26.
LEONARDO VILLAR
I do not kiss Olívia again.
I think about it every day.
I don’t.
Therapy is not particularly helpful on that point.
“Why did you kiss her?” Helena asks.
“Because she didn’t move away.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Because I wanted to.”
“What did you expect afterward?”
“Nothing.”
“Lie.”
I go quiet.
“You hoped she would admit she felt something,” Helena continues.
“Maybe.”
“And when she called it a mistake, what did you feel?”
“Angry.”
“At her?”
“At myself.”
“Only?”
“No.”
“At her too.”
“Yes.”
“Because she rejected you.”
“Because she allowed it and then acted as though it meant nothing.”
“Maybe she wasn’t acting. Maybe she was frightened.”
I know.
It does not make it easier.
“She asked me not to do it again.”
“And you respected that.”
“Yes.”
“So what are you doing with the frustration?”
“Working.”
“Controlling.”
“I am not controlling Olívia.”
“You’re controlling something else so you don’t have to feel.”
I look at the screen.
“The board?”
“Maybe.”
Since the surgery, Catarina has lost support.
The audit uncovered payments connected to the fraud.
There is still no direct proof that she ordered everything, but there are emails, intermediary companies, and transactions that make no sense.
She remains in Switzerland.
Dr. Vogel responded to Daniel.
He confirmed Henrique left a box in his care.
He also said he will release it only to Olívia and me together.
The trip is scheduled as soon as Manuela receives medical clearance.
Olívia agreed because Catarina may get there first.
“My aunt framed my wife,” I say.
“How does that make you feel?”
“I want to destroy her.”
“What does that mean?”
“Remove every position, share, and ounce of influence she has.”
“Legally?”
“Yes.”
“And emotionally?”
“I want her to feel what she did.”
Helena is silent.
“I am not going to hurt her physically,” I add.
“I didn’t ask.”
“Your silence did.”
“Perhaps your thoughts answered.”
We end the session.
I go to Recome?o.
During Manuela’s recovery, I set up a temporary office in an unused room upstairs. Olívia protested until she learned I was paying rent to the foundation.
She still protests.
Less.
I find her in the hallway speaking with a mother.
I wait.
When she finishes, she sees me.
“Did the therapist call?”
“No.”
“You look annoyed.”
“She asks questions.”
“That remains the job.”
“I’m going to charge you every time you say that.”
Olívia smiles.
The kiss exists between us.
Neither of us mentions it.
“Daniel sent an update. Vogel agreed to see us.”
“When?”
“Three days.”
“Can Manuela travel?”
“Artur cleared her as long as the flight is broken up and she avoids exertion.”
“Switzerland is not a short flight.”
“We’ll make a stop.”
“Leonardo.”
“We can take medical staff.”
“That is excessive.”
“She had surgery barely three weeks ago.”
“And she’s stable.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Then I’ll go alone.”
“No.”
She crosses her arms.
“You don’t decide.”
“Vogel requires both of us.”
“Then Manuela stays with my mother.”
The thought of crossing the ocean without my daughter triggers panic.
“No.”
Olívia watches me.
“You’re scared to be away from her.”
“Yes.”
The admission disarms her.
“Me too.”
“Then she comes.”
“Without turning the plane into an ICU.”
“One physician.”
“One nurse.”
“Both.”
“One.”
“Deal.”
She notices.
“You’re getting better.”
“At what?”
“Giving in before argument number ten.”
“Therapy.”
“Maybe I should thank the clause.”
“Thank the therapist. I hate her.”
Olívia laughs.
For the first time, the sound comes without resistance.
My body reacts instantly.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“Looking.”
“You don’t laugh enough.”
“I’m increasing it.”
“It can grow.”
She catches it.
“Are you using all of Manuela’s lines now?”
“They work.”
“Not all of them.”
The kiss.
Silence shifts.
“I won’t do it again.”
“I know.”
“Unless you ask me to.”
Olívia turns red.
“I won’t.”
“Then we’re clear.”
“We are.”
Neither of us believes that.
Manuela comes into the clinic with Marta.
She’s wearing a green dress and walking faster than she should.
“Slowly,” Olívia and I say together.
She stops.
“Eight times a day.”
“That was the first,” I say.
“Second,” Olívia corrects. “I asked her this morning.”
“Telling me to slow down does not count as asking if I’m okay.”
“True.”
“Don’t take her side.”
“She made a valid argument.”
“Cool dad,” Manuela says happily.
Dad.
The word comes more often now.
I never asked for it.
One day she simply started.
The first time, I dropped a cup.
It still hits just as hard.
I’ve learned to hide it better.
“We’re taking a trip,” I tell her.
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
“Is there snow?”
“Maybe in the mountains.”
“Can I ski?”
“No,” Olívia says.
“Because of my heart?”
“Because you just had surgery.”
“Everything is because of my heart.”
Manuela scowls.
I kneel in front of her.
“The trip isn’t because of you. We need to retrieve some documents Henrique left behind.”
“Secret?”
“A little.”
“Adults like secrets.”
“Some secrets cause a lot of trouble,” Olívia says.
My daughter touches the scar on her chest.
“Can I swim?”
“Not yet.”
“Run?”
“A little.”
“School?”
“Next week.”
“Then what can I do?”
“Travel to Switzerland on a private plane.”
She considers.
“That’s okay.”
Olívia rolls her eyes.
“You’re spoiling our daughter.”
“I haven’t bought her anything.”
“Yet.”
“She’d refuse.”
“True,” Manuela agrees.
That afternoon, Catarina calls.
I answer in the office.
“Happy?” I ask.
“About what?”
“The successful surgery of the child you tried to use.”
“I didn’t know she was ill.”
“Would that have changed anything?”
“I am not a monster.”
“That remains under investigation.”
“You’re going to Switzerland.”
The confirmation makes me alert.
“How do you know?”
“I have friends.”
“Vogel is protected.”
“So you found the box.”
“Stay away.”
“Henrique didn’t want you to know.”
“Henrique died because everyone around him hid things.”
“He died in an accident.”
“After someone followed him?”
Silence.
“What are you implying?”
“The brakes on his car were serviced two weeks before the crash. The original report disappeared.”
“There was nothing wrong with the brakes.”
“How do you know?”
She realizes her mistake.
“That’s what the police concluded.”
“I never mentioned the police conclusion.”
Catarina ends the call.
I stare at the phone.
Maybe fraud wasn’t the worst crime.
Maybe Henrique’s death was no accident.