I walked over and sat beside her, leaving a careful distance—close enough for her scent to invade my senses and undo me.
“André brought me some troubling information. Eloá is planning something serious against us, Valentina…”
“Us?” she interrupted, blinking. “Not just you. Us?”
I nodded.
“Unfortunately, yes. And I want to apologize in advance.”
She stood and rubbed her forehead, staring out at the view for a moment.
“You don’t need to apologize for your grandmother’s actions, Enrico. You’re not her. I never thought you were.”
She hadn’t meant to hurt me—but she did. She was right. I didn’t deserve her. I never had.
“What Eloá is planning involves Clara directly,” I said. Valentina turned back to me immediately, eyes wide.
Her entire body tensed, pure instinct taking over.
“What do you mean, involves Clara? What is she planning to do?”
I took a deep breath, hating being the one to say it.
“She plans to publicly announce—at a charity event in São Paulo—that she’s filing for full custody of Clara. She intends to accuse us of being emotionally unstable and a risk to our daughter. And to support that narrative, she’s going to paint you as someone who’s been emotionally manipulating me since I returned to Tiradentes.”
Valentina froze, her face draining of color as fear and understanding set in.
“Is she insane?” she exclaimed, voice shaking. “She can’t do that!”
“She doesn’t care about facts,” I said quietly. “She cares about control. About destroying our reputation and shaping public opinion before we even get a chance to defend ourselves.”
She started pacing, breathing hard as she tried to process it all.
“So what do we do?” she demanded. “I won’t let her threaten the stability we’ve just started to rebuild for Clara!”
Her desperation hit me like a blow.
I stood and approached carefully, resting a hand lightly on her arm.
“That won’t happen. I won’t let it. André found out in time. We can stop her before she even gets the chance.”
She looked at me, guarded but hopeful.
“Her plan depends on us not being at the event,” I explained. “She’ll use our absence as proof of negligence. So we need to go together. We need to appear united. Show everyone we’re a solid family.”
She stepped back, shaking her head.
“Enrico, I can’t. We can barely look at each other without everything turning into chaos. How are we supposed to pretend to be a solid couple in public?”
I exhaled slowly.
“I know how hard this is. I wouldn’t ask if there were another way. But this is for Clara. The only way to protect her is for us to stand together—just for this event. If we show up, Eloá loses all credibility.”
She stood still, breathing heavily, torn by the conflict inside her.
“Please, Valentina,” I said softly. “You don’t have to forgive me or trust me right now. I hate asking anything else of you. But help me face this. Just for one night. Let’s be the family Clara deserves. Let me show the world that you and our daughter are everything to me—and that nothing Eloá does will take you away from me again.”
I waited, my heart pounding.
