Her throat tightened. “Yes.” Vivian’s lips curved into a wobbly smile of her own. “That’s exactly right.” And because she could no longer help it, she hugged the child tightly.
Eula hugged her back just as tightly. “I love you, Mama.”
Vivian’s arms tightened around her little girl’s. “And I love you, too. I love you so, so much, my princess.” It was a bittersweet moment, knowing how much Eula loved her, but also knowing that Eula and even Luca had suffered so much pain without her knowing it.
The crowd around them, long forgotten by the two, wiped their eyes at the poignant scene, and so caught up were they that they weren’t aware of the way Luca Valencia’s bodyguards had stealthily escorted Maria out of the premises.
A bodyguard opened the backseat door of the billionaire’s limousine, and knowing she had no choice, Maria forced herself to join her husband inside.
The door closed with a strong thud, and she flinched.
“This is the last time we shall talk, Maria.”
Terror crawled all over her at the chilling sound of her ex-husband’s voice, and when she turned to face him, she leaned back against her seat involuntarily, Luca’s ruthless expression spelling out her worst fears.
“I only gave you a chance for Eula’s sake, but I know now it is my greatest mistake. You have gone too far, Maria.”
“I’m sorry!” Maria didn’t even think of lying this time, knowing that he would catch her if she did and he would be even less inclined to forgive her. “I was desperate. I’m broke, Luca. I knew I needed her as leverage—-”
Luca’s expletive shut her up, and when cracked his fist, she flinched, thinking he would strike her.
The billionaire stared at his ex-wife, knowing that he had it in his power to do whatever he wanted with her. And right now, the way rage still coursed through his veins—-
He wanted to kill her, or even just cause her any kind of pain, to avenge his daughter.
And the old Luca – the one who didn’t believe in love – would have.
But fortunately for Maria, he was no longer the same man he had been before.
Luca’s fist slowly dropped to his side, and he said under his breath, “You could have just asked.”
Maria couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
His head jerking up sharply, he said tautly, “You should have just asked.”
And that was when Maria realized just how much Vivian had changed her ex-husband. She had thought that telling him the truth wasn’t even an option. The old Luca would never have cared to help her. The old Luca would forever despise her for betraying him and abandoning Eula—-
But this new Luca was different.
And yet, it was too late.
“Please.” The word came out choking, and this time Maria didn’t even need to pretend she was crying. She was frightened, deeply frightened, of what the future held, and it was nothing.
In the back of her mind, Maria had always thought that when all hope was lost, she could either lie and seduce her way back into Luca’s life or use Eula as leverage.
But now—-
“I have no one to turn to, Luca.”
“You’ll survive. People like you always do.”
“I’m Eula’s mother,” she cried out. “That must still mean something—-” The billionaire abruptly leaned forward, and her voice broke off.
“It does,” he snapped. “And what it means is that I am letting you walk away unscathed one last time. It is more than you deserve for hurting my daughter, but it is also for her sake that I am letting you leave with the smallest dignity intact.”
Luca knocked on the window, and the door was immediately opened by one of his bodyguards. Before stepping out, he cast one last look at his ex-wife. “Eula and I are never to see you again, Maria.” His voice was deadly soft. “Do you understand?”
When Luca walked back inside the school, Vivian was already seated inside one of the classrooms and deep in conversation with his daughter’s homeroom adviser.
After giving the other woman a polite nod of greeting, he bent down to kiss the top of his wife’s head before taking his sleeping daughter from Vivian. The tender act had the other mothers in the classroom mentally swooning, but when they turned to look at the billionaire’s wife, the women were unanimously undecided. Should they hate her for being married to Luca Valencia or should they cheer her for being an incredible stepmother to Eula?
As the billionaire slid into the vacant seat next to his wife, the homeroom adviser cleared her throat, mumbling, “Excuse me for a moment,” she said with a polite cough. “I must attend to…something.” She hurried away, knowing that she needed to find something to do for at least half an hour. It was clear the billionaire desired privacy with his wife, and since Luca Valencia was one of their school’s top benefactors…