After nursing her children, Victória placed them on the rug in the living room and sat down at the table with Valentina to have lunch together.She needed to eat something to gather enough strength to make it through the day. But before she could finish her meal, Enzo wrapped himself around her legs, holding her tightly.“Mama!”He kept repeating the word he had just learned.It was as if a switch had been flipped in their little heads. They were only a year old and barely knew how to speak, but slowly, they were learning.Enzo had already mastered words like “Mama,” “Water,” “Auntie,” and “Milk,” while Lara was trying to follow in her older brother’s footsteps.Every time the children called her “Mama,” Victória melted, feeling more complete with each passing moment.Victória hugged them again, and Valentina, knowing how exhausting it was to hold both twins at once, stood up and took Lara from her arms. Enzo, however, clung even tighter to his mother.In the end, Victória couldn’t fi
Victória stood silently beside them, watching Lisa’s entire presentation with enthusiasm, even as they acted as though she didn’t exist.Victória couldn’t help but huff in anger. Lisa was such a despicable person. It had been Lisa who forgot her projects in the first place, and yet she wouldn’t even let Victória have lunch in peace.She had done Lisa a favor, and this was how she was treated? How could she possibly call Victória out for being late? Victória lived on the other side of the city—how could she have been any faster?This time, she had to swallow her pride. She was new to her job, having just joined the company, and couldn’t afford to offend someone who was technically her superior. She knew she’d never achieve her ambitions if she couldn’t even endure such a minor slight to her pride. For her children and for Valentina, she was ready to take the hit.This was Victória Lazer!She could handle this!Victória repeated these words to herself twice to keep from giving up. It wa
“Damn it, why do I keep running into him everywhere? Since when did São Paulo become such a small city?”Victória thought as she glanced over her shoulder, trying to avoid Jackson. In her distraction, she bumped into Lazaro Browns, who was standing near the kitchen.A sly, perverted smile spread across Lazaro’s face as his eyes focused on Victória, now sprawled on the floor—particularly on her chest. Lust filled him as he stared at her with undisguised eagerness.“Miss Lazer, what a pleasure it is to meet you!” Lazaro extended a hand to help her up, but she neither responded nor accepted his help.Victória sensed that this man before her was far from ordinary—or decent. He was a pervert, and she could see it clearly behind his lecherous gaze.“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll pass!”She stood up on her own, determined to leave as quickly as possible before Jackson saw her and got the wrong idea, thinking she was following him.She turned to leave, but Lazaro wasn’t done with her yet.
When Victória arrived at the office, it was around two in the afternoon, and she was reminded of all the work Lisa had left for her. She would have to work late into the night without a moment's rest. Determined, she returned to her desk and immersed herself in the tasks.As night fell, the office emptied out, leaving only Jayric and Victória behind.An intense silence filled the air, so quiet that the sound of her pencil scratching against the paper was almost deafening.Victória worked for hours until hunger finally caught up with her. She hurried to the cafeteria, grabbed a quick snack, and returned to her desk to continue working.Just as she sat back down, Jayric stepped out of his office holding a file."Victória, I need your help," Jayric said.She stood and approached him. “How can I help?” she asked.“It’s nothing too complicated. I just need you to deliver this to President Carson’s office,” Jayric began to explain. “Let him know these are the plans for JB Digital for the se
"Is this just another excuse to see me? And why is your blouse wet? Is this your way of trying to seduce me?"Jackson noticed the stains near Victoria’s chest, and his first thought was that she was trying to seduce him. What he didn’t realize, however, was that her breasts were swollen due to milk, and this was likely her children’s feeding time.Victoria, on the other hand, was expecting this kind of hostility from him. She knew Jackson always assumed the worst about her. He was convinced she wanted to seduce him and that every one of their encounters had been orchestrated. But he was dead wrong—she hadn’t planned any of this."You’re gravely mistaken, President Carson!" Victoria swallowed the words she truly wanted to say, along with all the humiliation and discomfort she was feeling. "It was an accident. I didn’t do this on purpose. In fact, everything that’s happened today has been purely coincidental."An accident?Jackson didn’t believe a single word she said.His eyes darkened
Having delivered his message, Jackson returned to his desk and began signing a stack of documents beside him.Victória felt as if she had been granted a reprieve, a moment of grace. Without hesitation, she grabbed the folder from the floor and hurried out of Jackson's office as fast as she could.The moment the office door closed behind her, she rushed toward the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly until the doors finally opened. She stepped inside, clutching the folder tightly against her chest, and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.Victória vowed to stay out of Jackson's sight from now on. She couldn't afford for him to grow suspicious of her again. Reliving what had happened two years ago was not an option.She hadn’t anticipated that Jackson would still harbor resentment toward her after all this time. That incident had happened two years ago, yet he still despised her for it.Had he never considered that sh
Victoria climbed the stairs to the third floor and entered the house very carefully, afraid of waking the children. To her surprise, she found Valentina on the sofa, watching something on TV.“Are the children asleep, auntie?” “Yes, I put them to bed. Have you had dinner?” - Valentina asked, and Victoria nodded. “I'm starving, but I really want to take a look at them before I eat.” “All right, go on. In the meantime, I'll warm up your plate of food.” - Valentina turned around and headed for the kitchen. “Auntie, can you grab two jars of milk from my bag? At least tomorrow they'll have something to eat in the morning and afternoon.” “All right!” - Valentina said before returning to the kitchen.Victoria tiptoed into the bedroom to the children's bed, and her eyes fell on the two babies who were sleeping peacefully. Victoria's heart melted at the sight before her.It didn't matter how hard life was, or how difficult the work was, because the strength she needed to keep going w
Jackson's eyes fell on the woman who had fallen at his feet, and he hadn't expected to see another Lazer daughter in front of him.“Miss Lazer, are you all right?” he asked politely.He had no interest in women who tried to hit on him, unless he liked her, of course.Ciara couldn't believe it when she heard Jackson's voice. She had managed to get his attention. Her heart leapt with satisfaction, and it shone in her eyes.“Mr. Carson, I'm so sorry!” Ciara got up from the floor and straightened her clothes. “I was looking for a friend and ended up tripping on the way. I'm really sorry and I hope I didn't hit you too hard.”“I'm fine,” Jackson replied politely, nodding abruptly, while Mattew, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but laugh. The next second, Jackson just turned away from her.Ciara was clearly behind Jackson. After all, what person in their right mind would trip and fall so easily, like fruit falling from a tree? What's more, she simply fell at Jackson's feet. That
The twins immediately stood up and started waving their chubby little arms. Victoria ignored the twinge of pain in her chest, walked past her angels and pulled Jackson up from the floor. “President Carson, can we step outside for a minute, please?” Then she turned to her children, they looked ready to throw their little bodies at her, but she pushed down the anguish growing inside her. “Enzo, Lara, your aunt needs to go out for a minute. I'll be back before you know it, okay?” She didn't give Enzo or Lara time to react to what she had just said, and instead, she dragged Jackson out of the apartment immediately, and soon after, Valentina ran towards the children and hugged them. “Enzo, Lara, have you forgotten what Mommy said earlier?” Enzo looked totally clueless. Lara was equally perplexed. She had no idea what Valentina was talking about. “Don't you remember what Mommy told you?” Valentina said patiently. “She told you to call her 'auntie' when Jackson is around. If
“Don't panic. Keep him busy. I'm coming back now.”Victoria hung up immediately and then turned to Harvey with an apologetic look on her face. “I'm sorry, Harvey, there's been an emergency at home, and I need to get back now. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I'm letting you finish dinner alone...”Harvey was not a stingy man and he knew he couldn't keep Victoria there when she clearly had an emergency to attend to. He knew that Victoria wasn't lying. He had heard parts of the conversation before. He knew that something terrible had happened. “Don't worry about it, Victoria. Let me give you a ride.” The man rubbed his lips lightly with his napkin before getting up, but Victória wasn't going to bother him for a ride.She was leaving in the middle of dinner. That alone made her feel terrible enough. She shook her head apologetically. “Thanks for the offer, Harvey. I can go home on my own, don't worry, but I'm really sorry. I'll buy you dinner another time.”Victoria seemed insistent, and
Meanwhile, outside the Village, Jackson had collected his car keys and was going to pay a visit to Valentina's apartment to see Lara and Enzo. Before leaving the restaurant, he called Maison, who was supposed to come to the restaurant now and wait outside. “If Harvey doesn't give Victoria a lift home after dinner, you'll take her home,” Jackson instructed. Having given his orders, he started the car and headed towards Victoria's apartment.He stopped at a shopping center and bought some expensive toys that he knew were extremely popular with children. He hadn't seen Lara since her attempted kidnapping. “I guess I should stop by and see if she's recovered from the incident,” he thought. It had been a long time since he had cared for someone, and the girl seemed like part of his family. The results of the DNA report said otherwise, but his instincts told him that she was his daughter. “I'm going to do another DNA test. If the results remain unchanged, I'll give up,” he decided. Thi
Was this Noemia's plan all along? Was Noemia trying to set her up with Noemia's cousin?No matter how strange the atmosphere, they had to get through dinner somehow, and Victoria needed Harvey's help, and the man agreed to help her. She couldn't get up and let him dine alone, so she put aside her feelings of embarrassment and started browsing the menu before placing her order.Harvey filled his glass with red wine and studied Victoria in silence as he swirled the wine in his hand. He had met countless beautiful people in his line of work. However, few were as beautiful as Victoria. He was overcome by the urge to have her as soon as his eyes landed on her, and it had been some time since Harvey had met a woman as attractive as Victoria.The man silently admired Victoria's beauty. Meanwhile, Victoria had no idea that she was the object of the man's appreciative gaze, and she placed her orders and handed the menu back to Harvey.“I've already ordered,&
The man smiled faintly before slamming his foot on the gas pedal.The car left Valentina's apartment and drove down the street, neither of them speaking during the journey, the car filled with a tense silence. A silence that was punctuated by their breathing, and there was something terribly suggestive about it all.Victoria tried to stop staring at the man, and turned and looked out of the window at the lights streaming past her. The gears in her head began to turn furiously. How was she going to get rid of Jackson? Should she tell him to leave her alone? Maybe she should ask him to join them, but the latter option didn't seem appropriate.She was having dinner with Noemia's cousin because she needed his help as a lawyer, and she wasn't really going on a date. What was she supposed to do? Victoria couldn't think of a solution, no matter how hard she tried, and they were going to get to the restaurant soon.“Don't worry, I'm not having dinner with you. I'm not interested in becoming t
The young woman went to the elevator and pressed the button next to it, heading for the lobby. Noemia wanted to give her a ride to the restaurant, but something came up unexpectedly, and she wouldn't be able to do it for dinner. She texted Victoria the address of the restaurant and told her to call a cab, and she would pay for the ride.Victoria didn't want to be late for her first meeting with a lawyer, so she rushed to the entrance. Perhaps she was in too much of a hurry and didn't pay much attention to the man coming towards her, smoking a cigarette. The moment their shoulders brushed, the man reached out and grabbed Victoria by the wrist, pulling her towards him.Victoria fell heavily against his firm chest.“Where are you going dressed so nice at night? Is it a date?” The young woman heard a low, husky voice in her ear.There was a clear possessive note in the man's voice, who spoke as if he owned Victoria. At that moment, the young woman instantly raised her head, her eyelids tw
“I'm doing this for Jackson's sake.” Mattew's lips curved into a smile. “You want him to be happy too, don't you? So think of a way to get her to join us for the trip.”“But maybe she really doesn't want to,” Samanta replied thoughtfully. “She doesn't seem to like Jackson.”“That's why he's interested in her. He wouldn't be if she was throwing herself at him,” said Mattew before tossing the card in his hand onto the table.“Men are such strange creatures. What's wrong with going after someone who likes you too? Why force yourself on someone who doesn't like you? You'll only let them go once you've broken up with them and got bored. Those poor girls. They're the ones who end up getting hurt.” Honestly, Samanta was convinced that Jackson was just trying to have fun with Victoria.She knew men like Jackson and his cousin. Except for the partner his family had chosen for them, all the other women were simply a casual fling, and that included all the women who had the misfortune to catch h
Here is the text with the lines in quotation marks:Elisa knew all along that Jayric was interested in Victoria, but what she didn't expect was for him to be so madly in love with her, and because of Victoria, he exploded in the office and showed his temper. She desperately wanted Victoria to leave. “Don't worry, Victoria. You can go back to work now!” Jayric turned and said gently to Victoria after shouting at the rest of the company.In fact, Victoria looked a little scared. She had never seen Jayric raise his voice to anyone, and was this what every man looked like when he got angry? Did they look exactly like Jackson?The young woman secretly berated herself, because that man was the cause of all her problems and the source of all her pain. So how could she compare him to Jayric? What was she thinking? “Thank you, Jayric, and sorry about that. My family life is a bit complicated... I'm sorry for the trouble it's caused the company.” “It's no big deal, and you can always talk t
Victoria took a cautious step back and looked coldly at the old woman in front of her. This was her grandmother. But she had been totally deceived by Suelen, the lies of her beloved stepmother, and had lost all reason. Her grandmother had lost her love for Victoria.“Mrs. Lazer, perhaps you should explain yourself, after all, I'm no longer part of your family. So why are you here? You don't have the right to invade the company I work for and then try to assault me.”Victoria's grandmother had treated her like a precious treasure in the past, and that was before her stepmother joined the Lazer family, and Suelen had created many lies about Victoria's mother and her, and gradually, her grandmother came to hate Victoria and her mother. The old woman wished they were dead.Victoria had lived with that woman's malice for more than a decade, so she couldn't take it anymore. She had endured everything silently in the past because she was still part of the Lazer family, but she was young and