The Tide of Fortune

Chapter 1 Busted

Sunset Village is the famous seaside district of Lagoon City for high society. There are houses, mansions, and apartment buildings built in the style of Miami Beach or California.

There is little or no movement, indicating that it is late at night. However, a Hyundai Genesis car drives blatantly and carelessly along the paved streets.

When passing through the gate of the Ferreira family's property, the luxury car crosses the outside area, still awkwardly. He parks at the entrance of one of the many large houses in the neighborhood. A man and a woman come out of it. The man driving was drunk. The woman giggles.

Inside the Ferreira house, on the large king-size bed in the master suite, Reginaldo Fabray is lying unable to sleep. In the position he's in, he can see through the open double doors of the balcony the beachy horizon.

Suddenly, the couple's laughter echoes through the house.

Reginaldo opens his eyes, hardly believing what he heard. He knows whose laughs are.

Reginaldo gets up from the bed, and being in his underwear, he searches for the clothes he left. Dressing in sweatpants and a white T-shirt, he goes into the foyer.

At the top of the stairs, Reginaldo finds the excited couple sitting on the black sofa, laughing and caressing each other. He decides to wait and listen to what they say.

The woman says, "I love you, Ed."

The man replies in a plaintive tone, "I'm the one who loves you, Laura. You don't love me enough to marry me."

Laura pulls away from him a little and is slightly upset.

"That's not fair. You know why I don't marry you."

Edward sneers, "Yes, yes, you would rather obey your parents and remain married to idiot Reggie."

"They threaten to take away everything I have if I get divorced."

Eduardo approaches Laura again and caresses her hair.

"Laura, you need not fear. With the success I have in selling my books, thanks to Marçal Publishing, I can support you. You can also find something to do, by God!"

"But I don't want to. My parents own the hottest hotel in Sunset Village and I own this mansion without spending a dime. My only mistake was going to Night Lagoon and having my first time with a stranger."

Eduardo chuckles, "A stranger who became your husband under your parents' will."

Laura shrugs, "You know the story: they're respectable people and they didn't want the tabloids calling me a slut."

"The problem is that your husband is still a stranger. He can't get a steady job and is the shame of the Ferreira family. The neighbors here comment with shame about the fact that he is supported by you. Imagine if you had children, how he would set an example? That's why you have to come with me!"

Laura is shaken by the prospect of living with Eduardo.

She responds tenderly, "Darling... the idea is tempting."

"It's the right thing to do. You deserve to be happy. Let's get out of here! I don't want to be making out with you at the cuckold's house."

Laura hugs Eduardo, smiling. But when she does...

Reginaldo is looking steadily at them with a sarcastic smile.

Reginaldo claps his hands from the top of the stairs and his voice is ironic, "Congratulations, how beautiful! How touching it's to witness a romantic scene, it feels like I'm watching a soap opera!"

The adulterous couple quickly breaks the embrace. Eduardo tries to compose himself.

"Do you watch soap operas? Besides being a bum, are you a sissy?"

"Watch your words, you bastard!" Reginaldo stares at Laura, "Laura, what's going on here? I already know you don't love me and don't respect me, but bringing your lover into the house is too much, don't you think?"

Laura sneers, "And who do you think you are to tell me what to do? Go back to sleep, it's the best thing you do, you loser!"

Reginaldo grips the stair rail tightly, shaking with rage. He's already heard a lot of insults from his wife, but it seems that today the limit has been reached...