Destined Hearts Ch. 02

Comments, critiques and tips are welcome.

Hello guys and welcome to the second chapter of this wonderful story. Before I go into writing, I would like to thank you for your great love, your comments and your rates for the first chapter. I really appreciate it and I know that together, we will make this story a great success.

Don't forget to drop your comments and rates at the end of this chapter. I really love you guys and very soon, Wild flower will be back. I just hope this chapter will be interesting to you guys.

Feel the passion...

***

It was early in the morning and Antonio was seated on his bed with his mind elsewhere. He wasn't himself. All he had been thinking of was his boyfriend, how much he loved him and how much he wanted him. He didn't even call him to say good morning to him and give him a kiss.

He didn't sleep the entire night. He had been thinking about what his mother had done and how he regretted coming back home. The previous day morning he had been happy, he had been texting his boyfriend and he had been laughing. Had it been someone else that had caused so much anger to him then he would have understood. But it was his own mother.

Antonio heard a knock on the door that got him out of his thoughts. He had no idea why the knock got him so mad but he had a hunch that his mother was the one knocking. He didn't want to see her so he just ignored it and continued with what he was doing.

He heard the knock again but decided to ignore it. This continued for several seconds until he heard the door opening. His anger got intense and he furiously clenched his fists.

"Please, mom I don't wanna see just..."

"Antonio, are you okay, son?" He heard his granny's voice.

He quickly moved his eyes to the door and saw her slowly entering with a smile on her face.

"Are you mad at me, son?"

"No!" He quickly got up from the bed, standing still. "Why would you say that, granny? You know I would never be mad at you."

Somehow, he felt relieved when he saw his granny. He knew that talking to her was gonna help him feel better.

"But you are also mad at your mother and we never thought you would never do that." She stood in front of him with her arms crossed on her chest. The way she was looking at him made him feel really sad.

"Granny, you know what mom did to me is not fair." He complained. "How could she ruin my life like this?"

Granny smiled faintly, dropping her hands. "I know that you are very angry right now. But don't you wanna have breakfast with your family? It's the first breakfast we are having together in four years."

"No!" He didn't wanna see his mother but he wasn't gonna tell his granny that. "I am not hungry, granny. I think I will just stay in my room the rest of the day."

"Why?" Granny chuckled. She was acting as if everything was going perfectly. "Is it because of what happened yesterday?" She sighed. "Antonio, I think you are overreacting, my grandson."

"What?" He exclaimed, shaking his head. "Are you being serious right now, granny?" He couldn't believe she was saying that to him. "You saw what happened yesterday. I didn't..."

"And you think your mother can choose to ruin your life?" She chuckled. "She is your mother, Antonio and I have seen just how much she loves you. She's doing this for you and your father. I know everything that happened. You owe your life to that boy's mother and I think it's just fair..."

"Do I have a choice?" He simply yelled. "Mom just blackmailed and..."

"But you also had a choice, Antonio." Granny said softly. "You could have left her there and live your own life but you didn't. I know that you think your mother is selfish but no mother would want to ruin her child's life. If she did this then she has a good reason to and..."

"Granny, please..." Antonio slowly sat on the bed with his hands on his face. "...I don't wanna hear about what had happened yesterday."

"I know that." Granny sat with him, putting her arm around him. "But I am just saying that your mother was just looking out for your interest. Parents never go wrong, you know. Besides, it was your father who made the vow. Your mother was just fulfilling what she has promised."

"Granny, I..."

"Please, listen to me." She pleaded, putting her hands together. "You wouldn't have been alive without this boy's mother. Sometimes what parents do for their children may turn out to be a blessing after all. Who knows, this boy might just be the light you need to brighten your whole life. Besides," She smiled, massaging his neck softly. "I wanna see you marry."

"Granny, if I wanna get married then I have a boyfriend that I love. I will do that but mom wouldn't want to see me happy."

Granny lost her smile and shook her head. She had nothing to say anymore.

"Let's just drop this topic." Antonio said softly. "I am trying hard to forget about it."

"Okay!" Granny raised her hands. "Whatever you say, baby. But I want you to please cheer up and don't do anything stupid. It's just a marriage and I am sure you will like the boy when you see him. Your mother has..."

"I don't wanna hear it." He said hoarsely. "Can't we just drop this topic because I have a terrible headache as it is?"

"Okay!" Granny got up from the bed. "But can you eat something? You are really making all of us worried, my son."

"I am not hun..."

"Antonio, since when did you reject food that was cooked by your grandmother?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I will eat later." He looked away.

"No!" She shook her head. "I am bringing the food and I will feed it to you. I just can't sit and watch you torture yourself over nothing."

Antonio couldn't say anything. He just looked at her and let her do what she wanted to do. True to her word, granny went out of the room and came back with a plate of deliciously made breakfast. He tried to reject the food but granny made sure that he ate all of it.

Gosh! She was just trying to cheer him up. She was just hoping he was gonna do real soon because she was missing her crazy grandson real badly.

***

"Eduardo, I know what I am doing." Emilia said with a sigh. "You people just don't understand anything at all."

"But mom..."

"Eduardo, he will be happy, I promise you."

"But don't you think this is a little too much?" Eduardo complained, staring at his mother. "He is probably hurting right now. Maybe you should go and talk to him."

"Not now." Emilia sighed. "I will talk to him later. I know that he feels that I am blackmailing him but I am not. I am doing this because it's the right thing to do. It's not like I am forcing him into it."

Hearing what his mother had just said, Eduardo just looked at her without even blinking.

"What?" Emilia shrugged, raising her shoulders. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Mom, we all saw what you did last night." He added. "I think that's what made him agree to marry this mysterious boy of yours. He wouldn't have agreed to it if you hadn't done what you did. All of us were scared of losing you. Even I would have agreed to anything with the way I was feeling. He did that because..." He paused and took a deep breath. "...he loves you a lot."

"And so do I." Emilia said softly. "You are still young and don't understand certain things but you will understand when you have a child. Besides, Praveen is the sweetest, kindest and well mannered boy I know."

"He might be but you know maybe Antonio likes someone who's crazy, wild and just down to earth." Eduardo was trying to make his mother understand but she wasn't.

"He will be happy with Praveen." She smiled faintly, rubbing on her son's cheeks. "All I want is to see my son in the hands of someone I know will make him happy, someone that can do anything for him. That boy is Praveen. If anything ever happened to me that I want to leave my children in the best hands. You have Celine and he will have Praveen. I will be happy and I promise he will be happy."

Eduardo knew that his mother was doing everything for his brother and she was probably doing it for his benefit.

"You are probably right." He was speaking softly. He took her hands and kissed them. "But I need you to talk to him. He is probably hurting because of what had happened yesterday. He didn't come for breakfast but please..." He warned. "...I don't want you two to argue."

"Yes!" She smiled brightly. "I will talk to him later."

"Thanks."

Eduardo kissed his mother's cheeks and left the room.

Emilia remained on the bed just thinking about her son. She just hoped she was gonna find him calm and cool. She didn't want to hurt him or find him crying or something worse. She wasn't gonna back down because it was all for him.

She took a deep breath before she finally left her room for her son's. When she reached his room, she found him with Andrea and the two were busy talking. But when he saw her, he moved his eyes away and remained quiet. He just didn't want to see her.

"Hey!" She greeted. "How are you this morning?"

Antonio shook his head and looked at her with anger in his eyes. "What do you think, mom?" He said hoarsely.

"Hmm," She mourned. "I can see that you are still mad at me and I am sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did and..."

"Why are you apologizing?" He chuckled bitterly. "Didn't you get what you wanted? I agreed to marry the boy. I hope you are happy now."

Hmm, he was madder than she had actually thought? He'd never spoken to her like that.

"Anyway," She cleared her throat. "I will be sending a message to them. We will go and see them in three days so that you can get to meet him." She started getting closer. "I am sure you are gonna love him. He is a nice boy and I promise you won't have any problem with him."

Just hearing his mother talking about the boy was making him really pissed. He was already clenching his fists, ready to tell his mother to get out. He wasn't interested in what she had come to say to him. He furiously tried to stand up but Andrea held his hand tightly, signaling him to sit down.

Antonio got the message and he didn't even bother to stand up. He was just staring at his mother, trying to hate her. But deep down inside, he still loved her so much and just the thought of losing her was making him scared.

"I will be calling his aunt today." She smiled brightly. "I just..."

"I get you mom." He said hoarsely. "Why are you telling me all this?" He wasn't interested. "After all, you are the one handling all this."

She could still feel the anger in his voice. Emilia just sighed and slowly turned to leave. But she didn't even take a step. She slowly moved her head and looked at her son.

"You will like him and you will thank me for this, one day."

She turned and started leaving. But she didn't even get far before she heard someone call her.

"Mom..."

Emilia stopped in her steps and turned to find her son up and staring back at her. She didn't even know what to say to him anymore. She didn't know if he wanted to tell her something bad or reject the marriage or even threaten to leave the country. She knew that her son was stubborn and he could do whatever he wanted.

"Please..." Antonio put his hands together, staring into her eyes. "Don't ever do what you tried to do yesterday." He said with tears in his eyes. "You really scared me and up to now, I am still thinking of how I almost lost. I swear if you choose to end your life, I will follow you."

Emilia's eyes watered and she got emotional at that moment. But she couldn't cry. She was definitely happy.

"My son..."

"Please, promise me you won't ever try to take your life." He started getting closer to her. "I have lost my dad. I can't afford to lose you too. You are the one of the most important people in my life right now."

"Son!" Emilia sobbed, opening her arms. "Please, come and hug your mother. I really want to hug you."

A tear went down Antonio's cheeks as he rushed to his mother. He ran straight into her arms and hugged her tightly. Oh! Her hug felt really warm, cozy and breathtakingly beautiful. He had missed her hug and the giggles she was making were somehow taking some of the anger he felt.

There was something about the hug she gave him, something that he couldn't explain. It was just amazing. He didn't want to see his mother sad. After all, she wasn't to be blamed. All this was because of one person.

"Thank you so much." Emilia pulled away from the hug. But she cupped her son's cheeks and placed kisses all over his handsome face. "You have no idea how long I have been longing for your hug today."

"Thank you too, mom." He gave her a fake smile. "Just be smiling always and I will be happy."

"Okay." She kissed him. "I will leave you with Andrea, okay? I have to talk to your granny."

Emilia laughed before she gave her son one more hug. She kissed her daughter and then left the room. As soon as she left, Antonio lost the smile on his face and angrily sat back on the bed, breathing like a terrible killer.

"What the fuck?" He furiously gripped his hair.

"Calm down!" Andrea rubbed on his neck. "Being angry won't solve anything right now. But at least you were able to talk to her."

"It was hurting me." When he raised his face to stare at his sister, his face was wet with tears. "I just couldn't watch her being sad. You know how close I am to mom. Seeing her sad was just making things worse for me."

"And I am proud of you." Andrea said with a smile. "She doesn't deserve to suffer after all," She shrugged. "This isn't her fault. We all know who is to be blamed for this."

"Yes!" He clenched his fists.

"But promise me you'll take things easy." She sounded really serious. She even lost the smile on her face. "We shouldn't mess things up. Promise me that you'll get back all the wealth that boy has stolen."

"I promise." He held her hands. "I won't let that boy take what is ours."

"Yes!" Andrea smiled brightly. "And I promise that we will deal with him. It's his fault that this is happening."

"Yes!" Andrea rubbed on her brother's cheek. All she needed was the wealth back and secure into her brother's hands. "I know that you will be doing this for us and our pride. You shouldn't worry about anything because I am here with you."

"Thanks."

"Oh!" Andrea moaned softly, opening her arms. "Come here."

Antonio smiled and he hugged his sister tightly. He wasn't happy but he did everything for his mother. He wasn't used to seeing her sad. But his mind was still on Bruce, his lover. He hadn't told him anything and he honestly had no idea if he was gonna get the courage to.

He loved him so much and he wished he was with him.

***

Praveen was busy coming out of the house after having a great conversation with his aunt. She was telling him how much she was gonna miss him after he was married and how she was gonna miss his presence and everything about him.

Unfortunately, his aunt was leaving a few days after his marriage because her eldest son had called her to join him abroad. It was gonna be an emotional day for him and he was gonna miss her so much.

He could still remember how emotional he had been when she told him that,

"Praveen, we will be leaving Ashton after your marriage."

"What?" He had gasped. "Why? Where will you go?"

She had held his hand and said, "My son wants us to join him abroad. He has a great job now and he wants us to join him so that our family will be complete."

He had been really emotional after hearing that.

"Oh! You shouldn't be worried, Praveen." She had held his hands. "We will be visiting you from time to time. Besides, I know that you will be in great hands here."

Praveen was really gonna miss his aunt a lot, especially his best friend Mike. They had been his family for two years and he loved them like they were his own. But he understood them. They deserved a good life and he was happy for them.

Praveen was so caught up in his thoughts that he wasn't even aware of things around him. The next thing he felt was bumping into something really hard that made him take a step back. He was really hoping it wasn't a person because he didn't want to hurt anyone.

He quickly moved his eyes forward and oh no, there was an angry looking fat woman in front of him. She was just average with her hair tied and she was in her 40s. Praveen got really scared when he saw the way she was looking at him as if she was getting ready to strangle his neck.

Praveen gave her a little smile and got a little closer to her.

"Hey, Aunt Meg, how are you?"

Meg was Victoria's friend who lived nearby but this woman really hated Praveen and he had failed to understand why.

"And why did you bump into me?" She said harshly, folding her arms. "Have you suddenly become blind?"

"I... I am sorry." He apologized. "I was just so lost in my thoughts that..."

"Well, I hope those thoughts of yours included leaving this place very soon." She said with mock in her voice.

Praveen lost the smile on his face and took a sigh. "What do you mean by that, aunt..."

"It's simple." She said angrily. "When will you leave this family alone? Isn't it enough that you have brought back luck to them? Do you want to kill them too?"

"What?" He slightly closed his eyes as a sharp pain pierced his heart. "Why would you say that to me? You know that I love..."

"You love them?" She chuckled mockingly, shaking her head. "Are you not even ashamed of yourself? They are not your family and yet you stay with them? Why can't you leave them alone? This family is suffering and yet..."

"But aunt..."

"And I am not your aunt." She said, causing him more pain. "I have still failed to understand why Victoria chose to keep you here. I mean I am sure she knows that you are bad luck."

Praveen closed his eyes and breathed. "She was my mother's friend and you know that I don't have any other family member apart from my late parents."

"Hmm, poor you but that doesn't move me at all." She laughed in mock. "Who knows if you have other family members?"

"I don't." He said softly. "I can't lie and Aunt Vic..."

"Who knows?" She shrugged. "Maybe they are just trying to hide from you I mean," She eyed him from head to toe as if she was looking at something really disgusting. "Who would want to be related to you?"

Though Praveen didn't want to say anything to her, deep inside it was really painful.

"Everyone is probably just hiding away from you and I bet your dead parents are disappointed in you right now." She added. "Leave this family alone and go live alone. They have suffered enough with you, okay. Leave them alone."

Praveen couldn't stay there anymore. He just turned looked and turned to leave her presence. He was really hurt that he just wanted to cry. But he couldn't do it. He had to be strong. He had no idea if what she had been saying was okay but he was hurt.

However, when he turned to leave, he got the surprise of his life when he found Victoria looking right at him. He stopped and just stood still. He moved his eyes away because he couldn't stare his aunt in the face. He just couldn't do it.

"Praveen!" Victoria slowly went to him. "What's wrong, son? Are you okay?"

She held his hands but he still couldn't look at her. His voice was completely gone.

"Son..."

"Ah..." Meg chuckled softly, moving closer to her. "...Victoria, leave him. I am sure he's absolutely fine."

Victoria let go of Praveen and went to Meg. She just stood there staring at her as if she was her enemy.

"Get out!" Victoria said harshly without any regret in her voice.

"What?" Meg gasped, shaking her head. "Why are you speaking like that and..."

"I want you out of here!" She yelled. "I heard everything that you were telling him. Who do you think you are, Meg?"

To say Meg was surprised would be an understatement. "Victoria? Are you sending me out of you compound?"