The tingling warmth of the pain spread across his cheek as he returned to his senses. He had never thought there would ever come a day where his father would slap him. Not even when he was a young boy did he ever used any form of physical violence to him, to Valentino, he had watched it happen several times, but never to him, his beloved son. In his lifetime, he had never seen Gianluca that angry, he understood why, but he did not expect such a strong reaction from his father, who had had his back his whole life.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Gianluca shouted as he took a step back from his son, Alessio tumbled across the floor and tried to straighten himself before facing his father again. Meanwhile, Chiara was sitting on the couch with shame plastered all over her face. She had refused to meddle in as her husband disciplined him, she had no time, her mind was clouded with a hundred different thoughts about the situation. She felt like she had failed to raise her son to be a proper man, his infidelity had marked her failure to project proper morals into his mind and she could not look at him in the eyes. She would usually defend her sons from their father's wrath, but this time she felt like he deserved it, especially after what he had done.
She had considered Valeria, a daughter of her best friend, as her own, the fact that her son cheated on her was incomprehensible. If it was someone else, someone unrelated to them or the family, the matter would not be as large, but it was Valeria. There was no way the Valenza would let the matter go.
"Do you realize the consequence of what you did?" Gianluca grabbed his son by his shoulder and pinned him on the wall. He was rarely physical with his children when disciplining them, but his actions truly rouse the worst in him.
The news of his infidelity had spread across the two family, and it was only a matter of time until they formally announce the cancellation of the wedding. Valeria had refused to spoken to him since then despite his numerous attempt to contact her. It was understandable, and he felt like his younger brother had gotten himself out of the picture after ruining his life.
The day after the hospital incident, Valentino told the news to the family, who refused to believe his words at first, until he showed them all the proofs and evidences, including pictures of the two of them together in Prague, which he had no idea existed in the first place. From then on, everything had gone downhill. While Valentino smoothly escaped from involving himself further, Alessio was getting hit by his own father, whom he greatly admired and respected. It was more of a blow to his ego than anything else.
"You're just ruining your marriage alliance with the Valenza, our family have always had a terrific history with them, instead of fighting each other, we were planning to merge ourselves to become even stronger and I thought I could leave it to you. You only had one thing to do, marry the woman and remain faithful to her. Is it that difficult to do!?" For once in his life, Alessio could not come up with a good excuse to defend himself. His action had no justification.
"It is not my fault that she found out about it. It was Valentino who showed her, I-" god, if only he could hear how pathetic he was at the moment. Gianluca did not want to hear any excuses.
"Do not blame someone else for your own mistake, Alessio" suddenly a voice rang from the front door. There, stood none other than Giovanna Saverino. She was wearing her signature vintage style dress with her hair styled in an Audrey Hepburn up do. She gently removed her black sunglasses and joined the family in the living room.
"Aunt Giovanna" Alessio murmured as she walked over to him. Her eyes were sharp and cold as she stared back and forth between him and Gianluca.
"You cheated on Valeria, she left you. That only sounds fair. Infidelity is no minor cause, you should have known better that when it is exposed, it could ruin the entire relationships, or more" she sounded like she was nagging him, but she was not. There was a glint of emotion in her eyes when she stated those words. Something he did not quite understand yet. There was always something about her, the words she spoke always felt like they had double meanings to them.
"Wouldn't you agree, Gianluca?" she turned to his father, and the man was silent before nodding in agreement.
Alessio had a feeling that his father was somehow afraid of her.
"Aunt, due to all respect, if you are not here to offer any solutions, it's better if you leave" he stated, causing her eyebrow to rise before she turned to Gianluca again.
"Is this how you are raising your son? Tsk tsk. He really reminds me of a young version of you, Gianluca. Capable, but incredibly irrational"
"Alessio, apologize to her right away!" Gianluca ordered. Alessio was a grown man for God's sake, he was an alpha, an assertive leader, however something about the situation pressured him to just comply. He eventually apologized and Giovanna turned to Chiara, who refused to comment on anything. She pretended to be blind and deaf. The issue with her son was too humiliating for her.
"Father, Valentino is not truly innocent either, he has been eyeing Valeria for years. He was just using this opportunity for his own advantage. You can't blame me for something I did a year ago" Alessio tried to defend himself.
"Alessio, you should stop talking before you embarrass yourself further. Valentino had no idea of your infidelity with that woman. I was the one who told him about it" Giovanna stated form the couch as she stirred the freshly served tea. Everyone's attention turned to her. She took a sip from the tea and looked at everyone.
"You told him about it? How did you even know?" Alessio could not believe his ears. How could his aunt do that to him. Yes, he always knew his aunt favored Valentino over him, but what she did was truly cruel. What would she gain from it?
"Why, can't I?" she raised her eyebrow in a challenging manner, striking his gaze at both Alessio and Gianluca.
"Giovanna, why would you do that?" Gianluca could not fathom what was happening, he raised his thumb to his temples and began massaging it. Giovanna took another sip of her tea and pulled out a tiny compact mirror from her bag before continuing.
"How long are you planning to hide everything from her then? Your whole life? And don't tell me it was just a one-time thing, Alessio. I know you are still seeing that woman even now. Would you like me to share her address to everyone? Or do you prefer it if I publicly reveal the woman's name and humiliate her on your behalf? Do you? I like Valeria, she's a sweetheart. She doesn't deserve this. Also, I thought it is time for me to stop infidelity in this family, once and for all" she was upset, it was clear Giovanna did not take the question well. As the eldest person in the room, she commanded respect, but none of the men had shown it to her since she arrived and she was starting to become angry.
Alessio was about to say something when Gianluca raised his hand, asking him to remain quiet before things get worse. Chiara stood up from her seat and walked inside for she could no longer listen to the conversation. Gianluca told Alessio to get lost from his face because he could no longer see the disgrace that was happening. Alessio clenched his fist and walked out of the house, turning his car on, he drove off from the manor, leaving Gianluca and Giovanna on their own.
Once it was just the two of them, Gianluca turned to his sister and asked him what she was thinking, his eyes were filled with a mixture of fear, anxiety, and wrath. Giovanna stood up from the couch and stood before her brother.
"You are just like our papa when you nag him like that. Tell me Gianluca, how long do you intend for this bloody curse to happen. At one point, someone needs to put a stop on this. You may have forgotten about it, but I haven't. What do you think she will think when she knows about everything you did? Do you think she would just sit still and let everything happens? Just because you are ignoring the monster in the room doesn't make it disappear. The monster only grows stronger and stronger, until it no longer allow itself to be ignored. There will come a time when it will devour the whole family. I am doing your son a favor, I am saving him a future of havoc. You should thank me instead because at least he won't end up like you" With that, she put her sunglasses back on and walked out of the house, leaving Gianluca speechless.
What are you planning, Giovanna?
YOU ARE READING
The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)
Romance"My brother does not deserve you, Valeria. He could never love you as much as I do" He stepped in closer to her until she could feel his breath on her neck. 'Valentino, we shouldn't..." she tried to push him away. He froze where he was and placed h...
