hold on, you didn't even let me speak," Lola said, to which Luis replied, "I know that's why I didn't wait for your response, I knew you'd say no."

Lola quickly turned to open the door, but he locked it; she raised an eyebrow at him, and he said, "you're not leaving this car."

"I'd like to see you stop me," Lola challenged him as she unlocked the door, but he quickly locked it again. This went on for several minutes until Luis said, "Lola, just stop being stubborn and come with me."

Lola used that chance to quickly unlock the door and gout out of the car.

Luis got out of his car immediately and stopped her in her tracks.

"Move," she ordered. Seeing that Luis wasn't planning on moving, She decided to move to the left but he did the same, she then moved to the right but he also did the same .

"You've already told your chauffeur to leave," Luis pointed out.

"I can hire a cab, now let me through," Lola responded as she turned away and Luis did something unexpected: he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to his chest and swooped her off her feet while carrying her bridal style, her eyes widening in surprise as he led her back into the car.

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