"Mamma, I heard you're avoiding Papi. What did he do to upset you this... time..." Caterina stopped walking and speaking the moment she laid eyes on Francesco.
"What are you doing here?!" She asked angrily, crossing the threshold into the sitting area. "Why are you here?!"
"Cate! Don't be so hostile."
"Mamma, he's father's bastard. Why is he with you?"
Claudia took her daughter by the hand and sat her down in the seat opposite Francesco. "Silly girl, we were all caught in your father's word play. Francesco is not his son, but our grandson."
"Grandson? Mamma, no one has had—"
Suddenly, Caterina turned to look at Francesco wide-eyed. The boy gave his aunt a soft smile.
"Hello, Aunt Caterina."
Caterina chuckled. "You certainly are as cute as you sounded. Hello Adam." She said with a big smile.
Caterina moved to the chair with her nephew, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him affectionately.
"Why didn't you tell me the first time we met? Or even at the winter gathering? What happened? Did Papi do this to you?" She asked, lightly touching his stitches.
"...In a way... Sort of... It's complicated."
"Does it hurt?"
"Sometimes."
Caterina nodded affirmatively as she played in the boy's hair. "How's Roro?"
Francesco glanced at his aunt, dumbfounded. She was asking him about his mother? Between them, she should have been the last one to have contact with Aurora. "When was the last time you spoke to her?" He asked hesitantly.
"The time that we spoke."
She's gone?
The boy burst into tears. His last moments with his mother replayed over and over again in his mind. Francesco degraded himself as his tears fell endlessly. What if something had happened to her? Did something happen to Logan too? What if he never saw her again? He was upset with her for leaving him with Sarah, that his last memory of his mother wasn't a happy one.
"It's okay. It's normal for Roro to be out of touch for months." Caterina soothed her nephew.
"Cate, you've been in contact with your sister all these years?"
"Mamma, Roro was afraid you'd be worried, especially when she disappeared; that's why she didn't contact you."
"Of course I was worried! The only indication I had that she was alive was the yearly transaction she executed on our account. You knew about Francesco too?"
"Roro had introduced us over the phone back in July."
"You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I am! But Roro couldn't risk Papi finding her through you."
Claudia continued to question Caterina about her communication with Aurora, and Francesco also told his aunt about Logan's missing firm. Caterina suggested that Aurora and Logan may be on the run and likely hiding from Luciano.
The trio concluded that they needed to confront the head of the family if they were going to find out what happened to Aurora. Claudia was initially against meeting her husband or letting him near Francesco. But the boy convinced his grandmother to stay her anger. He was confident his grandfather would be more cooperative with his demands now.
134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtz6LvC9S4H
A week after Caterina's arrival, Luciano met with his wife, daughter, and grandson at the villa. When Claudia invited her husband to spend the day with them, he readily agreed. But when Luciano arrived at the door, before he could say a word, Claudia turned him away.
"You are here to spend time with your family, yet you turn up dressed in a suit like it's a business meeting. Go away!"
"Mamma, that was unnecessary." Caterina admonished.
"He will not cross my doorway so easily."
Luciano left and returned an hour later, casually dressed and bearing gifts.
"At least you made an effort." Claudia said as she permitted him into the house.
The head of the Baggio family sat opposite his wife, daughter, and heir. Claudia and Caterina sat on either side of Francesco protectively, and an awkward silence hung over the family.
"You know where my mother is, don't you?" Francesco finally asked.
Luciano met his grandson's fiery gaze. An unknown emotion crossed his face. "No, I don't." He said calmly.
Francesco stared down his grandfather as hard as he could. Was he lying? "What happened to dad's firm?"
"He bought another company and stepped down as CEO."
"Where are they?" The boy demanded.
"I don't know."
"You're lying! You were pressuring her to divorce him."
Caterina wrapped her arms around Francesco in an attempt to calm him down as she entreated her father. "Papi, we know you're dying. Make things right before you do."
Luciano looked at his daughter and grandson wide-eyed with confusion.
"You've been investing heavily in lung cancer research the past seven years." Claudia added. "Did you think you could keep it a secret?"
Luciano closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before finally releasing it and opening his eyes to look at the trio in front of him. "I am not the one with cancer."
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