Devoted Love, Mr. Hayes’ Darling Wife

Santino Yepes pursed his lips and asked, “Boss, with all due respect, you and …. your wife have such a relationship, are you really not afraid that, if you get your wife back, the whole world will oppose you, or even vilify you?”

“So what if the world turns against us, not that I’m with her Estrella Berrocal for the sake of anyone who looks at me, besides, I’ve never been against the world, it wouldn’t hurt to try it once.”

Adán Rouco’s tone was light-hearted, but Santino Yepes could hear that Adán Rouco was serious and determined.

Santino Yepes smiled, looked up at the bright fireworks bursting in the sky and said, “The BOSS is always the BOSS, and he’s different from the likes of you.”

“Nowadays you don’t get a raise for kissing ass.”

Santino Yepes was still smiling: “Then a little more year-end bonus would be nice”.

Adán Rouco hooked his thin lips and tightened his grip on the cigarette, squinting his dark eyes as he took a few more puffs.

By the time Paulita came running over, Adán Rouco had extinguished the cigarette in his hand, dropped it on the grass and bent down to pick up Paulita.

Adán Rouco told Santino Yepes: “That’s enough, go back to sleep well”.

Adán Rouco entered with Paulita in his arms and Santino Yepes looked at his back and said, “Happy New Year, boss!”

…

Tonight, Paulita slept with Adán Rouco.

It was one o’clock in the morning before bedtime.

Paulita looked at the time on her cell phone, blinked her big eyes, moved into Adán Rouco’s arms and said softly, “Happy New Year, Papa.”

Adán Rouco’s hollow, somber heart warmed and he kissed the little girl on the forehead and said, “Happy New Year to Paulita too.”

Adán Rouco recalled how he had spent Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve with Paulita every year during Estrella Berrocal’s absence, without feeling any loneliness or sadness, but when you get used to the company of another person, and that person suddenly disappears from your world and your life, emptiness and loneliness can haunt you.

The little boy cuddled in his arms asked, “Daddy, do you miss Estrella?”

“Mmm.” Adán Rouco responded indifferently, not knowing if she was listening to him.

Paulita adds, “I miss Estrella too.”

“Mmm.” Again, if anything, there was an unspoken response.NôvelDrama.Org holds this content.

Paulita asked again, “Daddy, will Estrella come home?”.

Adam Rouco’s eyes paused for a second, and suddenly he looked at Paulita with assurance, and his thin lips exhaled three words: “Yes, soon”.

The little boy closed his eyes wide in reassurance, “Then I’m relieved, Felipa’s strawberry cake is not good at all, I prefer Estrella’s.”

Paulita said a lot of things to herself, and Adán Rouco answered her with a little cry.

Finally, Paulita fell asleep drooling and talking in her sleep.

“Dad, I want to eat KFC…”

“I’ll take you there tomorrow.”

“Dad, I want to see Estrella tomorrow…”

Adán Rouco patted his daughter with his big hand, as if responding to Paulita, and as if saying to himself, “Papa will find Estrella soon.”

…

That night, Adán Rouco could not sleep.

The environment was not urban, it was an area of villas, so there was no one to take care of the fireworks being launched nearby, and from 3 a. m. onwards, firecrackers and fireworks could be heard intermittently to welcome the New Year.

Paulita slept very well in her arms, and the children could not be awakened by outside noise while they were asleep.

Adán Rouco was awake, awake thinking about Estrella Berrocal.

He had never known that missing someone could be so intense, so much so that he didn’t even find it hard to lose sleep.

…

It was just after nine o’clock at night in Florence, a thousand kilometers away.

Estrella Berrocal had been locked in her hotel room for two days, but it was Christmas Eve and she wanted to see how the Italians were spending it.

So, in the evening, she ran out of the hotel alone.

But as soon as he reached the street, he regretted going out.

I did not expect Italians to also celebrate Christmas Eve in a bigger way than in their country.

The streets were full of traffic and people everywhere, and Estrella Berrocal was almost crushed by the crowd.

But such hustle and bustle made her feel even more alone at that moment.

He managed to get out of the huge crowd, away from the hustle and bustle and into the darkness of the night, where a red phone booth peeked out from under the street lights.

He remained outside the phone booth for a long time.

How much I wanted to call Adán Rouco at that moment.

To tell him, against all odds, where he was and how much I missed him.

And, indeed, he did.

He entered the phone booth and dialed a series of numbers he had memorized by heart.

His heart, almost in his throat, was not nervous, but joyful and excited.

Soon I could hear the voice of Adán Rouco.

Soon I could say Happy New Year to Adán Rouco.

But when he called, all he got was a cold, mechanical female voice that translated into English as – I’m sorry, the number you are calling has permission and cannot be answered at this time.

The English pendulum chimed twelve o’clock.

Estrella Berrocal clutches the phone in desperation, listening to the long busy tone, but finally looking up at the fireworks in the sky and muttering, “Happy New Year, Adam.”

And to your Paulita, Happy New Year too.

…

Round.

Dulcina Calvo had been back for a few days and tonight, Christmas Day, she joined her parents in the living room to chat while they went back to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

While waiting for dinner, Dulcina Calvo wondered if she should send Esteban Zaragosa a happy new year or something.

He opened his messages, clicked on Esteban Zaragosa’s dialog box, typed “Happy New Year” and was about to send it when Esteban Zaragosa suddenly sent a message.

It was nothing other than “Happy New Year.”

Dulcina Calvo’s eyebrows jumped up and she returned the message saying, “Happy New Year!”.

But, after a few seconds, he got a message back: “Don’t worry, it’s a group message”.

Dulcina Calvo: “…”

Dulcina Calvo’s heart skipped a million beats. … She immediately removed the “Happy New Year” message.

Then, deliberately, he said to Esteban Zaragosa: “I’m sorry, tutor, I have the wrong person”.

Esteban Zaragosa, on the other side, had three black lines running across his forehead, and his eyes were cold and icy.

Bullshit.

Dulcina Calvo threw down the phone angrily, thinking: “How proud you are to have sent a mass message, you can’t send a mass message without warning! What’s the point?

If he can choke, so can she!

After a minute, Dulcina Calvo’s phone rang.

Dulcina Calvo picked it up and saw that it was the demon Esteban on the caller ID, and almost lost control of the phone.

It wasn’t a call for a favor, was it?

She stiffened and answered the phone.

“Hello … tutor …” said Dulcina Calvo in a shaky little voice.

Esteban Zaragosa growled, “Where is the wrong person to send it to? Since they didn’t send it to me, who were you going to send it to?”.

“…”

“Lazaro Morejon? Or which student?”

Dulcina Calvo’s scalp tingled: “…”

“Down.

“Huh?” Dulcina Calvo did not answer.

“I’m below your house.”

Dulcina Calvo: “…?!”