The next day. Mark woke up ten minutes before his alarm, feeling good and vigorous, unlike Briana, who lay devastated and would probably only be able to get up next year.He looked at his dear wife and smiled contentedly.Taking advantage of the alarm not going off, Mark turned it off so as not to wake Briana. Then, he grabbed his phone to check if anyone had sent him a message.Yes, there were messages.Mark’s joy dropped by 50% upon reading the message from ‘Dr. Vargas.’“Damn!” Mark murmured through clenched teeth, heading straight for the bathroom as he came into the world.After showering and putting on some clothes, he went down to the first floor. In the kitchen, he found Regis serving breakfast and not Julian, so he wasn’t surprised.“Good morning, Mr. Ferro.” Regis had to use the “Mr.” because of the maid who was around sweeping the floor.“Good morning, Regis. Our cook is still off on his adventure, huh?” Mark replied with a slight smile while pouring himself coffee.Regis w

In Mary Ellen’s apartment, Celia was feeling more lively and recovered, acting as if she had never been ‘tasted’ by the CEO of Vasconcelos Company. But Mary Ellen wasn’t going to let that go unchallenged. At the breakfast table, she held out a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Celia, eating colorful cereal, glanced at the paper. “What the hell is this?” “Of all the people in the world, I thought you would recognize a piece of paper,” Mary Ellen shot back. “OUCH!” Celia giggled carefree. “OK, thanks for...” The giggles stopped when Celia read the paper. “What kind of joke is this, Mary Ellen? You gave me the POLICE department’s number!” “And I even gave you the extension for the violence against woman department,” Mary Ellen lifted her chin. “Why would I call the police if I wasn’t robbed or assaulted?” Celia shrugged as she handed the paper back and took another spoonful of her colorful cereal. “You were assaulted yesterday!” Mary Ellen insisted. “Are you going to tel

James and Katrina stared at Mark, but once again, they misinterpreted our hero’s silence as assent. “You’re not going to say anything because you know that’s what happened, right?” Katrina yelled, her voice choked. “Wait a minute, what are you talking about?” The officer noticed Mark’s presence. “Officer, this man did the same thing to my car and now pulled the same stunt with my brother’s car!” Katrina pointed a finger at Mark. “Ma’am, it was determined in the inspection of your car that the brakes were intact,” the officer replied, reluctant to commit to false accusations. “It doesn’t matter, my brother accused my cousin several times of greasing the palms of the involved forensic experts! Now, he suffered the same fate because he knew too much!” Katrina insisted. “Arrest him for Christ’s sake! He’s a threat to humanity!” James echoed his wife, “He married Briana in a sinister way, popping up in our family out of nowhere, and just now admitted to forcing himself on her in the

“Gilson, what the hell is that statement? Who are you talking to?”“Oh, your uncle showed up. Thank you for the heads up, Katrina.” Gilson ended the call, smiling malevolently.First, he turned to the ‘assistant.’ “And what are you still doing here, hell-spawn? GO WORK!”Sandro pointed at the papers. “What pile of documents is that on the floor?”Celia, devastated and too shocked by everything she had heard, simply turned on her heels and walked out instead of bending down to pick up the documents.The door slammed shut, and once again, the frosted glass shook.“That door isn’t very good,” Sandro pointed out.“FORGET THE DOOR, for Pete’s sake!” Gilson shouted at the top of his lungs. “Since you asked, let’s talk about the news.”“What news?” Sandro looked at Gilson indifferently.“Do you know why I said that our mother would give up on her plan to bring your daughter back into the Vasconcelos family?” Gilson stood up. “Because Katrina has just been informed by the police that Christop

Mary Ellen, facing the café door, noticed Adrian entering and turned to Celia, speaking softly. “Don’t make a scene!” “Why are we whispering?” Celia asked in the same tone. “Your ex-boyfriend just—” Doing the opposite of what would be expected from a normal person, Celia nearly spun her head around like the girl from ‘The Exorcist,’ eager to see Adrian. She had an impact upon seeing her ex-boyfriend sitting on a stool. The tank top revealed arms that were starting to take shape, and his sweatpants hugged legs and a butt that were becoming defined. Celia turned to Mary Ellen, grinning mischievously. “Looks like today was leg day and squats.” “Celia, are you starting to have feelings for Adrian Curtis again?” Mary Ellen asked, scandalized. “What’s the problem?” Celia shrugged. “If he keeps getting as fit or fitter than Mark, I might give him a second chance. Unlike Mark, Adrian doesn’t need to rely on any foolish woman’s money.” “But what about everything he put you through? Re