Chapter 16

• "We already know that Ignazio has returned," Geremia said when Olivia informed him of the information. Olivia stared at her brother-in-law in surprise, unable to speak.
• "We have many people assigned to monitor him all this time, Olivia," Olivia turned to Luca, who happened to be visiting her brother-in-law's residence. She glanced back at Geremia and saw him nodding.
• "We never let him out of our sight," Geremia replied. "We allowed him to leave, but that doesn't mean we let go of him just like that. Ignazio's situation is different. He didn't leave for a vacation. He left with a deep emotional wound. We don't know what demons might have whispered to him.
• "It's possible he resigned himself to his fate and chose to end his life," Geremia said casually.
• "We gave him time to think and heal his feelings. But we never stopped monitoring him," Luca added. "We know where he is, what he's doing, and everything he's up to, until the moment he booked his ticket to return to America, we received his report."
• "And the people in the apartment were definitely reliable spies," Olivia turned her head and saw the Quirino twins walking in towards where she was sitting.
• "If you knew he had already returned, why did you stay silent?" Olivia asked, looking at the four Quirino men in turn.
• "It's not that we didn't want to throw a welcome party, Olivia. But it wasn't the right condition. If we wanted to, why would we wait for five years until he came back?" Rayyan spoke. "It's because we were waiting for him to willingly return to us," he continued.
• Olivia finally understood. As she had suspected earlier, there was a reason why Ignazio didn't immediately return to his parents' home and chose to stay in the apartment.
• "Help us bring him back, Oliv," Olivia looked at Meizar. The man who was usually mischievous and enjoyed teasing others looked serious now.
• "But why me?" Olivia asked, puzzled. "You're his cousins, while I'm just a stranger. It doesn't feel right for me to be involved in something like this."
• The four handsome men shook their heads.
• "We actually need a new presence to make him realize," Geremia replied again.
• "We're not throwing you into the lion's den, Oliv," Luca spoke. "Ignazio isn't a bad person. He has always been a good man, warm, and full of love. But then, he got hurt by his own love, and his broken heart made him blind and made him let go of everything.
• "We believe he's back now because he wants to fix everything. And we're also sure that he can't do it alone. His guilt is preventing him from just coming to his parents and his child to apologize for what he has done over the past five years.
• "Even though we all know that Aunty and Uncle wouldn't mind, but as someone who has made mistakes, that fear will always be there.
• "And for Aunty, it's not that she doesn't want to go first and meet her son. But she's afraid that her actions might push Ignazio further away because Ignazio isn't ready to come back.
• "The fear is that instead of coming back, Ignazio might leave again," Luca's words were met with nods from the other cousins.
• "So here, the middle ground Mama has is just you," Meizar spoke again. "The reason is simple. First, you are someone trustworthy and reliable.
• "The second reason is, you know us very well, especially you know Gianna very well. So if Ignazio starts to get curious about Gianna's life, you are the right person to talk to. Because all this time, he has refused to know about Gianna, and he must feel embarrassed to ask again.
• "That's why we want you to help us again. Be the bridge between Zio, Gianna, and us."
• Olivia could only look at the four men uncertainly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
• It's not that she felt burdened. She didn't mind helping the Quirino family. She was just afraid, afraid that she might fail.
• "What do I have to do?" she asked softly. The four men smiled and exchanged glances.
• "First of all, maybe we will introduce you to Ignazio," Geremia said, and then he rose from his seat, took something from the cupboard, and placed it in front of Olivia.
• It was a photo album. More precisely, it was the Quirino family photo album.
• "This is Ignazio in the past. I hope you can see the differences so that you will know how to deal with Ignazio now," Geremia said again.
• Olivia picked up one of the albums on her lap, with Rayyan and Meizar sitting on her left and right, respectively. They looked and reminisced about the album that Olivia was about to open.
• The first page of the large album was filled with pictures of the extended Quirino family. Olivia recognized the elder Quirinos and their wives, even though they were all no longer present.
• Brianna and Arthur Quirino. Delila and Benjamin Quirino. And the figures of Gianetta and Gabrielle Quirino.
• In the leather-bound photo, the faces of the three elderly Quirino couples were no longer young, probably in their sixties and seventies. They all smiled at the camera.
• There were several young children in their laps. Olivia couldn't distinguish each one, but Rayyan and Meizar helped her by naming them one by one.
• Rayyan, Meizar, Luca, Ayla, Francisca, and Sara were the babies in the arms of the grandparents. And the slightly older ones standing behind the grandparents' chairs were Zello, Falisha, Geremia, and Ignazio. Behind these four teenagers stood their parents: Antony and Claire Quirino, Altezza and Adaline Quirino, Flavia and Gladwin Hampton, Letizia, Fabian, and Zello Giuliano, and Erhan and Nadira Quirino.
• Of course, Ivana wasn't there because at that time, the daughter of Altezza and Adaline Quirino was in the same orphanage as Olivia and Rianna. Xaverio wasn't there either, as the photo was taken when Ayla was only a few months old.
• Olivia's focus was on a tall, bespectacled teenager. He had a radiant smile, and his older sister Flavia had her hands on his shoulders. It was a smile Olivia hadn't seen on Ignazio when she met him yesterday.
• Olivia turned to another page. The photos varied, dominated by the children of Altezza and Adaline's family. But there were also pictures of young Meizar and Rayyan, teenage Francisca, and Ignazio.
• Yes, the age gap between Meizar and Ignazio is around nine or ten years. As far as Olivia knew, Geremia, Falisha, and Ignazio were born within a few months of each other.