An unexpected encounter

Murilo

That was a quite busy day at the office, and I spent the whole morning in meetings with the legal team and the Marketing department, trying to find ways to minimize the damage caused by unfounded and defamatory statements from a dishonest former employee to FERZ's reputation.

After reaching some consensus on the strategies to tackle this situation, it was time for me to meet with some investors from the western region of the country, and that took up my entire lunch hour.

But as soon as our meeting was over, the first thing I did was notify Arlete to cancel other appointments on my schedule for the day because I wouldn't be working anymore. I intended to meet Virgínia at the mall, something I had wanted to do for hours but was only now possible.

Virgínia had left me quite upset that morning when I called to check on how she was feeling, and my fiancée said she was at the store instead of resting as I had requested before leaving the apartment to go to the company early today.

I couldn't understand how Virgínia could have gone to work that morning, taking such risks, after having such a tough night when she went to the movies with Artémis. She even had to see a doctor, which clearly indicated that it wasn't something trivial.

I shouldn't have been surprised, actually. Virgínia does what she believes is right, and I love her just the way she is, with all her qualities, even her impulsive and stubborn nature. But still, I was now arriving at her store to pick her up and personally ensure that my pregnant fiancée gets the rest she deserves.

As nothing involving Virgínia is easy or predictable, she wasn't at the store, and the store attendants informed me that she had gone to meet Mariana at the food court, which was exactly where I was heading at that very moment.

Walking towards the mall's food court to meet Virgínia reminded me of our first date when she invited me to talk and revealed her pregnancy. That was one of the happiest days of my life, second only to the day that had changed mine, the auction day when I met the love of my life.

That memory completely erased the slight irritation I was feeling and brought a huge smile to my face. Being by the side of the woman I love, and soon to be the mother of my child, is too wonderful for me to be bothered by trivial things.

However, seeing Virgínia surrounded by other people besides Mariana made me somewhat uncomfortable. This feeling intensified to the maximum when I realized that the man sitting next to my fiancée was Joshua Günther.

Besides him, my cousin was also there, but she wasn't a problem since it was quite normal for Virgínia to meet with Mariana and Artémis. The problem was knowing what they were doing with Joshua. Not because he was Beatriz's brother, but because he was a personal friend of Ethan Constantino.

At that moment, I let my impulses take over and walked quickly to where they were all sitting. Without even greeting any of the people present, I went straight to the point.

"What is Joshua Günther doing here, Virgínia?"

Everyone stared at me with surprise, which is quite understandable considering I usually try to be rational and patient. But everything has its limits, and I couldn't allow Ethan to use Beatriz's brother to get close to my fiancée and manipulate her in any way.

As expected, Virgínia didn't appreciate my approach and stood up, glaring at me with her eyes alone.

"Could you please use some manners and greet us before anything else?" Virgínia scolded me with annoyance. "You can't just come here speaking like that, Murilo!"

Artemis also stood up and positioned herself practically in front of Joshua, showing her displeasure with the situation.

"Murilo, it's not what you think!"

"And how do you know what I'm thinking, Artemis?"

"What Artemis means is that this meeting was not planned by any of us," Mariana also tried to argue, but it didn't improve the situation much.

"Of course, you didn't arrange this meeting, I have no doubt about that," I sarcastically replied. "But that doesn't mean this situation wasn't orchestrated by Constantino to harm me. It would just be one more scheme, wouldn't you agree?"

At that moment, Joshua himself seemed to be bothered by the direction the conversation was taking. He stood up and decided to speak up.

"I have no idea what's going on here, and I don't even have a clue what you're talking about, but I must say that I'm innocent of whatever accusation you're trying to pin on me."

Joshua raised both hands and despite the tense atmosphere that had developed with my arrival, he had a genuine smile. Unlike Constantino, he had a sense of humor.

"I think it would be better if we sit down and talk," Joshua suggested. "I'm genuinely curious about this story that my friend Ethan supposedly tried to harm you."

Even though I was reluctant, I decided that it was indeed a good opportunity to talk and try to clarify what happened with Beatriz. Joshua seemed like a reasonable person, and perhaps he wasn't as connected to Ethan as I had momentarily believed.

"Actually, this story is much more complicated than you imagine, Joshua," Mariana said, probably trying to warn him about the sensitivity of the matter. "And I believe it won't be easy for you to hear about it."

"Does it have something to do with my..." He seemed to have understood that it was related to his sister.

"Yes," Artemis confirmed. "It's about your sister, Beatriz."

Only then did I realize that my cousin was holding hands with Joshua, which made me quite curious because I had no idea that they already knew each other before the previous night when we met him at the hospital?

"Did you two already know each other?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No," Artemis denied. "But that doesn't matter."