CHAPTER 1

There was only one way for them to come up with a plan. He had to talk to Crystal and tell her that even if that wasn't right, they had to take advantage of the situation and adopt a baby, a helpless son. But they had to talk about that.

With Brandon's secretary at his side, she called him.

"Yes, sir, how can I help you?”

"I want you to prepare everything for a romantic dinner today, in the house, I want you to fill everything with flowers, I want you to hire the best chef, I want you to take care of even the smallest detail, today I will have a special dinner with my wife.”

“Yes sir.”

And without further ado, Brandon left his office. He had so much to fix that night and he had to start by checking the places where they could adopt a child. After all, he was going to be a father sooner than he expected and it wasn't that it bothered him, on the contrary, it was an idea that made him happy. He and Crystal were finally going to be parents because no matter how it turned out, they would raise a baby together.

Once again, leaving the company as the doors of his car in front of him were opened by one of his bodyguards, Brandon dialed his wife's number to tell her to not make plans that night with Wyatt or anyone else.

“Crystal?” He named the moment she answered.

"What do you want, Brandon?”

"Just to let you know not to make plans tonight, we have a special date.”

"Is this your family?”

"No, something better than that. We have dinner at the house, please don't think about leaving me alone because there is a matter we must talk about before it's too late.”   

"Well, if it's for business, what can I do?” Crystal did not wait for her husband's response and simply hung up the call.

For a moment, Brandon couldn't help but smile. He hoped that everything Crystal's eyes saw would be what she was always waiting for. A romantic dinner because for the first time he could tell that Crystal was going to be treated like a real wife.

Seven at night, everything was ready just as Brandon had requested. Flowers here and flowers there. The color red was what reigned at that moment, two glasses of wine on a long table that had been covered with white tablecloths. The wine was on the table and the most delicious food he could have asked for was about to be served. Now, all that was missing was for her to arrive.

Brandon didn't stop smiling when he saw what he had sincerely created because for the first time in his life, it was his heart that had seemed to force him to do that for a moment.

7:15 p.m., she was due to arrive any minute. The appointment had been at seven but knowing Crystal, he knew perfectly well that she was a woman who took the time to get to where she was always going to be needed. A strong woman, a woman who knew how to seek to be valued.

Fifteen minutes had passed since she was still in that car. She was not the type of woman who was on a punctual schedule and not because she was so careless that time passed her by, but because she knew that being the woman she was she should be valued, respected and loved by whoever she wanted. That woman just wasn't the type of woman to put everything on a silver platter. She enjoyed that it was the men who always went a little further, she knew very well that all they could aspire to was power, and power was what they offered them.

But not being a business situation, Crystal clearly knew that not even Brandon could make it easy for any situation they had to talk about.

When she finally realized that she had passed the fifteen minutes that she was always willing to arrive later, Crystal got out of the car wearing a blue dress, not so long, not so short, just something that would make her look special for that night when some business was about to be discussed. She didn't know who else could be accompanying Brandon but surely, it couldn't be a person she didn't know. She would know that she should maintain her position in any case, that was what a woman who was respected by everyone did, always putting what she thought first without even raising her voice.

With slow steps she continued her way to the door of the house she shared with Brandon and the one she would surely no longer see as hers if she managed to continue with her plan. Because if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that no matter how it happened, she was going to get that document created by Lambert himself, the same person who had asked to see her and the same person who was going to see her that night without even imagining that she was the woman who had given birth to a project as big as that one that everyone was fighting for.

Second by second, Crystal rang the house bell. Unbeknownst to her, a very anxious man was waiting for her inside and the worst thing was that he didn't know the reason why he was like this. She was simply the woman someone else had chosen for him to lead his life, she was not the woman his heart had chosen.

Without further ado, in front of Crystal's big eyes, the door was opened by the same man who a few seconds ago seemed completely nervous.

"Crystal, you're here," Brandon said, "please, come in."

"Thank you very much.”

And without further ado, she managed to enter the house. All she found in her path were just flowers, flowers and more flowers. Those flowers that filled that room with a beautiful aroma. For a moment, Crystal couldn't believe what she was seeing, red and white was the color that reigned there, and the more she walked, the faster Crystal's heart was beating.

Finally, right where the dining room was, what she found in front of her eyes was the same thing that made her heart burst once and for all. In front of her, right in the dining room, lit candles, red petals in the same dining room, two dishes, two places, and surely, an exquisite meal.

That had to be a dinner between the two of them, a dinner that was only for the two of them, a romantic dinner. That couldn't be true. Brandon couldn't be the protagonist of all that.

The reality was that this was her first romantic dinner with a man and above all, with someone who was already making her heart beat like only one person had done in her life and that had been her first love. How could she say that her first love was the same one who had prepared that dinner for her?

At that moment, Crystal for a moment did not seem to have anything more to say. Like an image that moved in slow motion, Crystal turned around so she could face Brandon.  

"Brandon, what does this mean?” She asked almost with tears in her eyes. Tears that Brandon couldn't see.

Brandon kept the same smile on his face. “Don't you realize? It's a dinner.”

"I know perfectly well that this is a dinner but, for what damn reason?!”

"I want us to talk, that's all. I realized that the few times we had talked throughout our life together, it was only to argue, it was only to see you prepare something simple to eat and just go to the room. It was at that moment when I realized that we had never gotten along that I wanted to prepare this.”

Crystal looked away immediately, not wanting Brandon to realize what she was feeling for him. And for a moment she thought she was facing her past love. That feeling that was making her weak had returned to her heart without further ado.

"Please, can we start dinner?” Brandon asked with a smile on his face and then approached her genuinely and took her handbag to help her continue to her place.

Crystal, like a doll, let herself be carried away by him. There, carefully, Brandon pulled the chair for her, when she was already sitting in her place, he pushed the chair very delicately, as if he wanted her to feel comfortable with the new side that he was showing her.

"You will see that the food is the most delicious. I don't know if it's the most delicious you've ever tasted in your entire life or just the most delicious in the last few days," Brandon said, revealing the central dish.

Crystal smiled genuinely. She couldn't believe what the man in front of her was doing, the same one she had fought with for so long.

"I think I know this dish," Crystal said sincerely.

"Mmm, should I tell you something?”

“What?"

"It's been a long time since I've eaten something as delicious as this.”

Suddenly, the first laugh was shared between the two. That same laugh that they had never shared before and that today was reality. There was so much to share, there was so much to say.