Only Raised Children
11. Secret

Two months later…

Today is exactly five weeks Rico has been in a relationship with Alina. Yes, Alina the beautiful woman that Andi deliberately introduced to her.

After his chat with Andi at the club two months ago, Rico finally decided to express his feelings to Alina. He had thought about it very carefully because during those few days, his mind had always been filled with Alina's shadows. This is very disturbing for Rico because during her dating, Rico never thought at all about women so intensely as back then.

When Rico expressed his feelings, Alina was certainly very surprised. Their very short introduction made him distrustful that Rico already had feelings for him. At first Alina asked for time to answer her statement and of course Rico did not bother about it. After two weeks passed, Alina finally answered Rico's statement with happy news for her. The woman accepts Rico's feelings and wants to be in a relationship with him.

"Maybe my feelings haven't been as big as you've felt for me, Co. But if you want to wait for this feeling to grow bigger, I want to accept you."

Waiting is not a problem for Rico because it is enough for him if Alina also has feelings for him. For how big the feeling is, Rico believes that over time the feeling will change. Whether increasing or decreasing, let time and destiny answer.

The closeness of Rico and Alina also managed to make one of their friends, Andi, very surprised. He was surprised because he did not expect if an Alina who had difficulty opening her heart, suddenly willing to accept the feelings of Rico he knew not until three weeks.

But then Andi was very happy with the happy news from his two best friends. He was sure that Alina and Rico were very compatible with all the differences. Andi also hopes Alina can accept all the shortcomings of Rico, including his status as an adopted child of the Renaldi family. Deep down, Andi was convinced that Alina was a different woman from most other women. The woman will definitely not do the same with Rico's other ex-girlfriends, if Rico tells the truth later.

And today Rico decides to tell Alina who he really is. He must immediately tell Alina about who he is in the Renaldi family because Rico does not want to be in a relationship with so much information covered.

Rico also wants to see how Alina reacts and decides when she finds out that she is only an adopted child in the Renaldi family. If the harsh reality he had to accept, then this would be his first heartbreak since he already loved that beautiful woman so much. 

Rico himself did not know why this feeling was so fast coming to him, but before this he had never felt this much love. Especially with a fairly short time in their introductions.

Rico is currently sitting sweetly in a private room of a restaurant. He chose a private place to talk more freely with Alina.

Ten minutes of waiting has finally arrived. Alina came with a naturally sweet smile on her face. Making Rico immediately smile and stand up to welcome his arrival.

"I'm sorry I'm late" Alina said.

"Its okay. I'm the one who came early" Rico said. He pulled Alina to sit in front of him.

Still with the same atmosphere as people dating in general. They enjoy dinner dishes with a romantic-looking room atmosphere and also small talk that makes the atmosphere look more lively. The occasional laugh was heard when Rico or Alina said something funny to them. There is no jaim word between them because they are behaving as they are with each other. Even the relationship they are currently living is not much different from the time before they dated. It was just that right now they could be more intense in expressing their feelings for each other.

After the food on the table ran out of sight, Rico began to prepare to say what he was supposed to say to Alina. Before that he prayed in his heart that God would give him a chance to be in a relationship with a woman he loved. Even if this is not the time to be in a relationship, then he can only hope to be given flexibility of heart. Hopefully the pain of rejection from Alina does not make him go crazy later, but he hopes, not the rejection he gets.

"Al."

Alina put down the glass she was holding. 

"Why, Co?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

Rico's sudden serious voice left Alina astonished and furrowed her brows.

"Speak, seriously," said Alina. He was still relaxed with his words.

Rico was silent for a while while looking at the face of the beautiful woman in front of him. The question of what if Alina rejected him kept swirling around in his head. Only this time did he seem hesitant to tell this truth. It may be because of the love that has grown so fast and also the fear of losing the woman he loves. But keeping secrets for a long time is also not safe to make their relationship better.

Alina who saw her boyfriend did not speak then looked confused. It seemed like Rico did want to say something serious to him.

Alina flicked her finger in front of Rico and instantly the man regained his senses from her daydream.

"Why daydream? He said he wanted to talk, is it that serious?" alina asked curiously.

"Al, would you reject me if I wasn't a rich man?"

Alina frowned hearing Rico's strange-sounding question in her ear.

"Why are you asking like that, Co?" alina asked in surprise.

"I just want to know, Al. All this time my love affair always failed because I'm not really a rich man."

Alina was silent at Rico's words. There was no expression on the woman's face and Rico looked pessimistic with Alina's reaction to her words. He had completely lost hope of the beautiful woman in front of him. Rico thought that if Alina was like her former boyfriend, hang could not accept his shortcomings.

But because it was already done with his confession, Rico finally decided to continue his words. Pers3tan with the rejection he has often gotten, and now Rico must be ready if he really has to lose the woman he loves for the first time.

"Al, I'm not actually a son of the Renaldi family. I'm just the son of a maid and driver in the family who died in an accident. Papa Irfan and mama Santi adopted me right then and there because all I know is that they love me so much."

"They love me very much, Al. I can feel that until now. But as adopted children, whatever they may be with me, one day I will still go from there and leave the wealth I am getting right now."

Rico paused his sentence again. He wanted to see Alina's reaction to her short confession, but unfortunately the woman was still faithful with silence. He showed no reaction to what he said. This of course makes Rico very surprised because he can not read what Alina will decide on the continuation of their relationship.

"Al, I told you all this because I don't want to keep secrets between us. I'm saying all this because I intend to be serious with you, Al. After all, you will definitely know this truth and I don't want you to know all this from anyone else."

Seeing Alina who was still unreacted, Rico felt dashed by her hope.

"Al, I love you so much. But if you can't accept all these truths, I won't make you continue our relationship. I'm not–"

"Do you think these feelings are just material, Co?" alina said by interrupting Rico's words.

Rico was quite gasp at Alina's words. What does that woman mean? Rico was quite able to judge what Alina meant, but the jolt he got made him seem to not understand what Alina said.

"Do you think I accept this feeling of yours because you are the son of a successful businessman Irfan Renaldi? Am I that low in your eyes, Co?"

"Al, that's not what I meant. I'm telling you about all this because I intend to be serious with you, Al. I want to be open with you about who I really am. I want you to know all about me because for me, openness is the first step for us to have a better relationship going forward."

Alina he for a moment before speaking back which made Rico a little surprised.

"Co, I already know who you are in the Renaldi family."

"You…? You know where it came from? Andi?" ask and guess Rico by itself.

Alina shook her head, indicating that Rico's guess was incorrect.

"So where do you know that, Al? No one knows my status other than all my ex-boyfriends, Andi, and some of my close friends. Renata doesn't know who I am yet" Rico said in surprise.

"I know from a reliable source. I knew this a few months ago. So, don't you think I accept you just because you're the son of Mr. Renaldi" Alina said with an affirmation at the end of her sentence.

Here Rico is quite happy to hear that Alina accepted it not for the reasons she feared. But on the other hand, Rico is also very curious about who Alina knows the information that the Renaldi family has kept secret if not from Andi?

Trusted source? Rico really racked his brain thinking about Alina's words.

"What are you thinking, Co? Do you expect me to reject you for your confession?"

The question from Alina managed to make Rico aware of his daydream and quickly made him shake his head.

"No Al, it's not that. I'm happy, I'm very happy to hear that you're accepting me not for the material" Rico said with a little excitement.

"But I'm just curious, where did you find out a secret that not everyone knows, if not from Andi. There's no way you're friends with one of my ex-boyfriends, are you?" rico asked suspiciously.

"You better not think about it because your secret will always be safe, Co. Anyway, I was wondering, why are you hiding this truth, but just telling all your girlfriends?"

"I don't intend to hide it from anyone, Al, but papa and mama. My mom wanted to cover it up. He would be very sad when he felt that there would be many people bullying me if they knew that I was just the son of a maid who was adopted as a child by the Renaldi family. I love my mom, Al. I don't want to make him sad."

"But aren't you ashamed when all your ex-girlfriends find out about your status?"

"Why should I be ashamed? Instead I am grateful because with their rejection, I can know that they are not good for me. Although I was once disappointed by the rejection, but my gratitude turned out to be much greater."

"Then what if I reject you too?"

Rico was silent for a moment.

"If that happens, it's probably not just the disappointment I get. I'm also gonna feel heartbreak for the first time, Al. You know, it's the first time I've fallen in love so deeply with a woman and I don't know what to do if you reject me."

Rico was silent again as he looked at Alina's sweet smiling face to him.

"Are you rejecting me, Al?" ask Rico.

"You know, Co. The first time you expressed your feelings to me, the only thing I was waiting for from you was this confession of yours. I thought you'd keep it a secret for longer, but it wasn't. I'm glad you're telling the truth."

"Does that mean you…?"

"Of course, honey. My love is not that low to compare to the material that Mr Renaldi has."

Rico gasped at the word 'honey' coming out of the woman's mouth in front of him. He widened his eyes in disbelief because as long as they were dating, there was no special call from them to each other and today Alina picked him up with affection. Rico's heart felt flowery, his smile just seemed to fit his heart.

"Al, what are you calling me?" rico asked still with surprise.

"Can't it?" alina asked raising both eyebrows.

"Of course I can." Rico increasingly displays his sweet smile. "I'm glad to hear it, honey."

Alina smiled as Rico called out to her with the same special call as her before. But soon after, the look on Alina's face that had been smiling sweetly now turned into serious fashion.

"Co, I have one secret that not everyone knows, including you."

Rico scrunched his forehead. "Confidential?"

"But sorry, I can't tell you yet for now."

"Why, Al?" asked Rico in surprise.

"Trust me, when the time comes, you're the first person I'll tell you, Co."

Rico is now made curious by the words of Alina. How big and secretive is Alina not able to tell him? Is this so serious that he's covering it up from everyone?

Rico was eager to find out what made him curious, but it's best not now. He should respect Alina's decision. Maybe there is an important reason that makes him unable to tell him. After all Alina had promised to make him the first person who would know the secret. All right, he'll wait for that day to come.

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