Chapter 4

Bella arrived early for her first day of work.

"Good morning, ma'am."

"Good morning, dear. Welcome to the Pinheiro Group. I'm the general manager — Silvania Torres."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Silvania."

"I'll show you around and walk you through your responsibilities."

"Of course, ma'am. Let me just grab my notebook. Let's go."

Silvania gave Bella the full tour. The place was technically a warehouse — a distribution center where goods were stored before being shipped across the city.

"Do you understand what you'll be doing, Bella? You'll register every invoice that comes in and goes out. Every piece of merchandise has paperwork."

"Yes, ma'am. I won't let you down. I've got a good memory and I know my way around a computer."

The truth was, Bella had far more skills than she let on. Through years of self-study, she'd become sharp with technology — genuinely talented with computers, bordering on hacker-level proficiency.

She threw herself into the work and did it flawlessly.

A month passed. Bella and Silvania got along perfectly. Their combined effort kept operations running without a hitch, and their boss was more than satisfied.

One evening, Bella came home and paused before opening the door. Amanda's voice drifted through, along with Henrique's.

"Babe, ever since your cousin moved in, I can't sleep over anymore. I miss falling asleep holding you."

"Relax, babe. It'll be a short while longer. She said once she had a job she'd move out. She's been working for a month now, but the money her parents send only covers tuition and groceries."

Bella stood on the other side of the door, listening to every word. She turned around quietly and sat on the sidewalk for a while, thinking.

"First thing tomorrow, I'm finding my own place. My paycheck is coming any day now."

She went back and made noise so they'd know she was arriving.

"Good evening! Sorry to bother you two — I'm heading straight to my room. Make yourselves comfortable."

"Bella, we're going for a walk. Want to come with us?" Amanda offered.

"Thanks, but I'm exhausted. Another time."

"You work too much. Remember to have some fun."

"I can't. My schedule is completely full. Between work and school, there's nothing left."

"All right. Don't say I didn't warn you — working nonstop burns a person out."

Bella went to her room to study. Tomorrow I'm apartment hunting. I can't keep invading Amanda's privacy. Although, honestly, I think that boyfriend of hers just wants a free ride. He probably wants to move in with her and is behind on his own rent.* She shook her head. Whatever. Not my problem.*

The next morning.

"Good morning, everyone!" Bella called out as she walked in.

"Good morning, dear," Silvania said. "Heads up — the boss is visiting today. He almost never comes around, but we've got a big shipment arriving, so he decided to stop by."

"Got it, ma'am."

Everyone went about their tasks, buzzing with the anticipation of finally meeting the elusive boss.

"Bella," Sandra Mara said, leaning over from her desk, "I've worked here almost a year and I've never seen this man. He's got other companies to manage, they say he's always traveling, which is why he barely shows up. Someone mentioned he stopped by once, but it was after hours."

"Wow. That's a lot of mystery for one person. He must be really ugly if he doesn't want to show his face."

"Girl, are you crazy? They say he's the most gorgeous man alive. And our boss is only twenty-seven."

"Twenty-seven? That young and already that rich?"

"Yep. They say he built his fortune himself. He's got a brother who's a doctor and owns a hospital. His parents own a hotel chain."

"Some people have so much while the rest of us have so little."

"What can you do, right? We work to make them even richer."

"Bella, come here!" Silvania called. "I need you to run to the notary office and get these signatures registered."

Bella left with the company driver for downtown. The moment she was gone, Cesar Pinheiro pulled up with a massive delivery. Sandra Mara tried to snap some photos, but from that distance, they came out blurry.

Cesar spoke briefly with Silvania and left.

Two hours later, Bella returned.

"Girl, you've got the worst luck," Sandra said. "The second you walked out, the boss showed up. Look — I took pictures, but you can't really make out his face."

"You can tell he's young, at least. His wife must be insanely jealous."

"If he's married, nobody's ever seen him with a woman. They say he's harsh, merciless, doesn't tolerate mistakes. Some guys here got caught stealing merchandise — they were fired and never heard from again."

"Hold on. Are you saying he made them disappear?"

"Keep your voice down. Those are just things people whisper in the hallways. We're done talking about it. I need this job."

"Fair enough. So do I. It's covering my bills for now." She paused. "Hey — do you know of any places for rent? I want to find my own apartment."

"My building has a few empty units. Nothing fancy — bedroom, living room, kitchen, one bathroom, and a laundry area."

"Sounds perfect. How much is the rent?"

"Seven hundred a month for a one-bedroom. The two-bedrooms cost more."

"That one's fine. I'll go look at it after work. Did you see our paychecks came through? I need to move. I'm pretty sure I'm messing up my cousin's love life. The other day I overheard her boyfriend complaining that he can't sleep over anymore."

"Thank God for that paycheck — I had nothing left to eat. And your cousin is something else, ready to ditch family over some man."

"I think he wants to move in with her, and he's pushing her to make it happen. My deal with her was always that once I found a job, I'd get my own place."

"That's better for you anyway. Don't depend on anyone. Build your own path, become an amazing lawyer."

"From your lips to God's ears. But we've got a lot of work ahead before that happens."

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