Be Careful
Dante
Bianca is waiting for me on my floor.
I see her the moment the elevator doors open, standing near Sandrine’s desk—or Mara’s, I’m not even sure anymore. I’m almost surprised my “assistant” hasn’t thrown her out already. Unless she finds this whole situation entertaining.
I walk toward them.
“What do you want, Bianca?”
“Is that how you wish the mother of your child a happy new year?”
I stop.
My irritation eases despite myself, because there’s a child in this story, and that child asked for none of this.
“Happy New Year, Bianca. I hope your pregnancy is going well and that the baby will be healthy.”
“Our baby,” she corrects me.
My baby.
A child I will learn to love and whose future I will protect no matter the cost.
Even if the mere fact of being tied to Bianca for the next twenty years sometimes feels like a noose tightening around my neck.
The moment the baby is born, I’ll request a paternity test. Not because I truly doubt it, but because with Bianca, I refuse to leave anything to chance anymore.
“If you’re done, I have work to do.”
I move forward, ready to walk past her.
She presses her lips together.
I can see the cutting reply poised on the edge of her tongue.
Then she reins herself in. As if adjusting an invisible mask. The anger vanishes almost instantly, replaced by a softness far too controlled to be genuine.
“What happened to us, Dante?”
Her voice is different now. Lower. More intimate.
“We were happy. I understand that Valeria’s return is unsettling you, that you feel guilty for rebuilding your life without her. But we’re a family now. You, me, and this baby. Are you really going to throw all of that away for a woman who disappeared for two years without giving any sign of life?”
The truth hits me with brutal force.
A woman you tried to kill.
And messages you intercepted.
I keep the words locked behind my teeth.
Every sentence spoken now could betray me.
For the moment, she has no certainty. She’s only fishing for information.
“Are you finished? I have a meeting.”
“Did she say something against me?” she finally asks.
I don’t answer.
I wait to see how far she’s willing to go.
“Listen… I don’t know what’s going on, but she seems to resent me for something, and I don’t even know what. I think she can’t stand the place I took in your life. She needs someone to blame. But you know me, Dante. You know who I am.”
She pauses before adding:
“I hope you’re not going to believe accusations without talking to me first. I have the right to know what I’m being accused of, don’t you think?”
She’s got nerve. I’ll give her that.
“Are you done?”
There is something nearly mesmerizing about the way she looks at me in disbelief.
Then, suddenly, her gaze turns hard.
“You’ll regret treating me like this, Dante,” she spits.
Then she turns on her heel and heads for the elevator.
And I think about Valeria. Three floors below, she’s reclaiming her laboratory, her research, her life.
I think about what she endured. What she’s still enduring. About the quiet strength that has always defined her.
I think about all the moments Valeria and I should have shared.
The mornings waking up together.
The trips.
The plans we kept postponing because we thought we had all the time in the world.
We were supposed to decide together when to start a family.
Instead, someone else made that choice for us.
And the thought makes me want to burn everything to the ground.
*
The morning passes in a blur.
I catch up on the work that piled up during my absence: urgent files, financial reports, legal notes.
And above all, I make several important calls, including one to an old friend.
Henri answers after two rings.
“Dante. I was expecting your call.”
“Nothing ever catches you off guard, does it?”
“All the signs are there. You just have to know how to read them.”
I smile.
“Impress me.”
“You’ve decided to accept my offer.”
A smirk pulls at my mouth.
“And you know that because…?”
“The market is already buzzing with rumors since the negotiations were suspended.”
He doesn’t mention that Aurenza needs liquidity, and I’m grateful for that.
We went through a difficult period after Valeria’s disappearance, and I wasn’t exactly the most involved CEO.
But that changes now.
“You don’t miss a thing, do you?”
A brief hesitation follows before he says:
“I also heard about your wedding. I assume you’re back with Valeria?”
“Not officially.”
“Why not?”
Still as direct as ever. People who don’t know him mistake it for brutality. With Henri, it’s simply efficiency.
I search for the best possible answer.
“It’s something we need to discuss face-to-face.”
A few seconds pass. I already know his analytical mind is making connections.
“Are you available for lunch tomorrow?” I ask.
“Hang on, let me check my schedule… Yes, that works. Same place as usual?”
“Perfect. See you tomorrow.”
At noon, I have lunch with clients.
Then I return to my office and dial Valeria’s number.
For obvious reasons, we can’t be seen together without raising suspicion. But I needed to hear her voice.
She answers on the first ring.
“Hey. Sounds like you missed me.”
I can hear her smile in her voice, and it’s enough to warm something inside me.
“Did you eat lunch?”
“Yes. I had food delivered.”
“You didn’t go out with Louane and the others?”
“No,” she replies. “I’ll tell you about it tonight.”
Then I tell her:
“Bianca was waiting for me on my floor this morning.”
And I recount our conversation.
I don’t want any more shadows between us. No more ambiguity.
She listens without interrupting me.
When I finish, I add:
“Be careful. I don’t want you ending up alone with her, even by accident.”
She seems to think for a few seconds.
“You think she could try something against me now that she’s pregnant?”
“I don’t assume anything anymore,” I say softly. “I never would’ve imagined she could go that far. And yet…”
A silence follows.
“You’re right.”
I know I am. And maybe that’s the hardest thing to accept.
Not what she did.
But what it reveals about our ability to see people for who they really are.
Sometimes what we refuse to see is right in front of us.
And my instinct tells me that the pregnancy will only make Bianca more dangerous.