Devoted Love, Mr. Hayes’ Darling Wife

Estrella Berrocal picked up her purse and got up to leave: “Tia segunda, I have other things to do, I’ll go first”.

Their flight was, in Shoshana Duque’s eyes, nothing more than a flight of panic and fear.

Shoshana Duque sat back in her chair, pouring the coffee water slowly and methodically, smiling softly and growling, “Are you afraid?”

Estrella Berrocal turned her back on him, clutching her purse chain in her hands.

“What other instructions do you have, second aunt?”

“No instructions, but today I came to tell you this, and I’m not just saying it.”

Estrella Berrocal blushed slightly and even the tremor in her voice was hidden: “What does Auntie want?”.

“I hate your mother, and I hate the children she had with my husband, and I want you to leave The Holy City and never appear before me again.”

Estrella Berrocal’s lips curled at this unreasonable, even “shameless” request. “I can understand that the aunt doesn’t want to see me, but what I don’t understand is why it’s not the aunt who’s leaving La Ciudad Santa, but me who’s leaving La Ciudad Santa…”C0pyright © 2024 Nôv)(elDrama.Org.

She had done nothing wrong, so why did she have to leave?

When Shoshana Duque heard this from her, the coffee cup she was holding in her hand was thrown forcefully onto the coffee table, splashing water from the cup onto the table as Shoshana Duque said angrily, “Because you’re to blame!”

Estrella Berrocal turned sharply and glared at her, asking, “Why am I to blame?”

“Because you’re that woman’s daughter! That’s your biggest fault!”

Estrella Berrocal’s eyes reddened slightly, her gaze dulled as she stared at her.

Shoshana Duque stood up, stepped in front of her and spoke slowly, word for word, “You and your mother will always be in my debt!”

“Estrella Berrocal, you may not leave La Ciudad Santa, but I will make you regret this decision.”

Estrella Berrocal gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tightly, her fingers gripping the bag, unable to contain a slight tremor.

“If I don’t leave, what do you want?”

“You can’t believe whose daughter you are, but if you insist on not leaving The Holy City and keep hanging around my husband and me, don’t blame me for exposing your origins. You will be exposed.”

Estrella Berrocal swallowed saliva: “If you expose yourself…. I’m afraid uncle will hate you if you expose my life.”

He didn’t mind threatening Shoshana Duque in this way, but he had to.

Shoshana Duque said calmly, “Hmph, am I afraid he hates me? As soon as I found out that he really wanted to give you half of his name, I knew exactly how important Juanisha Capistran was to him, more important than Arella and I. Do you think I still care if he hates me or not?”.

Estrella Berrocal bit her white lip as she clenched her purse and turned to walk away.

Shoshana Duque’s cold, icy voice sounded behind her: “You can forget what I said today, but I remind you that when your identity is revealed, you will be implicated. Adán Rouco, the Rouco Group, The Rouco Family … and even your daughter Paulita could be subjected to public outcry and unprecedented cyber violence. What’s more, the Rouco Group will face a huge public outcry and cyber violence as a result of this shameful incest. Estrella Berrocal, if I were you, I would leave La Ciudad Santa, because if sacrificing only me saves everyone’s happiness, why wouldn’t I?”

“That’s not saving, that’s whitewashing.”

“You’re not interested in whitewashing peace, so wait until the world falls apart.”

Estrella Berrocal’s chest got cold: “Tía segunda, do you hate me and my mother so much? To take revenge on me and my mother, you prefer to take on the whole Rouco family, you’re horrible”.

“Do you know what it was like for me to see my husband leave home at that time and not be able to get him back? What did I do wrong when I tried so hard to be a good wife and he still left me? Who is your mother to break up my family? Since your mother committed a crime and is gone, it’s your turn to pay!”

…

Shoshana Duque’s cold and merciless words still echo in his ears.

Estrella Berrocal managed to get out of the café.

Outside, the sky was gray and light snow particles had begun to fall again.

The world before him was a mist of tears, as pedestrians hurried along the roads.

A booming cacophony in his ears.

Was she really Uncle Er’s daughter?

But that was not her main concern. She could be anyone’s daughter, but why did she have to be the daughter of Adán Rouco’s own second uncle?

Were she and Adam really cousins?

Her delicate fingertips dug into his palm, digging deep, but he felt no trace of pain.

It was cold outside, and she was wearing a lot of clothes, but she couldn’t feel any warmth at that moment, her body felt as if she had been submerged in the cold river water, so cold that she was numb and had lost all sense.

Her phone rang and she received a text message from Shoshana Duque.

“My patience is limited, if you do not leave The Holy City by Christmas Eve night at the latest, I will make your life public. I am not afraid to fish out of the water.”

Estrella Berrocal looked at this text message on her phone and tears spilled and dripped onto the screen.

She knew perfectly well that Shoshana Duque not only threatened her verbally, but also forced her to leave by any means.

If she did not leave, Shoshana Duque would definitely reveal her origins, and she was not afraid that her origins would be made public, but … once her origins were revealed, Adán Rouco would also be thrust into the limelight.

If she was the daughter of her second uncle, she could not be the wife of Adán Rouco.

…

Adán Rouco came home early tonight and when he entered the bedroom he found Estrella Berrocal standing by the window looking at the snowflakes.

He walked up to her and hugged her from behind.

Estrella Berrocal was slightly startled, “You’re back?”.

“Enjoying the snow days?”

Estrella Berrocal candidly said, “Actually, I don’t like snow days, they are cold and the traffic is bad if you go out.”

“How can you be so young and not be a teenager?”

Estrella Berrocal let out a giggle when she heard the word “girl” coming from Adán Rouco.

She looked at him with a slight turn of her head, “Do you know what adolescence is?”.

Adán Rouco raised an eyebrow and shook her hand, it was cold and he frowned slightly, “Why are your hands so cold?”

“That’s why I don’t like snow days.”

Adam Rouco’s large, warm, dry hand rubbed her small, cold hand, sensing that it was not warm enough, turned it so that it was facing him, and the man held her small hand, blowing warm air into it several times.

It never warmed up and Adán Rouco’s brow furrowed: “What a physicist, like a piece of ice”.

His tone was not overly affectionate, but Estrella Berrocal’s heart was moved and she leaned into his arms and said, “So I’m a piece of ice, will you warm me up?”.

Adam Rouco’s thin lips curved slightly, his tone was a little forlorn, but also soft and indulgent, and he said in a long, leisurely voice, “Yes.”

Estrella Berrocal’s whole body was gathered in her arms, her cold hands slipped under the hem of her sweater and slipped into her very warm waist.

Adam Rouco lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair, asking in a muffled voice, “Is it warm?”

She buried herself in his arms, “Hot, very hot.”

So warm that he didn’t want to part with it at all.