It became rather shamefully clear to all the parents and faculty members that the marriage between the two was a love match.
Luca didn’t allow himself to even smile as he stared at his wife. He would bet his entire fortune his wife had gone to a salon and had a makeover, thinking she needed to look stand out next to his exotic Italian ex-wife. And so she had succeeded, and his lips compressed to a thinner line at the thought.
She stood out perfectly, with her tri-colored hair.
Vivian came to a stop just a foot away from his table, and it was testament to just how thick-skinned Maria was that she didn’t even seem to sense Vivian’s presence. The way she tossed her hair about while gushing over her so-called bonding with Eula told the billionaire that while she did notice more people staring at them, Maria’s vanity had convinced her that she was the reason for it.
He looked back at his Vivi, and she stared back at him, everything he wanted to see and hear written in her eyes.
This, he thought, staring at the way her hair started out with the shade of carrots from the roots, turned midnight blue in the middle while the last few inches were the shade of neon green.
This was the Vivian he had fallen in love with.
An adorably imperfect girl…who only had eyes for him.
Ants in her pants, ants in her pants, Vivian thought dazedly as she stared at her husband. She should stop acting like she had them, but she just couldn’t. Everyone was staring at her and although most of the parents seemed able to tolerate her presence, there were still a few who openly sneered and snubbed her. It made Vivian want to crawl under a rock, but she valiantly fought against the urge to hide herself.
She was done being a pushover, done letting public opinion dictate her life.
She loved Luca and Eula.
She loved her family.
And she was willing to fight for them.
Armed with these intentions, Vivian was about to take a step forward when she heard Luca’s ex-wife announce dramatically, “I have a confession to make.”
Vivian froze. Confession? She suddenly remembered Maria’s email and the hairs at the back of her neck stood. Was Maria about to ask Luca to take her back? And if Maria did, would he—-
Her eyes flew back to her husband, but the Italian billionaire was no longer gazing at Vivian. Instead, his smoldering blue eyes rested on his ex-wife, and Vivian had an appalling urge to run forward yelling and beating her chest like a caveman about to defend her property.
No!
Even as Vivian remembered the videos and photos that Maria had sent her—-
The way a younger Luca and Maria had smiled into each other’s eyes as they had their wedding dance—-
The torrid kiss he had given his first bride—-
She didn’t care.
She loved Luca now, and—-
Vivian saw the billionaire’s ex-wife reach for Luca’s hand, and she gasped.
Chapter Eleven
Maria heard the gasp coming from behind her but pretended not to notice even as satisfaction filled her. Thinking that she had shocked another parent with her forwardness, Maria kept her hand on her ex-husband’s in hopes of giving people enough time to take lots and lots of photos.
She wanted Vivian slapped with evidence of Luca’s interest in her. The American nobody Luca married was so ludicrously easy to read, and one look at her told Maria that Vivian was the type to suffer in silence, a mouse that would run away crying at the first sign of her husband’s betrayal. She was exactly the type of woman that was easy to get rid of, and Maria was all for that.
When Luca started to retrieve his hand, Maria’s grip tightened, and Luca raised a brow at her.
“I still haven’t made my confession,” Maria reminded him.
“And you need to hold my hand because—-”
“This might come as a shock,” she uttered in a low voice, “but Eula told me she’s been suffering verbal abuse from your wife.” Maria waited for an explosion that didn’t come, and frustration ate at her. Why wasn’t he reacting the way he was supposed to?
Luca had always been deadly serious when it came to Eula, and it had even been one of the constant reasons behind their frequent quarrels. The billionaire had wanted her to care more for their daughter while she believed he cared too much.
He must be in shock then, Maria decided. And that was all the better. Hopefully, everything would fall according to plan, and Luca would send Eula to her way for the little girl’s so-called safety.
She only needed just a bit of time alone with Eula, and Maria was convinced that she could get her daughter to say everything she wanted.
And after that, all her worries would be over.
Maria’s normally cold heart actually skipped at the thought.