Love Is Invaluable

Next Day

His private jet landed inside the boundary of Italy. Dozens of cars and his men were already waiting for his arrival. Stepping out of the jet, he shielded his dark brown eyes with his dark shades. His men turned alert and lowered their eyes in front of him and he, without saying anything, straight went towards his car. His guards and men followed him. His car finally drove away, followed by the rest of the other cars.

Trailing his eyes towards the window, he saw the beautiful morning sky. The sun was illuminating, birds were flying. Looked like his home had also not missed him at all, just like him. In fact, his absence had made everything more beautiful here. Fair enough because his mere iniquitous aura held the power of staining even the invisible walls of the air.

The vibration of his phone made him look towards it and he saw his wife's message. Without even making any efforts to open it, he completely ignored it because he knew she had messaged him to remind him of her damn exhibition inauguration.

Once again, he darted his eyes towards the window and watched the moving sky in complete peace.

Meanwhile, after getting done with the appointment in the hospital, Aniya was walking out of the hospital with her crying daughter in her arms because her doctor poked her with an injection and it made the little girl cry real bad.

The doctor informed her that Flora was healing real fast, even more than their expectations but the defect on her heart was still really very serious but if she continued to respond positively to these treatments like this then very soon, her diagnosis was going to recover very soon and completely and it paced up Aniya's hope more.

"It's okay, baby," Aniya caressed her toddlers back who was sobbing against her shoulder.

"She is bad, momma. She always hurts me," the little girl complained to her mother while whimpering. Aniya sighed.

"Ora, she is not bad, princess. She hurts you a bit so that she could make you more stronger," 

"Really?" The little girl pulled back and looked at her mother. Aniya smiled and nodded.

"Yes, remember…I said tears make us stronger?"

The little girl dipped her head immediately at her mother's question. Aniya pecked her nose.

"Okay, I will buy my Ora her favourite chocolates," she spoke, turning Flora extremely happy. She forgot about her pain just at the mention of food. Aniya chuckled and then walked out of that hospital.

After getting out of the hospital, Aniya came to the main road to get a taxi as her home was at a quite distance from the hospital. 

Her brows wiggled in confusion when she noticed that the roads had turned somehow really very quiet and empty but how? It was the main road of this place. Carrying Flora in her arms, she walked a little more but still couldn't find a single vehicle running on that road.

"Excuse me," she asked at a nearby small restaurant.

"Can you please tell me why no vehicle is running on this road currently?" 

"Because Mr Riccardo Alfanso's cars are going to pass through this road," the old man informed. Aniya turned a bit startled. She had heard that name before because it was very famous and a big name in this country and almost every person here knew about this name but was it really necessary to block the entire road for a single person?

She sighed. The perks of being a millionaire, billionaire, trillionaire, zillionaire or whatever.

"Momma, I want this pastry," Flora uttered while looking at a fruit pastry in the display of that restaurant. The little girl was practically drooling over that pastry. Aniya chuckled at her reaction.

"Seems like we have to wait here a little more now," she said and that restaurant's owner smiled and welcomed them in.

…………

He was checking some of his work on his laptop as his car was still taking him to his home but suddenly his car jerked a bit and then halted. He snapped his eyes upward from the screen and looked at his driver through the front mirror.

"What happened?" He asked. The driver swallowed before answering.

"I think there's some issue in the engine," he again tried to start the engine but it didn't work. Gritting his teeth in exasperation, he shut his laptop and opened the car's door. Only after he got out of it, the driver breathed out in relief.

The car's following him had also stopped on their way. 

"What happened?" Dario asked the driver who was checking the engine. He was informed about the damage in the engine by the driver. Dario sighed and looked at his boss whose face wore no reaction but one of his palms was clenched. His eyes were covered with his glasses.

"Boss, you can use another car," he suggested. Without saying anything, Riccardo walked towards another car but there on his way, he had to halt because of that voice.

"Please, sir…but this," he trailed his eyes towards that voice and saw an old woman standing in front of him. She was holding a small tray of some kind of shimmering rings.

"Please buy this, sir. They are very good luck rings," that old woman requested him but Dario told her to leave and not to bother them but Riccardo stopped him. He patiently heard that old woman.

He saw her extending a feminine ring towards him which was encrusted with a shimmering blood red stone.

"Sir, this ring will keep you bonded to your love forever," her words intrigued him. 

"If you give this to your lover to wear it then it is a belief that she will remain yours forever," that woman told him. He keenly heard her. Interesting way of doing business. He took that ring from that woman and then handed her a bundle of money.

"Sir, it's too mu…"

"Keep it,"he halted her and then looked towards that ring in his palm.

"Because the cost of love should be invaluable,"saying that he got inside the car. Gazing at that ring for a while, he grinned by recalling that old woman's words.

"Love…." He sniggered and then threw that stone out of his car's window and ordered the driver to drive away from there.

………

The mother-daughter duo came out of that restaurant while giggling because the pastry was really very tasty.

"It was yummy, momma…" Flora was practically dancing in happiness while holding her mother's hand. Aniya chuckled. 

"Don't worry. I have taken a parcel for our home. We will eat later," both the girls tittered. Sometimes, it became too difficult to find out who the kid was among them.

Aniya breathed out in relaxation as she now could see some vehicles running on the road. Thank God…Mr millionaire, billionaire, trillionaire, zillionaire or whatever's caravan had already passed.

Aniya was waiting for a taxi but her daughter was busy scanning her surroundings and then something shimmering caught her eyes. The kid's eyes widened.

"Momma…." Flora started pulling on her mother's hand. Aniya looked at her, confused. Her daughter was trying to take her somewhere.

"Ora, what happened?" She questioned but without answering, the little girl pointed towards a direction while trying to drag her mother. Giving up to her, Aniya let her trawl her somewhere and finally found herself standing beside a lamp post.

"What are you doing?" She asked, watching her toddler bending and grabbing something from the ground.

"Ora, what are you…." She stopped when she saw what her daughter was holding. A ring. 

"Momma," the little girl tried to slip the ring inside her fingers but Aniya stopped her. 

"Baby, that's wrong. It belongs to someone else," she took that ring from her hand and looked here and there in order to search for its owner but she couldn't find anyone.

Aniya looked at that ring and noticed it was not made up of some kind of expensive metals or something. It was looking artificial and ordinary but its blood red stone was shimmering.

"Momma, this is ours now," the little girl declared.

"We found it," 

"No, Ora. This is not ours, so we can't keep it," she picked her up in her arms.

A pout appeared on the kid's face, hearing her mother.

"But we found it, so we will keep it," she snatched the ring from her mother's hand and then tried to put it inside her mother's finger

"Ora, what are you doing, baby?" She asked, witnessing her daughter putting that ring in her forefinger and it eventually fitted her size. Flora smiled and then clapped her hands.

"This is ours now," Aniya sighed, witnessing her enthusiasm. She again scanned her surroundings to look for its owner but couldn't find anyone looking for it. She kept a mental note in her head of checking if this ring was expensive or not, so that she could hand it to the police if it would be expensive, which she could guess was not, so she decided to keep it for now for her daughter's happiness.

"Okay, let's go now," she took her daughter away from there while wearing that ring on her finger.

…………..

In the evening, Aniya reached the exhibition hall with Flora and Niova. She tried to make Flora stay at home with Niova but Flora was adamant to come with her mother and she started crying, so Aniya took her daughter with her to this exhibition as Niova also assured her that together they would take care of everything in that exhibition.

"Wow, it's so beautiful and huge," Niova remarked after entering that hall which was looking luxurious, expensive and extremely huge. Dozens of people and artists had come here to show their talents in art.

'THE VALERY ALFANSO EXHIBITION CENTRE ….' was written in big bold and shimmering letters.

"I wonder how much money they must have spent on making this place?" Niova uttered, curious.

"A lot of chocolates and ice cream," the little girl on Niova's arms answered, which made both the women chuckle.

"Yeah, for her nothing is more precious than food, especially her chocolates and ice cream," Niova bumped her nose against Flora's which made her frown.

"Okay, now let's find your spot number," Aniya dipped her head in agreement to Niova and then started finding their spot in that big hall.

Meanwhile, outside that exhibition hall, that luxuriously beautiful car halted in front of it. Two guards immediately came and opened its doors for its owner to come out.

"Good evening, Mr and Mrs Alfanso," the guards greeted the couple. The woman nodded, who was dressed up in an expensive matte black evening gown with a long slit on her leg. Her neck, ears, hands and fingers were covered in shimmering diamonds and other expensive stones.

"Let's get inside," she held her husband's arm and then intertwined hers with his who neither defied nor accepted her gesture. The photographers started clicking their pictures as the couple made their way inside that hall.

"It's looking alright, right?" Aniya asked, extremely nervous about her painting. Her tummy was tingling with all the anxiety and panic she was feeling.

"It's looking perfect, so stop making these funny faces," Niova said.

"Mr and Mrs Alfanso is here," one of the managers of that place informed everyone.

"The owners of this place are here, Ani," the girls stood straight but deep inside, Aniya had started melting in fear and nervousness. How was she going to survive this night when she had not even seen the owners of this exhibition yet and her nervousness had already started overpowering her?

Closing her eyes and joining her hands, she just secretly hoped in her heart that she would receive a good possessor of her possession but little did she know that she herself was going to be the possession of that vicious sinner already entering into that hall.

"Please welcome, Mr Riccardo Alfanso and his wife, Mrs Valery Alfanso…." The manager's voice reverberated in that hall.