Andreas looked at Antony, whose face was twisted with hatred. What was it about Matteo that made his half-brother hate him so much? He observed the secretary entering with a tray in trembling hands. She would surely drop it at any moment, worsening Antony’s mood.“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this,” he grabbed Valeria’s hands, supporting the tray, while smiling at Antony.Antony shot a questioning glance at Andreas, asking about his true intentions. He watched him pour a glass and serve it, while Ricardo left the office in complete silence. Better this way, Antony wasn’t in the mood to deal with another traitor. Andreas had already placed the glass on his desk and was eagerly waiting to talk with his half-brother.By the way, half-brother was a term that Andreas simply hated. He didn’t see Antony that way, even though they were only brothers on their father’s side; to him, a brother was a brother, no more, no less.He saw Antony impatiently look at him, as if reading his thoughts, and the
Antony’s behavior shouldn’t perplex Giovanna. When she saw him pass by her in silence, she froze. Antony, too, felt nervous, though he would never admit it. He wanted to know how Giovanna was, but remained silent.She heard the bedroom door slam, and when she came out of the bathroom, she found herself alone with him again.Giovanna didn’t seem willing to initiate a conversation. She continued to avoid looking at Antony and pretended that his indifference didn’t affect her.“You should have let me know you were discharged,” she said, clearing her throat with an icy voice.“I should have?” Giovanna observed him with perplexity. “Would you really want to know, Antony?”At that moment, an astonished expression appeared on Antony’s face.“If I didn’t care about your safety, I wouldn’t have sent my employees to protect you.”Saying this, Antony turned his back to her, ready to leave as quickly as possible. He had had a bad day, and arguing with Giovanna would only make things worse.Althou
On his bad days, Antony was cruel, but on that day, he decided to put on a smile and completely ignore the woman’s immaturity. It had to be pregnancy driving Giovanna baffling; there was no other explanation, he thought. Still, he looked at the two and pretended not to care as Matteo embraced his wife.Giovanna’s face turned red, and she widened her eyes at Antony, knowing she had committed a great folly. As she approached him, she saw him turn his back and, in a cold tone, say to her, “Since you’ve concluded what you wanted here, you can go back home,” he sat at his desk in front of her but avoided looking into her eyes, “I’ll have my driver take you.”Giovanna swallowed all the words on the tip of her tongue and turned to leave. Although she knew Antony was furious, he didn’t show it, leaving her quite confused.“You stay, Matteo,” his voice interrupted the man’s intentions, who stopped still in front of the door, watching Giovanna leave while he stayed alone with his great enemy.M
A heavy downpour was happening outside. The chilly wind that struck against the curtain met Giovanna’s skin, causing her to shrink. She was wearing a red silk nightgown, just above the knee. She was barefoot as she looked out the window, waiting for Antony to return.Her clock was about to strike ten in the evening, and Antony had not returned yet.Surely, he was doing this to punish her for her disobedience. Although she knew how long Antony had waited for the perfect moment to fire Matteo, she could never allow such injustice. His delay was only to punish her.Giovanna let out a sigh of relief when she saw Antony arrive home. Now she could lie down and sleep, even though she felt a strong desire to go to his room and see how he was. She only heard the guest room door open and close shortly after.She waited for him to come see her, to inquire about her well-being, but Antony didn’t come. Should this frustrate her? Of course not; Giovanna had determined that they should stay away fro
Matteo could hardly believe that he would have to wake up early every morning to serve Antony, the man he hated. On the way to work, he remembered Valeria. The secretary had certainly been in love with the boss long before his first divorce. She would be a powerful weapon to separate Antony from Giovanna.Thinking that there was nothing more to lose, Matteo swallowed his indignation and quickened his pace towards the company. Antony would pay for every humiliation he had made him endure and, in addition, lose Giovanna forever.He arrived earlier than usual. He put on his uniform, which he detested, and patiently waited for Valeria to arrive while pretending to work.When he saw the woman exit the elevator and her gaze met his, Matteo took a deep breath, as if summoning courage, and said, “Good morning, Miss Valeria.”But Valeria didn’t even look into his eyes. She lowered her head and replied to him with little enthusiasm, “Good morning,” sitting down and completely ignoring his prese
Xavier watched Valeria’s intentions while listening to Antony’s outburst. Antony seemed so distraught that he barely noticed the mistake he had made. When the secretary left the room, Xavier inquired curiously.“How long has this young lady been working for you?” The question made Antony pause in what he was saying and look intrigued at Xavier.“Who are you talking about?” Then he remembered Valeria’s presence minutes before. “My secretary?”“Exactly.” Xavier waited anxiously and was concerned for his response.“Don’t tell me you have an interest in her,” a mischievous look crossed Antony’s gaze, making Xavier visibly uncomfortable.“Not, I am a very happily married man,” he coughed, clearing his throat.“Don’t tell me you remain faithful to your wife even after so many years of marriage?”Antony smiled, not with the intention of offending Xavier, but because he genuinely didn’t believe that should be possible.“Just as you were faithful to Giovana, even though you didn’t love her.”X
Giovana was apprehensive. At the same time that she was considering not accepting Antony’s proposal, she felt that this was her big chance to prove her worth to him. She paced back and forth when her phone rang.She looked at the caller ID, and her heart tightened even more. Not only that, but she answered the call, closing her eyes, knowing exactly what the person on the other end would say.“Hi, Giovana,” Ricardo sounded sad; she could sense it in his voice. “By now, Antony has made the proposal to you.”She took a deep breath before opening her eyes and responding.“Yes, he did,” she replied quickly, scratching her scalp. She felt sweat forming on her head. “I presume he asked you to call me.”“You’re mistaken.” a long pause occurred on the other end of the line. It was clear that Ricardo was uncomfortable discussing this. “Antony and I had a fight.”Another long pause, and Giovana wondered which part of the story she had missed. When did Antony and Ricardo argue without her knowin
Strangely, Antony was eager to see his wife. He wore a tuxedo, although he hated the Bowie. That gave a slight suffocating sensation. He also felt something missing as he got ready; Ricardo’s presence wasn’t there to help him calm down.Not only that, but he adjusted the tie angrily, while looking at himself one last time in the mirror, remembering that Giovana still continued to want to control his life. He had been forced to marry her again to avoid losing his entire inheritance, and now she dictated the rules. Antony truly believed this marriage would be easy, but he was miserably disappointed.As he descended the stairs, he came face to face with Andreas and Xavier. How could this day get any worse? His half-brother entered his house whenever he pleased, feeling as if he were part of the family, and that only hardened Antony’s heart.“You look elegant,” Xavier commented when he took Antony’s hand. “Ricardo asked us to come to take you to the cocktail.”Antony forced a smile, altho
Nicolau got discharged a few weeks later. When Antony saw Giovana holding their son for the first time, he felt so many things that he couldn’t decipher the feeling that pulsed the strongest in his heart.As Giovana approached with a genuine smile on her face, she asked him if he wanted to hold their son for the first time. Nicolau was so small that Antony was afraid of hurting him. He looked at the baby, who was sleeping peacefully in his mother’s arms, and with an affectionate look, he replied yes.Holding his son for the first time made Antony understand the true meaning of love. Ricardo himself, took without him noticing, a photo who imagined that photograph hanging on their wall.On the other side of the room, Tania was packing things for Giovana’s departure, her eyes filled with tears.“I think I haven’t forgotten anything,” she quickly scanned the room, looking for anything that might have been left behind, but there was nothing.Tania soon realized it was time to tell Giovana
Antony got into the car next to Xavier and was driven to the company. When he found the memories of that place almost paralyzed him. He barely remembered the last time he had been there. He had aspired to own that empire even when Nicolau was alive. His eyes would sparkle at the thought of owning it all. Now, standing in front of everything he had achieved, none of it made sense anymore. In the end, the greatest wealth he had received was marrying Giovana.He entered the elevator alone. Xavier had left with the mission of buying the shares and returning them to Antony. And to think it was because of those shares that he married Giovana for the second time. Now his life revolved around her. A smile tugged at his lips as Antony came to this realization. At that moment, he found himself completely in love with his wife, despite his promise never to fall in love with another woman besides Roberta.When he stepped out of the elevator, the first face he saw was Valeria’s. The woman looked a
Antony had a fixed idea in his head and thought about it every time he looked at Giovana. He had spent that night by her side, holding her hand while she slept. She was eager to see Nicolau, but the doctors recommended that she wait for the anesthesia to wear off before getting up. The next day, when Antony woke up, she was sitting up, which startled him and made him rush to help her.“What are you doing?” He looked at her, scared that she might do something reckless.“I want to see our son,” she said, already putting on her sandals, indicating that no one would stop her.Antony threw his head back, closing his eyes tightly and sighing in disagreement, but when he looked at her and saw a deep sadness for not having met their son yet, he relented.“All right,” he said, taking her hands and helping her to walk, “let’s go meet Nicolau, and on the way, we’ll talk about something very important.”“What do you want to talk about?” She looked at him, furrowing her brow with concern.“I need
Antony stopped to think about what Andreas was saying. Things in his life were starting to calm down, and he needed to recognize that Andreas had made a considerable effort to help him. On the other hand, Andreas fell silent, embarrassed, as if he had made significant mistakes and was convinced that Antony would never forgive him. Only after a long period of silence, in an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, did Andreas apologize.“I should have told you that I didn’t find Giovana when I arrived at the farm,” Andreas’ regretful tone was more than enough for Antony to understand that the boy was not at all happy with what had happened. “I promised you that I would take care of Giovana, and I didn’t want to fail again.”Antony laughed with disdain, as if he had heard a very tasteless joke.“Yes, you should have told me,” he replied calmly, looking away at the nursery in front of him, “but you need to stop always trying to please me. Why is my approval so important to you?”Andreas
Antony stared at Xavier with an apprehensive look. The lawyer was terrified until the call was ended. When he finally hung up the phone, he looked at Antony with a lump in his throat.“What happened?” Antony sweated, anxious to hear good news from Giovana.It was all he could think of. It was about Giovana’s safety, as if nothing else mattered. Before Xavier could think of opening his lips to tell him what was happening, his cell phone rang again. He looked confused at the phone number, realizing it was Andreas.He answered the call, hearing the boy asking to speak to Antony on the other end of the line.Xavier left, leaving Antony apprehensive behind. It took him a long time to make that decision. Would it be more appropriate to inform Antony about his freedom first than to let Andreas take up his time?He came back with the phone in his hands and handed it to Antony. He saw the man’s face slowly transform, and minutes later, he felt drawn to the most important news of his existence.
Irma slowly opened her eyes and heard voices coming from afar, as if in a dream. The trees seemed to be in constant motion, making her head spin faster. The same man she had seen in front of the farm was the one who came to her aid. Although dizzy and disoriented, Irma tried to get up and escape. Her efforts were in vain, as she was weak and injured. The man held her and called the police.When the police cars arrived, she mocked the officers. She laughed uncontrollably.“Do you not know that I am Giovana’s mother?” Her disoriented look frightened some. “I came to visit her. Don’t I have that right?”“She ran away when I called her,” the man accused. “She ran through the woods and fell, hitting her head. Forgive me, but Mr. Andreas asked me to watch over the farm and forbid this woman from approaching.”The police seemed confused by the situation. One of them approached Irma, touching her arm, which greatly irritated her.“You need to come with us.”The order did not sit well with her
Giovana could no longer stand the car shaking all the time. She closed her eyes tightly and believed that the pain in her abdomen was because of the long hours of travel. Tania remained by her side, never letting go of Giovana’s hand for a moment, and although she told the maid that she was okay, Tania could see from Giovana’s face how much she was suffering from the long delay.“We need to stop,” Tania said, noticing Giovana’s face changing color. “Giovana won’t be able to endure this much longer.”“We can’t stop now, Tania, it’s only a few more hours,” Maria declared.“You’ve been saying that for two days now,” she snapped, though she had no reason to.“Please, Tania, don’t argue with Maria because of me. I’ve already said that I’m fine.”Giovana held back from grimacing as the car went over a pothole, throwing her body forward. The pain was increasing as the minutes passed. Giovana remembered the moment when Antony was taken by the police and his words, begging Giovana to leave the
Antony was in a room, being watched by police officers. In front of him, Xavier kept talking only about subjects that wouldn’t raise any suspicion. The lawyer already knew about the evidence against Irma and was preparing to put his plan into action.“Ask Andreas to go to Giovana,” he said, looking at the mirrored wall, imagining the figure of the delegate looking at him behind the glass. “Keep her safe.”“Andreas has already gone to the farm,” he said, wiping the sweat from his face. “I’ll get him out of jail today, Antony. I propose we put an end to this injustice once and for all.”Xavier was in a hurry, although Antony insisted on knowing who had been responsible for discovering his location. Xavier had no idea who it had been. He left the interrogation room, demanding to speak to the delegate.The man was arrogant, thinking he deserved a prize for arresting a fugitive from the police, which Xavier certainly disagreed with. He placed the paid bail on his desk, which made the man j
Someone called Irma that morning and informed her that Antony had been found. The voice on the other end of the line asked her to turn on the TV as Giovana’s location would be revealed.She paced anxiously around the house, waiting for the moment to put her plan into action. Her soul would only find peace once Giovana was dead. When she entered the living room, the TV was broadcasting Antony’s arrest live. She stopped and looked at the small screen, seeing Giovana’s face. Her eyes sparkled with emotion. She had finally found her daughter Gina’s killer.A sudden sense of unease surged in her heart as she hurried to pack her bags and leave. She saw Gina pass by the hallway, sending a shiver down her spine. Gina's constant visions and appearances tormented Irma. Surely her mind’s delusions, but she believed Gina’s spirit would only find peace when Giovana finally paid with her life for the crime she had committed.“I will draw her blood and bring it to you,” she said to the empty walls,