The War Continues
Murilo
If she was thinking that I was going to be generous, or even some idiot who would overlook what she had done in my mansion in Guarujá, she was very wrong.
" It's not okay because I still have to tolerate your presence in my company," I said without mincing my words "But as soon as you accept my decision and leave once and for all, things will be much better.”
" I believe you are aware that I have every right to be in the position I am in today " she confronted me.
" Well, I have tried to use diplomacy, but since you don't want it to be the easy way out, then I will have to resort to your methods " I warned.
"What do you mean by that?”
She seemed to tense up at this point, and I smiled cynically because she didn't know how skillful I could also be using the same weapons used by her and her lover, or was it, ex-lover? Even Ethan didn't want her around anymore, from what I could understand from what Aquiles told me.
"What I am saying is, either you give up your position in the company and stay only as a shareholder, or we will file charges at the police station for the push you gave Lavinia.”
I knew that threatening was also a crime, but let her seek this information for herself, which I highly doubted she would do.
" I didn't mean to push Lavinia! " she protested immediately.
" You wanted to do something far worse, which was to harm my fiancée, and that I will not forget! " I said, in a harsh tone of voice.
"You can't marry that... that…”
I had tried, but Bruna had no sense of danger, and before she could complete her sentence, I was grabbing her by the arm and shooed her out of the room.
" Call security, Arlete," I asked my secretary "I want this woman out of this building now and tell everyone that she is strictly forbidden to enter this company from now on.”
"You can't do this, Murilo! I own shares in this company!”
"You don't have anything else here, Bruna.”
Surprisingly, Constantino said this, entering the waiting room of my office at that moment and finding me holding Bruna like a sack of potatoes, and Arlete talking to our security team.
" But of course, I have shares in this company! " another protest from Bruna "You gave them to me yourself, Ethan.”
I looked at the expression of a bratty little girl who has just lost her candy, with all the pouting and everything, and wondered once again how I could spend years dating this woman without realizing who she was.
" You don't have them anymore " Ethan replied, pulling out a stack of papers from his briefcase and waving them in his hand "Those papers you signed in my office were to pass on to me the shares that, in a moment of complete insanity, I had given to you, and now they are mine again.”
"This is not fair! You deceived me, you said that…”
" That they were shares I was buying, " he said, not sounding the least indignant at Bruna's shouting and yelling "In case you want to dispute this, I have witnesses that you readily agreed to give me the shares.”
"Because you led me to believe that they were being passed on to me, and not the other way around!”
" It's a little late for whining now, Bruna, " I said, tired of that argument.
The fact that the shares had returned to Constantino's hands was not good news either, but honestly? All I wanted at that moment was to get rid of Bruna and that had just happened and that was all that mattered now.
To my relief, the security team arrived and when they asked Bruna to accompany them, she simply freaked out, making a big scene in front of everyone.
" You can't do this to me! " she screamed.
" It's already done " Ethan made light of it.
" Get her out of here. " I instructed the two security guards "Oh, and before I forget if you ever try to come near either of us again, we will file a lawsuit against you!”
"And I make it a point to serve as a witness because we all have to pay for our mistakes and take the consequences for them.”
Ethan was talking to Bruna, but it was clear that he was referring to me as well, and I felt the guilt creep up on me again as Bruna was led out by security and into the elevator.
I thought maybe this would be a good opportunity to try to talk to Constantino and clarify how things happened, but he wouldn't even let me try.
" I intend to follow the company's progress closely from now on " he warned "And I make it clear, right now, that I won't make it easy for you because as I said a few minutes ago, everyone should pay for their mistakes.”
He didn't wait for my answer, leaving the room and getting into the other elevator that had its doors open on that floor.
*****
Life was not perfect, it hardly ever is, but even so, I could still say without being exaggerated, that my life with Virginia is wonderful.
Although I had to put up with Constantino's presence in the company because he would become vice president of FERZ tomorrow, and there was still the doubt about whether Lavinia's son would be mine or Aquiles', we were fine and that was all that mattered to me.
" Artemis is a lovely person, " Virginia said, entering the room "I liked her a lot.”
I was lying in bed, messing with my cell phone, while she was getting ready for bed, and when she finally came out of the bathroom, she was still wearing her robe.
" I love Artemis like a sister because that's how we grew up, " I said, but soon changed the subject "You haven't put on your pajamas yet?”
