CHAPTER 35

The next morning, the sunlight filtered through the curtains, soft and warm, but I felt anything but rested. Thiago had left early again, something that had become a regular occurrence. I hated how the silence of our empty house echoed the doubts that had crept into my mind.

I sat at the edge of the bed, my hands clenched into fists in my lap, my thoughts racing. The board’s disdain for me as CEO, the looming pressure of the company, the growing distance between Thiago and me—it was all starting to weigh on me more heavily than I could admit.

After dragging myself through my morning routine, I headed into the office, trying to focus on the day ahead. But the moment I stepped out of the elevator, I could feel the tension in the air.

People whispered as I walked by, their eyes following me with curiosity and thinly veiled judgment. I was used to the gossip by now, but today it felt sharper, like a knife twisting in my side.

Lucia was waiting in my office, her expression unreadable as