The Indifference of a Man Forgotten (BOOK I)

Chapter 23- Regrets

--Marcos POV--

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Certain. Sophia Accardi, Miss Tarantino's birth mother, can't be there for any good reason. The husband she claimed that was in hospital was only there once in his life which was fifteen years ago for a sprained ankle, and that was it; He's a healthy man, physically,"

"Why would she lie about that?" I sighed, massaging my temples.

Dahlia was currently having lunch with her mother since I had to step out to take this phone call. Everyone else that was supposed to be in there had to leave for their own business so now that I've learnt some questionable details about Sophia Accardi, I'm reluctant to leave Dahlia alone with her mother.

"Trying to look as pitiful as possible, I guess. Miss Tarantino's birth father, although healthy, he's quite problematic." My secretary explained.

"Problematic?"

"Well, he's lived quite the life. Went to university, graduated with a bachelor's degree in business, opened his own business only for it to fail a year later, and he's been in debt since then. He's been working odd jobs here and there, but he's been spending most of that money on alcohol rather than paying back those debts,"

"And where did Sophia Accardi come from?" I raised a brow, finding it hard to believe that a man that was busy paying off his debt had time to fall in love, marry, and father a child.

"Well, along the way, it seems he met Sophia Accardi, she ran away from her abusive household, and right into his arms. They found sanctuary in each other, I guess, a toxic one. There aren't any records on what their lives were like together, but it's clear that he became abusive once Dahlia was conceived," My fists clenched at his words.

"It's best if we take it as a good sign that they left her at an orphanage. Otherwise, she could have been growing up in an abusive home," Right, we could always look at it like that. But what is it with people giving birth to children they weren't ready to look after? The one suffering the most in those situations is the child.

And in this case, Dahlia is the child.

I pray she doesn't find out about this; Knowing her, she would only blame herself for everything, probably thinking she didn't deserve the happiness and success that she has.

"But, sir..." Carlos called in an unsure tone of voice.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The origin of her parents are probably the least questionable things I found out,"

"You mean her mother's more suspicious than I already think she is?" We have to thank Oliver for his cold approach to her, that man could sense a person's true intentions from a mile away.

"Unfortunately, so. Her record states that she's a simple mall clerk, they don't earn a lot of money, but the deposits into her bank account would say otherwise,"

"Yeah, that's where my suspicions originally came from. She said that she wasn't a financially stable person, but the quality of clothes she wore said otherwise. They weren't branded, but they weren't cheap either, it almost seemed like she was trying to hide the fact that she was rich..." I thought back to the moment I first met her.

Her posture, her way of speaking, and attitude were all of a normal person who never had any etiquette lessons, but something as simple as her clothing was able to give her away.

"She's been getting paid millions of euros over the last 20 plus years by the same person, I can't trace the money back to anyone, but it's not someone she's ever worked for, that much is certain," I hummed, putting a hand to my chin as I thought about it.