The CEO’s son fell madly in love with a poor orphan abused by her aunt. True stories from Misttivo.
Nadia was 23 years old, and she slept on a thin mattress in a windowless room at the back of a large house that did not belong to her. Years earlier, her parents had lost their lives in a car accident on a country road.
She had lost everything in one night. Her aunt Marina, who lived in a large coastal city, had come to get her. Nadia had left the countryside with a small bag and the hope that things were going to change. Marina was a wealthy woman, widowed for several years, used to having things done her way.
In her large house with light-colored walls and expensive furniture, Nadia washed, ironed, cooked, scrubbed the floors, all before the sun had even risen. Nadia had only one dream: to go to school, to learn how to read, to write, and to understand the world, because that was the promise her parents had made to her before they died.
So, for months, she had been putting aside every little bill she could so she could pay for her enrollment and finally give herself a chance. That morning, Nadia was preparing breakfast when Bruno walked into the kitchen. Bruno, Marina’s boyfriend, was a man in his forties, always well dressed, always smiling.
He came over to the counter while Nadia stirred her pot. It was not the first time he had made advances toward her. He told her she cooked well, that she looked beautiful in the morning. Nadia kept working without looking at him. He insisted. So she replied politely but clearly that she had work to do.
Marina came into the kitchen a minute later. She saw Bruno near Nadia. She did not ask for an explanation. She crossed the room and slapped Nadia so hard the pot nearly fell.
“You think I don’t see what you’re doing?”
Nadia put a hand to her cheek. She tried to explain. Marina was not listening.
She grabbed the dress Nadia was wearing and almost tore it off her body. She went to get a lighter and burned the dress in the sink right before Nadia’s eyes. Then she went into Nadia’s room and searched until she found the envelope. The carefully folded bills. Months of savings. She took everything.
Nadia, tears in her eyes, locked herself in her room, closing the door behind her as if to shut out the world. She sat on her mattress, motionless, her trembling hands resting on her knees, her gaze lost in emptiness, then her broken voice rose just barely. She whispered to God that she did not want much, only to learn, to become someone, and to honor her parents.
She wasn’t asking for revenge. She was only asking for a way out.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Bruno was speaking to Marina in that soft voice he used when he wanted something. He had an opportunity, a serious business deal. He just needed financial backing. Marina listened. She asked him questions about the details.
Bruno changed the subject every time, smiled, and took her by the hand. In the end, she agreed to advance him the money. It was at that moment that she noticed there were no more supplies in the kitchen. She called Nadia. Nadia arrived, her eyes still red. Marina looked at her for half a second and looked away.
“Get ready, we’re going to the market.”
The two of them went out into the street. Marina walked ahead, her phone in her hand. Nadia followed in silence, her arms at her sides.
On the other side of the city, a private jet landed on the runway. Damien came down the steps, a jacket over his shoulder, a bag in his hand.
He was 28 years old, the only son of a powerful businessman who had spent 30 years building his empire. He was returning from the United States, where he had just finished his studies. He arrived at the family home full of energy. His father was waiting for him, not to celebrate his return.
“You have 5 months. If you are not married before my retirement, the board of directors will choose someone else in your place. That is the rule. I can do nothing about it.”
Damien wanted to answer. His father had already turned away.
He got back into his car and drove without a destination. The city rolled by outside the window. He didn’t want to go home, didn’t want to call anyone. It was while driving along a shopping avenue that he saw them.
Two women walking along the side of the road under the 10 am sun. His eyes went straight to the one walking behind, silent, her arms hanging at her sides.
Damien slowed down and lowered his window, offering to give them a ride. Marina was already about to open the door, but Nadia held her back by the arm and said quietly that he was a stranger, that she did not know him, and that it could be dangerous.
Damien heard them hesitate and said calmly that he understood their mistrust, that he had just returned from the United States and was trying to make friends in the city, that he had no bad intentions. Marina did not need to hear any more and got in without hesitation.
Nadia remained on the sidewalk for one more second, her eyes fixed on this man she still did not know, before getting into the back seat without saying a word.
In the car, Marina talked nonstop. She laughed, leaned forward, asked questions about Damien, about his work, about his life. Damien answered politely, but his eyes kept returning to the rearview mirror, to Nadia, who was looking out the window without saying anything.
When they arrived in front of the house, he turned directly to Nadia.
“What is your name?”
Marina wanted to answer for her. Damien waited for Nadia to speak.
“Nadia.”
He nodded.
“What do you want to do with your life, Nadia?”
The question caught her by surprise. She lowered her eyes. She said that she wanted to go to school.
Damien waited. She added in a low voice, almost with shame, that one day she wanted to become a doctor.
Damien didn’t laugh. He said nothing. He just asked for her number.
Marina, sitting in the back, heard everything. Her hands tightened on her purse.
The car drove away, and the two women went back into the house together. The front door closed. Marina turned toward Nadia. She didn’t shout right away. She spoke gently, which was far more dangerous.
She told her that she had seen the way that man looked at her, the way she had smiled at him, the way she had given him her number without even hesitating. Nadia answered calmly.
She said that he was the one who had stopped, the one who had asked the questions. She hadn’t provoked anything.
“Give me that phone.”
Nadia didn’t move right away. Marina took a step toward her. Nadia handed over the phone.
That evening, Damien called back. The phone rank in Marina’s pocket. She looked at the screen and hung up.
He called again. She silenced it and slipped the phone into her drawer.
The day after meeting Damien, Marina’s phone rank. It was the bank. A loan of 22 million had been taken out in her name, with her house as collateral. She had never signed anything. She grabbed her keys and rushed to Bruno’s place.
The door to his apartment was locked. She knocked. A neighbor stepped out onto the landing. He told her that Bruno had left the night before with suitcases. A woman and two children had been waiting for him downstairs. It was not the first time he had done this to someone in the neighborhood.
Marina stood motionless in front of the locked door.
She went home and sat down in the living room without taking off her shoes. Nadia quickly came in from the hallway. She said nothing.
That was when Nadia’s phone rang inside Marina’s drawer. She opened it. Damien’s number appeared on the screen. She hung up without hesitation.
Nadia had seen everything from the hallway.
In the days that followed, Marina no longer went out. She sat there staring at the wall. She hardly ate anything, and the deeper she sank, the harsher she became with Nadia. She forbade her to touch the food in the house. Nadia kept working anyway. She cleaned, she put things away, but her strength was beginning to leave her.
Meanwhile, Damien, unable to reach Nadia anymore, sent his friend Max. Max was a businessman like him, always impeccably dressed, convinced that money and social rank were the only things that truly mattered. He showed up at Marina’s house pretending to be a real estate buyer interested in the neighborhood. Marina let him in.
Max found Nadia in the kitchen and told her quietly that Damien was worried about her, that he could get her out of there right away. Nadia glanced toward the living room. Marina was there, sitting with an empty stare. She told Max that she couldn’t leave like that.
Max couldn’t believe it. He left and told Damien that Nadia was fine and would prefer that he stop contacting her.
He didn’t explain why she had refused.
Three days passed. Nadia at almost nothing. One morning, Marina rushed out and forgot her phone on the living room table. Nadia looked at it, then picked it up. She opened the missed calls and found the number that had called several times since the day they met.
She dialed it.
Damien answered on the first ring. She whispered quickly. She told him that she had not eaten for three days, that Marina forbade her from touching the food. She hung up before he could even answer and put the phone back exactly where it had been.
Damien stood still for a moment.
Then he called Max.
“She hasn’t eaten for 3 days. You lied to me.”
Damien told Max only one thing:
“You’re coming with me to get her. You’re going to fix what you did. Otherwise, we have nothing more to say to each other, not as friends, not as business partners.”
Read more by clicking the (NEXT »») button below!
