Chapter 4 - THE LAWSUIT
Aline laughed when she read the amount.
Not because it was funny.
Because the alternative was screaming.
“Two hundred fifty thousand?”
Her attorney, a legal-aid volunteer named Mariana Lopes, nodded.
“She doesn’t expect to win that amount.”
“Then why ask?”
“To scare you.”
“It’s working.”
Mariana smiled slightly.
“Good.”
Aline frowned.
“Good?”
“Scared people can still be careful.”
“People who think they can’t lose get sloppy.”
That sentence would matter later.
Samantha’s complaint alleged Aline seduced Heitor for access to his money.
It included restaurant photos.
Lobby footage.
Text messages.
One message looked terrible.
ALINE: I wish you were mine for one day.
Aline stared.
“I never sent that.”
Mariana looked at the metadata.
“Different font rendering.”
“What?”
“Fake screenshot.”
Aline almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Heitor called.
She did not answer.
He called again.
She blocked him.
He sent one email.
I am sorry this reached you.
I will not contact you again unless you ask.
That was better.
At Albuquerque Capital, Heitor recused himself from every Vale debt decision.
Bernardo became committee lead.
Eduardo called that betrayal.
Heitor called it policy.
The credit committee denied an automatic refinance.
Not because of Samantha.
Because Vale Development had lied about occupancy numbers.
A fraud review began.
Eduardo panicked.
Samantha did not.
She went on television.
White dress.
Soft voice.
No visible anger.
She said her engagement had been destroyed by a “calculated woman exploiting class resentment.”
She never said Aline’s name.
She did not need to.
The internet did the rest.
Aline’s home address leaked.
Eggs hit her front door.
Lucas got shoved at school by a boy calling his sister a whore.
Aline went to the principal.
The principal said teenagers were emotional.
Aline stared at him.
“So are adults.”
He had nothing.
That night someone smashed the window of the kitchen where Aline had found temporary baking space.
Flour covered the floor like snow.
The owner canceled her arrangement immediately.
“I can’t have trouble.”
Aline nodded.
She was beginning to hate that sentence.
Trouble always seemed to belong to the person being hurt.
Never the person causing it.
Then an unexpected customer came to her street cart.
An elderly woman in a gray suit.
She bought one slice of orange cake.
Took one bite.
Closed her eyes.
“This is excellent.”
“Thank you.”
The woman handed over a card.
Beatriz Albuquerque.
Heitor’s mother.
Aline stiffened.
“I don’t want money.”
Beatriz blinked.
“I didn’t offer any.”
“Sorry.”
“Good.”
“Because I came to apologize.”
Aline looked at her.
“For what?”
“For believing Samantha before I met you.”
Aline said nothing.
Beatriz continued.
“She told me you were blackmailing my son.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Yes.”
That honesty surprised Aline.
“Why?”
“Because Samantha knew exactly which fear to feed.”
Beatriz looked ashamed.
Then she placed a folder beside the cake box.
“I think you should see what she planned to do after the wedding.”
Inside was a prenuptial side agreement bearing Heitor’s forged signature.
If valid, it would have transferred voting rights in one of his holding companies to Samantha after marriage.
Aline stared.
“This has nothing to do with me.”
Beatriz looked at her.
“It does now.”
Because one of the witnesses listed on the forged agreement was Aline Ferreira.
---
(To be continued)
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