Chapter 231 - Stepmothers

"Why don't you talk with Santiago?" Valencia suggested. "You guys have been doing so much good recently. You were communicating properly and so the misunderstanding never arose between the two of you."

"I don't know what to do, Val!" Persephone cried like a baby. She didn't know what to even do with her husband. She was feeling him drifting away from her. 

"Percy, can I ask you a personal question?" Valencia asked with slight hesitation. 

Persephone nodded her head. 

"What do you think about Santiago?" Valencia suddenly questioned. Her question put Persephone in a confusing position. 

"What do I think about my husband?" Persephone furrowed her brows. 

"Husband?" Valencia scoffed if she had heard such a joke. "Didn't you say you will separate once your baby comes?"

Persephone blinked her eyes as if she finally had an understanding of Santiago's problem.

"Separate?" She whispered. How could she forget that they were supposed to separate one day? 

"Yes, separate with the man you married and he somehow ended up as your baby daddy," Valencia rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the whole matter. 

"I don't know," Persephone whispered. She was so lost playing the role of Santiago's wife that she forgot that she had sent him the divorce papers! 

"How do you not know?" Valencia questioned, glancing at her. "Have you decided how you will share Eleanora's custody? Who will she live with?" 

One belonged in New York and another here. How would they manage if they settled down on different continents? With Santiago's condition, it was not possible to imagine him living a single moment without Eleanora. 

Valencia didn't just stop here, she was clearly pressing on Persephone's sore nerve. " What kind of relationship will she have with her father and maybe her stepmother in the future? Percy, you must know that even if Santiago and you get separated, you guys will be connected because of Nora."

Eleanora was the string that connected both of them for a whole life. They played a high role in her life. 

"If Santiago marries someone in the future which I am sure he will since he is young and pretty successful and Eleanora has brothers and sisters in the future, you will still be connected to him," Valencia further said. 

What would she be to Eleanora's half-siblings in the future? Was she supposed to play best friends with Santiago's second wife? Persephone wondered all these things in horror. 

"We are like best friends but I am still Santiago's sister. Even if he tosses me away from his life, I will not leave him this time easily and would love to be part of my nieces and nephews life. And let's not forget Ellison and Emma, they are your friends too and their family is clearly associated with Santiago," Valencia said, patting her shoulders. You must look for a way to easily end your relationship without complicating it." 

What she meant was that her divorce must not implicate other relationships! 

Persephone stared at Valencia with teary eyes. "Stepmother? Eleanora's other siblings? End one relationship without complicating another?"

Valencia nodded her head. 

"Stepmothers are evil and so are step-siblings. What if they torture my Norie?" Persephone whispered. What if they hurt her baby? 

"What if they are like Carina Marino and your siblings?" Valencia retorted. "I can see Carina loving you as she loved her other children. Even your siblings are close to you. Who knows you will end up being friends with Nora's stepmom?"

"Think about it," Valencia said, patting her shoulder once again and standing up to get something from the kitchen. 

As she walked into the kitchens she saw a pale Lara looking at her. She smiled at Lara who was staring at her as if she was some sort of homewrecker. "They both are stubborn. They need to recognise their own fears before defeating them. Wouldn't it be such as shame if they didn't fight for their love?" 

"What if they really separate?" Lara whispered once she understood what Valencia was trying to do. She was trying to provoke Persephone. 

Valencia rolled her eyes. "Have you seen to what extent my brother can go for his family? There is no way he can survive without his family. I can assure you that he can't survive more than 48 hours without them." 

"The discussion of divorce is like a poisonous vine," Lara said, revealing her own fears. "What if they fail to protect their love?"

"If they fail to get their heads up from their stubborn and silly asses, I am going to beat both of them with my precious Louboutins!" Valencia said, rubbing her hands. Pausing for a moment, she added, "You know what will happen now, Miss Lara? Persephone, being a dramatic woman, will cry and scream imagining her husband with another woman and her daughter calling someone mom. She doesn't realize but she is hella possessive and territorial." 

"Or she will give everyone the cold shoulder, " Lara added. 

Valencia chuckled. "Exactly." 

Either way, the so-called equilibrium they had created would snap. 

… 

Persephone was in the living room with Eleanora in her arms. Both of them were now playing with each other. Her daughter was wide awake while her daughter's daddy was fast asleep inside the bedroom. She knew that Eleanora was looking for Santiago but since he got the flu it was better she didn't come in contact until he recovered because if the baby fell ill, Santiago would freak out again, endangering his own health once again. She was now playing mom to two people. 

The doorbell rang but no one opened the door. It rang again but no one opened the door again. So with Eleanora in her arms, she stood up to open the door herself wondering who might be at the door. 

Captain Gabriel was standing behind the door, dressed in his military uniform and waiting for the door to open. He arrived with some files.. Since these files were confidential he had to come personally to deliver them at Santiago's house. Who would have thought that he would meet that woman once again?