Esmeralda 58: Goodbye, little one

The die is cast, 24 hours to the wedding of Esmeralda and Alvaro, she seems determined to go ahead with this sacrificial marriage, not for love's sake but for awesome gratitude to Alvaro. She told all the love crusaders around her that, gratitude to Alvaro must take precedence over her undying love for Jose Armando.

Alvaro too came to a painful but honorable decision to release his 'captive-lover' from the prison of gratitude and let her her go free. He realized that what Esmeralda felt for him was sheer gratitude for the three major things he did in her life, viz:

1. surgical operation that opened her eyes;
2. scholarship assistance he gave her to study nursing;
3. offering her a job at the hospital, to earn a living.

He rose up with agony of heart and went to visit Esmeralda. it was an emotion-laden meeting. He held little Jose Rodolfo tight to himself and gave him a goodbye kiss, saying goodbye little one. Esmeralda was confused and asked him what he meant by saying goodbye to her son. He looked up and said: " ... there shall be no wedding tomorrow, it is canceled ... ".

Esmeralda was shell-shocked by this statement. He explained further to her that, he found out too late that she would never love him as much as she loved and still loves Jose Armando.

After her initial recovery from shock, Esmeralda rejected his explanation and told him that he was an ideal husband for her, because he had always cared for her, and has been a honest person throughout their relationship. At that point, Alvaro confessed to her that it was not true, and that he had not been entirely honest in his dealings with her.

He told her how, out of the fear of losing her, he hid all the information of the good deeds and efforts of Jose Armando, who wanted to help her when Lucio kidnapped her son, but he (Alvaro), prevented him, and did not disclose the efforts to her, because he feared that she would go back to Armando, if she knew the man still loved her to the point of readiness to sacrificially defend her.

Esmeralda broke into fresh tears upon learning of these long-held secrets of affection towards her by Jose Armando. He reassured her that it was him that was leaving her, and not she abandoning him. He told her that he realized that nothing could quench the fiery love that rages between Armando and her. He told her that instead of feeling guilty, she should always be happy for him for helping to open her eyes, because he too would always be happy for that noble act.

He walked quietly away from her ...