I exhaled and leaned my wet hands on the edge of the sink, staring at the plate I was holding. I realized I’d been standing there too long, lost in my thoughts, and I shook my head in frustration.
I checked the kitchen clock.
Only thirty minutes before I needed to leave and pick Clara up from daycare.
I moved faster, washing the dishes quickly, determined to finish before Júlia arrived to have coffee with me.
She’d become an almost daily presence since Enrico returned to my life—her support my emotional anchor, what kept me sane in the middle of this chaos.
Júlia didn’t know every detail about the bank’s absurd demands, but her loyalty mattered more than ever.
I rinsed the last plate, dried my hands, and smiled faintly as the doorbell rang.
Relief warmed me—Júlia, right on time. I needed her company desperately today.
“You’re early,” I called as I unlocked the door and swung it open. “I thought you—”
My words died.
My smile vanished.
A court officer stood on my doorstep, holding an official envelope.
My heart surged into my throat.
“Ms. Valentina Muniz?” he asked politely.
“Yes.”
“I have a legal notice for you,” he said, extending the envelope.
My fingers shook as I accepted it, forcing myself to remain composed while my legs threatened to buckle.
“Thank you,” I whispered, closing the door after he walked away.
For several seconds, I stood there frozen, staring at the envelope without the courage to open it. Cold spread through my veins.
My heart was beating so hard and irregularly I feared, for a moment, that I might actually choke on it.
I breathed in and out, trying to steady my hands enough to break the seal.
I didn’t know when seeing court officers had become such a trigger for my anxiety.
Then again… I suspected it happened the first time.
Slowly—like I was defusing a bomb—I pulled the folded paper from the envelope.
It took a few seconds for the formal language to make sense.
Petition for confirmation of paternity and immediate request for full custody on behalf of Mr. Enrico Ferrara.
The words hit me like a blunt strike to the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
A pain as sharp as a blade carved through me as I read the lines again, wishing desperately they would rearrange into something harmless.
Full custody.
