From that day on, Serena became like a buzzing fly. She was always around Fabio and me. Initially, Fabio resisted her presence. But he completely gave in within a month.
After Fabio’s legs healed, he often attended gatherings with his police officers. He always brought me along. His officers were friendly and their wives were gentle and polite. But ever since Serena came back, those gatherings turned into trips for the three of us.
Serena said she hadn’t seen Fabio’s officers in years and wanted to visit them too. Somehow, every time we went, she would ‘accidentally’ show up on the same road we took. I doubted Fabio noticed, but he didn’t stop her. He simply allowed her to tag along.
Soon, even his officers began to be won over by Serena’s charm. Some whispered that Serena was Fabio’s true love and that I had stolen him away. At that time, I never thought about divorce. I truly loved Fabio.
But then something happened that made me realize. Fabio and I could never live together again. Fabio’s team was sent to the mountains for an investigation. He said the scenery was beautiful and wanted to take me with him. But before we left, I saw Serena standing there with a suitcase in hand.
She ran up to us, smiling brightly.
“Hey, why are you two so late?”
I turned to Fabio. I couldn’t understand why Serena insisted on joining every trip. Even worse, Fabio never even asked my opinion. Weren’t we husband and wife?
Fabio’s face turned serious as he responded, “She insisted on coming. I couldn’t stop her.”
He said it to me, but his eyes were on Serena. They were full of affection. I couldn’t help but get quietly into the passenger seat.
“Sofia, can I sit in the front? I’ve been getting carsick lately.”
“If you’re carsick, you shouldn’t come,” I replied coldly.
Her eyes immediately turned red and then Fabio spoke up, “Go sit in the back. If she throws up, it’ll be worse.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Fabio seemed startled by my look, realizing how harsh his words were. But he didn’t take them back. Without saying a word, I climbed into the back seat. Serena lifted her chin proudly and sat in front.
On the way, she kept talking and laughing. Fabio didn’t say much, but I saw the faint smile on his lips as he listened. My heart ached.
I could only think to myself, ‘Fabio, I’ll forgive you just this once. Only this once.’
***
Montefioralle Village was indeed beautiful. A main road ran along the edge of the mountain, but fallen rocks often blocked the path. Fabio’s team was there to help clear the debris. Fabio directed his men, giving orders calmly and confidently.
Many other police officers’ families had also come along. I saw our neighbor, Monica Castellano and her brother, Leonardo Castellano, who was a police officer. We gathered in the village square, listening to the locals describe the mountain’s dangers.
Later, I wandered to the small village school. Inside, a few children were writing quietly, but there was no teacher. An old villager explained that the teacher had left and wasn’t coming back.
I picked up their worn books and began reading stories aloud. Slowly, the children gathered around me, their eyes bright with excitement. By afternoon, I didn’t want to leave. Their eager faces made my heart warm.
‘So this is what it feels like to be a teacher,’ I thought.
After the police officers finished setting up camp that evening, someone called us over for dinner.
We were still cooking when a villager ran up, shouting breathlessly, “Wolves! Wolves are in the village!”
The police officers immediately grabbed their weapons and followed the man into the dark. As for us, the police officers’ families, we stood frozen in fear. Why had wolves come into the village at this hour?
