Chapter 24
The midday sun streamed through the large glass windows of the living room, bathing the plush rug in a warm, golden light. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, stacking colorful building blocks, while little Kelly burst into hearty laughter, knocking over my structures with her chubby hands.
Aline had left early for the architecture firm where she worked, leaving me in charge of the little girl.
Taking care of Kelly wasn’t a chore; it was a balm.
That child’s innocence—oblivious to all the war and evil raging in the world outside—was the anchor that kept my mind from falling into the abyss.
Every time she smiled at me and grabbed my finger, the terror of the past few days receded a few steps.
The sound of a key turning in the front door lock snapped me out of my peaceful trance.
Henrique walked in. He looked exhausted, loosening his tie with one hand as he set his heavy leather briefcase on the hall sideboard. As soon as he saw me on the rug with his daughter, his tense shoulders visibly relaxed.
“How many cities has the little monster destroyed today?” he joked, his voice deep and affectionate, crouching down to kiss the top of Kelly’s head, who babbled happily in response.
“I think I’ve rebuilt that tower about ten times already,” I replied, flashing a genuine smile. However, as I looked at the subtle dark circles under his eyes, my stomach tightened slightly. “How did things go at the police station?”
Henrique sighed, sitting down on the couch facing us. He rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together. The relentless lawyer was there, analyzing the battlefield.
“The investigation is ongoing, Maria Rita. Eduardo and the construction company’s lawyers are making a deafening racket in the media, trying to pressure the Public Prosecutor’s Office to seek your arrest. Their money buys a lot of headlines.”
It felt as if the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I instinctively brought my hand to my chest.
“Will they succeed?”
“No.” His answer was quick, lethal, and sharp as steel. Henrique looked me straight in the eye, conveying a confidence that disarmed me. “I spent the entire morning poring over the case files for this investigation. They have a lot of money, but they don’t have a single piece of material evidence.”
He leaned forward a little more.
“All the evidence they claim to have is strictly circumstantial. The fact that you were at the scene isn’t a crime.
The position of the body on the stairs doesn’t prove a shove, and Lurdes’s testimony is full of holes.
She claimed that you two hated each other, but hatred isn’t evidence of murder.
We’re one step ahead of them, Maria Rita.
I’ll take care of everything. No one is going to take you out of this house. I guarantee it.”
Hearing those words from the man who had become my greatest shield caused a dam to break inside me. The tension I’d been carrying at the base of my neck gave way all at once, and my eyes filled with tears.
“I don’t even know what to say, Henrique,” I murmured, wiping my face with the back of my hand. “You’ve given me a roof over my head. You’re taking care of me, of my defense… I look at all of this and feel like I’ll spend my whole life owing you my soul. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Henrique smiled. It was a calm smile, filled with the same wisdom that Aline had shown me the night before.
“Ana, Aline, and the Lady of the Letters created this network for a very simple reason: gratitude isn’t a debt you pay back to the bank.
” He stood, adjusted his shirt sleeves, and looked at me with fatherly tenderness.
“Don’t worry about how to thank us right now.
The right time for that will come. Just focus on staying strong, eating well, and leaving the court battles to me. ”
He picked Kelly up, eliciting another laugh from the little girl, and headed toward the kitchen to make some coffee, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Later, when the afternoon silence had settled over the house and Kelly was taking her nap, I retired to the guest room.
I closed the door and leaned against the smooth wood. The room was quiet and impeccably safe. I walked over to the bed and lay down, pulling the thin comforter over my body. The silence allowed me to finally focus on the only thing that really mattered right now.
I placed both hands on my belly. My stomach was still flat, yet beneath my skin, an entire universe was taking shape.
I thought of little Kelly running around the room, loved, protected, and safe.
It stood in stark contrast to the chaotic and terrifying way in which my own child had been conceived and thrown into the world.
Eduardo, the man who was supposed to be this child’s protector, had tried to destroy us at the first sign of a storm.
He had chosen the prejudiced family, the malicious housekeeper, and his own unhealthy grief over the woman who loved him.
I stroked the fabric of my blouse over my belly, imagining my baby’s little face.
“I won’t let your father’s cowardice touch you,” I promised, with a fierce determination and a primal strength I didn’t know I possessed until the moment I discovered I was pregnant.
“We’re going to get through this. Henrique and Aline are helping us now, but Mommy is going to be strong.
You’re going to be born free. No one, ever again, is going to tell us that we’re disposable. ”