Chapter 766 - The Hearty Lunch

Nicolae looked at Altair and Vega while raising one eyebrow, trying to ask why they were so eager to have lunch with Marie.

"We're leaving tomorrow, Dad. I want to see Auntie Marie again before we leave ..." said Altair with a cutesy voice that made Nicolae unable to say no. Finally, he was forced to nod.

"All right, Marie, you choose the restaurant ..." Nicolae said to his phone.

Marie, who had heard Altair's words that they would leave tomorrow, was immediately rooted to her spot. She could only guess where Nicolae and his two children would go. She pondered whether it was appropriate for her to b.u.t.t in and ask about their trip.

"Marie?" asked Nicolae, who had not heard her reply. He thought she hung up.

"Eh ... wait. I'm thinking of a good restaurant to take you." Marie's cheerful voice made Nicolae wonder for a moment. The girl did not sound like someone who had just lost her mother.

Really, the girl was very good at hiding her sadness and acting like she's fine, Nicolae finally thought.

Marie then mentioned the name of a good restaurant located close to their apartment building and made an appointment to meet there in half an hour. After Nicolae and the twins agreed, they hung up.

Nicolae and the twins changed into nicer clothes and walked out of the apartment to the restaurant in question. The place was nearby, and they only needed to walk five minutes from their building. When the little family arrived, Marie had booked the best table on the terrace facing the street and gave them a beautiful view of the park.

"Hello, Auntie Marie, how are you?" Vega asked happily when she saw Marie. The beautiful girl rose from her chair and welcomed them. She was still wearing all-black attire as a sign of mourning, but her face showed no traces of sadness at all.

On both of her bandaged wrists, there were still black ribbons tied around her wrists, which made her look cool if people didn't know she was using the ribbons to cover up her attempted suicide wounds. Only Nicolae knew this fact, and when he saw her wrists, he was immediately reminded of the scene when he found Marie lying unconscious with both wrists covered in blood ...

Nicolae could only swallow, remembering that terrible event. He really hoped that Marie would be able to recover properly and not try to do something like that again.

"I'm fine. How are you guys?" Marie kissed Altair and Vega's cheeks alternately then rubbed their heads while smiling broadly.

"Fine. We just finished packing and feel really tired ..." said Altair, taking a seat beside Marie.

"Packing? Where are you going?" Marie asked casually as if she didn't really want to know the answer to this question. She gave a signal for the waiter to come and took note of their order.

"We're going to Grosetto," answered Altair. "Our mommy will have her birthday in two days, and we don't want to miss it ..."

"Is that so?" Marie looked impressed. She then turned to Nicolae, who looked rather uncomfortable. The girl then remembered Nicolae's words that he was recovering from a broken heart and currently he could not open his heart to any woman ...

Was the woman who broke Nicolae's heart the mother of these two children? she asked herself.

Inwardly, Marie could only wonder what happened between Nicolae and the woman that ended their relationship, especially when they already had two beautiful kids together.

Unfortunately, she had promised the man that she would not interfere in his personal affairs. Marie became self-aware and refrained from asking more questions.

"That's right." Finally, Nicolae nodded. He did not want to linger over Aleksis and focused his attention on checking the menu in his hand, trying to find a dish he liked. He then looked up and mentioned his order to the waiter who was taking notes.

Altair and Vega had also found the food they liked, and for a moment, the conversation at the dinner table revolved around their favorite foods.

However, after a few minutes, the intelligent girl managed to turn the conversation back to the little family's itinerary to Italy. She wanted to know where and how long Nicolae would go and when he would return to Singapore.

"They said Italian food in Italy is the best! What's your favorite food there?" Marie asked, sipping her juice. She watched Altair and Vega attentively.

"Mmm ... a lot. We like almost everything. Daddy is half Italian, and he is good at cooking, so you could say we have tasted all kinds of Italian food there is..."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that ..." Marie muttered to herself at Altair's words just now. She thought Nicolae was a Romanian name not Italian. Why didn't he look and act like an Italian at all?

Nicolae looked at Altair with a meaningful look, and the boy immediately realized that he had said too much. Altair quickly closed his lips and stopped talking. Apparently, the boy felt too comfortable with Marie that he let out some information on Nicolae's background.

Nicolae was finally forced to explain a little because he was afraid Marie would ask further questions and become suspicious. "Actually, I was too late to find out that my father was from Italy. I was adopted and only met my biological father ten years ago. So, I can't even speak Italian."

"Oh, really...?" Marie nodded and smiled sweetly. She was happy because Nicolae seemed to consider her important that he bothered explaining his situation to her. She averted their attention from the topic and asked the kids about what gifts they will give to their mom on her birthday. "What gift did you buy for your mother? Isn't she going to have a birthday?"

"We have prepared lavender flowers for Mommy..." Vega said happily. "It's Mommy's favorite flower and it's usually hard to find when her birthday arrives, so every year Daddy and we give her lavender."

Marie forced herself to show a smile of admiration at Vega's words. "Wow ... how cool! You guys must really love your mother ..."

In her heart, Marie was very jealous of the woman she didn't even know, who lived on the other part of the world. Marie was jealous that the woman always got a gift prepared lovingly by the man that Marie liked.

"Daddy said, Mommy already has everything, so, she would appreciate a personal gift prepared wholeheartedly, rather than bought with money," Altair added.

"Uhm .. Your Daddy is very wise. I agree with him ..." Marie nodded. She then frowned in surprise as she pondered on something. "Looks like your Dad loves your Mom so much ... Why ... uhm ... why ... are they not together anymore?"

Altair and Vega exchanged glances at Marie's question. None of them wanted to answer because this was indeed a complicated matter. They were very fond of Nicolae and, for years, longed for this man to be their father.

But the reality now was, their mother and biological father loved each other very much and have found each other after being separated for ten years. Vega and Altair also already had two younger siblings from their parents after their reunion.

This made it impossible for Nicolae to marry Aleksis. At least, that won't happen as long as Alaric was alive, and neither Altair nor Vega wanted their father to die.

"Marie ... please ... don't ask any more personal questions. I already told you ..." Finally, Nicolae spoke up and stopped Marie's attempt to find more information. The girl was stunned for a moment and then immediately developed a cheerful smile.

"Ahahaha .. please forgive me for being carried away. I was just curious. Okay ... Let's not discuss sad things. My goal was to invite you to have a meal together so I could chase away bad luck and start a new life happily. Let's toast!" said the girl while lifting her glass of juice. "I want to toast to days full of smiles from now on!"

The three people at her table seemed relieved to see Marie's relaxed demeanor and followed her to raise their glasses.

They then ate quietly. Marie and the twins only talked about their hobbies and interests together and their favorite animals. Nicolae was mostly silent. He noticed the black ribbons on Marie's wrists that hid her suicide attempt two days ago, and the happy attitude she displayed in front of his two children.

Marie did not even mention her mother's death to the kids. Altair and Vega were ignorant to the fact that the beautiful girl at their table had just lost her only parent, and had attempted to end her life.

Marie was really talented in acting, Nicolae thought. Again he was amazed and afraid of Marie's talent. He was amazed that the girl was very good at hiding up her vulnerability from outsiders, but at the same time, he was also scared that one day Marie would lie to him and he would be fooled by her good acting.