CHAPTER 5

The friend reveals: “The good news is that...” creating suspense, and then adds “... she has never had a romantic relationship with anyone here, as far as you know.”

“Um, that’s really good to hear! Maybe she was, without knowing it, waiting for me...” he believes hopefully, but is interrupted.

“Calm down, no one knows if she likes or has a relationship with anyone outside of here. She is an extremely discreet person.” He informs his friend, throwing a bucket of cold water over the young man.

“But is there such a possibility? What's the chance?"

“Well, from what I heard, half of her life or more than half is spent traveling. And in them she has the chance to meet many men who, of course, fall in love. She excuses the expression.” reasons the man, with a tone of sadness.

"It will be?" he thinks, forcing himself to disbelieve. Something typical of those who want to maintain hope.

“Look, one of your cousin’s secretaries said that there are men who have fallen in love just by her voice on the phone.” reveals the friend.

“I don’t know what to say in light of this information...” concludes the poor rich man in love, confused.

“No one knows for sure if one of them was lucky enough to hook her, or if more than one of them had some romantic experience with her. But if it’s any consolation, even according to my investigations and bribes, there was never a ring on any of her fingers, and no one had the chance to sleep with her here in the mansion.”

“If anyone could sleep...” a little awkwardly, making a joke to ease the tension.

Living together only contributed to the intensification of feelings, adding more admiration, which evolved with her every gesture and word. He seemed to be “intoxicated” with the air of the municipality of Romântica, leading him to become delirious to the point of believing that nothing was a coincidence. Really, love was in the air. She, however, appeared to be vaccinated, as she was not suffering nearly the same symptoms as him.

Rúbia, in every contact with her cousin, in short conversations, only saw him as an immature, dreamy young man, without his feet on the ground and, on top of that, very spoiled. Regarding his physical beauty, she considered it unparalleled, she admitted, but nothing more than that, when it came to content and personality. Something quite opposite to what, for her, would be worthy of being seen as a possibility of feeling a minimum of attraction.

Months later...

“Rúbia, you have to admit that your cousin is a true Greek Adonis” said one of her friends, on the rich list, one late afternoon, during a massage session, in the spa of one of her hotels.

“If you mean the statue, the definition is perfect!” Rúbia responds, in an ironic tone.

“Oh girl, he’s “perfection”, there’s nothing about him that isn’t just right!”

“My eyes have already seen this...” interrupts Rúbia.

“I have never in my life come so close to a man like that, and I believe I never will again.” Her friend exaggerates, with admiration.

“Dios mio, you and the others seem to be choreographing the lines, because you all look like teenagers!” Rúbia speaks, already showing impatience.

“I wish he looked at me the way he looks at you. Don’t tell me you never noticed!” Asks another, who is touching up her nails.

“Our vision is what influences us the most, and when it comes to you, it seems to be the only influence, apparently...” criticizes Rúbia, shaking her head negatively.

"Whatever! But I have a question... are there any of your relatives like that, you know... in Europe?” Curious, the third friend.

“I disagree when they say he’s perfect!” She complements Bruce's most passionate friend, Barbara, and adds “because if we're talking about the same man, I can guarantee that he came with some defect!” She argues, while looking in the mirror, with her back to the other two.

“I'm already changing my concept of you, Barbara, now that you mentioned seeing a defect in him!” Rúbia disdains, in a sincere way.

“Well...” adds Bárbara, “the only flaw in him is that he’s crazy about you, Rúbia! Have you told him that where he came from it might be common, but here it is considered a sin to fall in love with a relative? Who knows, maybe he’ll change his mind.” He concludes with a smile.

“Oh, be serious! This conversation has already yielded enough, I don't have time for fun! There is a lot of business to resolve and plans to put into practice. Soon this white guy will take his own path. I don’t know why, but he has more assets and businesses than I can even imagine, and they should make him busier than I am!” Rúbia concludes, putting an end to the conversation.

The moment her closest friends learned that, in addition to being very handsome and attractive, he was also extremely rich, they did their best to win him over.

In addition to being literally older than her cousin, Rúbia appears to be more emotionally mature. For this reason, she was never one to be influenced only by her eyes, to the point of letting herself be overshadowed by the appearance of her cousin or any other man.

“Don’t you have feelings, in the sense of feeling physical attraction, desire and all those other things that are common among many people?” That's what the housekeeper, who has known her since she was born, once asked. And the answer was: “As much as you and most people! The difference is that I can control it, leaving it where it belongs.”

On a more recent occasion, still on this subject, Rúbia went further: “People are very foolish when they make decisions only with their hearts. The reason is that you always have to make the decision. Other feelings can even give opinions, suggestions, create meaningless rules, baseless determinations. But in the end, the reason is that you have to stand out. Only she has the right to have power and veto, always” concludes Rúbia.

That determined woman didn't just dominate her own heart.

Her father hoped to have a son with the potential to take care of the family business. But it wasn't possible, so she tried to go out of her way to show that she could be the right person. But deep down there wasn't the necessary talent, just a desire, occasionally frustrated by bad choices that brought consequences and more problems in each administrative sector.

Some of the board, administrators and managers had plans to expand the land by purchasing all the neighboring properties that bordered it. Before the fatal accident, they had suggested to her father that he buy his own brother's, as well as those of other nearby owners.