“You spoil that dog way too much,” Júlia teased, watching him take off again. “He’s not going to want to go back to Fabiana after this.”
“Not more than I spoil Clara,” I said with a shrug and a smile.
We watched Clara play with the other children, her laughter mixing with barking and the easy conversation around us.
Camila and Renata—two other friends from the bakery—approached with smiles that immediately told me they had news.
“Good morning!” Camila greeted us, hugging us quickly. “Have you heard the latest?”
Júlia and I exchanged a look before I answered.
“Depends. I’m hoping it’s good.”
“Unfortunately, it isn’t,” Renata said, folding her arms, worry clear on her face. “City hall decided to keep the permit they granted the resort—even after our petition. I saw a team out early this morning taking measurements near the central square. They’re really going through with it.”
A sick, unpleasant shiver ran up my spine. The threat I’d tried not to take too seriously felt more real now—closer, heavier, inevitable.
“Are you sure?” I asked, anxiety slipping into my voice despite my effort to keep it steady.
“I’m sure, Val,” Renata said. “I saw it myself. I talked to a few residents. They’re already contacting owners, making offers… all of it.”
Júlia exhaled beside me, her gaze shifting to mine. She knew exactly what that meant—especially for me. The bakery. Our neighborhood. The life we’d built, threatened by a project that had nothing to do with who this place was.
“What can we do?” I asked, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. “There has to be a way to stop it. We could go to the council meeting—”
Renata nodded firmly.
“We’re going to organize something. Everyone’s worried. What they’re planning will destroy the town we know. It’ll turn Tiradentes into a soulless tourist set—pretty on the outside, dead on the inside.”
My stomach tightened. My eyes went straight to Clara—still playing without a care in the world beside Theo. For a second, I wished I could preserve that innocence forever. Keep her far away from anything ugly or threatening.
“And there’s something else…” Renata added hesitantly, looking at me as if unsure whether she should say it.
“Something else?” A sudden chill traced my spine. The expression on her face made my heart beat too fast, too hard.
Renata took a deep breath, biting her lip before she continued.
“We found out who the company is. The resort… it’s a Ferrara Group project.”
My entire body went cold.
Renata kept talking, but I stopped hearing her. The air seemed to disappear from my lungs. Silence filled the space between us—absolute, suffocating.
My hands began to tremble. A sharp, icy rush crawled over my skin, up my neck, locking me in place.
Ferrara.
Five years had passed without me allowing myself to think that name. Five years of blocking every memory, every image, every mention that could drag me back to that altar.
Back to that man.
And yet there it was again—appearing in my life like a ghost I would never fully escape.
“Val?” Júlia’s worried voice reached me from far away, muffled by the roar of my own thoughts. I blinked, forcing myself to breathe.
“I… I’m fine.” My voice came out thin, almost inaudible. I swallowed hard, fighting to regain control and shove the name back into the locked part of my mind. “I just… wasn’t expecting that.”
Camila watched me with concern. Júlia touched my arm, steady and silent. None of them knew why that name hit me like a weapon—and I would never let them.
