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
Giovana’s face immediately turned red. She looked at Antony in disbelief that this could actually be happening. He smiled at her as if he had enjoyed the kiss, and that made her face warm.Ricardo interrupted them, and he broke the contact. Giovana looked at Antony, trying to convince herself that his actions didn’t reflect reality. Antony did it only to present himself as a good husband to everyone.But he reached for her hand again and gently led her inside.“I wouldn’t know how to describe how beautiful you look tonight,” Ricardo kissed her on the cheek under Antony’s watchful gaze, who seemed displeased with what he was seeing.He turned to greet Antony, who gave him a sharp look.“The investors have already arrived and are eagerly waiting for you.” he shook Antony’s hand as he said this, and the behavior of the two left Giovana extremely irritated.“It would be great if you two stopped acting like you don’t know each other,” Giovana’s comment was clearly going to infuriate Antony
Giovana barely noticed the fright on the investors’ faces. She bravely gritted her teeth as a whirlwind of feelings that shook her entire body overwhelmed her. She inhaled sharply and swallowed all her fear and frustration before standing up elegantly and looking into the woman’s eyes, which were shining as if she had won the battle. “That’s impossible,” she now stood in front of Roberta, looking calm and self-controlled, “if there’s one thing I trust in this world, it’s my husband’s fidelity.” Hearing Giovana’s instant comment and confident demeanor, Roberta turned red with anger. She barely noticed Ricardo approaching, holding her arm, and the table being surrounded by people. “Roberta is an ex-girlfriend of my husband’s, who is just unhappy with our marriage,” as she heard Giovana’s words, Roberta’s body tensed with instinct, “don’t pay any attention to that woman.” Antony looked proudly at Giovana as he wrapped his arms around her. However, Roberta was determined not to let
Antony waited in the reception, sitting, head down. Surely, he had never felt so much fear in his entire life. His mind was a mess. Before he could reorganize it, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He startled, but when he looked into Ricardo’s eyes, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or even more outraged.“Did you come to override my decisions again?” Although his tone was empathetic, Antony looked away after giving him a cold and discouraging stare.“I came to see how Giovana is.” Ricardo looked at Antony with a mix of emotions passing through his dark eyes. “I promise I won’t interfere in your decisions regarding Giovana anymore. What I did last time was a big mistake.”He was sorry. Antony felt that in his words. He looked up at him, and although he still seemed angry, he felt relieved that Ricardo was there with him. He leaned back, hands intertwined, and let out a sigh full of anguish.“I don’t know why all this is happening,” Antony said. “I married Giovana to secure Nicolau’s
Giovana left the hospital without saying a word. She still felt too weak to question Antony’s behavior, but this time, she decided to trust him.Although he seemed distant and silent, a flame of hope ignited in her heart. Giovana began to doubt whether Antony had really married her just to keep Nicolau’s inheritance.Was it too late to delude herself? Even more so when they arrived at the mansion, and he carried her into the bedroom. Her eyes sparkled in his direction. But just as Antony reached him, he left in silence.It was already dawned. The ceiling in her room had already been finished, and Giovana regretted not having any excuse to spend another night by Antony’s side. But she couldn’t sleep without understanding what was really going on. She got up with difficulty and walked slowly until she finally reached his room.She knocked on the door and soon heard footsteps coming towards her. His frightened eyes revealed that he hadn’t expected to see her, not that night. Antony’s cou
When Giovana woke up, the sun had not yet risen. The day was slowly brightening outside. She got up slowly, this time feeling better, and went to the window. She pulled aside the curtains to watch the sunrise. He sat back down on the bed and stared up at the sky, which was gradually brightening and bringing the first rays to his face. She closed her eyes and remembered Antony. She heard the door to his room open and then close. After that, there was a brief silence, and then his hurried footsteps moved away until she heard nothing more. The further she got from him, the better. She let out a long sigh when she realized that her heart didn’t agree with that decision. While she was changing, she heard a knock on the door. She covered herself again, imagining that it might be Antony, but Tania’s voice dispelled all fear and all hope, too. “Good morning, ma’am,” she was careful to close the door behind her, “do you want me to bring your breakfast up here, or will you come down and ha
Antony wasn’t answering Giovana’s calls. She thought that perhaps he was at the meeting he had mentioned the night before. Or he was certainly avoiding talking to her. She resorted to the second option, but Ricardo’s cell phone was out of range.Giovana narrowed her eyes at the investigators and excused herself to the kitchen. Finding Tania standing in front of the stove, she ordered her.“Ask one of the security guards to go to the company and tell Antony what’s going on here.”Upon hearing this request, the maid paled and widened her eyes in surprise.“Is it that serious, ma’am?” Tania wiped her hands on her apron and then took it off.“You shouldn’t worry, Tania,” Giovana forced a smile, although it was in vain, as Tania could see the nervousness on her beautiful face, “Do it quickly, before those men get out of here.”Tania just nodded and hurried out of the kitchen. Giovana was almost lost in her own thoughts when she realized that Xavier had already arrived at the mansion and wa
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,