Chapter 5

Carolina,

As soon as he left, I called Mr. Vinicius — I hoped he'd let me start on Monday, since there was no way around it. He picked up on the second ring.

"Sir, I have some things to take care of here. Can I start on Monday?"

"That's fine. I was actually going to call you and push it to Monday anyway — our system's down. It'll be slow today since we can only take cash."

"Thank you. Monday at eight a.m., I'll be there without fail." I hung up, grabbed my suitcase, and started packing some clothes. Dona Vera, Henrique's mother, had always loved celebrating her birthday, and I'd heard she made a whole weekend out of it — starting Friday night, ending Sunday.

As soon as I finished, Henrique came to my room to make sure I was ready. But he stopped in the doorway and looked me up and down in a way he never had before.

"Now it's too late, Henrique." He met my eyes. "We're going to be late for your mother's party."

"No, we won't. We're early. But let's go." Cold as always, he turned his back and walked ahead of me. I pulled my suitcase and followed him to his car. "I don't remember anything from last night," he said, starting the engine.

"Better that way. We don't need to talk about it. I don't remember anything either."

"I've unblocked your credit card. I hope you don't misuse it." I didn't say a word. I just opened my purse, took the card out of my wallet, and dropped it in the glove compartment. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not your child, where you take away the credit card like it's some kind of punishment and then give it back. If it's so important to you, keep it. I'll figure it out on my own. After all, before I married you, I was already supporting myself."

"What the fuck is going on with you?" I looked out the window without answering. "Carolina, don't turn away from me when I ask you a question." I raised an eyebrow but kept staring at the opposite side.

I heard him huff, and the car started moving. I looked straight ahead and noticed he kept glancing at me, but I never returned the look. A month ago, this scene would've been the other way around — me watching him while he ignored me.

In less than an hour, we were surrounded by forest, far from the noise of Avenida Paulista. I closed my eyes and breathed in — the air was so sweet. I caught the scent of eucalyptus when the wind hit my face. It was all incredible. I thought it'd be nice to live out here.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the farm. We each got out on our own side, grabbed our bags, and headed inside. We didn't say another word to each other, but I could tell how irritated he was. His phone started ringing. He stopped to answer it, and I kept walking toward Dona Vera.

"Happy birthday, my dear mother-in-law. I'm sorry I didn't bring you a present — I had an issue with my card."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm glad you came. Welcome, my beautiful daughter-in-law." She pulled me into such a warm hug that it felt like being held by my own mother. "Make yourself at home. You got here right when the party started. Hey — aren't you going to come kiss your mother?"

Henrique walked over, hanging up the phone, and kissed his mother. At least someone here got his attention — besides the blonde.

"Another year, Mom. I think it's time you moved into a retirement home, don't you?" He said it with a smile, which was strange to me — I'd never seen him smile before.

"Dream on. I'm still in my prime. I've still got some young men to feed." She looked at me and laughed. Henrique made a face at her — he'd understood exactly what she meant. "What, you think I'm going to date some old man my age? Open your eyes, Rick. There are plenty of young guys out there who'd love an older woman to—" He clapped his hand over her mouth and gave her a look like he was scolding her.

Until that moment, I'd never seen this side of Henrique. I'd always seen him closed off to everything, so witnessing this was completely new to me. But I couldn't let my guard down. I couldn't let it impress me. She was his mother, and his heart already belonged to another woman.

Now I couldn't help wondering — was he this outgoing with her too? Of course he was. He only showed that side to the people he truly cared about. Dona Vera told us to leave our bags there, that a servant would come grab them and take them to our room. She led us to a table, and Henrique was the first to sit down. After I sat, a waitress came by and left some snacks on our table.

I glanced sideways at him. He had his phone in his hand, looking annoyed about something. I picked up a glass of wine that a waiter had brought over and took a sip.

"Careful not to drink too much and embarrass me." He said it without even looking at me.

"Maybe that way I'll get your attention somehow." He turned his head at my response, but I turned mine away, looked straight ahead, and took another sip.

"Is something bothering you, Carol?" I frowned. He'd never called me that. Never. Usually, only the people closest to me did that.

"A lot of things. But I'm not here to ruin your mother's party. So I'll leave you alone on your side, and I'll enjoy myself on mine. I don't think we need to keep up appearances as a loving couple glued at the hip. Excuse me." I pushed my chair back and stood up, tipping the last sip of wine into my mouth.

The waiter came by again, and I grabbed another glass. I looked at Henrique, who sat there like a statue staring at me. I turned my back on him and watched the band playing in the open area of the farm. I walked over, and surrounded by a few other people, I started to dance.

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