32.
AURORA VALEN?A
The notebook arrived as a digital file at five in the afternoon.
Miguel was in the studio.
So was Dante.
The children played at Mrs. Lurdes’s house.
I recognized my handwriting immediately.
Rapid notes.
Dates.
Inventory numbers.
Truck license plates.
Incomplete names.
At the time, I did not understand the extent of it.
I only recorded inconsistencies.
“Here,” I pointed. “This piece was removed for restoration and never returned.”
Miguel enlarged the page.
“The transportation code is connected to one of álvaro’s companies.”
“And this one,” I said. “Supposedly it was loaned for an exhibition.”
“There is no record of the exhibition.”
Dante remained silent.
On every page, there were references to Ferraz Group companies.
Not necessarily evidence of a crime.
But a connection.
“The missing pages begin here,” Miguel showed us.
After one note:
A.F. — meeting with O. regarding substitutions.
My stomach contracted.
“Ant?nio Ferraz and Otávio.”
Dante did not deny it.
“Probably.”
I looked at him.
“How are you so calm?”
“I’m not.”
“You appear calm.”
“I learned appearances do not prove truth.”
The sentence struck me.
Miguel continued.
“There are partial copies in photographs Aurora took.”
“I photographed some pages for Miguel,” I said.
“And you do not have the missing ones?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“They had not been written yet.”
Dante nodded.
“Then Otávio removed what directly connected my father.”
“Yes.”
“He intends to use them as blackmail.”
“Or destroy the group,” Miguel said.
Dante’s telephone rang.
Legal director.
He answered.
“Yes.”
His expression changed.
“When?”
Silence.
“Do not respond.”
Another pause.
“I’m coming.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Otávio sent pages to the board.”
“What?”
“He claims my father led an art-smuggling operation and that I knew.”
“Did you?”
The question came automatically.
Dante looked at me.
The silence lasted one second.
Too long.
My body froze.
“I knew about the old accusations,” he answered. “I did not know about this scheme.”
“Why did you hesitate?”
“Because there is more.”
Miguel became alert.
“What?”
Dante ran a hand over his face.
“I found a letter from my father in the archives.”
“What letter?” I asked.
“To álvaro. It refers to ‘maintaining the flow’ and avoiding official records.”
“When did you find it?”
“This morning.”
The world stopped.
“And you did not tell me.”
“I wanted to verify its authenticity.”
“No.”
“Aurora…”
“You promised not to hide anything.”
“I did not hide it to protect my family.”
“You concealed information.”
“For several hours.”
“That is how it begins.”
Anger came rapidly.
“You knew before coming here. You requested an examination.”
“Yes.”
“And you kissed me without telling me.”
Dante went still.
Miguel looked elsewhere.
“That is unrelated,” Dante said.
“It is entirely related.”
“I did not intend to use the moment.”
“But you did.”
“No.”
“You knew something that changed the investigation and decided I did not need to know yet.”
“I needed certainty.”
“I also wanted certainty at the museum before our wedding. You turned my silence into guilt.”
Pain appeared.
“You’re right.”
“I don’t want you to agree. I want you not to do it.”
“It was a mistake.”
“Another one.”
“Yes.”
The kiss felt dirty now.
Not because it was.
Because it existed beside an omission.
“Go to your meeting,” I said.
“Not like this.”
“Your board is being blackmailed.”
“And you are hurt.”
“I am not the priority now.”
“You are.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I will not leave without…”
“Go.”
The word emerged loudly.
Dante closed his eyes.
“All right.”
He picked up the folder.
At the door, he looked at me.
“The letter is in your email. The preliminary report too.”
“Now.”
“I sent it before entering.”
That did not improve anything.
He left.
Miguel remained.
“Would you like me to go?”
“No.”
I sat.
I opened the email.
The letter was short.
Ant?nio Ferraz instructed álvaro to use “O.’s channels” to move three items without official records.
It did not say stolen.
It did not say museum.
But it was enough.
The report confirmed the signature was likely authentic.
“His father was involved,” I said.
“It appears so.”
“Dante did not know.”
“Probably not.”
“Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not. I’m separating facts.”
I closed the computer.
“He hid it from me.”
“For hours.”
“Hours matter.”
“To you, yes.”
“To anyone.”
Miguel nodded.
“But it is not the same as the altar.”
I looked at him.
“Do not say that.”
“At the altar, Dante received evidence, confronted you publicly, and refused to listen. Today, he found a letter, requested analysis, and intended to tell you once he had context.”
“After deciding alone.”
“Yes.”
“Then he was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“But not the same.”
“No.”
I hated nuance.
Simple anger was easier.
Mrs. Lurdes entered with the children.
Elisa ran toward me.
“Mommy, Daddy left mad.”
“How do you know?”
“He walked fast.”
Cecília began growing anxious.
“He come back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Call.”
“He is working.”
“You fought?”
“It was a difficult conversation.”
“Loud?”
“A little.”
“Then it passes,” Tomás said.
Perhaps.
Dante did not appear that evening.
He should not have.
Even so, I waited.
At eight, he called the children.
I spoke only when necessary.
“May I speak to you afterward?” he asked.
“Not today.”
“All right.”
Elisa showed him the crown.
Tomás retold the story about the rock inside his nose.
Cecília asked:
“You mad?”
“No.”
“Mommy is.”
“She has the right.”
“Say sorry.”
Dante looked at me through the screen.
“I’m sorry, Aurora.”
My chest tightened.
“Not in front of them.”
“All right.”
The call ended.
At ten, I received a message.
The board suspended álvaro retroactively and initiated an independent audit. I gave the letter to the police and authorized full access to the Ferraz Collection archives.
Another message followed.
I should not have waited for the examination before telling you. You requested transparency. I failed.
I did not answer.
Then:
I will not use the kiss as an argument. Nor will I ask you to separate the mistake from what happened.
I closed my eyes.
He understood.
That made it more difficult to keep my anger clean.
The following morning, newspapers published the pages Otávio had sent.
The Ferraz name appeared linked to smuggling.
The group’s shares fell.
Dante lost billions within hours.
He did not contact me.
He honored my request.
That afternoon, Miguel brought news.
“Otávio wants a meeting.”
“Where?”
“The Valen?a Museum.”
My heart stopped.
“He controls access?”
“It seems so.”
“And what does he want?”
“Dante.”
“Why?”
“The remaining pages in exchange for money and guaranteed passage out of the country.”
“It is a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“Do the police know?”
“Yes.”
“Dante?”
“He does too.”
“Will he go?”
Miguel hesitated.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Without telling me.”
“You asked him not to contact you.”
“That does not mean he can walk into a trap.”
“Aurora.”
“Where is he?”
“On the way to Rio.”
I picked up my telephone.
Dante answered.
“You’re going to the museum.”
Silence.
“Miguel told me.”
“He shouldn’t have.”
“It doesn’t matter. You are not going alone.”
“The police will be nearby.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
His word.
Control.
“You do not decide.”
“This time, I decide that I will not take the mother of my children to meet a murderer.”
“You don’t know Otávio killed álvaro.”
“I suspect it strongly enough.”
“The museum belongs to me.”
“And our children need you.”
“They need you too.”
“Exactly. One of us remains behind.”
His logic enraged me.
“You are trying to sacrifice yourself.”
“No.”
“It feels like it.”
“I am trying to obtain the pages and have him arrested.”
“Without me.”
“Yes.”
“Then you do not trust me.”
“I do. That is why I am telling you the truth now: I do not want you to go.”
The honesty stopped part of my anger.
“And if I go anyway?”
Silence.
“I will not physically stop you.”
“But?”
“I will hate every second.”
“I hated every second when you hid the letter.”
“I know.”
“Don’t say it.”
“All right.”
I breathed.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Do not enter until I speak to Miguel and the investigator.”
“Aurora…”
“I’m not saying I’m going. I’m saying there may be another way.”
Dante remained silent.
“Fifteen minutes,” he conceded.
We ended the call.
The children played around me.
My past called from the museum.
My future was driving toward a trap.
And I needed to find a way to save both without losing myself in the process.