Victoria froze momentarily, and an embarrassed look flickered in her eyes. “I'm sorry, I hit a traffic jam on the way, and I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.” His voice sounded slightly subdued. “Don't worry about it, she doesn't have any appointments in the morning.” Said the receptionist brightly. She knew that Victoria was an important guest and was especially friendly with the other woman, and her friendliness helped Victoria, who stopped feeling so bad about having left Samanta waiting for her.She ran after the receptionist as they made their way to the dressing room, where Samanta was.When they reached the dressing room, the receptionist opened the door and Samanta was sitting on the sofa, dressed in a long, flowing dress. She seemed to be waiting for Victoria.“I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs. Barros.”Samanta didn't mind the wait, and looked up and gave the young woman a warm smile. “Come on, sit down. Then show me what you have for me.”“Of course. “Victoria
Victoria eyed the Maybach curiously, but before she could get a good look at the license plate, the Maybach's door opened, and a familiar-looking young man stepped out of the car.Jackson?A deep crease wrinkled Victoria's forehead instantly, after all, what was he doing here? Did he know about her meeting with Samanta?Before Victoria could give this thought any further consideration, Jackson approached her, reached forward and grasped her wrist in a firm vise-like grip. “Shall we? Have lunch with me!” Victoria found herself pushed hard into Jackson's black Maybach by the man himself, and she quickly tried to open the door, but it was locked before she could get out. Finally, she turned and looked at the man sitting next to her. The hint of impatience on his face was as strong as day. “President Carson, what do you think you're doing?”“It's lunchtime, isn't it? Let me buy you lunch!” Jackson said, before snapping his fingers at the driver.Hearing the loud snap in the air, the d
He could afford to have fun from time to time, but he wasn't interested in having a kept woman.There were plenty of beautiful young women out there. The young woman had made a terrible mistake.Lazaro took another long sip from the bottle of wine as he walked up to the young woman. Then he looked at her, and her beautiful half-naked form stood before him.The young woman murmured his name softly. Her soft cries for him were like a song to his ears.What a beauty.No man would be able to resist her.However, Lazaro found himself strangely thinking of Victoria, and frustration stirred inside him when he realized that he would rather have Victoria.Victoria was more beautiful than any of the women he'd had in the past. But, unfortunately, Jackson got to her before Lazaro could.Lazaro found this totally unacceptable. He was the first one interested in Victória. He didn't care if Victória was now Jackson's lover.He was going to crush Jackson.Victoria was nothing without Jackson.When
Victoria was wondering what had happened to the other customers when she heard Jackson speak, as if he seemed to have read her mind. “I've booked the whole restaurant for lunch, so can you relax and treat this like my apartment?” He meant that she didn't need to feel awkward or out of place, because no one would be looking at her, and so she could have lunch in peace.Victoria hadn't expected the man to book the entire restaurant. She wanted to ask him what he was having for lunch, so she realized that unnecessary conversations simply meant more opportunities for slips of the tongue.In the end, she decided not to say anything.She reached out for the glass of water on the table and began to sip from it.“The restaurant is famous for its oyster soup. Would you like to try it?” Jackson asked Victoria after picking up the black menu on the table and leafing through it.“You can decide, President, after all, you're the one paying for it.” She wasn't interested in taking advantage of t
If Victoria had really stayed with Jackson, Ciara would be a fool to harass her half-sister even more and incur the latter's wrath.But she wasn't sure, and she also didn't know what to do. After some thought, she decided to go home.The Lazer's had just finished lunch when Ciara arrived, and her grandmother was sitting in the living room watching a daytime soap opera, while her mother, Suelen, was peeling oranges for her mother-in-law.Unlike Victoria, Suelen knew how to win her grandmother's favor, and even after Victoria was kicked out of the family, Suelen continued her lies, telling the lady that Victoria's mother had had an affair and cursed the old woman before her death.She planted false evidence to convince Cassia of her deception, and had also hidden voodoo dolls in the room where Victória's mother lived. Cassia Lazer was an extremely superstitious woman, and had fallen for their deception and lies, which was why she hated Victoria so much. No one could love a daughter-in
“Mom, you know I'm in love with Jackson, and you tried to set Victoria up two years ago and ended up doing the same to Jackson. It took me six months to get over it.”Suelen knew how much her daughter loved Jackson, but she hadn't expected things to turn out like this, in fact, it was an accident.“Don't be upset, sweetheart. You've got us on your side, and we're not going to let Victoria get what she wants. She won't have Jackson. If I'd known this would happen, I'd have made sure your dear sister ended up buried next to her mother.”Ciara nodded. “Well, if we can't kill her, can we at least marry her off to someone else?” Suelen froze.“Marry Victoria? To whom?”“Anyone, she could even marry a dead man, but it simply can't be Jackson. “ Ciara spat violently.Suelen read Ciara's mind instantly, and her lips curled into a wicked smile. “Don't worry, Ciara. I'll take care of it.”“Okay, Mom.”Evening came. It was time to stop working. The skies above São Paulo were painted in shades
Lisa parked her car in the parking lot outside the textile factory and turned off the engine. She had a tailor she needed to talk to, as they had worked together on several occasions. Lisa's unexpected visit didn't attract any suspicion. In fact, she was greeted warmly by the man, after all, she was a senior designer at JB and several levels above Victoria, who was a junior designer still in her internship period. The tailor gave Lisa the respect her position deserved. “Lisa, what a surprise! Do you have any new designs for us? Is that why you're here?” “That's right! We have a new international client recently who is looking for something haute couture. They're willing to pay. My creative director told me to take a look at the textile factories we're currently working with and assess which might be the ideal partner for the project.” Lisa put a smile on her face and laughed. The mention of a new project brought a smile to the man's face. “You know the quality of the products w
“I saw a woman in her forties coming out of the market with the girl,” said someone else. “She went to the left after she left, you should go after her.”Victória stopped crying, put Enzo in Valentina's arms and ran out of the store, promising herself that she would bring Lara back home. She turned left after running out of the store, and in the distance was a woman with a child in her arms. They hadn't gone that far.All thoughts fled Victória's head, and she started running after the couple with all her might, shouting loudly as she tried to catch up with her daughter's abductor. “Somebody, help! Someone's taken my daughter! Help me! That lady in the brown vest. Someone, stop her!” Her words stopped everyone in their tracks, and they couldn't believe it. Someone had tried to kidnap a child in broad daylight, and no one was going to stand by and let that happen. Some of them started running after the woman, while others called the police.Victória kept running, and the woman starte
“Well, thank you for thinking of her, President Carson. As you can see, she's fine, so can you go now?” said Victoria.Jackson didn't seem to be in any hurry to go, in fact, he gave her a long look before changing the subject without any warning. “And how was your meeting with Mr. Spector?” he asked over dinner, and Victoria frowned. What was wrong with the man? Why had he mentioned it?“That's none of your business, President Carson,” replied Victoria, struggling fiercely to free herself. “I won't agree to another DNA test. It's inappropriate and disrespectful to my cousin, after all, they are her children.”No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't free herself from the man's grip, and Jackson simply laughed softly. He seemed to be tickled.“Your cousin is the mother, and your cousin is the father? Right!” Jackson tightened his grip on the young woman. “So why do his children look so much like me?” His warm breath hit Victoria's cheeks like waves of heat. Victoria couldn't m
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