The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)

Chapter 32

Valentino rushed to the hospital to find his mother lying unconscious in the hospital's bed while his father and brother was already in the room with another man he had never seen before.

"What happened to her?" he asked his father who for the first time in his life had a guilty face on. Valentino just knew whatever came out of his mouth next would not be good. Alessio who was equally upset stared at his father with crossed arm, he too had just arrived a few minutes earlier but he had no idea who the other young man was and what he was doing in the room.

"Your mother had a minor heart attack. Her body is still trying to stabilize but we are not really sure when she would wake up. The doctor predicted soon, but we would never know" instead of feeling hopeful, his father was dejected, it was so different from who he was as a person, Gianluca was a fierce businessman, for him to be filled with so much despair meant something major was going on and the brothers needed to know.

Gianluca could no longer hide everything from his sons, the sins of the past he had tried so hard to cover eventually resurfaced, all because he never truly dealt with the monsters. He simply avoided them. His sons were smart, even if he had tried to avoid the question or lie, they would eventually find out, besides there was a living proof of his sins in the same room with them.

"She found out about my past affair with one of my maid back in the day and this man right here, Matteo, is my son with her" he finally admitted everything. It was probably the most difficult sentence he ever had to speak in his life, and he was quite a diplomatic individual. Both sons were shocked at te revelation, they always thought their father was not the cheating type, but turned out they were wrong.

"Papa, how can you do that?" Alessio yelled, it made Valentino snap as well because he was standing in the same room with two cheaters and one of them was a hypocrite.

"Don't act like you did not do it as well, Alessio, you are also guilty remember? You cheated on Valeria. But papa, I agree with him on this one, I never thought you would actually do that to mama. Guess now I know where Alessio's cheating gene came from" he stated sarcastically. Beside that there was another thing they nearly skipped, if their father had cheated with a maid and had a son together than that meant...

"He's our brother?" deep inside Matteo wanted to smile before his half-brothers, but judging from their reaction it was clear his presence was not very welcomed. It was understandable, he did not expect anything major from them, it was difficult to suddenly welcome a stranger to your family, especially an adult male who was only a few years away from being thirty.

The question came into picture again, as the room froze. What was actually going on in the family? Why would Gianluca and Alessio cheated on their spouse despite them being the best women one could ever hope for. Both Chiara and Valeria shared the same warmth and femininity like most desirable and high value women, they were physically attractive, had an amazing personality and gentle in nature, so why? After thinking about it for a while, Valentino came to a conclusion that it was simply a family curse. Men who cheat would always cheat no matter how beautiful or amazing their current spouse was, because they needed the thrill of conquering something new. They would always move on to the next woman, and even if they do eventually get married, like in case of Gianluca, the yearning to cheat would never disappear. It was simply Chiara's bad luck to be married to a liar.

Matteo nodded. The brothers had no idea how to react, they thought it was just the two of them. Since young the brother had always had a fierce competition with each other and adding another one into the family just did not appear to be the smartest move.

"Forgive me, I did not think my appearance would cause such chaos, and now your mother, she-" Matteo could not even finish his sentence before Valentino silenced him. The brothers did not necessarily hate the man because after all, he was their half-brother, but they were angry and upset at the fact that his presence brought so much distress to their mother, no matter what, a son would always side with his mother.

"No more words, please" just then there was a grunting sound from the other side of the bedroom where Chiara was laying, she was fully awake by then, her head was facing the men. Her sons approached her and suddenly she screamed when her eyes spotted Matteo.

"Get that bastard out of here, and get your father out of here as well! I don't want to see them!" she shouted weakly, her heart was racing once more and she clutched her chest tightly before lying unconscious once more.

"Call the doctor!" he shouted.

It was a chaotic hour for all of them, Chiara's condition became worse and worse by each seconds, in order to prevent anything from becoming worse, Gianluca and Matteo were ordered by the sons to leave since their presence clearly brought distraught to their mother.

Dio, why did things have to be that way?

Gianluca and Matteo eventually walked out of the hospital. Clearly their presence was no longer welcome there. Despite Gianluca being the head of the family, there was nothing he could do but comply. It would cause too much pain had they remained in the same room with Chiara.

Matteo and Gianluca went to a nearby coffee shop where they could temporarily have a chat for the first time as father and son. As they made they ordered, Matteo stared at the man who was his father, he looked distressed. It was already a terrible beginning to their relationship together, he had not thought that his desire to have a single meeting with his biological father would lead to a family chaos. Had he known it, perhaps he would prefer to remain under the shadow. As much as he despised the man for hurting his mother in the past, that man was still his father.

Still, there was a question he needed to ask him. It was just the two of them, he could ask anything.

"Signore, or should I call you, papa? I have a question for you, please, answer this truthfully and honestly. When you were with my mother, did you ever truly love her? When you showered her with gifts and attention, was that simply your way of inviting her in bed? Or did you actually feel something for her?" the question sounded so difficult to answer. Gianluca was not quite sure how he was supposed to answer it, because deep down he had a mixed feelings regarding his past mistress.

"Your mother, I genuinely liked her at first, she was a fascinating simple woman and I would not say I bore no feelings for her, because I did. Love, it's just a bunch of complicated emotions thrown into a single word. In reality, love is a very complex thing. I enjoyed her company and I cared for her, however I also had external responsibilities, I could not risk my reputation and everything I had for her. It's not how things work" Matteo listened intently, he was not sure if it was a very good idea to listen to him, but he still did for the sake of knowing what sort of man he truly was.

"Papa, have you ever considered my mother's feelings when you told her to stay away from you? Why did you even cheat on your wife, who was your fiancee back then? What were you trying to achieve? What advantage did you gain and was it worth it in comparison to what you have lost?" there was a brief pause in the air. Of course the answer was crystal clear, he was not because if he did, he would not have done what he did.

"Sometimes it makes me question, why do we hurt the people we love the most?" he took a sip out of his coffee and placed it back again. As they stared out of the street, Matteo thought about her next step. It was clear he was not welcomed into the family as expected. Guessed he would simply stick to his original plan. Of course nothing would be the same again after their encounter, somehow he knew Gianluca would always be involved in his life. However he did not expect too much from him. He had his own things to do, one that he planned on building on his own.

"Keeping the conversation about me aside, what will happen to your wife now?" Gianluca did not even want to think about it. He had not expected her to be so upset for something he did nearly thirty years ago. Guess the ripple of some actions spread further than time.

"I am not sure One thing I know is that time heals"

Time heals... the only thing they could rely on at the moment was time.