Ava let a tear slip free.“I’m afraid, Celina. Afraid of losing myself. Of forgetting who I am… of no longer being able to achieve my dreams.”“Dreams change, Ava. They grow with us. And when you truly love someone, they don’t pull you away from your dreams—they help you reach them. Gabriel wants to walk beside you. And you deserve someone like that.”Ava rested her head against Celina’s shoulder, her eyes closed.“This all feels so strange to me, Celina… Gabriel, with that way he has, he’s slowly disarming me.”Celina smiled, gently stroking her friend’s hair.“It’s not strange, Ava. That’s love. And no matter how much you try to run from it, you love Gabriel. Live that love. You deserve to be happy. Don’t pretend you don’t feel it. Feel it… and live it. That’s what life is asking of you.”She paused, then continued softly:“There’s no way not to love Gabriel. He’s charming. And honestly, after a moment of love, with bodies tangled together, when the man you love comes close and sing

She scoffed.“Of course not. That would be… primitive.”“Ava…” He leaned in until his face was just inches from hers. “Was it because of the student?”“It’s not… not exactly that…”“You were jealous. You were. I bet you imagined things, didn’t you?”“Gabriel…”“Say it. Go on. Admit it. You were jealous of her looking at me, weren’t you? Imagining her calling me professor… in a very indecent way…”Ava crossed her arms, irritated, but her eyes betrayed her.“Perhaps a minor emotional discomfort was generated,” she murmured, almost to herself.“Oh, Ava… just say you were jealous. It’ll be liberating.”Completely defeated, she covered her face with her hands.“Fine!” she muttered. “I was jealous. Of that student of yours. That… blonde with a perfume-commercial voice. How humiliating.”Gabriel smiled—slow, satisfied, delicious.“Ohhh, the doctor got jealous of Barbie. Now we’ve got ourselves a real case. God, how good it is to hear that from the ice-cold doctor.”She narrowed her eyes at h

The sun had barely risen when Celina woke with an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. Still lying in bed, she reached for her phone and instinctively opened her messaging app. There was nothing new from Zoe. Since Dona Maria’s message the day before—brief and confusing—there had been nothing else. It had only said she was at the hospital with Zoe. Celina had tried calling several times after that, but everything went straight to voicemail. The silence gnawed at her.It wasn’t until after noon that her phone finally vibrated with a video call from Zoe. Celina answered almost immediately, her heart racing.“Zoe! Thank God!” she exclaimed, adjusting herself on the couch, her eyes filled with relief. “How are you, my friend? You have no idea how worried I was. Your mom sent me a message yesterday while she was with you at the hospital, and then she disappeared. I tried calling, but it always went to voicemail. Thor tried to talk to Arthur but couldn’t reach him. Then he contacted Arthur

It shamed me to tell you this, because I always tried to raise you with principles and integrity. But this is my story. And, my daughter, I regretted it. I changed my life.I took all the money I had been saving for old age, requested leave from the hospital, and fled with you to the southern United States. We stayed in South Carolina for a while, until all the documents were ready. Gregory arranged everything—I was given a new identity.A few months later, I left the country. I went to Brazil. It was far enough away that no one would find us.And, my daughter… it was the most terrifying thing I had ever done in my life.Arriving in a foreign country, with no one, no family, a baby in my arms, and a past I had to hide… it was terrifying.Even though I spoke Portuguese—because I had always enjoyed learning languages—my accent gave me away. It was impossible to disguise. The moment I opened my mouth, everyone knew I wasn’t Brazilian. Fear became constant. Fear of being discovered. Of lo

Immediately, two nurses and a doctor rushed in with a gurney.“Lay her down here, quickly!” the doctor ordered.With all the care panic would allow, Thor placed her on the gurney, still holding her hand.“What happened to her?” the doctor asked as the team began the first procedures.“When I got home she was feeling very sick… I checked her blood pressure—it was 160 over 100… and… when we got here she blacked out! In my arms!” Thor could barely speak, suffocated by fear. “Please, save her… save her…”“Extremely high blood pressure!” one of the nurses shouted. “190 over 120! Oxygen saturation dropping!”“She was complaining of a severe headache before she fainted?” the doctor asked while quickly checking her eyes, reflexes, and listening to her heart.“Yes! She said it felt like her head was going to explode! She started feeling ill after reading a letter!” Thor squeezed her hand desperately. “She’s 34 weeks pregnant… twins… two girls!”The doctor exchanged a tense look with the team.