Feel My Love

Chapter Thirty-Two: Building Bridges

“You look good,” Manuela mused sitting down on the couch, she had come to check on the brunette since she knew that Marco was back at training; she wanted to get along with the woman that was her daughter-in-law.

Manuela understood why Aoife wasn’t overly fond of her or her husband, their first meeting hadn’t been good and she wanted to fix that now the baby was nearly born.

Aoife nodded her head, she was thirty-four weeks pregnant now and she was spending a lot more time home alone; she knew Marco had training and the new season had started but she wasn’t overly fond of being home alone so much.

“I owe you an apology,” Manuela started looking at Aoife, she knew how pushed out of the family the younger woman felt and her daughters rarely spent much time with her now that she was married to Marco.

Aoife raised an eyebrow at Manuela, she was a little surprised that her mother-in-law was actually apologising to her; she was sure it had something to do with the impending birth of her daughter.

“You were forced to pay for your sister’s mistake and for that we are sorry,” Manuela murmured wanting to fix things, it might have seemed like a cruel thing to do but she wanted Aoife to understand why they had done it.

Marco and his sisters had no idea what had really happened and Manuela wanted to keep it that way; the only person who needed to know the truth was Aoife who was caught unfairly in the middle of all of this.

“It’s not your fault,” Aoife replied with a shake of her head, she knew that only Belle was responsible for the debt that had appeared for her parents; she was still furious that Belle owed people so much money and yet refused to pay it back.

Manuela smiled, it was clear that her son had married the right sister even if at first they had been so sure on Belle; he was so happy with Aoife there was no denying that.

“Why did you do it?” Aoife asked curiously resting a hand on her bump, she had wondered for a long time why Manuela and Thomas had taken the path that they had; she was sure they had good reasons for what they had done.

Manuela shifted nervously, she had known this question was coming and she knew that she needed to tell Aoife what had really happened; it was something that affected her life.

“When your sister borrowed money from us… she borrowed more than we said,” Manuela continued gently, she knew that it would crush Irene and Frank if they knew what their daughter had done without telling them.

Aoife frowned, she had a bad feeling what Manuela was about to tell her and she feared that Belle had truly messed things up for them; she swallowed wondering if her parents knew the truth.

“Not only did she borrow €10,000 from us but she remortgaged our home for €95,000,” Manuela revealed looking at Aoife, it was a nasty shock and Belle had affectively got away with what she had done; she had never told anyone about what she was telling Aoife.

Aoife stared shocked at what Manuela was telling her, she couldn’t believe it and wondered what the hell Belle had been thinking by doing all of this.

“We let her do our accounts since she offered and your parents said she was good,” Manuela confessed ashamed that she hadn’t realised earlier that Belle would get them into so much trouble; she was frightened what Marco would do if he ever learnt the truth about the amount of Belle’s debt.

“Belle owes you €105,000?” Aoife whispered feeling ill, she hated her sister even more for what she had done and now she was living in Hamburg without a worry.

Manuela nodded her head, she looked down at her hands remembering how she had treated Aoife when she had offered to marry Marco in her sister’s place; she hated herself for not telling the truth sooner.

“The only way we could stop her from leaving us bankrupt was to have her married to Marco,” Manuela continued quietly, her son deserved to know the truth but she had a feeling that he would be far from happy about being kept in the dark again.

Aoife ran her fingers through her hair, she wanted to throttle Belle for what she had done; so many people had been hurt by what she had done and still she was getting away with it.

“So you came up with the arrangement,” Aoife mused looking at Manuela, she did feel bad for what had happened and she had a feeling that this wasn’t the last time Belle would con someone out of their money for investment ideas.

Manuela nodded, she peeked at the bump that Aoife was carrying knowing that she needed to make this right; she hated being pushed out and she only had herself to blame for that.

“Then she fled anyway and you offered yourself… we thought she’d pay up for your sake if you married Marco,” Manuela explained feeling so stupid, her plan could have fallen through and her son could have been miserable now; like he would have been if he would have married Belle.

Aoife closed her eyes, she’d had a feeling that was the reason that she had been forced to marry Marco when Manuela had started to explain everything.

“He loves you so much Aoife… and I’m so sorry for everything that Thomas and I put you through,” Manuela whispered wiping away her tears, she wasn’t sure what Aoife would do but she wouldn’t blame the woman if she through her out and banned her from seeing her grandbaby.

Aoife shook her head and moved to hug Manuela, she was glad that the woman had come to explain what was going on; she was sure Marco would also understand when he found out.

“We never meant it to go this far… we were desperate,” Manuela whispered closing her eyes, she didn’t deserve Aoife’s sympathy after everything that had happened; she had been terrible to the brunette.

Aoife nodded holding Manuela close, she could understand now why Manuela and Thomas had done what they had and she didn’t blame them; Belle had made a mess of this entire situation.

“I forgive you but Marco needs to know,” Aoife said pulling back from Manuela, she wasn’t going to keep this from her husband when he deserved the truth as much as she did; they were both tired of having how they married hang over them even if they did love one another.

Manuela sniffled and looked at Aoife, she really didn’t want to tell her son what had happened but she doubted that Aoife was going to let this go; Marco was going to be furious about what Belle had done to his family.

“Then we can put this all behind us… and focus on Briana,” Aoife said gently with a smile, she watched as Manuela stared at her confused for a moment before she realised what Aoife was talking about.

Manuela squeaked happily and threw her arms around the brunette, she held her close in a hug loving the name that had been chosen for her grandbaby; she was going to be the best grandmother ever to Nico and Briana now.

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Manuela still, she knew it would be Marco and she doubted that it would end well; Aoife moved away from Manuela and moved to hug Marco in greeting.

“Your mother has something that she wishes to tell you,” Aoife murmured hugging Marco, she had a feeling that this would be good for him; he had a right to know what had happened and he would forgive his parents like she had.

Manuela took a deep breath before she started to explain to her son what had happened, she could only hope that everything would be okay.