To set the record straight

Murilo

It wasn't possible that that damn Ethan is using Bruna again for his ridiculous revenge, and now she's blackmailing me, just like I'm sure he's doing with Mari!

I tried to control my anger, taking several deep breaths, an exercise quite effective in maintaining serenity, and I dismissed Arlete. I had to take action as quickly as possible.

"Is there anything else?" Arlete prevented me from ending the call. "Joshua is here."

"Tell him to come in," I instructed my secretary. "And you can finish your shift, Arlete. See you tomorrow."

I waited for Beatriz's brother, the girl who ultimately caused all that confusion, to enter my office, pacing back and forth. Meanwhile, I dialed Virginia's number. I would be late that day because I intended to resolve this definitively, and it was better to let her know.

But I would be lying to her, something I completely abhor.

"Hey..." She answered sleepily.

"Hi, love," I smiled, realizing she was already asleep. "I have an important meeting, and I'll be home later."

"Okay," she replied, not seeming to pay much attention to my words. "I'll sleep a little longer until you come."

I smiled again. Even from a distance, Virginia could still calm me down just by hearing her voice. But my smile faded when I saw Joshua enter the room and look at me with concern as if he had something delicate to say.

"I imagine these are problems that bring you here," I commented bitterly.

"You guessed right," he wasted no time confirming. "I need to talk to you about something you won't like."

"Don't tell me it has something to do with Ethan Constantino because I'm about to lose all my patience with that scumbag!"

From the expression on Joshua's face, I could deduce that it was indeed about Constantino that he wanted to talk to. I brought my hands to my face, trying to maintain composure, but even my breathing exercises weren't managing to calm me down.

"Ethan contacted me and asked me to come here because he intends to talk to you in person," explained Joshua. "But I don't exactly know what he wants to talk to you about because we haven't had a chance to have a proper conversation since I arrived in São Paulo."

"I can very well imagine!" I spoke with an altered voice, unable to contain all the anger I was feeling. "He wants to blackmail me, along with Bruna, and he's using you to do it, Joshua!"

Surprisingly, at that very moment, the door to my office was opened, and Constantino walked in, wearing a grim expression, reflecting the same anger that was on my own face.

"You're mistaken, Murilo," Ethan said with his ever-unyielding voice. "I came here to join forces against Bruna, or anyone else, who wants to harm our women."

Well, those words left me literally speechless because I didn't expect something like that to come from someone who until a few days ago was a declared enemy, and whose main motivation in life was to harm me.

"I think it's best if we sit down," Joshua intervened. "Let's talk like adults and civilized people because, from what I understand, something extremely serious is happening. But I believe you two need to first clarify things between yourselves."

I believe my lack of reaction led Joshua to take control of the situation, and I ended up concluding that this was the reason Ethan had requested his support. Joshua's level-headedness and common sense would be much appreciated now.

"Explain yourself better," I demanded, addressing Ethan and walking over to my desk, taking a seat in my chair.

Ethan and Joshua also sat in the chairs facing my desk, and even though it was clear that Ethan didn't appreciate the way I spoke, he took a deep breath before beginning to speak.

"I want to leave everything that happened in the past behind. After all, nothing can change the past, and I no longer care whether you were guilty or not for what happened to Beatriz," Ethan explained. "All I want is to move forward with my life and have Mariana by my side."

The fact that he wants to leave the past behind, even without knowing the actual facts, surprised me greatly. It was clear that the tables had turned completely, and Mariana had managed to win the heart of the arrogant Ethan Constantino.

"That was the wisest decision on your part, Ethan," Joshua commented approvingly. "And it proves that I wasn't mistaken about my friend; after all, you have always been a good person."

"Better late than never," I spoke in a conciliatory manner. "But still, I prefer that everything is clarified and that you know about some points that I'm sure you're unaware of, Ethan."

He needed to know who Beatriz truly was and how he had been deceived about her all the time they were together.

Ethan

Hearing the truth about Beatriz was something that left me extremely... disappointed. Even though I was aware that our relationship was never perfect and that Beatriz herself had her flaws, I still didn't expect to have been made a fool of the entire time, especially by the guy I always considered my best friend.

"I know what you're thinking, Ethan," Joshua said objectively, standing by my side. "But I want to make it clear, regardless of what you may think of me, that I have always loved my sister, flaws and all, and out of love, I did everything she wanted me to do. Now I know I made many mistakes, but time doesn't go back for me to fix them. Still, I want to apologize, my friend."

I looked at Joshua's extended hand, a gesture of peace, wishing to say so many things, to shout that he was a lying jerk and that he betrayed my trust. But at the same time, the memories of Joshua by his sister's side, always supporting her and catering to her every whim, just like their parents did, and me doing the same as them, made me realize that I was just as guilty as they were.

I stood up, looking at the two men in the room, trying to control the avalanche of conflicting emotions that were overwhelming me. I was torn between telling them both to go to hell and leaving, or trying to be the rational person I had clearly not been in recent years, sitting down and discussing the reason that brought me to Murilo's office.