Chapter 6 - BERNARDO
Bernardo did not resist.
That scared Heitor more than if he had shouted.
“You didn’t do this.”
Bernardo gave him a tired look.
“I know.”
“Then say something.”
“I just did.”
The account was real.
The money was real.
The signature authorization was Bernardo’s.
But he had never opened the account.
Someone had used old documents from a partnership registration eight years earlier.
Who had access?
Heitor.
Bernardo.
The corporate law firm.
And Samantha, indirectly, through wedding financial disclosures.
Internal counsel suspended Bernardo pending review.
Heitor wanted to stop it.
Bernardo refused.
“If you interfere, she wins.”
“She wants this to look personal.”
Heitor slammed a drawer.
“Everything is personal now.”
Bernardo looked at him.
“That’s why rules matter more.”
Meanwhile, Aline’s legal case became news.
A reporter cornered her outside court.
“Are you in love with Heitor Albuquerque?”
Aline stopped.
“What?”
“Are you?”
She looked at the camera.
Then at the reporter.
“I’m trying to keep my bakery alive.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
The clip went viral.
People liked her bluntness.
Then hated her again when Samantha released an audio recording.
Aline’s voice.
I could fall for him.
The internet exploded.
Aline knew the recording.
A conversation with her friend Camila after Heitor had bought cake for weeks.
The full sentence was.
I could fall for him if he weren’t obviously taken, which is why I’m not going near that mess.
Samantha released only six words.
Camila still had the full voicemail.
They published it.
The tide shifted again.
Aline hated all of it.
Her feelings had become public evidence.
She called Heitor for the first time.
He answered immediately.
“Hi.”
Too soft.
She almost hung up.
Instead.
“I need you to do something.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t defend me publicly.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Every time you defend me, they make me look like I need you.”
Heitor closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
That almost made her smile.
Then she said.
“And don’t buy my business.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
“I was going to offer you a lease.”
She groaned.
“Heitor.”
“Sorry.”
“Learn slower.”
He laughed.
Then someone knocked on Aline’s apartment door.
She looked through the peephole.
Eduardo Vale stood outside.
Alone.
When she opened the door on the chain, he held up a cashier’s check.
One million dollars.
“Leave my daughter alone.”
Aline stared at the number.
Then at him.
“I’m not with your daughter.”
“Leave Heitor alone.”
“I’m not with him either.”
Eduardo’s face hardened.
“Take the money.”
Aline almost laughed.
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“You have no idea how ugly this can get.”
Aline looked at the cracked window from the attack two nights earlier.
“I have some idea.”
Then Eduardo whispered.
“If Vale Development falls, three hundred families lose jobs.”
That stopped her.
He saw it.
And smiled.
May you like
For the first time, Aline understood exactly how Samantha learned to weaponize other people’s conscience.
