05

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" - John 3:16

Florianópolis, June 23, 2020.

Three months later

Giovanna Rinaldi

How in three months our lives can change in ways we never thought of, can't they? I, for example, ended up getting engaged to a guy I met in less than 24 hours, which was crazy, but that's how things are in the family, as well as being an arranged marriage, you can only meet the groom on the day of the engagement.

In contrast to my family drama, one good thing is that I'm loving preparing for the wedding and I can't deny that I'm looking forward to it. These months have been essential for Lorenzo and I to get to know each other, he's being attentive, and whenever possible we go out for lunch, dinner or just to be together. We've been to the beach, to the mall and lots of other places like normal couples. As soon as I get back from my honeymoon, I'll be taking over the presidency from Lorenzo. With our marriage, my family and his family will own the majority of the company, which means that no one will have more decisions there than us.

The situation between me and Antonella was getting worse every day and with every fight, I was sure that this woman was completely crazy, she says so vehemently that I'm not her daughter that I really question whether she's telling the truth, my father pretends that nothing is happening, it seems that peace reigns in our house when it's totally the opposite.

…

I'm waiting for Lorenzo here in the living room, the house was empty, for the glory of the Lord, today I didn't meet that little worm, the unpalatable little woman.

Pietro is at school, my father and brothers are working, my sisters-in-law are certainly at the mall with Enzo, and Matteo must be at school. Elena's relationship with Renzo is very strange, I've seen her with some purple on her body several times, she always comes up with the same excuse, saying that she's distracted and gets hurt easily, I can't believe that Renzo would do something bad to her, but the facts speak for themselves, I'm not some kind of savior of the fatherland, but if something is really going on, I'll help Elena and I'll protect her from my brother.

I was so distracted thinking about how much Elena might be suffering that it took me a while to realize that the doorbell was ringing. I got up and opened the door to find a smiling Lorenzo with a beautiful bouquet of red roses.

• Hi," I said as I answered the door

• Hi, how are you? These are for you. In the meantime, I've learned that you're passionate about flowers. - she asked and smiled

• Thank you very much, they're beautiful, I'll put them in a vase, come in and wait a bit and I'll be right back. - I said, smiling.

I run to the kitchen and put the flowers in the glass vase that happened to be on the worktop. Today is shopping day, so the maids are out too. I go back into the living room and find him sitting on the sofa, I sit down next to him, he gives me a simple kiss on the forehead and smiles:

• I thought I'd stay here today, I'm going back to Italy tomorrow, so I thought we'd stay here and talk, get to know each other a bit more, and I need to tell you something.

• That's fine with me. I'm not really into going out. - I agree with him. - I never told you that you speak Portuguese so well that you sound Brazilian, except for your strong Italian accent.

• I learned when I was still a child, I speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German fluently, as well as my beloved Italian, how many languages do you speak?

• A little bit of everything, some languages I know a word or two, but I'm fluent in Italian, Spanish, French, English, German, I can converse in Arabic too, but I can't keep it up for long.

• Arabic? Where did you learn it? - he asked interestedly

• I learned when I went to Saudi Arabia, my parents, they have a lot of friends. Our trip was to celebrate a very important contract for the Rinaldi companies, there I met the daughter of my father's newest partner and she taught me some Arabic, as we stayed there for two weeks I managed to learn a lot.

• Incredible, you're incredible. - I felt sincerity in his words, I'm overjoyed, it's crazy to think that I didn't want this wedding, but Lorenzo is proving to be a totally impeccable person, I dare say everything is perfect so far.

• Thank you, you are too.

• I'm not, I try, you're perfect, you speak five languages, you know how to cook, embroider, you're a great counselor, you're what I'd call the perfect wife.

• I was brought up to be the perfect wife, even though I don't like it. I'm not perfect, the only perfect thing is the Creator, I'm full of imperfections Lorenzo, there's no such thing as a perfect human being.

• You're right, no one is perfect, how am I that I wanted to go into administration?

• I didn't want to, my dream was medicine, but Antonella didn't want me to go to university, but I stuck my neck out and did it, even though administration wasn't the course I wanted.

• You were right to study, there's nothing better than learning. I'm sure you'll do very well at the construction company. - he said excitedly.

• I'm sure you will, I'm very optimistic. - I asked.

• Giovanna, our wedding will take place in a month and we need to be completely honest with each other. - The conversation changed from casual to serious.

• I agree, sincerity is one of my qualities. Don't think that I think you're a prince who came to save me from my evil mother, I know about your reputation as a womanizer, what surprises me is that you accepted this marriage.

• I didn't accept it that easily, I really was everything you said, but I've changed, after all I'm getting married, but that's not what I want to talk about.

• And what do you want to talk about?

• I think it's fair to talk about the past, because my past is one of the heirs to the construction company.

• Did you have a relationship with Lorena?