Mistakenly Yours: Contract Marriage With The Billionaire-Chapter 135: A short vacation to Italy

"Joseph, you’re misunderstanding me," Paulina said, her voice trembling slightly with frustration.

"Seriously, Mom?" Joseph let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "You abandoned your first child, and you did the exact same thing to me."

It was only a hunch, but in his mind, it was the only explanation that made sense.

"That’s not true at all, Joseph," Paulina shot back, her eyes narrowing as her brows arched in a defensive frown. "How on earth did you find out about Sara? Was that the reason you called me, to throw this in my face? I carried you for nine months, gave birth to you, and because of me, you have everything you do now. You inherited your father’s entire empire, yet you treat me like I’m nothing, like a stranger. How can you do this to your own mother?"

Joseph’s jaw tightened at his mother’s harsh words. "Mom, the only reason I’ve been lenient with you all these years is because you gave birth to me. Do you really think I’ve ever truly enjoyed this so-called wealth? I lost Dad when I was just a kid, and what did you do afterward?" He paused, his voice dropping to a dangerous low before rising sharply.

"Don’t push me to say it out loud. You only had me to satisfy your own selfish needs. You never actually stepped up and became a real mother to me!"

Paulina didn’t answer with words; instead, she threw a sudden, stinging slap across Joseph’s face. "You’re wrong. I never abandoned Sara. Her father wanted her, so I gave her to him. I wasn’t happy in my first marriage."

Her composure cracked slightly as she continued, pointing her finger at him. "My second one... didn’t either go well. Yes, I became selfish after seeing how this world treats the poor. But what’s wrong in that? At least, you’ve all the peace after having so much wealth, thanks to the choices I made!"

She then stepped back. "I’ll live separately from you. You don’t need me anymore. And I’ll return the money I owe you." Paulina pivoted on her heels and took a shaky gulp of air, ensuring Joseph saw her performative distress.

As she walked out of the house, she thought bitterly to herself, ’I lied, but I hope he never meets Sara. She was an obstacle in my ambition, and I couldn’t stand her sight.’

She took out her phone to book an uber when Joseph’s voice reached her ears.

"You can live here. It’s your home too," Joseph said and walked inside.

Paulina smiled victoriously and followed her son inside.

~~~~~

Vinni stiffened, trying to maintain her cheerful composure at the small tea party as the questions started, hitting too close to the truth. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Vinni, you’ve not introduced your daughter-in-law to us. Do Sara and Luca not come home? Weren’t you son injured in the recent attack?" asked one of her friends, Lorita.

"Sara and Luca visit us on the weekends," Vinni lied smoothly while sounding top convincing. "Since they are newlyweds, they need privacy. We don’t bother them to come home either. They are always busy."

"Vinni, come on! You only have one son. Shouldn’t he choose you now and live under the same roof as his parents with his wife? Also, I’ve heard Sara lost her father’s company because of some corruption she did. Is that true?" The second friend, Nancy, probed, clearly relishing the gossip.

"Not at all. They were conspiracies against Sara," Vinni pronounced, subtly steering the narrative. "Well, it was their family matter, but Sara’s stepsister did it, fueled by jealousy and greed. And these days kids prefer privacy over staying with their parents," Vinni finished, trying to handle the matter cleverly by offering small, believable falsehoods to shut down the deeper concerns.

"Ivanna Cavallero... Wasn’t that the girl you introduced us to? Did Luca break his engagement with her? Don’t tell me he was seeing Sara while seeing Ivanna. That girl was really nice, so good with elders," the third friend, Kelly, spoke up finally, bringing up the topic of Luca’s past engagement.

"Oh, yes! What happened to Ivanna? She was deeply in love with Luca," Lorita remarked, picking up a millet cookie, completely oblivious to the discomfort she was causing Vinni.

Vinni motioned her hand in the air in refusal, her rings flashing. "They both parted ways on good terms," she lied, the words sounding hollow even to her own ears. She had to, because there was no other way to stop her friends from probing her further. "Luca and Sara have known each other from school days. They clicked quick with each other and decided to get married. Sara is a working woman, so she hardly gets time for such tea parties."

"Then, how about this Saturday? Organize a tea party with your daughter-in-law for us. Doesn’t that sound great?" Nancy suggested brightly, glancing at the other two with mischievous excitement.

"Yeah, it’s a good idea. We will get to see Luca too, who visits you and Michael on the weekend," Lorita pointed out, confirming Vinni’s earlier lie.

"Then, it’s decided. This Saturday we will have this tea party in Vinni’s house," Kelly asserted, smiling triumphantly.

Vinni passed them a fake smile too, clearly not happy with this sudden, imposed plan. It was impossible. Luca would never allow Sara to come for this tea party. He already hated living in the house. But if she would speak about all this in front of her friends, they would only mock her for not able to handle her son well.

’I hope Sara agrees for this,’ Vinni thought, lifting the cup of the tea.

~~~~

"Sara!" Fabio called out for her as soon as she stepped out of the boardroom, and she immediately turned to look at him.

"Yes? Weren’t you supposed to go out to meet our client related to the new construction project?" Sara walked to him and stopped, holding the notepad in her hand.

"Well, the client couldn’t come because of some reasons," Fabio explained, lowering his voice slightly. "Boss called me earlier. He asked you to leave the work in five minutes."

"What? Why?" Sara confusedly stared at him, her brow furrowed.

"I don’t know. But Boss mentioned that you and he would be going somewhere. I’ll look into the remaining work, so just pack your things and wait for the boss in the lobby. He will scold me if you don’t go," Fabio explained, glancing nervously toward Luca’s office door.

"It won’t happen. I can’t understand Luca sometimes. He never truly let me work properly," Sara muttered in complaint, shaking her head as she headed back towards her desk to grab her purse and jacket.

"Well, you’re Boss’s wife," Fabio remarked, taking the tablet from the desk. "He wouldn’t want you to work like a secretary. Though he appointed you one, I know he will give you a bigger department soon to manage it."

Sara chuckled, adjusting her jacket. "It will be wrong to get in ranks this easily."

"Well, you are a De Augustino. So, it’s not wrong at all. See you later then," Fabio stated and walked away.

Sara also left for the first floor. Stepping out of the elevator, she took out her phone, wondering if Luca had sent any message explaining the sudden order. While she was focused on the screen, her body bumped right into someone’s hard chest, causing her to stagger back a step. Before she could look up and apologize, she recognized the familiar fragrance of the cologne instantly.

"Luca!" Sara’s lips curved up into a wide, genuine smile, the sight of him instantly easing her tension.

He took the small notepad and her purse from her, telling her he would carry it. Sara saw the nearby employees watching them, smiling discreetly, as she looked back at him. Before she could ask him why he suddenly asked her to leave the work, he simply caught her hand and walked quickly out with her.

They entered the backseat of the standing black car. The driver quickly closed the door, and Sara immediately turned to Luca, her confusion mounting.

"What’s going on?" Sara asked.

"Nothing," Luca replied, a rare, relaxed look on his face. "I’ve decided to go on a short vacation with you to Italy."

"What!? Are you serious? Don’t joke like that!" Sara exclaimed, not believing the sudden change of plans. But when he didn’t reply, simply meeting her gaze with a serious intensity, she understood it wasn’t a lie.

"What about the luggage? And did you tell your parents?" Sara inquired, trying to process the abrupt trip.

"Yes. I told Dad," Luca answered. He then leaned slightly toward her. "You can speak freely. The guy who’s driving the car is my trustworthy friend, you can say. His name is Zane Moore," he affirmed.

"Hey, Sara!" Zane gave her a wave in the rearview mirror, not looking away from the road, however.

"Hi!" Sara greeted back, a new wave of suspicion washing over her. "Don’t tell me we are going to Italy because of Martin. It’s dangerous, Luca."

"I told you about Lucius, didn’t I? He will be helping me," Luca replied, holding her hand tightly.