Chương 36: AN UNEXPECTED HARPY ENTERS THE SCENE

—After instructing Amaranta on some matters, the grandmother gave her a bunch of keys.

"Amaranta, listen very carefully to what I'm going to tell you, both Johanna and Izan are good people. If we hadn't met them, we would have had a bad time in the capital. You have to repay them for their kindness in the future when you have the opportunity to do so."

Mrs. María Cid, she thought that she was not afraid of death at this age, but now that she is about to enter the operating room and undergo such delicate surgery, she rethinks her way of thinking.

She didn't want to die.

She wanted to live a little longer.

Maybe, someday, her Monica would return.

And if she were like that, she wouldn't find her any more. Instead, she would see a grave.

How sad would her daughter be then?

"Grandma, I understand. I will repay my mother Johanna and Izan for their kindness in the future. Don't worry any more, I am a woman. I can take care of myself. You will be fine, too. The doctor said the surgery is risky, however, there is a high chance of success. So, grandma, don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"Go to sleep, Amaranta."

The grandmother turned her back on Amaranta and went to sleep. A sad expression filled her face. Grandma's granddaughter was still so young that she couldn't bear to die and leave her alone.

—Amaranta also turned around to look at the moon through the window. The night sky was especially clear tonight, with only the moon in it. She thought about many things for a long time before falling asleep. She felt as if she had just fallen asleep when a nurse woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked at the nurse.

"Miss Cid, let's take the patient to the operating room."

—Amaranta hurriedly got out of bed and rubbed her face. She looked at her grandmother who had already been dressed by the nurse. — "Grandma, you'll be fine" — he comforted her with some words that came from her heart.

—The surgery was scheduled to take place at 10, but that didn't mean that Grandma would only enter the operating room at that time. Grandma had to be prepared before the operation, such as putting in a new IV line, reading colours, administering anaesthesia, etc. The chief surgeon was the best doctor in the country. He was very busy, and every second was important to him.

When the grandmother was about to enter the operating room, she held Amaranta's hand once again and squeezed it gently.

"Amaranta, do you remember everything I told you yesterday?"

"Grandma, I remember everything. Don't worry. We'll wait for you outside."

Since Grandma was undergoing her surgery today, both Izan Marsans and Johanna Sáenz came to keep Amaranta company. While Amaranta sat on the long bench in the hallway. She seemed calm and composed, yet she continued to pray. "Buddha, gods, deities, Allah and Guanyin, please protect my grandmother and let her surgery be successful," Amaranta murmured to herself.

Grandma's surgery was scheduled to take five hours.

In the end, it was 6 hours, which felt like years to Amaranta. Every minute and every second she felt like an eternity.

Johanna wrapped her arm around her beloved Amaranta's shoulder. She didn't say a word, but allowed Amaranta to lean on her.

—"Relatives of the patient María Cid?"

—"I am the patient's family." The nurse looked at Amaranta and said in a low voice: "The operation was a success, and we are already preparing to transfer the patient back to the ICU. Don't worry. You will see her in a short time. The patient can be transferred to a normal room once he wakes up." Amaranta cried tears of joy when she heard the good news. She held Izan Marsans' hand eagerly, as her tears continued to run down her beautiful face. — "Izan, did you hear that? Grandma's surgery was a success!"

Izan Marsans extended her arm to wipe the tears from Amaranta's face. "I heard that. Grandma's surgery was a success. You can rest easy now."

"Yes, I can rest assured now."

This time, her life would be different.

When she was dying, she was full of hatred, and she wanted to revive her life, to exact revenge the heavens had granted her wish. But at this very moment she understood that her life is much more important, to vindicate her past mistakes, than to exact revenge for the fact that he no longer has value for her, even one day the heavens in this life may return to her Álvaro as new. Son… She would be a fool to spend this life, which had a high price, hating someone, when she has found kind people to love.

Two hours later, Amaranta looked at her grandmother through the glass window of the ICU. For patient safety, only medical personnel were allowed into the intensive care unit. Amaranta could only look at her grandmother from afar. When Izan and Amaranta returned to her room, a bodyguard approached Izan Marsan.

And he told him: "Chief Marsans, there is a Mrs. Esmeralda Santamarina waiting in the reception room for Miss Cid."

Lady Esmeralda?

Emerald Santamarina?

Wasn't that Ana Santamarina's mother?

"Okay. I'll go and have a look."

Amaranta opened the doors to the reception room and entered alone.

Esmeralda looked at Amaranta who was standing at the door.

She had always known that her husband had a lover of hers and that he was still in love with her.

There were times when her husband screamed that woman's name while he slept. Even without knowing her, Esmeralda felt a natural sense of superiority over that woman. So what would happen if that woman was the love of her life? This man was now her husband.

"You must be Amaranta, right? I am, Mrs. Esmeralda, the wife of Javier Santamarina."

Esmeralda Santamarina wore a black knit dress. She fit him perfectly. A leather coat was draped around her shoulders, and her face was made up, but it looked a little unnatural. The diamond watch on her wrist sparkled.

"Mrs. Santamarina, I have already told you everything I have to say to your husband. I do not wish to have anything to do with the Santamarina family. I also do not want a single cent from your family. If you can, please tell them to stop coming here. "I just want to live a peaceful life with my grandmother."

A small smile formed at the corners of Esmeralda Santamarina's mouth.

She had learned from her daughter that this girl was a fighter.

She was young, however, she managed to wrap the surrounding men little finger.

It seemed that the woman was even better then.

Otherwise, why would her husband long for that woman after so many years?

"Amaranta, you may not know it, but you and your mother have remained close to my husband's heart…"

Amaranta interrupted Esmeralda Santamarina impatiently, "What does it have to do with me? Lady Esmeralda, I have nothing to say to you or your family. Please leave. As for the kind of woman my mother is, I'm afraid not You are the right person to comment on her, since you have not met her."

Amaranta stood up and walked towards the door. Then, she felt that she was still too kind.

She turned around and looked at Esmeralda. "Since you know that both my mother and I are close to your husband's heart, then don't bother me in the future. Otherwise, I can make it so that you are no longer Mrs. Santamarina. Not only that. Ana Santamarina is no longer "She will be the beloved daughter of Javier Santamarina. I will snatch the boyfriend you found for your daughter and make him mine. Do you understand?"

Anger flashed on Esmeralda Santamarina's face.

"Miss Cid, don't you think she is being arrogant?"

Her home was her castle.

Her family was part of her perfect castle.

No one was allowed to destroy her house.

Nothing could destroy her perfect castle.

"Am I arrogant? Don't you know that very well, Mrs. Santamarina?"

Amaranta enunciated the words 'Mrs. Santamarina' very clearly. She had begun to suspect that Javier Santamarina had something to do with the disappearance of his mother. If she was right, that would mean that every member of the Santamarina family was a suspect.

She had never underestimated how dark her heart could be.

Just like Ana, she…she seemed to be elegant and gentle, serene and generous.

When, in fact, her heart was rotten!

"Amaranta, men can't be trusted, but Javier is still your father."

Amaranta was in a good mood. Her grandmother's operation was a success and with that, she felt that the world was a much more beautiful place.

Even Esmeralda, who was a snake in human skin, seemed to be kinder than she really was.

"Where's your evidence? Javier says he's my father, however, I think we should at least do a DNA test to prove it. Right?"

Amaranta had thought about this problem before falling asleep last night. Javier was the only one who claimed that she was her daughter.

When she began to have such suspicions, some things that had not made sense to her appeared to her one by one.

Esmeralda's arrival solidified some of her suspicions.

"Do you want to take a DNA test?"

Amaranta laughed and said: "That's right. Actually, I think that, given my mother's taste, and the beauty she possessed, she would not have chosen a man like Javier Santamarina!"

How could Esmeralda allow a brat to degrade her husband, she was furious.

She replied angrily, "If it weren't for my husband wanting to recognize you, I couldn't be bothered to come and talk to you. You should be grateful that a poor, uneducated, small-town brat like you can be part of the Santamarina family!"

"I will offer an Our Father every morning and night to show my gratitude. Is that enough?"

Esmeralda picked up the expensive bag from her. Anger filled her face.

"Rude country brat! Is this how your grandmother raised you?"

Just when Esmeralda Santamarina, He was about to pass by Amaranta, he grabbed Esmeralda Santamarina Amaranta's hair and pushed her to the ground. He sat on Esmeralda and slapped her several times.

"This is how I was raised. Now you know!"

Esmeralda Santamarina was stunned by the beating she had just received.

She didn't expect the starving woman to be so strong.

His slaps from her were extremely painful!

Amaranta had been polite and she refrained from becoming aggressive from the beginning. He had used logic against Javier and Ana Santamarina.

However, Esmeralda provoked her by saying that her grandmother had not raised her well.

Even though his grandmother was illiterate, he was a good person, with high moral values. In reality, she was a better woman compared to Esmeralda.

Her grandmother was not like Ana, whom Esmeralda had raised. Ana was a two-faced dog! She was a sweetheart in public, but a P*T in private.

And there was Esmeralda herself. He always thought that she was the one who prepared everything so that she and Óscar Roing appeared naked in that bed on the night of Ana Santamarina's engagement. Amaranta Cid was willing to give up her last name if she was wrong.

"Aah..."

Esmeralda was pressed to the ground by Amaranta and could not move. She extended her hands, wanting to scratch Amaranta's face.

—Esmeralda Santamarina. As a dignified lady from a rich family, she felt terribly embarrassed at being insulted by a wild brat like Amaranta. Refusing to go down without a fight, she shouted, "Amaranta!"

—When Izan Marsans heard her screams, he opened the door and ran into the room. Quickly, he pulled out Amaranta from Esmeralda Santamarina and asked, "What's going on?"

Amaranta instantly broke down and spoke between sobs, "Izan, she called me a brat, an uneducated wild town girl. She said that grandma did a bad job of raising me. I... I... just... I can't help but hit her!" Good to give that one a good beating, he thought.

-Esmeralda got up from the ground and frantically took a mirror out of her leather bag to check her face for any wounds or scratches. Her carefully combed hair was already in a complete mess and her reputation as a respectable high society woman was already in tatters. "Just, just wait. I'll call the police now!" Esmeralda threatened.

Izan Marsans felt extremely disgusted by the members of the Santamarina family. He knew how patient Amaranta was, he had a high tolerance for pretentious people like Esmeralda Santamarina. He believed that Amaranta had held back when Javier and Ana Santamarina arrived. Esmeralda must have said something that caused Amaranta to attack her.

For which Izan Marsans stated: "The person who starts a fight is the despicable one and he deserves to be beaten," he concluded. Then he turned to him and said, "Amaranta, next time, stay away from crazy women like Esmeralda Santamarina. She's not worth it, he's a waste of time and effort." Amaranta nodded with tears in her eyes.

Esmeralda's face turned red with anger when she heard what Izan Marsans had said but she did not respond. 'Oh well. What can you expect from that woman's daughter? She's really clever with her manners,' she thought as she looked at Izan Marsans' handsome face.

"Hello? Is this the police? I want to report an incident. They have beaten me," Esmeralda complained on the phone while Izan comforted Amaranta in a very tender manner.

Esmeralda didn't bother to fix her hair. She planned to use it as evidence for the police and show how rebellious and reckless a country brat like Amaranta was.

After providing the address to the police, she sat on a chair and looked at Amaranta resentfully. "Let's see if Izan Marsans still dares to cover for her," she contemplated.

-All the years of observing Ana Santamarina's hypocritical life had been of some use to her in her past life; Amaranta had learned to pretend to be weak and pitiful when the situation required it. Therefore, he was not afraid even when he realized that Esmeralda had actually alerted the police officers. 'Clear. Go ahead and call the police,' she thought.

Meanwhile, Izan Marsans had instructed someone to bring a bag of ice. While he held Amaranta's hands, he placed the ice pack in her palms.

Previously, in an attempt to settle old and new scores with Esmeralda, Amaranta slapped her twice hard, and now the palms of her hands hurt.

"Just leave it to me if you ever need to hit someone again in the future," Izan Marsans commented as if they were talking about the weather.

Amaranta saw Izan Marsans while he remained focused on his palms. He was worried about her and was careful not to hold her hands too tightly.

— "I'm so angry. She can curse me all she wants, but who is she to criticize my grandmother? Even though grandmother is like any another older person, makes an honest living and raised me on his hard earned money. What gives you the right to insult the only person who was, and still is, there for me? They are all very annoying. I already said that I don't want to have anything to do with them, absolutely nothing. Why can't they leave me alone?" Amaranta wailed, exasperated.

-"We all have a weak point and Amaranta's is her grandmother... Does Esmeralda believe that things will go her way after reporting the incident to the police? She has no idea what I can do then, or who I am" , Izan Marsans thought.