In bad shape

Ethan

Rationality won.

"Let's leave this behind, Joshua," I said, extending my hand and firmly shaking my friend's hand. "I just want to focus on the future from now on."

We embraced as friends, followed by a few friendly pats on the back, thus sealing the peace between us.

"And what a beautiful future it will be, my friend!" Joshua had the audacity to say.

I glared at him angrily, all the good feelings immediately forgotten upon hearing the way he was speaking, surely referring to Mariana.

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Calm down, Ethan!" Joshua pleaded, raising his hands in a playful manner. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

I didn't sense much sincerity in his words and continued to scrutinize him closely, trying to make sure he wasn't actually interested in my girl.

"Joshua is telling the truth, Constantino," Murilo interjected, smiling at the scene. "Our friend here is in love, and it's not with Mari, believe me."

I almost let out a sigh of relief at Murilo's words and smiled, feeling more relaxed now, the previous anger being replaced by curiosity.

"In love?" I asked, sitting back down. "That's news to me. I've never seen you fall for anyone."

"Haven't met Artemis yet," Joshua joked, making us laugh. "I know she's the woman of my life."

Artemis? That name sounded familiar, and I tried to remember where I had heard it before until it clicked in my mind. It was the sister of Achilles, in other words, Murilo's cousin, who was with him on the night we met at the hospital, and I quickly made the connection.

"Ah! I get it now," I said, snapping my fingers, a reference to my own memory snap. "I'm happy for you, Joshua."

Now the atmosphere was much more relaxed after all the revelations about Beatriz, but there was still something very important and urgent to address, and we couldn't waste any more time. After all, Bruna was out there, waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of Mariana and Virginia.

"Now that everything is out in the open, I believe we should try to find a way to prevent Bruna from exposing our women's story to the media," Murilo brought us back to the central point.

We then discussed the matter in the same analytical and objective manner as we do with business, and devised an action plan where Bruna wouldn't be able to extract any money from us.

I had an ace up my sleeve, and I would use it without the slightest remorse. "She shouldn't have messed with me like that," I said after revealing what I knew about Bruna, "especially when she has her own secrets."

"How did you find out about this?" Murilo asked with a smile. "I dated Bruna for so long and had no idea about this aspect of her past."

"I intended to use it against you," I chose to be honest about it, "but I decided I couldn't stoop that low."

Despite the tension I sensed had settled in the room, nothing was commented on regarding my statement, and after a few seconds where each seemed to be making their own value judgments, I understood that Joshua had reached a conclusion, and soon he was expressing his opinion.

"But things have changed, and between Mariana and Bruna, I won't think twice before siding with Mariana."

With everything organized, we began our plan, starting with a call to Bruna, inviting her to come to my company the next day so that we could discuss her demands, using the lie that I had an excellent proposal to buy her silence as a pretext.

The next day, at the agreed-upon time, Bruna walked into my office, looking radiant and happy, believing she was achieving good results with her blackmail, and once again, I felt a twinge of guilt for the way I had approached Mariana when all I truly desired was her.

"Finally, you've come to your senses, dear," Bruna spoke triumphantly. "You understand that I wasn't just bluffing."

"I always knew you only play to win," I was being ironic, but Bruna seemed to have taken my words seriously.

"Of course I do."

"Please, have a seat," I gestured to the chair in front of me.

Before I could proceed with the plan, the phone on the desk rang, and I answered it quite reluctantly.

"I'm not going to take any calls, Liz," I spoke brusquely because I had already made it clear before Bruna entered. But my secretary's response was drowned out by the sound of my office door being angrily flung open, causing me to even drop the phone from my hands in shock.

"You're going to take my call!" Mariana shouted, pointing her finger at me, her face contorted with anger. "You jerk! How could you!?"

I felt completely lost with Mariana's stormy entrance, especially when it was evident that she was accusing me of something I had no clue about. But the situation worsened when Mariana noticed the presence of another person in the room, and of course, the fact that this person was Bruna caused a terrible feeling of helplessness to wash over me. I was in deep trouble.

Mariana

When I left home determined to go to Ethan's company and give that arrogant jerk a piece of my mind, I couldn't have imagined that once again I would catch him in terrible company. Once again, I was witnessing with my own eyes just how much of a despicable person he truly is.

Still, the look of genuine horror on Ethan's face might be considered hilarious by some, but not by me. I was consumed by anger, faced with his complete lack of scruples.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mariana," he said, circling around the desk and walking towards me. "Tell me, what happened?"

Ethan seemed genuinely confused, but I wouldn't fall for that act or his ridiculous attempt to play innocent in this situation.

"Don't play dumb, Ethan!" I shouted uncontrollably. "And don't you dare try to make me look like one? You leaked the whole auction story to the press, you damn bastard!"

Ethan appeared genuinely surprised by the information, but before I could say everything I intended to, Bruna walked past us, heading towards the door.

"The conversation is quite enjoyable, but I have to go," she said cynically.