《The Love of An Invisible》


 Prologue

    28/01/2006 ¨C New York, Manhattan, Central Park.


    I close my small hands in a shell shape, lift them to my mouth, and blow into both of them. It¡¯s so cold that you can see the warm air escaping between them like white vapor. I¡¯m wearing fuzzy dark blue gloves.


    I walk slowly through the park. Despite being six years old, I don¡¯t have any friends to y in the snow or engage in any other activities.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only


    It¡¯s sad, but anyone whoes to talk to me is just there tough at me. I never understood why, so I don¡¯t talk much. I don¡¯t understand why children are like that with me. They often y cruel tricks on me, and despite their young age, they know how to make another child feel excluded and sad.


    My mother is chatting with a friend, both sitting on a bench a few meters behind me. Mrs. Millenis seems to be kind, though not one to smile often. I¡¯ve talked to her only once; my mother told me she has two daughters, and we¡¯re close in age, but I¡¯ve never seen them. Today, they arrived at the park first and ran off to have fun together, leaving me here alone. Unfortunately, I have no brothers or sisters. I asked my parents for a sibling, but my mother said she couldn¡¯t give me a little brother. I noticed she was sad when she said that, so I never asked again. I hate seeing my mother sad.


    ¡°Look at the crybaby!¡± Leandro¡¯s shout enters my ears. I look at him, dressed in his cream-colored coat and red hat and gloves. I exhale, tired of this. I let my hands fall heavily on either side of my body.


    ¡°Cat got your tongue?¡± Suzana now mocks, dressed in all her pink clothes.


    I prefer not to respond. I just keep walking, pretending that they¡¯re not talking about me. A shiver runs down my spine, and I stop walking. I feel the remnants of cold snow on my neck, put my hand there, and turn my gaze to Leandro, who already has another snowball ready in his hands.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t your mom teach you it¡¯s ugly to treat others like dogs?¡± he asks cynically and throws the snowball at me. It hits my face directly, and due to the impact, I take a few steps back but don¡¯t lose my bnce.


    ¡°Let¡¯s teach him a lesson, guys!¡± he deres loudly and starts running toward me along with the other children.


    I¡¯m thrown to the ground, feeling kicks in my stomach. The first one makes me lose my breath. I curl up and hug my knees to protect myself even a little. After a few minutes, they finally stop the blows. I hear the sound of them running away, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I get up and walk to the nearest tree, sitting on the white snow-covered ground. I rest my arms on my knees and bow my head, feeling immense sadness, and start to cry.


    I try to be strong, to not care about what they do to me, but it¡¯s very difficult. I wish I could y, run, and shout with everyone, but no one wants me around, and it hurts so much.


    ¡°Look, sis, someone¡¯s sad over there,¡± I hear a gentle voice. I like the voice, but I ignore it and continue with my water leakage.


    Suddenly, the tears stop. I feel arms surrounding me in a warm hug. I lift my head in surprise and see kind eyes without malice. I¡¯ve never seen eyes this color-violet. They¡¯re extremely beautiful and also the kindest I¡¯ve ever seen in my entire life. My attention falls on her mouth, which has a huge smile. I notice one of her teeth is missing, but that doesn¡¯t stop her from having a beautiful smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry; things will get better,¡± she says kindly, as if she knows that my world is falling apart.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I ask, now distracted from the sadness and hypnotized by her beauty. She looks like an angel.


    ¡°I¡¯m Aya, I¡¯m five years old! Look,¡± she shows the five fingers of her hand to tell me her age, so cute. ¡°Now I have to go; Mom said not to bete. Dad ising home today,¡± she gives me a kiss on my cheek and runs away. I notice that another girl runs beside her, but she¡¯s a little older than Aya.


    My heart warms up. I will never forget this girl. I feel like it was a sign from God telling me not to give up; there are still good people in the world. I hope I can see her again.


    Now, calmer, I get up from the ground and pat my hands on my pants to remove the excess snow. I walk a little faster and go to meet my mother, who smiles when she sees me approaching.


    ¡°Too bad, my son. If you had arrived two minutes earlier, you would have met Mrs. Millenis¡¯s daughters. They are very cute,¡± my mother says while holding my hand.


    I say nothing, and we walk to the car. In my mind, the image of Aya¡¯s violet eyes appears again, and it makes me smile. Will I see her again?

 Chapter 1

    10/05/2019 ¨C New York, Manhattan, Upper East Side.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Perspective ]


    Once again, I wake upte, forgot to set the rm clock; yesterday, I stayed up all night watching anime. When I went to bed, it was already past four in the morning, and now it¡¯s exactly seven ten. I have only twenty minutes to get to school.


    I look in the mirror; nothing has changed-my face full of pimples, slim body, average height. My eyes are filled with dark circles; I¡¯ve been binge-watching anime for a week, but I don¡¯t care. I grab my backpack from the chair on theputer desk, throw it over my shoulder, and rush down the stairs. With quick steps, I head to the kitchen and meet the housekeeper.


    ¡°Good morning, Iuri,¡± Mrs. Lueni greets me.


    She is a sixty-nine-year-old woman who has worked for my parents since before I was born. I believe she has been around since my grandfather¡¯s time, who unfortunately is no longer with us. He died of natural causes while sleeping; he was ny-seven.


    Mrs. Lueni¡¯s expression shows fatigue; her hair ispletely white, but her blue eyes and her smile still seem young. I have a lot of affection for her.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± I speak quickly.


    ¡°Late again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I lost track of time watching anime yesterday,¡± I say and take a bite of the apple.


    ¡°You need to stop watching so much anime; it might end up affecting your grades!¡± she says, concerned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯m a genius,¡± I say and wink at her.


    ¡°Thank goodness!¡± She smiles at my joke.


    ¡°I¡¯m off; otherwise, I¡¯ll miss the first ss.¡± I give her a kiss on her forehead and walk out of the house.


    ¡°Go with God!¡± I hear her shout before closing the door.


    I¡¯m already eighteen years old; I should have finished high schoolst year, but in middle school, I ended up repeating a year. They yed a harsh prank on me; they mixed eggs and horse manure in a bucket and set a trap at the ssroom door. When I opened it, the bucket fell on my head, and everyone in the room startedughing, throwing leftover food and paper at me. After that, I didn¡¯t set foot there for the rest of the year, and my parents sued the school.


    I changed schools again; this is my first year at Birch Wathen Lenox School. If nothing goes wrong, I¡¯ll graduate this year. I hasten my steps; it¡¯s only fifteen blocks away from my house. The school year is almost over, my grades are high, and I¡¯m considered a nerd by my friends, or rather, just Jorge. Only he sees me in that school.


    When I transferred there, I didn¡¯t expect Aya Millenis, the girl with kind violet eyes, to be in my ss. We¡¯ve only seen each other twice; the second time was at a social event at thepany where our parents worked seven years ago, but she didn¡¯t exchange a word with me.


    I watch her from afar, her hair is loose and reaches her waist, ck in color. Her eyes haven¡¯t changed; just as I remember from our childhood, they remain kind. She wears a beautiful light pink child¡¯s dress with arge lc bow on the back. Unfortunately, she doesn¡¯t remember me, doesn¡¯t recall our childhood encounter or the social event. And because I¡¯m shy, I¡¯ve never spoken to her in school; I just observe her from a distance.


    Well, at school, I¡¯mpletely invisible; I¡¯ve never drawn attention, and I¡¯ve never been good at sports. I like mathematics. But I¡¯ve never gone up to the board when the teacher asked for volunteers, and luckily, I¡¯ve never been one of the chosen ones. In short, I¡¯ve never had any kind of spotlight. I hate the feeling of many eyes on me; it feels like they¡¯re holding backughter.


    I look at the watch on my wrist, and there are exactly five minutes until the doorman closes the gate. I quicken my pace; I¡¯m almost running, still two blocks away. With exactly one minute left, I reach the building gate.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Mouares,¡± I greet the doorman.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Stevens, you almost stayed outside!¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m lucky,¡± I say smiling.


    ¡°Lucky all week; you live so close, I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re alwayste.¡±


    ¡°I had to solve some problems,¡± I lie shamelessly, ¡°See youter, Mr. Mouares!¡±


    ¡°Good sses, Mr. Stevens! Oops! Another one who almost missed the time.¡±


    His words catch my attention, and I look again at the gate; I¡¯m holding onto the stair railing with my left foot paused on the first step. I feel hypnotized as I see Aya passing through the gate.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Mouares,¡± she says friendly.


    ¡°Good morning, Miss Millenis, you better hurry.¡±


    ¨C I¡¯ll do that! ¨C She replies.


    Aya turns her back to the doorman and faces me, but she doesn¡¯t look in my direction or greet me; she rushes past me, running up the stairs. I sigh.


    ¡°If you keep this up, you won¡¯t be able to get the girl¡¯s attention,¡± the doorman chuckles.


    If I were more handsome, good at sports, had more prominence among the students, maybe she would look at me. But as I am a simple invisible, all that¡¯s left for me is to observe her from afar. In the ssroom, she sits in the first chair of thest row near the window, and I sit in thest chair of the first row near the entrance door. I chose to sit there because it gives me a good view of her back.


    Resigned, Izily climb the stairs. My ssroom is thest door on the left of the corridor. It¡¯s not too long, with about six doors on each side of the corridor. I¡¯m in the twelfth grade D. The door is already open; I enter the room, and everyone is already in their respective ces, except for mine.


    Leandro is also in the same ss as me. I don¡¯t know what made him repeat the year, but I have a theory that he must have been expelled from some school.


    I look at Aya; she¡¯s wearing her cat ear headphones, and they are in a blue shade. She doesn¡¯t stand out as much as the other girls; she doesn¡¯t wear makeup or a short uniform like the others. The covers of her notebooks are always adorned with anime characters. When I first saw it, I was happy, thinking that knowing thismon interest would give me the courage to talk to her, but I couldn¡¯t. I gave up halfway.


    She got more attention because a few weeks ago she dered her feelings to Leandro, and he just turned his back and left her talking alone. That broke my heart; she likes someone else, and it hurts. Leandro is tall, muscr, good at sports, but not so bright in ss. That doesn¡¯t stop the girls from falling for him.


    Fortunately, he has never spoken to me. I don¡¯t like him, and I will never forget the mean things he and his gang did to me when I was younger.


    ¡°Earth calling Iuri,¡± I snap out of my daydreams when I hear George¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hi, what¡¯s up?¡± I ask, somewhat disoriented.


    ¡°Did you do the math activity?¡±


    ¡°Yes, why?¡±


    ¡°Can you lend it to me? Please, I forgot.¡±


    ¡°It would be a novelty if you remembered!¡±


    I open my backpack, and when I have the notebook in my hands¡­


    ¡°Good morning, ss!¡± the teacher enters.


    ¡°Shit!¡± George mutters quietly for only me to hear.


    ¡°Good morning, Professor Marcus!¡± everyone, except George and me, greets the teacher.


    ¡°Bring your assignments; they are equivalent to two points of this unit!¡±


    ¡°I can already see I¡¯m going to have to retake the test. Nobody deserves this,¡± Georgeins and lowers his head.


    I wait for everyone to hand in their assignments and then take mine, returning as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Before I start the correction, I want to say that the summer dance is at the end of this month. Does everyone already have a partner?¡±


    Another dance where I won¡¯t have any participation. Maybe I¡¯ll show up, but only to see Aya. The teacher talks a bit more about the dance and then focuses on the notebooks on the table.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you invite Aya to the dance?¡± George turns to ask me; he¡¯s sitting in the chair of the row next to mine.


    ¡°She would never ept,¡± I say sadly.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only


    ¡°You already have a ¡®no¡¯; ask before someone else does!¡±


    I don¡¯t respond; I know I¡¯m not handsome, and the chances of her epting me are practically nil. But I¡¯ll try, at least once I¡¯ll take a risk. When the ss is over, I¡¯ll gather my courage and ask her to be my partner at the summer dance.

 Chapter 2

    10/05/2019 ¨C New York, Manhattan, Upper East Side.


    [Aya Millenis¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with your family? They not only disrespect me but treat me like a toy. I don¡¯t want to be one,¡± Livius I spoke to Nike.


    ¡°Are you going to miss the schedule, Aya?¡± I turned my attention away from therge ss screen attached to the water green wall when I heard my older sister¡¯s voice.


    I stared at her for a few seconds without understanding. She raised her eyebrows without saying a word, and a light shining in the back of my mind reminded me of school. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it marking seven-five in the morning. I widened my eyes; I had been watching anime all night and hadn¡¯t done my homework. I only had twenty-five minutes to get to school.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± I cursed in a low voice, but my sister¡¯s eardrums were sharp. This was not normal.


    ¡°Watch your mouth, Aya, or I¡¯ll tell Mommy,¡± she threatened me and left the room.


    Over the years, my sister and I lost ourmon ground. We used to be friends, but now our rtionship is mostly nagging, mostly from her. I don¡¯t know if I did something to damage our sisterly bond. If I did, she should have told me. Since she didn¡¯t, I won¡¯t ask.


    With a heavy heart, I turned off the TV. Yesterday, I started watching the anime ¡°Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii.¡± It¡¯s about a young king who, barely out of diapers, marries an older princess from another kingdom. On top of that, she has the power to make it rain when she sings, and her voice is beautiful.


    I rushed to the bathroom in my room and didn¡¯t even take a shower. I just sshed some water on my face and brushed my teeth. I grabbed my uniform: a navy blue blouse and a ck skirt that went just above the knees. Returning to the bedroom, I picked up my backpack and the headphones on the bed.


    I loved those headphones with two little blue cat ears. Blue is the best color in the world for me. I let my hair down and passed through the door into the hallway leading to the living room. No one was there; my parents had already gone to work, and my sister had likely gone to college.


    Leaving the house, the school was eight blocks away. I hurried my steps, finding walking while listening to music rxing. I had a peculiar taste in music; I liked to listen to anime rap. I had never found anyone else who liked it besides me, but that¡¯s what I liked, and that was it.


    I wasn¡¯t very sociable and didn¡¯t have any friends. Strange, right? After certain events, I preferred to stay away from girls; they were false and only thought about themselves.


    I didn¡¯t have any male friends either; I thought I was too ugly for anyone to even consider being friends. However, this fact didn¡¯t stop me from harboring a secret passion for five years. I met him at a social party at thepany where my parents worked when I was twelve. I fell in love with him, and two yearster, he transferred to the same school as me. I contained my joy.


    He excelled in sports and caught the attention of all the girls. They practically drooled when he passed, but with the physique he had developed, it was almost impossible not to admire him.


    A few weeks ago, I plucked up the courage to confess to him. We were in the hallway at the end of sses, almost everyone had left. I must have looked like a tomato, but I put into words everything I had kept for five years. I¡¯ll never forget the look in his eyes-cold. He turned and walked away without saying a word.


    Tears welled up, and I couldn¡¯t hold them back. Suzana appeared with several other girls, all wearing uniforms much shorter than allowed. She taunted me, saying that Leandro was out of my league, and they allughed. I ran home; these are memories I don¡¯t like to recall.


    I decided to run; there were still three blocks to go. I checked the clock; there were six minutes left. I needed to hurry. When I arrived, the gate was almost closing. The doorman was talking to someone but saw me running and opened the gate, saying, ¡°Oops, another one who almost missed the schedule.¡±


    I entered the school and took in as much air as my nostrils allowed.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Mouares,¡± I greeted him.


    ¡°Good morning, Miss Millenis. Better hurry up,¡± he said, and I knew he was absolutely right.


    I hated beingte; I had to hurry before the teacher arrived and asked for the activity. I didn¡¯t want a red mark just because I overdid the anime dose.


    ¡°I will!¡± I said, catching my breath.


    I didn¡¯t have time to waste. With my head down, I ran frantically up the stairs. I felt someone else there, but I didn¡¯t have time to see and passed by without saying hello. I knew it was rude, but I needed to hurry. A low grade was uneptable to my parents. They always told me that if I had anything, it was thanks to them, and the least I could do was honor them in every possible way.


    I rushed into my ssroom and sat in my chair, my favorite spot in the first row near the window. I took my notebook out andpleted the activity as fast as possible. It was pretty easy; I always got high grades in math and any subject involving it.


    When I finished thest question, I started putting my materials away. Someone poked me with the tip of a pen. I looked back and met big green eyes and short blond hair in a chin-length bob.


    ¡°I saw that you did the math activity. I want the answers now,¡± she ordered.


    I looked at her with my best disdainful face. She was the most popr girl in the ss, maybe even in the school. Her beauty didn¡¯t go unnoticed, and her clothes were always pink. But I tried to control the hate. I took a deep breath and replied to Suzana,


    ¡°No,¡± thickly, putting the notebook back in my backpack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m a very close friend of Leandro¡¯s and that¡­¡±


    Her speech was interrupted by the teacher¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°What did she mean by a very close friend?¡± I snapped out of my thoughts, hearing the professor talk about the summer ball.


    Thest summer ball, in two weeks. I probably wouldn¡¯t attend it either. I never had a date¡­ Am I that ugly? The thought saddened me; knowing that everyone considered me ugly and strange was depressing. I took refuge in my animes, where I wasn¡¯t judged or charged. It was perfect.


    sses went by quickly; the first five hours had flown by, and now it was time for lunch. The cafeteria was on the first floor, and Izily descended the stairs again. But at thest step, I was surprised-Leandro stood right in front of me, looking at me, and his gaze wasn¡¯t as cold as before.


    ¡°I need to talk to you,¡± he said in his hoarse voice.


    ¡°W¡­ what?¡± I felt my fingertips freeze, and my heart quickened a little.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

 Chapter 3

    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    It¡¯s lunch time, the first five hours have gone on boring as usual, I¡¯ve seen these issues, so I don¡¯t need to stay focused on ss, I can keep losing myself in my fantasies that maybe there is some slightest possibility that Aya will ept my request to be her date at the summer dance.


    I pack my things in my backpack and out of the corner of my eye I notice Aya walking slowly out of the ssroom.


    ¡°Come on man, take advantage that she is alone,¡± George says pping me on the back.


    ¡°Let me just pack my stuff,¡± I say, quickly putting away the missing things in my backpack, ¡°Wish me luck.¡±


    A nervous smile stamps my face, my fingers tremble just for the expectation. I turn and start walking out of the room.


    ¡°Go for it bro!¡± I can hear the sound of hisughter before I walk through the blue door of the room.


    I feel my heart racing fast in my chest, I¡¯ve never done anything so risky, I have no experience with girls, my father has never talked to me either, all I know is the things that George rarely talks to me, but I don¡¯t put much faith in it, just like me he also has no experience and everything he says is based on the inte.


    I hold on to thedder¡¯s handrail and before passing through the smooth curve that thedder makes to go to thest steps, my body paralyzes when I see Aya on her back and right in front of Leandro.


    ¡°I need to talk to you,¡± he says, and this makes my heart, previously anxious at the possibility of winning a yes from her beautiful lips, tighten at the sight of such a scene.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    ¡°What?¡± she stutters a little.


    ¡°About the summer ball, only two weeks away.¡±


    **Why is he talking about the dance?**


    My thoughtse up with various theories as to why, I try not to lose myself from the conversation and with my body glued to the wall ¨C so they can¡¯t see me ¨C I continue to listen to what they are talking about.


    ¡°I know it wasn¡¯t right what I did thest time we spoke.¡±


    ¡°Last time, if I remember correctly, I spoke to myself,¡± she says, her voice clearly still hurt.


    ¡°Yes, I regret what I did, I also want to apologize to you, I didn¡¯t know what to say after receiving that totally unexpected statement you made. Would you be able to forgive me, Aya?¡±


    I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because I¡¯m picking on him, or if it¡¯s because I¡¯m still holding on to past hurts, or if it¡¯s just jealousy at seeing him so close to Aya, but I can¡¯t feel a shred of truth in any of his words.


    ¡°All right, I confess that I was hasty, so I apologize to you and I also apologize for making you ufortable¡± she says in her sweet voice, the direction this conversation is taking is making me increasingly despondent..


    ¡°No problem, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, is ¡­ Well ¡­ Do you want to be my date for the summer formal?¡±


    I hold my breath, I can¡¯t have heard right, did Leandro really ask her to be his date? And Suzana? Why doesn¡¯t he go with her like they always were? Aya¡¯s answer takes a few seconds, and the tension in my body only increases with all this mystery.


    ¡°Are you sure you want me to be your date for the summer ball?¡±


    ¡°I have never been so sure in my life!¡±


    ¡°So,¡± his pause makes me clench my hands against the thick denim of my pants, ¡°I ept yes!¡±


    It¡¯s over, I feel my knees weaken, and if they talk any more, I don¡¯t listen anymore, I always knew my chances were minimal, but to be sure that now they were null leaves me disoriented, even without the certainty, my heart didn¡¯t hold back and fantasized about chances that were nothing but imaginative, and now it¡¯s broken, next to Leandro I¡¯m nothing, which has never been different in my life, I¡¯m just an invisible.


    I sit on the floor leaning on the wall and resting my arms on my knees, Iy my head on my arms and the conversation of the two of them, along with a projected image of the future with the two of them dancing at the ball bes present in my consciousness and my eyes grow moist. I don¡¯t want to cry, not here.


    ¡°Hey man, what happened?¡± George nudges me and sits down next to me on the floor.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even get to talk to her,¡± I say without lifting my head.


    ¡°Then why are you here like a dog that has just lost its master? Go talk to her.¡±


    ¡°Leandro was quicker and invited her first, and she epted¡± defeated without even fighting, that¡¯s how I feel.


    For the first time I hear silence in response from George, but instead of words, I feel his hand on my back trying tofort me.


    ¡°We¡¯d better go into the living room, the people and she herself will soon be taking the stairs,e on,¡± he holds out his hand and I hold it.


    We walk in silence back to our seats in the ssroom.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to lunch?¡± George never misses lunchtime, it¡¯s his favorite time at school.


    ¡°Not hungry¡± he says cheerlessly.


    I know he said this only because he sympathized with my pain, he has known that I have liked Aya since I was six years old. Ever since that first beaming smile, that gentle violet gaze, my heart has been beating for her name. I know this must not be normal, to love someone who doesn¡¯t even know you exist for twelve years is something not at allmon.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here, you can go eat, in twenty minutes the time will be over and sses will take a long time to finish, you can¡¯t have an empty stomach.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave my friend alone in the grief of defeat!¡±


    ¡°No need to feel sorry, I¡¯ll get better.¡±


    ¡°I know you will, but I¡¯m not leaving, if it were me in your ce, I know you would do the same for me,¡± he speaks with conviction.


    ¡°But I would respect your wish to be alone,¡± I hope I didn¡¯t sound too rude.


    He looks at me, and his gaze is sad, I don¡¯t know whether because of my words or out of pity.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going out¡± he says, and then we end our conversation.


    [ Vision of Suzana Gun ]


    ¡°Hello, Leo,¡± I greet him with a kiss.


    ¡°Hey baby, excited for the ball?¡± he asks me with his gant smile.


    ¡°I want you to help me, baby,¡± I speak slyly and hug him.


    ¡°Say it my pretty one,¡± he squeezes my waist.


    ¡°I want you to go to the dance with the girl who confessed to you a few weeks ago,¡± I say as I stroke his chest.


    ¡°Aya? Why?¡± he asks, pulling away.


    ¡°Because it¡¯ll be a lot of fun,¡± I say with a smile on my face.


    He snorts discouraged, but always gives in to my requests, he¡¯s sure that this will get me into bed. Poor bastard.


    ¡°Make the invitation at lunchtime.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but I want my rewardter!¡± I smile at him, and he smiles at me too.


    Leandro spins on his heels and steps into the room, out of the corner of my eye I watch Aya packing her belongings into her backpack. Always wearing headphones with cat ears, her hair flowing ck down to her waist, long clothes, totally without salt. Maybe the only thing that could be saved about her was her violet eyes, but even that doesn¡¯t make her seem pretty. I don¡¯t like people to touch what is mine, and she dared to propose to Leandro, and me hearing every word, outraged me.


    He and I aren¡¯t dating yet, I¡¯m just waiting for him to make a decent proposal in front of everyone, and I¡¯ve already nned how it¡¯s going to go, and she¡¯s going to be in my show.


    ¡°Are you sure about what you¡¯re going to do Suzi?¡± Luana asks me.


    ¡°Sure, who does she think she is?¡± I roll my eyes and see her leaving the room.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to lunch¡± I call Luana and together we leave the room.


    A boy runs past us, he is from the same ss as me, but I don¡¯t even remember who he is, I didn¡¯t see his face.


    ¡°Rude!¡± Luana says while the silhouette of the weird boy disappears.


    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s eat before the timetable runs out, today is geography ss.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hello, girls,¡± Gustavo and Henrique appear hugging us.


    ¡°Hello, cats,¡± I say smiling.


    I¡¯ve been with both of them, one in each dance, they were just a few kisses, nothing major, today we are friends. They are nice, dumb, but nice.


    Henrique is a redhead with blue eyes, he is tall and practices wrestling with Leandro, while Gustavo is only a little shorter than Henrique, he has dark brown hair and light brown eyes, he practices swimming and ndestine cracks.


    ¡°Do you already have a date for the dance?¡± Henrique says, smiling.


    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t been invited yet,¡± I say smiling.


    ¡°Fear not, no problem! We won somedies, Gustavo¡± he whispers while touching his friend¡¯s shoulder with the tip of his elbow.


    We walk together to lunch, on the smooth curve of the stairs we see the strange boy sitting with his head down, I don¡¯t mind and continue on my way, I have better things to do.

 Chapter 4

    ¡°18/05/2019 ¨C New York, Manhattan, Upper East Side.


    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°It¡¯s been exactly eight days, I was so discouraged that I couldn¡¯t even concentrate on anime anymore to finish my marathon. I feel tired, I look at the clock and it strikes seven-thirty in the morning. I don¡¯t want to go to school; today is Friday, and now there¡¯s only one week left until the prom.¡±


    ¡°Son?¡± my father enters my room without knocking on the door.


    He knows I don¡¯t like this; I value privacy, but both he and my mother seem to do this just to drive me crazy. I take a deep breath and sit up in bed. He walks further into my room, and I look at him quickly and am surprised to see him not dressed in his suit. His outfit is a navy blue polo shirt and beige shorts, with sandals. It is not amon look; he is always in his suit with his hair perfectly aligned.


    ¡°Hi, Dad,¡± I answer quietly, but I know he heard me.


    He sits beside me on the bed, curves his spine, and rests his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.


    ¡°A few days ago, Mrs. Lueni came to talk to me, worried about you,¡± he pauses and takes a deep breath. ¡°You, my son, are someone who fills me with pride. You are educated and intelligent, you have never gotten into anything wrong, and you have never let anyone down. I love you too much. So, if you are suffering from something,e to me, son. Besides being your father, I am your friend.¡±


    Hees out of his initial position and looks me in the eye. I know he loves me. I love him too. My father is sentimental; whenever he can, both he and my mother say that he loves me. The love I receive from my parents is something that, thank God, I have plenty of. I take a deep breath. Is it now that we are finally going to have the girl talk? I feel my fingertips freeze, I am nervous and embarrassed.


    ¡°I¡­,¡± pause and take a deep breath, I seek courage from the depths of my being. ¡°I like a girl,¡± I say quickly and look away.


    I don¡¯t have the courage to look at my father; we have never talked about anything like this.


    ¡°Very good son, how old is she?¡±


    ¡°Seventeen.¡±


    ¡°Is she pretty? What is the name of the chosen one?¡± You can feel the excitement in his voice.


    ¡°I have never seen anyone more beautiful. Her name is Aya¡­ Aya Millenis,¡± I clutch the bed sheets tightly as I confess.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that, my son is wearing out my friend¡¯s youngest daughter. Not bad. Aya is really beautiful and very polite. It¡¯s a good choice, son,¡± my father ps me twice on the back. I should smile and be happy with his words, but all I do is just stare at the floor and hold back the tears that try to moisten my eyes.


    This question makes my heart break into a thousand little pieces; the image of her and Leandro talking on the stairses to my mind, making me even more tired. I didn¡¯t even have the opportunity to say hello to her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get the chance, and she dered herself to someone else.¡±


    ¡°So she is dating¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know; I didn¡¯t stay to see the answer.¡±


    Silence, that¡¯s what I get to my surprise. I expected him toe with a long speech, but he said nothing, and I thank him for it. I doubt he could do anything to help me.


    ¡°How about we go for pizza and y ice hockey?¡± he asks, giving me a gentle nudge on the shoulder.


    Do I feel like it? No, I don¡¯t feel like leaving this room at all, but staying in here is not going to make reality any less painful. He smiles weakly and nods positively to my father.


    ¡°Go wash your face and let¡¯s go,¡± he says, getting out of bed.


    ¡°Mom won¡¯t fight because the first meal is pizza?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t tell, I won¡¯t either,¡± he winks at me and leaves the room.


    I shake my head; only my father could make me get out of this cesspool. I take a deep breath and jump out of bed, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and wash my face. I¡¯m going to y field hockey in the middle of summer; only my father can do that.


    I pick up my wallet from theputer table and put it in the pocket of my shorts; I leave the room. Arriving at the living room, my father waits at the door, holding the keys to his car.


    ¡°Let¡¯s enjoy this; you¡¯re going to start practicing, brave one,¡± he throws the keys to me, and I take them.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I ask with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Sure, you¡¯re already eighteen; you need a license!¡±


    He smiles, and I go through the door first. I feel the adrenaline running through my whole nervous system; my hands itch. I¡¯m already near the car, a ck Te Model S. I always wanted to drive it, but every time I asked, my father said it wasn¡¯t time yet. So, I decided to wait, and now finally the time hase.


    I sit in the driver¡¯s seat and press the key. My father gets in the driver¡¯s seat.


    ¡°Do you need any directions?¡± he asks, smiling.


    He smiles as well, and without answering, I start the car to move. The feeling of the steering wheel in my hands is very good; I feel like elerating the car even more, but I restrain myself. If I do so, my father will never let me touch any car again.


    The streets are quiet; the speed of the car does not exceed sixty kilometers per hour. I open the windows and feel the warm summer wind blowing against my face, leaving me stagnant.


    ¡°Look at that, you can get your license now, son,¡± hements and pats me on the back twice, showing his pride.


    ¡°Yes, I feel like a professional driver,¡± Iugh at my own amusement, and so does my father.


    It doesn¡¯t take long; in less than ten minutes, I am already parking the car in the parking lot in front of the pizzeria. The menu is already on the table; we choose a chicken and cheese pizza, my favorite. We drink orange soda andugh a lot with memories and stories from when my father was still a child.


    ¡°Son,¡± he calls me, stoppingughing. I take a sip of the soda to swallow the piece of pizza.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I answer, wiping my mouth.


    ¡°This year you are graduating. Do you already know what course you are going to take in college?¡±


    My parents always told me that I could take the course I most identified with, that I didn¡¯t need to meet the expectations of bing an executive like my father, my father¡¯s father, my father¡¯s father¡¯s father, and so on. But I never thought about any profession, although I think I am intelligent, I never had a passion for anything, so why not follow my father¡¯s example?


    ¡°I am going to study business administration, Dad,¡± I say and give a


    small smile.


    The smile that my father gives is huge; I know that he would ept any course that I chose. But knowing that I will follow in his footsteps made him extremely happy, and this makes me happy too. He always did everything he could for me. And I once heard him talking to Mom that although he would ept any profession I chose, he would like me to follow in his footsteps and in the future allow him to retire, leaving everything in my hands to enjoy the trips with my mother.


    ¡°I am happy, my son. I know you will be an excellent professional,¡± still smiling, he goes back to eating his pizza.


    I also eat mine again; now I feel more relieved, my mind is calm, and that¡¯s very good.


    [Cristine Millenis]


    ¡°Good morning, daughter,¡± mom kisses my forehead as I enter the kitchen.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± I answer and finish spreading the cream cheese on the bread.


    ¡°What about college?¡± she sits down at the table and starts to prepare her coffee as well.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°It¡¯s going very well; my grades are as high as ever,¡± I say and bite the first piece of bread.


    Although Mom is loving, she is very demanding; low grades,ck of education,ints, scandals, and so on are things that neither she nor Dad ept at all. For them, image is everything, and being perfect is nothing more than a mere obligation.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± Aya says, sitting down at the table as well.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± Only I return her greeting.


    ¡°Have you improved your grades in philosophy and geography?¡± and off we go into yet another discussion between them.


    ¡°I did my homework, and I¡¯m waiting for the results, Mom,¡± Aya answers quietly and takes a slice of bread from the basket.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t embarrass us with more low grades on your report card; we don¡¯t pay for schools to¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, Mom, I said I¡¯ll get my grades back, okay?¡± Aya interrupts Mom¡¯s speech.


    By some miracle, that conversation ended there. Mom and Dad are angry with Aya; her grades didn¡¯t evene in red, it was eight and a half, but our parents don¡¯t admit grades below nine and a half. Sigh, it¡¯s exhausting this life; Aya seems so disconnected, and in my parents¡¯ view, it always seems as if she¡¯s bullying them. Even thepany socials where they work have stopped taking her; thest time she spilled juice on her clothes, and my parents found it embarrassing. Well, there is nothing I can do; all that is left is to try to be the best I can.


    My rtionship with her cooled down after I entered puberty, but when I tried to get closer, it was her turn to go on this roller coaster of emotions. But that doesn¡¯t make me stop loving her; she is my little sister, whom I will love forever because it is just the two of us, and the older one¡¯s duty is to take care of the younger one.


    ¡°Bye, Mom, Bye, Aya,¡± I say goodbye and pick up the backpack that was hanging on my chair and leave the house.


    I take the keys to my car and get in, start it, and drive to the university.

 Chapter 5

    [Gustam Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    After the ice hockey game, I feel broken, but it was good. I couldn¡¯t even remember thest time I had been out, just me and my son, alone. Now I¡¯m at the office, since I didn¡¯t go to thepany, I need to streamline as much as possible at home. I look at the clock on theputer screen, and it is seven o¡¯clock at night. This is the time my wife and I usually get home.¡±


    ¡°How was the conversation with our son?¡± ¨C my wife enters the office, just in time. I hear the noise of the door being locked and the sound of her thin heels on the floor.


    ¡°Two news items, dear.¡± ¨C I close the open folders on theputer and then turn it off, turning the chair around and facing Carmen.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    I watch as Carmen lets go of her bun, her hair falls like waterfalls down her back, and in stride shees toward me and sits on myp. I squeeze her waist and kiss my wife.


    ¡°Working without you is extremely boring, love, the good stuff only happens when you¡¯re there,¡± she says slyly and initiates a fiery kiss.


    I lift one of my hands to the back of her neck and hold her hair tight, with the other hand I tighten even more her waist, our tongues y in an endless war of various tasting vors. I feel the blood running hotter in my groin, and she also feels it because her smile during the kiss shows that she wants it as much as I do.


    ¡°What¡¯s the news?¡± ¨C she whispers softly in my ear, giving me goosebumps. ¡°Oh Lord, woman!¡± I straighten up in my chair and huff before starting to speak:


    ¡°Our son has already decided what course he¡¯s going to take in college,¡± I say, smiling. She smiles too and looks at me with bright eyes of curiosity. ¡°He wants to study business and follow in my footsteps.¡±


    I feel my cheeks hurt; I was smiling all day after he told me this. I feel proud. I love my son, and if he wanted to choose any other career, that would be fine by me. I would support him in whatever his decision was. However, he chose to follow the same career as mine, and this makes me extremely happy. I will be able to retire without worrying about what will happen with the future of thepany.


    ¡°Ah, good, I am happy that he has already decided what he wants for his future,¡± Carmen says, and I see that she, like me, is very proud of the decision of our only son.


    ¡°He is in love,¡± I say, smiling.


    ¡°Who is the girl?¡± ¨C I have a very curious wife. I love this about her. She is spontaneous, truthful, caring. There are so many qualities that make me love her.


    ¡°Aya.¡± I pause and see her trying to remember where she knows this name from. Seeing that she has not yet managed to speed up the process, I decide to speak soon. ¡°Aya Millenis, the youngest daughter of our friends.¡±


    Carmen¡¯s surprised expression was so funny that I held myself back fromughing. I was also very surprised. I never saw these two talking, and I don¡¯t even know how she is doing now. A few years ago her parents stopped taking her to thepany¡¯s partners. I have already invited them to dinner here at home, but always only they and their oldest daughtere. Aya is always traveling, so she never showed up, but I found out that my son studies in the same school as her, they must have gotten closer there.


    ¡°We never saw her again,¡± shements with her eyes fixed on some point on the white floor. ¡°She must be a beautiful teenager,¡± she smiles, imagining. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, she is one year younger than Iuri, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I also think that she must already be a lovely teenager, but she has proposed to another, but maybe, if we are lucky, she has been rejected. Let¡¯s invite them toe to dinner sometime. It could be an opportunity for our son to propose and try to win her heart,¡± she smiled at the possibility of being able to help in Iuri¡¯s love life.


    ¡°Great idea, my love.¡± Carmen smiles and kisses me eagerly again.


    With extreme skill, she sits facing me, perfectly fitting her hips to mine. She starts to roll over, the blood in my groin boils again with excitement, and I intensify even more our kiss, holding her tightly by the nape of her neck with one hand and with the other dictating the speed of the movements of her hips on my groin.


    ¡± Ah, thank you Lord for putting this woman in my life!¡± ¨C I thank God mentally as I feel the sweet smell of my wife¡¯s sugary perfume fill the entire office, making me even more crazy about her.


    [Leandro Silva¡¯s Vision]


    ¡°Have you cleaned the house?¡± ¨C I stop writing when I hear the irritating voice of my stepfather. Filthy old man, fat bastard! I hate him!


    ¡°I¡¯m busy,¡± I answer and start writing again.


    It is an essay about the environment. This is my third attempt. If I don¡¯t seed this time, I will have a failing grade in biology. I can¡¯t do it. The only subject I can get good grades in is math. However, I have always been sox that even in this subject, my grades are not good. I need to make an effort.


    ¡°Look here, kid,¡± he ps an open hand on my small wooden table, causing a loud noise. ¡°I don¡¯t pay for your school, and I don¡¯t put food on the table for you to bezy in my house!¡±


    Smelling him so close makes me want to vomit. The smell of booze and smoke, along with the smell of dead animals exhaling from his armpits is unbearable. I hold my breath and close my eyes tightly to control the growing anger in my chest.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± ¨C I hear the sound of my mother¡¯s thin voice.


    ¡°Your son, woman, that ungrateful brat.¡±


    I drag the chair, making enough noise to interrupt him from continuing with his disgusting speech, quickly put all my notebooks and pens into my backpack. Without saying a word or looking any of them in the face, I leave the house. I feel my blood boiling. I can¡¯t wait to get out of here.


    My mother married Carlos when I was five years old. My father had died in a car ident. He was drunk and hit a pole. The car exploded, and he died on the spot. I don¡¯t even remember his face. All I remember is the beatings he used to give me and my mother. He left nothing, and in just six months, my mother met her current ¡°husband.¡± At first, he was nice. He is about forty years older than her. He treated her well. But after I turned twelve years old, he retired and became this disgusting old man. I can¡¯t even stand to be in the same presence as him.


    It¡¯s already dark, the streets are empty, after my father¡¯s death I became aplicated child who only got into trouble and made fun of other people¡¯s faces, as time went by this got tired of me, I won¡¯t lie saying that I became an example of a person, I still do things I don¡¯t like, but I don¡¯t bully as much as I did three years ago.


    I have never told anyone about my personal life, not even Suzana, she has never met my mother, all that everyone knows is that I am a handsome guy who is very good at sports, they think I have the perfect life, I hope it will continue like this.


    I work at night in a pizzeria, what I get is enough to disguise my real situation, my mother also works, as a cleaner somewhere, I stopped asking, she always changes jobs because her retired husband constantly takes immense pleasure in making our lives a living hell, but this situation will notst forever, I will do everything to get out of this hole and give my mother a better life, because despite everything, she does the best she can for me, and I will still be worthy of marrying Suzanne, she has already given me the conditions to ept my request, I am sorry to involve Aya in this, but I want to be happy and she is my happiness.


    I already know which course I want to take and I have already applied to three universities, I will study hard and get a full schrship, I know I am not the smartest, but I will do my best!


    I inhale the cold night air filling my lungs and hurry my steps, I¡¯m going to the square that is a few blocks away from the house of my mother¡¯s husband, I need to concentrate so as not to repeat the year and be able to have total focus on the university and thus earn a decent living.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ View ]


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m sorry for ignoring you for the whole week, I¡¯m a weakling who despite dealing every day with the defeat, did not know how to deal with the bitter taste of disappointment, and that left me airborne about all the other important things, and that¡¯s it, your friendship is very important to me, I hope you can forgive me ¡± ¨C tighten in sending.


    This week that I have spent in the cesspool, I have ignored any contact with George, I feel like a failure, but today my father has made me stand up and I can¡¯t let myself be shaken like this.


    I take off all my clothes and put them in theundry basket, go to the shower and turn on the shower, the warm temperature makes me rx and let my mind even more calm.


    In twenty minutes I¡¯m already in my pajamas in front of the television, today I will return for my marathon, and the anime chosen was: Kimetsu no Yaiba or Demon iyer, it¡¯s up to each one¡¯s taste, I prefer the original name.

 Chapter 6

    [ Carmen Stevens¡¯ Vision ]


    From far away, I can already see my target, elegant as always, ck heels, dressed in her tight ck pencil skirt and white long-sleeved shirt, with her hair caught in a high ponytail. I walk briskly to Juliana¡¯s desk, her eyes fixed on theputer, and I guess she is organizing her husband¡¯s agenda.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± I greet her, smiling in a friendly way.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± she gets up and gives me two kisses, one on each side of my cheek.


    I have known her since I was a teenager, we went to high school together and to college too. I can¡¯t say that we are best friends. Her family has always been conservative and traditional, resulting in her also being so, and besides, she is extremely demanding, even with herself. Juliana is very perfectionist, and so is her husband. My family has always been more liberal, and despite our different ideas, we got along super well, and facing the unknown with an acquaintance always seemed to be easier.


    ¡°I see you woke up in a good mood today,¡± she sits back in her chair.


    ¡°Yes, I had good newsst night when I came home,¡± Imented as I leaned on the counter.


    The smile on my face is certainly huge. I always thought my son was too shy. I never pushed him, but since he will be fifteen, I imagined and longed for the day he would introduce me to his girlfriend. Well, that day hasn¡¯te yet, but with a little help, it won¡¯t be even longer.


    ¡°Finding out who my son is in love with,¡± I say, smiling.


    ¡°How wonderful, and who is the lucky girl? Is she from the same school as him?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they study together, and she is one year younger than him, and the most surprising thing is that we know her,¡± I say and let out a mischievous smile. My smile gets even bigger when I see the confusion in Mrs. Millenis¡¯ eyes. I hold myself to keep fromughing and then I immediately say, ¡°Aya Millenis.¡±


    Juliana¡¯s surprised expression made meugh. No one would ever imagine such a thing. Surely she never thought that Aya could get a boyfriend before her older sister, even more, she who always travels a lot.


    ¡°Wow, I¡­ How?¡± she is stunned.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be like that, don¡¯t you think my son is enough for your daughter?¡± I ask with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°No, no¡­ It¡¯s not that, it would be an honor to have your son as a son-inw. I just never expected¡­¡± she stops talking quickly.


    ¡°I have always wanted my son to introduce his girlfriends. They are not dating yet, Iuri has not yet confessed to Aya. I want to help him,¡± I speak and bite my lower lip in expectation.


    ¡°What do you intend to do?¡± she asks me attentively. It seems that she also wants them to be together.


    ¡°I want to arrange a dinner, and find a way to leave them alone. I think they will understand each other. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°A great idea, when is this dinner?¡±


    ¡°How about tomorrow night?¡± I suggest hopefully, and hope she will ept.


    ¡°All right,¡± she says, smiling as well, ¡°Marked then, tomorrow at seventeen o¡¯clock?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    I kiss her goodbye with two kisses and go back to the big mirrored metal box, better known as the elevator, and to be more specific, the private elevator, where only my husband and I have ess.


    Gustam and I met at a meeting. I was working for an adversarialpany, but one night, when the two businessmen decided to meet to see if a partnership would be possible in one of the most expensive restaurants in all of Manhattan, that¡¯s when we looked at each other and from there a story emerged. The partnership was not established; neither of them wanted to give anything away, and so they continue to this day as rivals.


    After six months of seeing each other, I resigned from the otherpany and started to work as a secretary for the sexy Mr. Stevens, the arrogant businessman with a firm wrist. This is how his rivals described him, but after meeting him in person, I drew my own conclusions. And I found myself hopelessly in love.


    One of the most special days of my life happened during the New Year¡¯s celebration; we traveled to Brazil. It was exactly at midnight on the dot, on the beach of Taipu de Fora ¨C Penins de Mara¨², located in the state of Bahia, dressed in his shorts and white shirt, kneeling on the sand, holding in his hands a little ck velvet box, containing a beautiful solitaire. I remember as if it had happened yesterday; my heart seemed as if it would jump out of my chest. The scenery was perfect, the fireworks illuminating the whole sky, and from the mouth of my beloved, a marriage proposal was made. That night I couldn¡¯t control the tears; the happiness was so great that I couldn¡¯t express it in words. After frantically saying so many yes¡¯s, I kissed my fianc¨¦.


    Three monthster we got married in a small church, with only our closest friends. Juliana was already married to Mr. Millenis, my husband¡¯s best friend, and Cristine was already in her mother¡¯s womb. Two yearster, I had my little Iuri, and one yearter my friend had the chubby little Aya.


    The children did not grow up together; Juliana and I live in different neighborhoods, and our private lives only coincide at work hours. But even so, my happiness did not diminish one bit. She had her family, and I had mine.


    My birth wasplicated, and because of this, I cannot have other children, but I am extremely happy that I was able to give birth to my angel. And now he is loving, and I couldn¡¯t be happier. I am sure that Aya is a girl worthy of my son.


    The elevator doors open, the sound of my looseness on the polished floor announces my entrance. My desk is in front of the president¡¯s office, which in this case is my husband. Although I don¡¯t need to work, I never gave up my independence. I receive my sry and help Gustam with the house expenses. I have my principles, and I don¡¯t give them up.


    I sit at my desk and turn on theputer, take the address book and start to organize it. Today is going to be a stressful day, lots of meetings.


    [ Vision of Iuri Stevens ]


    ¡°Here,¡± George looks at me and picks up the bowl of popcorn.


    This Saturday I gave up anime to watch a series that my best friend is a big fan of: The Mandalorian.


    Sure, here¡¯s the revised text in American English with double quotation marks to separate the dialogues:


    ¡°Thanks, man,¡± he takes the soda from my hand and starts to drink.


    I¡¯m not a big fan of series; there are very few I¡¯ve ever watched. I really like anime and movies; they really make me travel. I also like to read manga.


    ¡°Are you going to the dance next Saturday?¡± I ask and drink some of my soda.


    ¡°Yes, I think it will be great,¡± he says with his mouth full of popcorn.


    During all these years of friendship, George alwayses to the dances, even if he doesn¡¯t have a date. I would like to have a little of his confidence. He, like me, has suffered a lot of bullying, and to this day has not managed to lose weight. But unlike me, he does not stop himself from going to ces just because unpleasant people will also be there.


    ¡°I think I will go this time too,¡± I say and start to chew the popcorn I was holding.


    ¡°Really?¡± I look at him, and he has his eyes wide open. ¡°It will be great!¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± I say, and we go back to paying attention to the series.


    We watched all twelve episodes. I have to admit that it was an interesting series to watch. Weughed a lot, and baby Yoda, who we now know is called Grogu, is very cute.


    It¡¯s eighteen thirty, George¡¯s parents have alreadye to pick him up. We say goodbye, and I go straight to the bathroom in my room, take a warm shower, and put on my sleeping clothes: my green pajama pants and my gray jacket with anime print. Now it¡¯s time for my anime!


    ¡°Son?¡± I hear my mother¡¯s voice from behind the door.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She enters my room, and I have already selected the anime.


    ¡°Tomorrow the Millenis family ising to have dinner with us.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I say, and she leaves the room, closing the door.


    A few years ago, whenever she said this, I felt my heart beat fast. The expectation of seeing Aya without her uniform was too great. However, she never came, and I stopped getting excited about these dinners.


    Damn it! I didn¡¯t want to think about her; I was having such a good day. I shake my head and go back to paying attention to the anime. I¡¯m already on episode twenty-two, only three more to go before the end of the first season of Kimetsu no Yaiba.


    (Juliana Millenis¡¯ vision)


    ¡°What¡¯s for dinner?¡± I ask, seeing Cristina in the kitchen.


    ¡°Lasagna, I saw the recipe today on the inte and decided to try,¡± she says smiling.


    ¡°From the smell of it, it must be delicious.¡±


    My oldest daughter makes me so proud. She is perfect. On the other hand, the youngest seems to like to see me disappointed.


    I leave the kitchen and go to my room upstairs. Francis is already lying in bed reading another one of his novelist books. I get closer, and I feel the mattress sinking with my weight.


    ¡°The son of the Stevens family is in love with Aya,¡± I say, and he immediately stops reading the book.


    ¡°Are you serious? How do you know that?¡± he asks with frowning eyebrows.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Yes, Carmen told me this morning at thepany, and she also invited us for dinner tomorrow night. She wants them to be alone so that the boy can propose.¡±


    ¡°This will be great! This way we will have ties that are bigger than just good friendships with them.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I say, smiling.


    ¡°Go and talk to her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going right now.¡±


    I get up from bed and leave the room. Aya¡¯s room is at the beginning of the corridor. I get there and open the door, and as usual, she is watching anime.


    ¡°Aya,¡± I call her attention. ¡°Tomorrow we are having dinner at the Stevens¡¯ house. I want you to behave and be nice to their son. I want them to get along, do you understand?¡±


    She stares at me for a few seconds, and this is breaking my patience.


    ¡°Why do I have to go?¡± this question annoys me.


    ¡°Because to find out that their heir is in love with you.¡±


    I see her eyes widen in surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know who he is.¡±


    ¡°Never mind, don¡¯t disappoint me again,¡± I say and leave the room.

 Chapter 7

    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    I stretch out on my bed, feeling my body heavy. Once again, I went to sleep at four in the morning. When I finished the first season of Kimetsu no Yaiba, I went to watch the movie Infinity Train; I was so excited that I also went to read about ten chapters of the manga.


    I get out from under theforter and look at the clock stuck on the wall. It was eleven thirty in the morning. I stretch and slide out of bed. I walk a few steps until I get close to the solid wood door with a garapa color. Before I open it from the inside, my mother opens it from the outside, and I take two steps back.


    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t going to get out of bed anymore,¡± she says seriously. ¡°Come and have some coffee soon.¡±


    ¡°Good morning to you too, Mom,¡± I say, and she stops walking down the hall.


    ¡°Good morning, my gracious son,¡± she manages to be even more sarcastic than I am when she wants to be.


    Without saying anything else, I just follow Mrs. Carmen Stevens to the pantry of the house, quietly pull the chair from the table, and sit down. Mrs. Lueni also enters the pantry as soon as I sit down with several grocery bags in hand.


    ¡°Good morning, child,¡± she says and leaves the bags on the counter.


    ¡°Good morning, youngdy,¡± I say, smiling.


    ¡°Oh, how I wish I could go back to my younger days,¡± she says and begins to take things out of the bags.


    ¡°Here, Iuri,¡± my mother ces on the table a te containing two French fathers stuffed with cheese and ham, and a ss of yellow juice. I imagine it¡¯s mango juice; the yellow is too dark to be passion fruit juice.


    ¡°Thank you. I feel my mouth salivating at such a culinary delicacy made by the most skillful hands in the world,¡± I say with a huge smile, looking at my mother.


    ¡°I see you woke up in a good mood. You¡¯re evenplimenting me,¡± she says as she goes to the fridge and fills a ss with water, drinking it right away.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I?¡± I question while I take the first bite of the bread, feeling the warm cheese melting in my mouth. A delight! A wonderful feeling.


    Thest time I ate yesterday was at eight o¡¯clock at night. I got so excited about anime and its derivatives that I didn¡¯t even remember the night snack, and as a consequence, I feel my insides devouring each other.


    ¡°I want you to tidy your room, and at dinner time, put on your best clothes,¡± she says and goes to meet Mrs. Luinie.


    I stop eating the bread and quickly take a big gulp of the juice. I epted it; it¡¯s mango vored anyway. After swallowing the piece of bread, I say:


    ¡°Why? You only tell me to clean the rooms when a rtivees, and the best only for special asions.¡± She stops taking the food out of the bags.


    ¡°Today we will have an unusual visitor. I want you to take her to her room and have fun doing something. I feel that today will be a very special asion.¡±


    ¡°Who is the mother person? I don¡¯t like taking care of children,¡± I say and go back to eating the delicious stuffed bread.


    ¡°Rest assured, it¡¯s not a child, but I won¡¯t tell you who it is until that person arrives.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll invite George, okay, Mom?¡±


    ¡°Next time, son. Today, I¡¯m sorry to say he won¡¯t be able to.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I ask with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Because of his presence perhaps¡­¡±


    ¡°Tonight is going to be an important night, Iuri. Everyone needs your attention.¡±


    ¡°I will pretend to believe it.¡± I stop participating in the conversation and concentrate on my coffee.


    They begin to talk about recipes, drinks, cold cuts, practical and other things that only women understand. I don¡¯t take long to finish my meal, I take the te and the ss to the sink and rinse them with water.


    ¡°I want everything to be in order,¡± I hear my mother saying as I go up the stairs.


    I walk down the hallway to the cleaning room, grab a broom and a dustpan. I don¡¯t need to wash the floor; the daily rates came three days ago.


    I leave the room and walk a few more steps until I reach my sanctuary (better known as the bedroom). I look around, and it¡¯s not so messy; some dirty clothes on the floor, several manga mixed with the clothes, some packages out of the wastebasket, some clean and crumpled clothes on the bed. Yesterday I didn¡¯t tidy the bed before going to sleep and ended up sleeping on the clothes I took from the closet. Theputer desk is scattered with several pens and crumpled papers.


    ¡°Time to work,¡± I say to myself and start my cleaning.


    [Vision of Aya Millenis]


    I feel my head throbbing, the sound echoing through my stomach denounces the fact that I didn¡¯t eat dinner yesterday and it¡¯s already twelve o¡¯clock. I could barely sleep; my mother¡¯s words echo through my head. I wonder what she means. Does she want me to date the son of her bosses? I have never even seen him!


    I take a deep breath and get out of bed. Thinking about dinner tonight makes me nauseous. I go to the bathroom and do my morning hygiene.


    When I¡¯m done, I leave the room and go to the kitchen. The table is already set; everyone is already eating.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± I say and sit down.


    ¡°Good afternoon, right?¡± Only my sister greets me back.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had lunch yet, so for me, it is still day.¡± I speak and smile.


    ¡°You woke up full of stupid jokes,¡± I hear my mother speaking softly, but not so soft that I don¡¯t understand her speech.


    For two weeks now, my parents have been ignoring me, iming that I embarrass them. However, I¡¯m used to it; I was never what they wanted me to be. After failing to achieve the minimum grades they assigned, my parents dered that they would cut off my ess to anime, take away my cell phone, and remove the television from my room, leaving me isted from any technology.


    ¡°I saved it for you,¡± Cristine hands me a te. ¡°Yesterday I tried to makesagna, but since you didn¡¯te downstairs, I saved it for you to eat today.¡±Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I say and grab the fork and knife.


    I take the first piece of pasta with cheese to my mouth and chew it.


    ¡°It¡¯s delicious!¡± I say and continue eating with gusto.


    ¡°Cris, I want you to help Aya dress and put on proper makeup,¡± my mother says.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to wear makeup¡­¡± I try to protest, but my father cuts me off.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to like anything! You have to wear it, and that¡¯s it. I¡¯ve already spent too much on you; you better start showing me that it¡¯s worth all my effort.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Dad,¡± I say and bow my head.


    Thesagna that was so delicious now looks unsalted. I finish eating and go back to my room, lie down on the bed, and wrap myself in theforter, feeling hot tears running down my cheeks.


    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°You look beautiful, my son,¡± says my mother with a silly smile on her face.


    ¡°Courage, son,¡± my father adds, and once again, I don¡¯t understand why they are acting this way.


    The whole day today has been about smiling on both sides, even from Mrs. Luinie. I am dressed in beige shorts; my mother wanted me to wear a suit, but my father helped me convince her that this was too much of a stretch. Finally, a Lacoste Graduate leather shoe in white with a green heel; a cream-colored polo shirt. I feel morefortable now. My mother is wearing her aqua green dress, and my father is wearing brown shorts and a white shirt and the same shoes as mine.


    ¡°I want to understand why you are¡­¡±


    I am cut off by the sound of the doorbell; it seems the guests have arrived, another wasted night¡­ I could be watching my anime now!


    ¡°Good evening, wee,¡± I hear my mother speaking, and I hold my breath at what my eyes see.


    I feel my blood freeze, my fingers tremble, the air bes heavy; it can¡¯t be possible. I can¡¯t believe it, is she really here?


    ¡°Good evening,¡± I hear her soft voice fill my ears.


    ¡°Go¡­ good evening,¡± I manage to answer.

 Chapter 8

    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    I¡¯ll be damned! I feel as if time has frozen; Aya is standing right in front of me. She is wearing a sky-blue bare-shoulder dress, ck sneakers, and for the first time in her life, she is wearing makeup. She looks stunning. After a long time, again I see her round sses. I think she is so cute when she has them on, along with her earpiece with the kitty ears.


    ¡°Son,¡± I hear my mother¡¯s voice snapping me out of my reverie.


    ¡°Y-yes,¡± I answer, blinking my eyes several times until my vision focuses on my mother.


    She walks quickly towards me, and I focus my vision on her as she speaks softly just so I can hear.


    ¡°Close your mouth; you¡¯re almost drooling.¡±


    I feel my eyes widen slightly; I gasp andpose myself. I stretch my shirt a little and turn my attention back to what is going on in the room.


    ¡°Shall we go to the game room?¡± I hear my father calling Aya¡¯s father.


    ¡°Come on, dear, I¡¯ll show you the new flowers,¡± my mother says, dragging Mrs. Millenis into the garden.


    I feel my fingers trembling and a few beads of sweat on my forehead. It¡¯s just me and Aya left in the room. I need to say something.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Her eyes are finally on me. How nervous. ¡°You look so beautiful!¡± I speak quickly and lower my head, closing my eyes.


    ¡°Ah! Well¡­ Thank you.¡± I raise my eyes, and she smiles weakly.


    She is so beautiful when smiling. The first andst time I saw her smiling was when she was five, on that cold winter day, with her little window. Now her teeth areplete and without any defects.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Do you want some refreshment? Juice, water¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have water.¡±


    ¡°Okay, the kitchen is this way.¡±


    I start to walk, and shees right behind me. I grab a ss from the cupboard and go to the filter built into the refrigerator.


    ¡°Natural or ice water?¡±


    ¡°Can it be mixed?¡± she asks me, frowning, and I think this is so cute.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    ¡°Right away!¡±


    I mix the water and give the ss to her. She smiles and starts to drink the water. As soon as she finishes, she gives me the ss back. And again, the ufortable silence. I always wanted to get closer to her, and now that I have this chance, I don¡¯t have any idea what to do, what¡­ Ah, ourmon ground!


    ¡°I like anime. You like anime?¡± I cheer in thought. ¡°That she doesn¡¯t think I¡¯m weird.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she replies.


    ¡°Wanna go watch some while dinner¡¯s not on?¡± I ask and hide my fingers in the pockets of my shorts; they are trembling.


    ¡°In the living room?¡±


    ¡°Well, the TV in the living room is programmed only with my dad¡¯s game shows and mom¡¯s soap operas,¡± I say, scratching my hair and messing it up in the process.


    ¡°Soe on, can I choose any anime?¡± I feel my heart melt when I see her eyes shining.


    ¡°Of course!¡± I say, smiling like a fool, and even lose track of time.


    ¡°Well? Let¡¯s go?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, of course, it¡¯s this way.¡±


    I hope my face doesn¡¯t turn red because it feels so hot. I¡¯m such an idiot. I¡¯ve been lost in time twice, fixing my eyes on this cute and beautiful girl.


    We walk up the stairs in silence. My hands that were shaking before are now sweating. For the first time in my life, I¡¯m taking a girl to my room, and better yet, it¡¯s the girl I¡¯m in love with.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision ]


    We walk down the corridor, and when I reach the door to my room, I open it. At this moment, I am thankful that my mother told me to clean it. I enter, and then make room for her to enter as well, and she does.


    ¡°Your room is very nice,¡± she says and sits down on the small sofa in front of the television.


    ¡°Thanks. Do you have any anime in mind?¡± I ask, grabbing the remote control and sit down on the sofa.


    ¡°Guilty Crown. I put it on my list yesterday,¡± she says, and I see her eyes light up.


    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s watch it.¡±


    I turn on the TV and search for this anime. It doesn¡¯t take two seconds, and I find it.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t your sistere today?¡± I ask in order to continue talking to her, to hear her sweet, soft voice.


    ¡°She had to go out to solve some problems at school,¡± she says without taking her eyes off the television.


    ¡°Oh, I understand. I hope she will make it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she will. How old are you?¡± she asks, now looking at me.


    ¡°Eighteen, and you are seventeen, right?¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± she asks me with one eyebrow raised.


    ¡°My mother said that you are a year younger than me,¡± I speak and scratch my head again.


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯m only a year younger than you, I¡¯m in thest year.¡±


    ¡°I know; we are in the same ss,¡± I say and look at the TV again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember ever seeing you in the room,¡± she confirms what I have always known; hearing it hurts.


    ¡°I just sit in the back,¡± I say gloomily.


    And there the conversation ends; no more words are exchanged. The only sound filling the room is the anime opening music.


    I feel my heart beating; I hit my right foot several times on the floor; I feel suffocated.


    ¡°Children?¡± I hear my mother calling us with only her head inside the room. ¡°You cane; dinner is on the table.¡±


    Aya gets up, and I turn off the TV. We follow my mother to the pantry of the house. Her parents and my father are already seated; mine sits next to my father, and there are only two seats avable, one next to the other.


    ¡°You have grown up a lot, young man,¡± Mr. Millenis says as his daughter and I sit down.


    ¡°True,¡± I speak and smile politely at him.


    ¡°How did you meet my daughter? I heard that you both study at the same school; was it there?¡± Now who asks is her mother.


    ¡°Actually, no. We never spoke at school. I met her in Central Park a few years ago,¡± I say and start putting the food on my te.


    ¡°And when was this? Our daughter never told us,¡± observes her father.


    Oh, howplicated. This happened so many years ago, and after that, she never spoke to me again until today; how am I going to tell her father that I have been in love with his daughter since I was six years old? I hope he doesn¡¯t look down on me.


    ¡°Well, that happened many years ago. Your daughter was kind to me; I was six years old when I met her,¡± I speak and look down. I don¡¯t want to receive looks of disbelief; not even my parents I told this fact.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ever tell us, daughter?¡± This time Mrs. Millenis directs the question to her daughter.


    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know who he was, and I had no recollection of this fact,¡± she says, then lowers her head and starts to eat as well.


    The only reason dinner wasn¡¯t silent was that our parents kept interacting with each other and asionally questioning me about something.


    Dinner is over; now we are all at the door in the entrance hall of the house.


    ¡°Say goodbye, daughter,¡± Mrs. Millenis says to Aya, who ising towards me. Again, I feel my heart beating faster.


    ¡°Thank you for dinner; it was a pleasure to meet you,¡± she says and hugs me.


    Even though my fingers are trembling slightly, I manage to return the hug. Her sweet smell enters my nostrils, and I have to control myself not to sigh in front of everyone.


    ¡°It was my pleasure,¡± I say as she undoes the hug.


    I wanted to stay longer with her, but unfortunately, this hug didn¡¯tst even five seconds.


    ¡°Come back safely,¡± I say as they enter the room.


    I don¡¯t wait for the car to start; I know my parents are going to ask me a lot of questions. So, I escape by going to my room and locking the door. I take the blouse off my body and bring it up to my nose; her perfume is still here; I will not wash it off. I take off my shorts and jump on the bed; I know I shouldn¡¯t, but it seems that the love I feel for her has be even greater after today.

 Chapter 9

    [ Vision of Suzana Gun ]


    ¡°Why do you want me to do this?¡± Leandro asks me with a serious look on his face.


    I turn away from his chest and reflect a little on his question. Aya never did anything to me, never even spoke a word to me, but she dared to refuse to give me the answers to the math assessment activity and confessed to Leandro, and he is mine!


    I am vengeful. I will show her that he is mine! And it will be publicly and publicly. She knows that he and I are always together, and yet she dared to defy me.


    ¡°She messed with my dignity,¡± I say, pouting and trying to be as cute as possible.


    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with that, Suzanne,¡± his voice gets deeper, and this gives me goosebumps. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t want to date you, and I don¡¯t want to¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will,¡± he sighs, and I smile.


    ¡°Thank you, my baby. I will reward you handsomely.¡±


    I say and slide my hand down to the zipper of his shorts. We are in a cafeteria, but I slide my legs over his so that no one can see what I am doing. I stick my hand inside his ck shorts, and his memberes to life. I start making up-and-down movements, and he swallows a groan.


    ¡°Here are your orders,¡± the waiter ces our snacks on the table and leaves.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for you to take me hard and fuck me,¡± I whisper in his ear as I intensify the movements, and I feel his arm between my breasts start to shiver.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mess with me, girl,¡± he says between his teeth. I smile in his ear and pull my hand out of his shorts.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± I say and start eating my drumstick. I can¡¯t even watch this because if they let me, I¡¯ll eat about thirty, and there¡¯s still room for more.


    Leandro says nothing, adjusts his shorts, and grabs his snack, starting to eat too. Tomorrow is Monday, I gave Leandro a week to do what I asked. I can¡¯t wait for the twenty-fourth, my big day.


    [ Next day, at Birch Wathen Lenox School. Leandro Silva¡¯s view ]


    ¡°Hi, Aya,¡± I speak and drag a chair to stand next to her.


    ¡°Ah, hi,¡± she says smiling and tucks her hair behind her ear.


    ¡°I want to get to know you better. Do you feel like getting something to eat after school? I know a great pizza ce nearby,¡± I say and lean over the back of the chair and look at her.


    If you stop to look, Aya has her charms. Her nose is very small, her lips are full and pink, despite theck of makeup, her face has no imperfections that girls do everything to hide. And her violet eyes, big and round; surely this must be her greatest charm.


    ¡°If you want, I can walk you back home,¡± I say, trying not to give her any chance to refuse.


    ¡°Okay, after ss then,¡± she says without taking her eyes off me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the gate at half past five, baby,¡± I wink at her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there.¡±


    I listen to her talk and then turn around and go back to my seat in the back of the room. The sses start: first physics ss, then chemistry, then English, math, and history. Then it¡¯s off to lunch break, whichsts an hour, then I go back to ss and watch five more sses.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    ¡°Good luck, baby,¡± Suzana says as she leaves the room.


    What is this woman doing to me? All right, it will be worth it; she will be the mother of my children.


    I get up from the chair and throw my backpack over my left shoulder, walk to the ssroom door, and take a quick look at Aya; she is still writing in her notebook. I look straight ahead again and follow the path to the gate.


    ¡°Are you sure you really want to go? I don¡¯t mind staying at your house watching anime or sis with you,¡± I hear someone speak as I descend the third step of the stairs.


    ¡°I just want to see you. Maybe I won¡¯t even see you anymore; we¡¯re going to graduate, and I¡¯m going to college,¡± this voice I know who owns it.


    ¡°Alright then, man, I just don¡¯t want to see you in trouble,¡± the fat man says to the skinny guy named Iuri.


    When I was a kid, I used to pick on Iuri; I¡¯ve done a lot of bad jokes with him. But despite that, nothingpares to what I have to do with Aya. Without patience to listen to others¡¯ conversation, I pass by them and quickly go down the stairs, go out the gate, and wait for the cat-phone girl leaning against the tree in front of the school.


    I wait only about five minutes, and soon I see her passing through the gate. Her uniform seems to be too big on her; the skirt covers the knee, and the blouse is very loose. Whether she has developed breasts or not, with this blouse, you can¡¯t tell. Very different from the other girls, who wear tight and short uniforms, making it easier to select the most beautiful ones, in agreement with almost all the boys.


    ¡°Shall we go?¡± I call her and offer my hand.


    She stares for a few seconds and hesitates to take it, but then smiles and takes my hand. The difference in height between her and me is very striking; I doubt that the top of her head reaches the height of my chest. Anyway, I am not here to analyze her in this way; I¡¯m just putting the n into practice.


    We walk in silence for about fifteen minutes. The pizzeria where I work at night is nearby. As I am an employee, I am entitled to two pizzas a week; this week, I have not taken one yet, and I will use it now. I pull the chair for Aya to sit down, and the smile she gives shows that she approves of my attitude.


    Both she and I take the menu. I don¡¯t even look at it; I just order chicken pizza with cheese and catupiry.


    ¡°Have you already chosen?¡± I ask as I put the menu back on the table.


    ¡°Good evening, gentlemen,¡± Sebastian appears with his order pad.


    I¡¯m d he didn¡¯t act like he knows me; I don¡¯t want anyone to know that I need to work before I graduate from college.


    ¡°Chicken pizza with cheese and catupiry and for Miss¡­¡±


    ¡°Four cheese, please.¡±


    ¡°Your orders will be delivered in a moment,¡± Sebastian says and leaves.


    ¡°How old are you really?¡±


    ¡°Seventeen.¡±


    ¡°May I ask you some more personal questions?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s not too much, I¡¯ll answer,¡± she says, despite appearing to be very shy; sometimes her speech is that of someone confident.


    ¡°How many times have you kissed?¡± I see her round violet eyes widen slightly.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had that experience myself yet,¡± she says with her head down and adjusts her sses.


    I was expecting this. Our pizzas arrive, and we change the subject.


    ¡°What is your favorite color?¡± she asks, putting another piece of pizza in her mouth.


    ¡°Orange.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Just before the sun rises, the sky takes on this coloration,¡± I answer and then, with the help of my fork, eat another piece of pizza.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice. Do you have any hobbies besides sports?¡±


    ¡°Fighting.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± he says and lowers his head.


    ¡°And do you have any hobbies besides studying?¡±


    ¡°Anime, I love to watch anime,¡± her eyes sparkle when she says this. I don¡¯t like to watch anime; it¡¯s childish, but I can¡¯t tell her my opinion now.


    We finish eating the pizza, and I go up to the counter and hand over my employee ticket. We leave the pizzeria, still holding hands, and walk with her guiding the way back to her house.


    When I get to the front, I stop and look into her eyes that have my full attention.


    ¡°Do you want to go to the movies tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to,¡± she replies with a smile.


    I kiss her forehead and say goodbye. Today I have to work, so I head back to the pizzeria.


    [ Aya Millenis¡¯ Vision ]


    Ah, today was perfect! It was amazing hanging out with Leandro; he was a real gentleman. The kiss on my forehead¡­ I¡¯m feeling on cloud nine!


    ¡°Come in, Aya!¡± I fell to the ground without any parachute.


    I don¡¯t say anything and go inside the house.


    ¡°Who is that kid, and where were you until this hour?¡± my mother asks.


    I really got homete; it was after 7:30 at night.


    ¡°Eating pizza nearby,¡± I say as if it were obvious and take my backpack off my shoulders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you with that boy! Go eat pizza with Iuri!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t like him, Mom; he¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop breaking our hearts, Aya! Can¡¯t you do anything for me and your father? Do you hate us that much?¡±


    ¡°No, Mom, I just¡­¡±


    ¡°We want you to go out with Iuri!¡±


    I give up speaking my mind, I just look at her without saying anything, go up the stairs, and back to my room. Tomorrow I feel that the day will be very good, and with a smile on my face, I start to watch my anime.

 Chapter 10

    [ Aya Millenis¡¯ Vision ]


    ¡°You have the most beautiful eyes I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± I feel the hairs on the back of my neck tingle as I hear Leandro¡¯s whisper in my ear, his face so close to mine, his voice so deeply grave.


    The movie chosen is action and romance: Mechanic: Resurrection, starring Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop; it¡¯s the sequel to movie one, which I haven¡¯t watched, and don¡¯t intend to, the movie was chosen by Leandro.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I say and try not to show that my heart is hammering fast and strong in my chest.


    I manage to turn my attention back to the big screen, but then a hot scene starts, the main characters are going to have sex and¡­ My train of thought is interrupted when I feel strong fingers pulling my chin to the side and a gentle pressure is made on my mouth that was already ajar because of the movie scene, and Leandro¡¯s moist tonguees into contact with mine. I close my eyes, this is my first kiss!


    Leandro¡¯s mouth is warm, his tongue is soft and bold, I try to imitate it and not be embarrassed, he sucks, nibbles and licks my lower lip, I try to do the same on his upper lip; his big hand goes to the back of my neck and tugs lightly at my hair, his other hand goes to my back and pulls me closer to him. Not knowing where to put my hands I support them on his arms and stay like this, kissing, the contact gets deeper and deeper¡­


    ¡°Boom¡± ¨C the sound of an explosion makes us interrupt the kiss, Leandro looks into my eyes and gives me a kiss, then goes back to paying attention to the movie, I do the same, but to my surprise he puts his hand on mine and intertwines our fingers. He smiles, his hand is warm, and this contact is warming my heart.


    [ Vision by Francisco Millenis ]


    I have worked for twenty-five years in Stevens Companies, I was a janitor disowned by my father at the time I was eighteen years old, I was a rebel, I should have listened and I would not have lived through those hard times.


    I was disowned because I skipped school to gamble and chase girls, I was paid, but then everything copsed, my father stopped giving me money and told me I would have to work to continue with my life, I was kicked out of the house too, my friends didn¡¯t help me, I ended up in the gutter. But then the current president¡¯s father offered me a job as a cleaner, I epted immediately, I had already gone three days without food.


    The humiliation of being a cleaner is horrible, people would spit on the floor and tell me to clean, I never said ¡°a¡±; two yearster my father died, but before that he sold thepany, and spent all the money, leaving only the house and some change in the ount. With this money I was able to graduate from college and worked my way up through the ranks at Stevens, and have been vice president there for twelve years.


    ¡°She¡¯s not back yet!¡± Juliana says walking back and forth in the room.


    ¡°She must be with the same boy as yesterday,¡± I conclude loudly so that my wife can hear and I turn to the next page of the book.


    ¡°I told her I didn¡¯t want her with him! I have to ground her! ¨C sits down next to me on the bed.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I look at her with one eyebrow raised.


    ¡°I will take all technological means away from her, and if she still insists on meeting this brat, I will forbid her to leave the house.¡±


    ¡°You are right, Aya needs limits, she is always embarrassing us, at her age I already had to work and had no father to support me,¡± I say, and while I close the book I put it on top of the nightstand.


    ¡°I go downstairs to wait for this girl, it was past nine at night.¡±


    She gets out of bed and closes her robe, leaves the room leaving the door open, I take a deep breath. Why do I have such a disobedient daughter? Haven¡¯t I already redeemed myself from the things I did as a teenager?


    I get out of bed and put on my robe, leave the room and go downstairs to the living room, before I step on thest step I hear:


    ¡°WHERE WERE YOU!¡± Juliana shouts and I speed up the walk.


    ¡°I just went to the movies mom,¡± Aya answers with a low voice.


    ¡°YOU LIAR!¡± my wife grabs Aya by the hair and pulls her head.


    ¡°Mom, please stop,¡± tears are already falling from her eyes.


    ¡°What has she done?¡± I ask in order to understand, Juliana was never violent with any of her daughters, well, she never used physical violence.


    ¡°She has hickeys all over her neck!¡±


    I step closer and look at Aya¡¯s neck, disgust sticks in my throat, but the sound of Juliana¡¯s p on the girl brings me out of my trance and I hold my wife¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Go to the bedroom, Aya,¡± I speak firmly, and with hand on her cheek she obeys me.


    ¡°Let go of me! Are you going to put your hand on her head?¡± She struggles in my arms.


    I look at the stairs and when I see no more trace of Aya I let her go.


    ¡°It¡¯s just hickeys,¡± I say trying to calm my wife.


    ¡°Who¡¯s to say she didn¡¯t do more? I didn¡¯t raise a daughter to be a slut, Francisco! I never hit her, I must have made a mistake there!¡± she says running her hands over her face, ¡°I will fix this mistake now!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to her, and then I¡¯ll give her a punishment, I know Aya is always embarrassing us, but I didn¡¯t raise her as a slutty daughter, and I trust in the raising of our daughters.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take a tranquilizer.¡±


    I let go of her arm and take a deep breath, I hope I¡¯m right. Slowly I go up the stairs again, Aya¡¯s room is the third door on the right. I open the door and see Aya lying face down on the bed, the sound of her crying is very low. I enter the room and close the door, she lifts her tear-soaked face.


    ¡°I want you to tell me the truth Aya, and I¡¯m only going to ask you once,¡± I say as I sit down in the chair at herputer desk.


    ¡°Where did you get those hickeys?¡±


    ¡°I went to the movies with Leandro,¡± she says as she sits on the bed.


    ¡°Who is he?¡±


    ¡°My ssmate, I like him, I met him at a party at hispany.¡±


    I can¡¯t remember anyone with a son named like that.


    ¡°Did you have sex?¡± I¡¯m direct.


    ¡°No, just kissing in the cinema, then he brought me home, like a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fool yourself Aya, don¡¯t trust so easily, I want the best for you, and the best is Iuri Stevens, with him your future is guaranteed.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know who Leandro is¡­¡±


    ¡°And you know? Who his parents are? Does he work? Does he get good grades? Is he heir to a multi-million dorpany?¡± I ask and get silence in response. ¡°You¡¯re forbidden to watch anime, to use the inte, give me your cell phone.¡±


    I hold out my hand and she gives it to me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear anyints from you, and if I catch you in a lie you won¡¯t like the consequences, Aya, you know that we are a traditional family. And we keep the custom of marrying our daughters off as virgins, and even if they are not, nobody but them must know, is that clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir¡±.


    ¡°Good, go get some coffee and take care of Iuri,¡± I say finally and leave the room.


    I walk to the end of the corridor, enter the room and take off my robe, lie down on the bed and read my book again.


    [ Vision of Iuri Stevens ]


    Another dayes to an end, I really deluded myself thinking that she would start talking to me at school after Sunday dinner. She now seems even more distant.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go out man,¡± George says.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to, I just want to lie there.¡±


    Today I saw something that broke my heart, Aya was walking hand in hand with Leandro. They had just left the movie theater, and they even kissed.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    ¡°There is not only her, Iuri, let¡¯s meet other girls,¡± he insists.


    George wants to take me on a double date, he met two girls on the inte. I don¡¯t agree with this.


    ¡°Let me be alone for a while, please,¡± I say and turn my back to George.


    ¡°Okay, bro, whenever you want, just talk to me. Ah, tomorrow is the day that the answer from the college will arrive.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I say low and a solitary tear runs down my cheek.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± he says and I hear the sound of the door closing.


    How I hate to be like this, a miserable Invisible, to have to see the girl I love in the arms of another is very painful; and I know that Leandro doesn¡¯t love her, I don¡¯t know what he wants, but I know that this is not good for Aya. With a hurting heart I close my eyes. Tomorrow will be another day.

 Chapter 11 (part. 1)

    05/24/2019 ¨C New York , Manhattan, Upper East Side.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ vision ]


    ¡°You look beautiful, son,¡± Mistress Carmen speaks and her eyes water.


    ¡°Thank you, Mom.¡±


    My esmoquin is perfectly aligned, my mother took care that not a single strand of my hair was out of order.


    ¡°I hope you four have a wonderful time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Mrs. Carmen,¡± George thanks her smiling.


    ¡°Bye¡­¡± I¡¯m interrupted.


    ¡°You won¡¯t leave without taking the picture,¡± the order is given by my father who is already with the camera in hand ¨C Come girls!


    La and Michelle approach and position themselves; Michelle next to me and La next to George, holding Michelle by the waist.


    ¡°Say, prom,¡± he positions himself with the camera on his face.


    ¡°Prom,¡± we say together and I blink my eyes several times at the strong white light of the sh that blinds me for a few moments.


    ¡°Go with God and behave yourselves, see?¡± my mother speaks up and hugs my father around the waist, he puts his arm over her shoulder.


    ¡°Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Stevens,¡± George says and leaves the house, then the girls say goodbye and leave too.


    La is George¡¯s cousin, Michelle is La¡¯s best friend. After George¡¯s parents insisted so much, they epted to be our dates; they are both in the second grade and they are from the same school as us. In my opinion, Michelle is the prettier of the two, her green eyes in contrast with her white skin, her long, wavy blond hair, her height is only about three centimeters shorter than me, her curves are bigger too, La has ck eyes and a slim body, she is at least five centimeters taller than George. Michelle is beautiful, but Aya still outshines her.


    Three days ago my father gave me a car as a present for my high school graduation and college admission, a silver Honda Civic. Mr. Gustam Millenis has an acquaintance there at the driving school, thanks to this, I arrived, drove, and got my license, without any bureaucracy.


    George sits in the driver¡¯s seat and tidies up his hair even more looking in the rearview mirror. And the girls settle into the back seat. I turn the key and start.


    [Gustam Stevens¡¯ vision]


    ¡°Our n didn¡¯t work,¡± Carmen closes the door.


    ¡°He will find another girl, who knows, maybe he won¡¯t keep in touch with Michelle, she¡¯s a girl who was very polite and pretty too,¡± I shrug and sit on the sofa next to my wife. ¡°Time will tell.¡±


    ¡°I just want him to be happy, darling.¡±


    ¡°Me too, my love,¡± I kiss her forehead, she smiles and her head rests on my shoulder. ¡°How about we enjoy the evening too?¡± I suggest.


    ¡°What do you have in mind, Mr. Millenis?¡± she asks with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Dinner at one of the best pizza ces on the Upper East Side, and then¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get dressed,¡± he gets up faster than the sh and runs to the stairs.


    Heughs at this, my wife loves pizza, so do I, and our son is not left out, we are the pizza-eating family.


    [ Aya Millenis¡¯ Vision ]


    My heart hammers hard inside my chest, my hands sound and tremble in anxiety. I look at myself once more in the mirror, the blue satin dress is very tight, thus making visible my simple feminine curves, its thin shoulder straps make my breasts look even bigger, its length drags on the floor.


    ¡°You look beautiful Aya,¡± Cristine smiles observing her work.


    ¡°Thank you for helping me,¡± I smile back.


    ¡°Come on, Aya,¡± I hear the call from downstairs.


    ¡°I hope you have a good time and congrattions for getting into college.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye,¡± I say goodbye and leave the room.


    I walk carefully down the stairs, I¡¯m not used to walking in heels. As I reach thest step, I see my father dressed in his dress, looking at his watch. I look away from him to my mother, who is dressed in a ck knee-length dress with loose hair.


    ¡°Are you really going to apany me?¡± I ask, approaching them.


    ¡°You are grounded, if you want to go to this dance we will go with you, if not just go back to your room, you will be doing us a favor,¡± my mother answers with a frown on her face.


    I have been grounded for four days, without being able to watch anime, TV or anything that has any rtion to technology and the Inte. My only way to pass the time was to continue my walks with Leandro and when I got home I read my manga. But two days ago, my mother forbade me to leave the house. I cried a lot, I was living a real dream and in this dream I almost ended up really losing my virginity, but Leandro was more responsible than me and stopped.


    ¡°Without further ado, let¡¯s go, the sooner we go the sooner wee back,¡± my father opens the door and is the first to go to the car in the garage.


    ¡°We will not stay more than two hours there Aya,¡± warns my mother, she is the second to go to the car.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    I take a deep breath, I will feel more relieved when I go to college, unfortunately I didn¡¯t get a full schrship, but since my parents have already set aside the money, I don¡¯t have to worry. I walk with careful steps and sit in the back seat of the car. I wish I could have gone like the other girls, their datesing to pick them up at home and the two of them arriving hand in hand at the dance. But luckily Leandro understood my side and said he would be waiting for me at the entrance of the ce. I think his way is so cute, so understanding.

 Chapter 11 (part. 2)

    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ view ]


    The parking lot of the ball is already full, I had to park the car on the street. But having done that I get out of the car, walk to the back, open the door and extend my hand, Michelle epts and smiling gets out of the car.


    ¡°You could be more polite, like your friend!¡± La gets out of the car and with a frown inteces her arm with her cousin¡¯s.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you by getting you a drink so you don¡¯t tire your legs as your hands are.¡±


    ¡°We better get in soon,¡± they stop arguing and everyone walks, I lock the car and then we cross the street, take our ce in line to get in.


    The space rented by the school is a huge court, it is used a lot for inter-school basketballpetitions.


    ¡°Wee and enjoy,¡± the doorman hands us the wristband and we go in.


    ¡°It¡¯s much nicer thanst year,¡± Georgements, taking a quick look around.


    Last year I didn¡¯t take part, so I can¡¯tment onparisons. On the stage there is a huge screen, probably where they will show the video of the students giving their testimonials on thest day of school.


    ¡°The drinks table is right over there,¡± I look in the direction George has pointed.


    ¡°Would you like a drink?¡± I ask Michelle.


    ¡°Yes, please,¡± she smiles kindly.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me?¡± La asks irritated.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say outside that I would get you a drink, why would I waste my saliva asking you?¡± George utters.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± La retorts, rolling her eyes.


    ¡°Boring!¡± she replies.


    ¡°Stop it,¡± I interject into the discussion, ¡°You¡¯re not children anymore to be on this warpath, and I¡¯m not your nanny!¡±


    La and George are not blood cousins, La is the adopted daughter of my best friend¡¯s aunt and uncle.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get some drinks,¡± I determine, and George walks ahead of me with a frown on his face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you guys are so annoying,¡± I manage to catch up with him.


    ¡°She¡¯s a boring bitch who keeps picking on me,¡± he slows down. ¡°She gets on my nerves man, calling me fat, ugly and otaku!¡±


    We arrive at the drinks table, but as if a greater force is pulling my eyes, I look at the entrance door and see Aya. She looks beautiful, as always, blue is her favorite color and suits her perfectly, unfortunately she has gone back to wearing her contact lenses, she preferred her sses. My beautiful vision turns ugly when Leandro enters the scene taking Aya by the hand and pulling her, I watch her image disappearing among the other guests.


    What a heartache¡­


    ¡°Why are Aya¡¯s parents here?¡± I look again at the entrance door.


    ¡°I have no idea, we¡¯d better get the girls their drinks soon,¡± I turn to the table and pick up two disposable cups.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    ¡°See if you don¡¯t drool every time you see her, Michelle doesn¡¯t deserve this,¡± George starts to fill two more sses as well.


    ¡°Mistake me,¡± I finish and start walking.


    I hear George¡¯s footsteps right behind me, the music is not too loud and the lights don¡¯t irritate my eyes, it¡¯s interesting to participate in a ball.


    ¡°Here,¡± I hand one of the sses to Michelle.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she smiles and drinks the punch.


    ¡°Thank you, George,¡± La takes the ss from his hand.


    ¡°Hi, she¡¯s polite, I thought¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop it, man,¡± I warn you once more. ¡°How annoying, it¡¯s like I¡¯m your father.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s dance,¡± Michelle pulls my hand, we leave the sses on the table and go to the dance floor.


    I¡¯m not a fan of dancing, but I managed to do well on the three songs. I couldn¡¯t help but look at Aya, who was dancing smiling in Leandro¡¯s arms, my heart cries at this scene.


    ¡°Good evening to you all,dies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be part of this ball, thest for our graduates this year. Let¡¯s now watch the video made by our dear students,¡± the director leaves the stage leaving the view clear to the big screen. My heart stops at what I see, I can¡¯t believe it.

 Chapter 12 (part. 1)

    [ Vision of Suzana Gun]


    I can¡¯t hide the smile on my face, I have prepared a lot for today. I¡¯m wearing a pink satin dress, the top is a strapless one, the length is long with a big slit down the leg that goes to the middle of my left thigh. The gloves go to the elbows, the heels are six inches high, everything in the most morous pink. Anyway, I¡¯m looking as good as ever.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    ¡°You did everything as I told you, right?¡± I ask low near Luana¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Yes, I did¡­ But I can¡¯t seem to get it right,¡± her voice is muffled by the director¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just a little lesson, no big deal,¡± I take another sip of my drink.


    Luana is wearing a silver dress, with thin straps and knee length, loose hair in big waves, and ck five centimeter stiletto heels. She looks nice, not even close to my feet, but it¡¯s good enough.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal, this is going to end¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh please, right? Do you feel sorry for her now? She is nobody! I¡¯m your friend!¡± I get angry and get away from her.


    Yesterday I spent the whole day editing the video, I did the job masterfully, today everyone will see Aya in a different way, those violet eyes will no longer be carriers of innocence. I look at the direction Aya is, Leandro has already left her and now she is alone, well, not alone as I expected, but surely her parents don¡¯t count, maybe they will even make my show even better, how much anxiety!


    ¡°Suzanne, do you want me to get you some more booze?¡± My date, Henrique, holds another ss in his hand.


    We only danced to two songs, soon he met up with his other friends, got drunk and now he¡¯s drunk. What a drag! I remembered why I never had anything serious with him.


    ¡°No, go back to your friends, Leandro here will keep mepany.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s not the date of¡­ What¡¯s her name again?¡± he frowns.


    ¡°Aya,¡± I roll my eyes, how disgusting to pronounce that name.


    ¡°Oh, yes, that¡¯s right, I just remembered, he is her date.¡±


    ¡°This is none of your business, now get the hell out of here before I lose my little patience with a drunken piece of shit,¡± I don¡¯t have the slightest tolerance to deal with this.


    Spinning on my heels I lose sight of him among the crowd of students. Smiling I walk to the stage to get a better view of my spectacr work of art, Leandro is also already there watching everything, his face is of astonishment, his forehead and cheeks turn red, the only person who saw the video before everyone else was Luana, I still remember her lines:


    ¡°-This is too much humiliation -speaks her wide eyes towards theputer screen.


    ¡°Yes, I want everyone to see how I am superior and she is a disgusting and scrofulous bitch!¡±


    ¡°But she never did anything to you! That¡¯s not right Suzi,¡± he looks at me and I roll my eyes, I¡¯ll ignore it.


    ¡°It looks like it was done by a professional, look at that, it doesn¡¯t even look like other people!¡± The pride I feel is too great.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do this, she doesn¡¯t deserve it.¡±


    ¡°You are going to put the sh drive on the screen so that when you show the video to the ss, they will see a beautiful sexual exhibition.¡±


    ¡°But what about Leandro? You made a montage with his face too, have you told him that?¡±


    ¡°It will be a surprise.¡±


    ¡°What if he gets upset? Nobody likes to be exposed like that!¡±


    ¡°You just pet him and he¡¯ll be fine, nothing worth worrying about,¡± I shrug, Leandro always ate out of my hand.


    ¡°You should stop acting like that, he really likes you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he loves me, too bad for you, isn¡¯t it?¡± I look down on her.


    I know she likes him, but he¡¯s liked me since childhood, and until no one betteres along, he¡¯s the one I¡¯m going to stay with. I have never done anything against Luana because she is obedient, a great friend, so to speak, her mother is a cleaner in my house, I¡¯ve known her since she was a little girl, she always went to help her mother and I sympathized with her, but of course, Imand and she obeys, when I find someone better I¡¯ll even make Leandro stay with her.


    ¡°Is the pen drive ready yet?¡± sighs and changes the subject, I like it that way.


    Leandro¡¯s astonished face makes me want tough. When I get close to him, I hug him from behind and he looks at me with wide eyes and mouth ajar.


    [ Vision of Aya Millenis ]


    I feel the blood disappearing from my body, the tears are burning in my eyes and my heart seems to want toe out of my mouth, which is dry as in a desert, my fingers tremble as if I were in the coldest corner of the North Pole, it would be good if I were there, so I wouldn¡¯t have to go through this, this humiliation.


    This never happened! This video is not real! It is all set up, that is not me! But my face is there, Leandro¡¯s face is there. The only sound resounding through the room is the moans on the screen, the woman with my face on all fours with everything exposed while the man hits her ass with one hand and with the other hand strings her up from behind, then it changes and she is already lying on the floor with her feet behind her head, I have never even seen such positions in my life.


    The tears fall loose down my cheeks, the air drawn through my nostrils seems to have be thin and burns my lungs, and the courage that I always had very little, now I don¡¯t have even an iota of it in my body. I feel my whole body tense up, everything around me seems to have gone blurry, a desire to vomit rises in my throat and I hold my breath.


    The video ends, everyone is silent, I know that all eyes are on me. The silence is broken by the sound of a loud p filling the ce.


    ¡°You are a whore!¡± my mother¡¯s scream makes me cry even harder, I raise my hand to my face and sure enough it is red, it burns like hell, she has never hit me so hard.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you did that, Aya!¡± you can feel the disappointment in my father¡¯s voice. ¡°I told you not to lie to me!¡± she uses in a more controlled voice.


    ¡°Mo-mom, dad¡­¡± my voicees out shaky from crying, ¡°Let me exin, no¡­ that¡¯s not how it happened¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± I was clear with you, Aya! You have shamed your whole family! You are a disgrace to the Millenis! Your existence¡­


    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± I shake my head frantically in denial, getting punched in the stomach must hurt less than hearing that.


    ¡°You humiliated me, you humiliated your mother and your sister, you disgraced our name.¡±


    ¡°She is no longer my daughter!¡± my mother cuts him off and his speech hurts more than the p that was given to me just a few moments ago.


    ¡°Mom, please¡­¡± I try to get closer, I can¡¯t take being rejected like this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± my mother¡¯s hands push me, I fall off my heels and fall on my ass on the floor.


    ¡°From this day on, you are no longer part of our family, we disown you! You slut!¡± I gave you the best of the best, and yet you didn¡¯t think twice before lying and exposing us to public humiliation, throwing our name in the trash, you are nothing to us! And don¡¯t evene home to my house, what you thought you had there isn¡¯t yours, it was me and your mother who bought it, and we¡¯re going to burn it, the only thing you¡¯re going to take is the clothes on your body¡­


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t even deserve that!¡±


    ¡°No, Mom, please ¡­. Stop it! Stop it¡­¡±


    No matter how much I ask, the hatred in my mother¡¯s eyes cut through my skin like sharp knives. She pulls at the thin straps of my dress ripping them, I try to stop her, but I get another p in my face. The screams give way to sobs, and as if on fire I feel the fabric being torn, my breasts are exposed and I try to cover them at all costs. The shame I feel is so great.


    ¡°You are not worth a plugged nickel, we raised you in the best way possible! We raised you with the best! But you¡¯re a fifth-rate, scrotum-sucking slut, a¡­.¡±


    ¡°Please stop¡­¡± even though my knees are shaking, I stand up while holding the rips to hide the nakedness of my breasts. ¡°That¡¯s not me, please believe me¡­ I-I would never do anything to embarrass you like that¡­¡±


    ¡°The floor is your ce! You filthy scum!¡± the push is stronger than the other. The contact of my forehead with the damaged floor of the court makes blood run down my forehead and the cut stings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve wasted enough time in this shithole.¡±


    ¡°No please,¡± I hold my mother¡¯s dress and she kicks my hand, my wrist throbbing.


    Holding my mother¡¯s shoulders, my parents turn their backs on me and disappear from my field of view. I feel everyone¡¯s gaze burning my skin, crying blurs my vision, but I could guess whose arms were trying to hold me down.

 Chapter 12 (part. 2)

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! You lying, lying bastard! You bastard! You bastard! Why did you do this to me? None of it is true, so why¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to, I didn¡¯t even know¡­¡±


    ¡°You disgusting bastard, you ruined everything, you just used me, you tricked me just to humiliate me in front of everyone and my parents,¡± the tears are no longer falling, my hatred has consumed them.


    ¡°Forgive me, I didn¡¯t know¡­¡±


    Impulsiveness takes possession of my actions, I get up from the floor and the palm of my hand burns as ites into contact with Leandro¡¯s face that wille with the impact.


    ¡°You bitch! Who do you think you are to¡­¡± Suzanne tries toe at me.


    ¡°Enough, Suzanne!¡± Leandro speaks loudly and this stops her in mid-stride.


    I turn on my heels before my crying returns and leave this ce of humiliation as quickly as possible. Hatred and sadness pour down in thick tears onto my cheeks. And now what? What am I going to do? Where will I go? I can¡¯t count on anyone¡¯s help¡­ I¡¯m alone, no one likes me, everyone just wants to take advantage of dumb and stupid Aya.


    (Iuri Stevens¡¯ vision)Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    ¡°You better go,¡± MIchelle looks at me understanding.


    And so I do, I take onest look at Michelle and she nods, I start running out of the court, I pass through the gate and I can see a piece of her dress behind the fence. I run to it.


    ¡°Aya¡± I call her, but she doesn¡¯t stop walking-¡°Please wait¡±-I hurry my steps and grab her arm, abruptly stopping her run.


    ¡°Let go of me!¡± she struggles to get loose, but I don¡¯t let go of her arm.


    ¡°Please listen to me¡­¡±


    ¡°Why? You want to make fun of me? Call me a slut, just like everyone else is probably calling you in there? What do you want, you spineless idiot! Are you happy I¡¯m in the shit!? Do you see this as a form of revenge?¡± she screams hysterically.


    ¡°Of course not, why would I take revenge on you?¡± I let go of her arm, take off my jacket and cover her breasts.


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t know the reason for that stupid dinner?¡± the hatred in her speech leaves me bewildered.


    ¡°What do you mean? Our parents are friends, they always had dinner at our house¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a bastard! My mother made me go, only because the spoiled son of her bosses was in love with me. Surely you just wanted to use me like Leandro, you must be the same, two unscrupulous scoundrels.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tpare me to him! I would never lie to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Because I never gave you the time of day, never even noticed you in the room, an ugly spiky guy who thinks he has money and then wants to manipte everyone around him! All you will ever get in life is women who want you only for your money, because you have nothing more than that to offer!¡±


    Your words hurt me deeply, I have never done any of these things, I feel the shards of my heart bleeding the flesh around you. I am fully aware that I am not the most beautiful of men, and that I am not attractive to women, but to hear this from the only woman I wanted to love me hurts me too much.


    ¡°I never thought I was better than anyone else, nor have I ever forced you into anything, I know I¡¯m not the most handsome, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Go to hell! I want to fuck you and everyone else!¡±


    She stands with her back to me and walks, I don¡¯t stop her, I¡¯m torn up inside, fighting back tears. And with heavy steps I walk back to the dance hall.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Aya?¡± George asks, approaching me.


    ¡°She left, and so will I.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get the girls, just a minute bro,¡± he vanishes into the crowd.


    ¡°Thanks to everyone who came, I want to officially announce my engagement to Leandro.¡± I look in the direction of Suzana¡¯s voice and hate takes over my actions.


    I walk with hard steps to the stage, Suzana is on top and Leandro on the bottom, I feel everyone¡¯s eyes on the back of my neck but I don¡¯t care. What they did to Aya is unforgivable.


    Without saying a word, I raise my closed fisted hand and punch Leandro right in the mouth. He is much taller than I am, but he doesn¡¯t discount or defend himself, he just epts the punch.


    ¡°You are a scumbag, a bastard, what you did in that girl¡¯s life is unforgivable!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± is all he says.


    George, Michelle and La are already waiting for me at the gate. I pass by them and they follow me, I get into the car. The anger inside me is still great, I hit the steering wheel of the car with my fists closed several times and a stubborn tear runs down.


    I start the car and go a little over speed, quickly get the three of them to George¡¯s house and back to mine. I go into the garage and turn off the car¡¯s engine, the house is all dark, my parents have surely gone out to enjoy the night. I walk up the stairs and go straight to my room, on the way to my bed, I take off all my clothes, just my underwear and lie face down on the bed.


    I wonder where she is now? I let the tears I was holding back fall freely.

 Chapter 13

    [ Leandro Silva¡¯s Sight ]


    ¡°How can you smile!¡± I ask incredulously.


    ¡°It was perfect, baby! Her parents made everything more exciting!¡± she smiles happily and hugs me, as if her skin is burning, I pull her away from me. In her eyes I can see the confusion.


    I have never been so disappointed in anyone, let alone her, I always knew that she also liked to y tricks on vulnerable people, I think it was this fact inmon that made me like her when we were kids, however, I have changed. She convinced me to help her, I did, but I didn¡¯t know it would be like this, this time she went too far.


    ¡°She was kicked out of the house Suzanne, do you realize what this is like? Has this airhead of yours ever thought about the consequences?¡± Just looking at her right now makes me want to vomit.


    ¡°No need to be like that, surely her parents only did it for the moment, they shouldn¡¯t be serious,¡± she shrugged and picked at her fingernails. Cynical.


    ¡°Oh yes, they were serious!¡± I shout. ¡°Why did you do that?¡±


    She gives me a look I have never seen before, I can no longer recognize who this girl in front of me is.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t like her, because she dared to propose to you in front of me!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it, you¡¯ve never shown even an ounce of jealousy for me before¡­¡±


    ¡°But of her, I do!¡±


    ¡°Then why the hell did you tell me to hit on her! What is this jealousy? Exin it to me because I don¡¯t understand!¡± I walk around with my hands on my head. This whole thing has to be a joke.


    ¡°You know, never really feel it, no,¡± I stop walking and look at her without understanding, ¡°You always ate in my hand, always did my will and that¡¯s it, the feeling always came from you, never from me. You¡¯ve never been more than a little toy,¡± he sneers.


    ¡°Then why did you give me hope all this time?¡± I feel my heart cry.


    ¡°Because until then you were the best option, at least in appearance,¡± Her eyes look me up and down, then she smiles, a snobbish smile from someone who thinks she¡¯s superior, I don¡¯t like it, that¡¯s not why I fell in love ¨C Do you think I don¡¯t know who you really are? The son of a cleaning woman, with a disgusting stepfather and who has to work in a pizza ce in order to afford drinks and snacks? You think I don¡¯t know that you are a nobody? Look at you, nothing but a pretty face.


    My heart is breaking, I wanted to do everything to be someone and be worthy of this woman, but all this time she has only used me because so far no one better hase along, but at the first opportunity she would change me. I feel my eyes burning, my fingers trembling slightly, I clench my hands into fists.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to cry, are you? Do me a  please,¡± she rolls eyes, ¡°Are you not only a poor man but also a crybaby?¡± she turns his back on me and walks outside.


    A tear runs down my face, but I wipe it away, she doesn¡¯t deserve any feeling from me, I¡¯m no more than a toy in her hands, but this will pass, life will give her what she deserves.


    I look around and everyone is looking at me, looks of pitying from the girls and of satisfaction from the boys. I don¡¯t care, I need to fix the mess I made, even if I didn¡¯t mean to, it¡¯s all my fault.


    ¡°Leandro ¡­¡± I hear Luana¡¯s voice calling me, but I don¡¯t look, I need to find Aya.


    [ Aya Millenis¡¯ Vision ]


    My chest hurts so much, the cold wind hitting my face is like ps given from hands clenched into fists, the tears have frozen, I feel alone and empty, something inside me is lost.


    Walking the streets without knowing what to do, I don¡¯t know where to go, the nearest shelter is five kilometers away. And walking at night alone is so dangerous¡­


    ¡°Hi kitten, what are you doing alone at this hour?¡±


    A fat and drunk man approaches me, his smell makes me cover my nose, I hurry my steps, but he follows me, I try to run but it¡¯s toote, he holds my arms and sticks his huge belly to me.


    ¡°Let me go, let me go! HELP¡­ HELP¡± I scream for help, I know the street is deserted, but I still need to scream with all my strength.


    The disgusting man holds me to the wall, hot tears once again fall from my eyes, this can¡¯t be happening¡­ The sobse back hard, what did I do wrong to deserve all this?


    ¡°So smelly,¡± I feel his hand on my bare left breast, he squeezes and I can only scream in pain and hate, why is this happening to me? I knew it, you are a whore, you were giving how many away? From the damage to your clothes, I¡¯m sure it was at least two at the same time, some pretty wild sex.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me you filthy pig!¡± I scream and once again try to free myself from his grip, ¡°Ah!¡± the cry of paines out as blood drips over my eye.


    My head throbs, a cut has opened above my eyebrow as ites into contact with the unstered blocks of the wall. It stings, badly. I feel my vision blurring.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how a real man does it, you¡­¡±


    His hands loosen my arms, his huge belly is no longer on my back, I feel my knees weaken, I am so heavy, but I don¡¯t feel the cold ground on my face, someone holds me, strong arms embrace me. But I don¡¯t feel safe, I want to move away, I am afraid, but I don¡¯t have the strength and my eyes close.


    (Luana Gosper¡¯s vision)


    ¡°I am not with¡­¡±


    ¡°How could you be so cruel! He loved you!¡± I shout.


    ¡°Look on the bright side, now the way is clear for you,¡± she shrugs and continues drinking.


    ¡°You are too cruel,¡± I wipe my tears, how could I have been her friend for so long?


    ¡°Really? I hadn¡¯t even noticed, you¡¯re going to stay here annoying me anyway?¡± She rolls her eyes and turns her back on me.


    I do the same, I don¡¯t want to waste my time with Suzana anymore, I take off my heels and start running, I need to help Leandro to find Aya. Poor girl, I need to make amends with her, it¡¯s my fault¡­ I¡¯m the one who put the damn sh drive.


    I don¡¯t run very far, from a distance I can see Leandro holding Aya in his arms, he is sitting on the sidewalk, she is unconscious. I force my legs to run faster.Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    ¡°What happened?¡± worry overwhelms me. Aya¡¯s face is all covered with blood.


    ¡°A man tried to abuse her, but she ended up fainting.¡±


    ¡°Thank goodness you arrived in time,¡± I sit down next to her. ¡°Now what? She needs care.¡±


    ¡°I thought about taking her to my house, but my stepfather probably won¡¯t treat her with respect.¡±


    ¡°My house has no space, the little room we live in is too small even for me and my mother.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ Oh, what if we talk to Iuri?¡±


    ¡°Do you have his number?¡± I ask, wriggling on the floor.


    ¡°No¡­ Damn it!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can find his facebook page.¡±


    I grab my cell phone from my purse and search for his profile. Before long I manage to find it.


    ¡°I found it, his number is in the profile.¡±


    ¡°Do you have credit to call?¡± Leandro asked, looking into my eyes.


    How I wish these eyes could look at me in another way¡­


    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± I say and copy the number.


    The phone rings, once, twice, three times, only on the fifth call is it answered.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Iuri? This is Luana, please, we need your help, Aya is unconscious and all bloody,¡± I speak desperate.


    ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen meters away from the court where the dance is happening. Please,e soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in ten minutes,¡± hangs up the phone.


    ¡°He is alreadying,¡± I warn him.


    ¡°How nice,¡± Leandro and I sigh together.


    ¡°Thank you foring, Lu,¡± he smiles in my direction, and at the same instant my heart speeds up.


    ¡°I¡­ I mean¡­ Anytime,¡± I feel my cheeks warm. ¡°Look, I wanted to say¡­¡± I feel my throat closing, I have never been this close to him.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That you are amazing yes, don¡¯t believe the nasty things Suzana said. You are amazing to me,¡± I say with all the sincerity in my heart.


    I close my eyes in fear of what they will see. Leandro has never looked at me so directly.

 Chapter 14

    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°What¡­ happened to her?¡±


    As soon as I arrive at the ce Luana speaks of, I am faced with the scene of Aya with her head all dirty with blood.


    ¡°A man tried to abuse her,¡± Luana exins. I clench my hands into fists. Bastard! Bastard! Garbage!¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ that you like her, Iuri, but could you take care of her? At the moment she has no one.¡±


    I almost stop reacting when I hear the words thate out of Leandro¡¯s mouth, I¡¯ve never seen him care about anyone but himself. But I am d, at least now he seems to want to be different.


    ¡°Leandro is the one who saved her from the man,¡± Luana speaks interrupting the silence that has settled in.


    ¡°Oh¡­ thank you, I will take care of her,¡± I approach him and take Aya from hisp. Wow, I need to go to the gym¡­ She is heavy.


    I try not to show it, I walk with her in my arms to the car, Luana opens the door for me, I put her in the back seat and close the door soon after.


    ¡°You guys want a ride?¡±


    Luana doesn¡¯t answer and just looks at Leandro.


    ¡°I¡¯ll walk anyway, but thanks.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m going too, thanks for the offer, Iuri.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going. Thanks for calling me.¡±


    I turn the car around and get in, start the engine, and begin to drive along the road that leads to my house. I look in the rearview mirror and my heart squeezes. Her words still hurt me, but seeing her in this state makes me even sadder.


    In less than ten minutes I drive into the garage. I notice that my parents¡¯ car is already there too, they have arrived. I hope they don¡¯t mind. Again I take Aya in my arms and go to the living room, my parents are watching television, but as soon as they see me their eyes widen.


    ¡°What happened, Iuri?¡± my mother asks,ing towards me, right behind her my father is alsoing.


    ¡°She needs help, a man tried to abuse her while she was walking down the street.¡±


    ¡°Oh my God, the poor thing. Come bring her to the guest room. Honey, heat up some water and bring me some cloths.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± mine headed for the kitchen.


    And I went to the stairs with Aya on myp, the ascent is difficult, although she is short, and as they say, bones also weigh. But I know that the real problem is because I have no physical conditioning. After climbing the stairs, my mother opens the door to the guest room next to mine, I go in and put Aya on the bed. I look at her face, so serene. She doesn¡¯t even look like she has been through such a dangerous situation.


    ¡°Did you save her?¡±


    ¡°No, it was a ssmate, but he couldn¡¯t help her and called me.¡±


    ¡°I see, your father and I passed her earlier.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°She was very rude to us.¡±


    I decided not to answer, I have wonderful parents, but I know how spiteful they are. And this bitterness will only pass when she apologizes, which I think is very difficult to do. I confess, I would also like to hear an apology, but I understand the critical situation she is going through. To have your heart wounded in this way, to be abandoned by your parents. It¡¯s just too much suffering.


    ¡°Here dear,¡± my father enters the room holding a tray with a small basin of warm water.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    My mother takes the cloth and starts to wipe the dried blood from Aya¡¯s face, who grimaces but doesn¡¯t wake up. She is so beautiful. She looks like an angel. How could people do so much harm to someone as pure as she is?


    ¡°Iuri,¡± Ie out of my trance when I hear my name pronounced by my mother.


    ¡°Iuri: Yes.¡±


    ¡°Go to the kitchen cupboard and get some bandages and the medicine stickers.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be long.¡±


    I hurry out of the room and go downstairs, past the pantry and into the cab drawer I get everything my mother asked for. I return with quick strides, and only stop when I enter the bedroom.


    ¡°Here, Mom,¡± I hand her everything.


    ¡°Leave me alone with her.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the living room, Iuri.¡±


    I agree and follow my father into the living room. My chest still hurts, seeing her in this state is unbearable. I hope she wakes up well tomorrow.


    When we get to the living room, I sit on the sofa and my father sits in the armchair.


    ¡°Iuri¡­ Why haven¡¯t you spoken to her parents?¡±


    I take a deep breath, how I wish she could count on her own parents for help. But unfortunately, Leandro did her a favor and ruined her life.


    ¡°During the dance. Her parents were also at the dance, and they didn¡¯t like what they saw. And they ended up kicking her out of the house.¡±


    ¡°What? What kind of joke was that?¡±


    ¡°Someone¡­ Someone edited a porn video and put her face and that of another ssmate. Her parents believed the video was real, and did what they did¡­ In front of everyone¡­¡±


    I waited for my father¡¯s answer, but he just remained silent, a silence that had alreadysted about ten minutes, when I decided to open my mouth to break the silence my mother¡¯s voice was present.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    ¡°I have cleaned her wounds, put some pajamas on her, and put the medication patches on her. Tomorrow she will wake up well.¡±


    She speaks and sits down on the couch next to me, stares at my father for a few moments, and then looks at me.


    ¡°What was the answer about college?¡±


    ¡°I was approved, and I¡¯m moving the day after tomorrow to Cambridge, Massachusetts.


    ¡°My son, you are bing a man.¡±


    She smiles and hugs me, and I hug her back, hugging her tight. How good a mother¡¯s hug is. I hope she never dies.


    ¡°We¡¯d better go to sleep, tomorrow we¡¯ll settle things.¡±


    I agree and the three of us go up to our rooms. Before I go into mine, I nce at the door of the room where Aya is. I sigh and go into mine. I take off my clothes again and lie down on the bed. It doesn¡¯t take long to fall asleep, and when I open my eyes, it is already six in the morning. I stretch and get out of bed, go to the bathroom, do my personal hygiene and put on the first outfit that appears on the wardrobe. I need to pack¡­ I will be four years away from here.


    I leave the room and then I remember that Aya is in the next room. With hesitant steps, I stop in front of the room, hold the handle for a few seconds and then open it. I walk to the window and open the curtains, letting the light invade the room, I turn to the bed and see her sitting up, looking at me as if she were seeing a monster.


    ¡°What the hell did you do, you disgusting little spike?¡±


    What a nice good morning I got from this messy-haired angel.

 Chapter 15 (part. 1)

    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ vision]


    ¡°Please calm down,¡± I speak approaching her, she takes a step back.


    ¡°To hell with your calm, you ridiculous ugly!¡±


    I stop for a moment, this is not the Aya I know, she is a sweet girl who has the most innocent smile in the world, well, at least that was my opinion of her since I was six years old¡­ I wonder if all this is just her way of enduring all the suffering by attacking me. If it is, fine. I just want her to be able to someday forget the pain she felt yesterday.


    ¡°Is this how you thank those who helped you?¡± my mother enters the room. How long has she been listening in hiding?


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember asking¡­¡±


    ¡°But I do remember you with your clothes all torn, your breasts sticking out and a lot of blooding out of your head all over my floor.¡±


    I see her eyes widen, the tears glisten, she closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head in a negative way as if she were scaring away the memories. Seeing her suffering like this makes my heart hurt so much. I want so much to make her happy and to see once again that smile that saved my childhood.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°I think you owe me and my son an apology.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± I call her as a form of scolding, Aya suffered a lot yesterday, she doesn¡¯t need any more pressure today.


    ¡°Mother my ass! I won¡¯t put my hand on her head, especially when she dares to insult my only son!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been through a lot yesterday¡­¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t give her the right to say the things she said to us, while she was passed out in bed, she kept saying a lot of things, do you know what those things were?¡± he asks with a raised eyebrow and I swallow dryly, I can already imagine, ¡°It was horrible words about you! She cursed you and made fun of your appearance, I felt like hitting her right then and there.¡±Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your help!¡± he speaks up, drawing attention to himself.


    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t, did you? I hadn¡¯t even touched myself dear,¡± my mother says debauchedly making Aya¡¯s face turn even redder, ¡°Would you rather have been raped and killed?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would, it¡¯s much better than being used by everyone and then discarded like garbage! To be stepped on by people like you, who just because you have money and fame think you are better than others and can do whatever you want! I hate people like you!¡± she lets it all out with screams and tears falling from her eyes.


    In a matter of seconds, her face gets paler and paler. My heart squeezes. Her knees go weak and she falls to the ground, you can hear the sound of them colliding, I run towards her and grab her head before she takes any more damage. I see her eyes close and my body begins to tremble. I pick her up on myp andy her down on the bed once more.


    ¡°It was a pressure drop,¡± my mother says withouting closer.


    ¡°Why?¡± I question with my eyes closed and my fists clenched.


    ¡°Why what?¡±


    ¡°Why did you treat her like that? She is not well, she suffered a lot yesterday and is all bruised. Why did you do this?¡±


    ¡°Because you are my beloved son! I couldn¡¯t stand to see you treat him badly! No mother would let me!¡± I look at her, and seeing her eyes teary makes the guilt weigh on me. I just want him to be happy¡­ I can¡¯t bear the thought of anyone treating you¡­.


    I run towards her and hug her tight, as I haven¡¯t done in a long time. I can¡¯t me my mother, she only wanted to defend me, she more than anyone really loves me and seeing me well makes her happy.


    Sadness weighs on my heart, Aya¡¯s words repeat themselves in my mind, ¡°All you will get in life is women who will want you only for money, because you have nothing beyond that to offer!¡± ¨C maybe the only woman who has the feeling of love for me is my mother.


    ¡°Sorry, I love you, Mom,¡± she hugs me tighter.


    ¡°I love you too, my beloved son.¡±


    After a few seconds we break the embrace and I rub my eyes with the back of my hands. A few tears wanted toe out.


    ¡°I¡¯d better go pack, tomorrow you¡¯re going on a trip,¡± he kisses my forehead.


    He kisses my forehead. I agree and leave the room and go towards my own. I take a big suitcase and put some of my clothes in it, only five anime shirts and five casual shorts. When I get there I will buy several clothes that are, considered by society, normal and thus evolve in and out of my world. I close my suitcase immediately after putting away my notebook. All that is left to do is to prepare myself mentally; I will be away for a long time. I will miss my parents a lot.

 Chapter 15 (part. 2)

    I look at the clock and it is already noon, I sigh and leave the room, passing by Aya¡¯s room I notice that she is still unconscious. I go back to my path and go downstairs, I go to the pantry of the house and see the table already set.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you came down, you saved me the trouble of calling you,¡± says my mother as she sits in her chair.


    ¡°I¡¯m starving,¡± I lie. Actually I don¡¯t feel hungry, I¡¯m sad. Too many thoughts in my head.


    ¡°Thene soon,¡± says my father, already preparing his te.


    So I do, sit down at the table and help myself to the meal, which has more sd than anything else. In about twenty minutes, everyone finishes the meal and when Lueni removes all the tes, I make a sound with my throat calling their attention.


    ¡°I need to talk to you.¡±


    They sit back down and look at me intently.


    ¡°Yesterday at the ball, Aya¡¯s parents also went, they wanted her to ept me and were forcing her to do so, on the day of the dinner, she was forced toe,¡± I say with regret. I just wanted her to love me of her own free will, ¡°Well, she was disobeying them and going out with another colleague, and well¡­¡± I close my eyes for a few moments, when I saw the video I thought it was real, but when her mother ripped her dress and left her breasts exposed the difference was tant, the woman¡¯s breasts in the video were giant while theirs were medium, believe me, even if only for a few moments it makes me feel guilty, ¡°This fellow, he is the boyfriend of another girl who on the day of the prom made a montage in a porn video and put Aya¡¯s face so that everyone present could see and think it was her.¡±


    ¡°My God, what a horrible thing to do¡­ This¡­ It never even crossed my mind¡­¡± she must now be ming herself for the way she spoke to Aya.


    ¡°Her parents¡­ They beat her and tore her dress, cursed her with horrible names and then threw her out of the house with only the rags she had on her body.¡±


    My mother¡¯s eyes widened in shock, Juliana had always been a friend of my mother¡¯s, she must never have imagined that her friend would be capable of doing such a thing to her own daughter.


    ¡°Soon after having her heart broken by the guy she likes, she was thrown out and has nowhere else to go, while she was walking alone in the streets a man hurt her even more and tried to abuse her.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I said so many things without knowing anything¡­¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault, you were just defending me, Mom. I¡¯m very grateful for that.¡±C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    She looks at me with tearful eyes and a small smile.


    ¡°I love Aya, I have loved her since she was six years old. I suffered a lot of bullying and she was the one who smiled at me and hugged me in the midst of so many who just beat me and made fun of me.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ever tell us!¡± my parents questioned together. She smiled. Why is that?


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t want to worry them, I wanted to be strong. But I wasn¡¯t, I lived locked in my room watching anime and never participated in anything at school. Anyway, I just wanted to be alone.¡±


    ¡°Do you still get bullied?¡±


    ¡°No, they stopped about two years ago.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this attitude, my son,¡± my father says, and you can feel the disappointment in his voice. I don¡¯t want you to hide anything more, neither from me nor from your mother, agreed?


    ¡°Yes, Dad,¡± I am so grateful to God for the wonderful parents you gave me, ¡°I need to ask you a favor.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Can you take care of her? I¡­ I love her, I don¡¯t want her to suffer even more¡­ She has no one else in the world¡­ Please¡­ Take care of her until she can fend for herself, I just¡­ Well¡­ I always wanted to see the smile she gave me when we were kids Just one more time¡­ Tears don¡¯t go with her.¡±


    My parents are silent, I look at my hands on the table, I know I am asking a lot, but I can¡¯t leave knowing that she will be out on the street and attacked again.


    ¡°All right, we will take care of her,¡± my father says, and I feel as if a great burden has been removed from my back.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I say, smiling.


    The dayes to an end, Aya has awakened only once, with cries in supplication for forgiveness and not to be abused. It pained me, my mother gave her tranquilizers to make her sleep again. I spent the afternoon trying to read manga, which didn¡¯t work, I kept going to her room every ten minutes to check if she was okay.


    The rm clock goes off at 4:30 in the morning. I get up and do my morning hygiene. I put on a white dress shirt and pants, put on a tie and get my suitcase. I go downstairs and my parents are already waiting for me in the living room with Lueni, whoes toward me and hugs me.


    ¡°Go with God, my boy. May your grades be great and don¡¯t leave me without news from you, eat and sleep at the right time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mrs. Lueni. Please take care of yourself too.¡±


    She breaks the hug and wipes the tears from her eyes, I am the first one to leave the house, I get in the back seat of the car and then my parents get in. I look out the window to the second floor.


    ¡°Take care, please¡± ¨C I mentally ask Aya. Now it¡¯s time for me to leave.

 Chapter 16

    [Vision of Aya Millenis]


    I feel my eyes heavy and a bitter taste in my mouth, my head hurts, my whole body hurts too. I take a deep breath, what happened?


    Without opening my eyes I sit up in bed, I keep breathing deeply, the air is so cold and dry, what time is it? My sister hasn¡¯te to call me for coffee yet¡­ Wait¡­ I was¡­


    ¡°I am d you are awake,¡± I immediately open my eyes, hearing this voice that brings back memories.


    I look at her and she is sitting in an armchair near the bedroom door, the image of thest events are clear in my mind making my head throb. Mrs. Carmen gets up and takes a tray that was on the nightstand.


    ¡°Eat, you¡¯ll feel better,¡± she ces the tray beside me on the bed.


    I look at her and she turns her back on me and leaves the room, I turn my attention to the contents of the tray and there is a lot of food here. Bread and cheese, apples cut into a little pot, juice and chocte cake. Just the sight of this makes my stomach rumble, my mouth sputter and I don¡¯t even think much about it, I just attack the bread rolls, they are still very warm. In less than five minutes I take thest sip of the orange juice. I couldn¡¯t help burping, I can¡¯t even remember thest time I ate so much.


    ¡°Was it tasty?¡± Mrs. Carmen enters the room again. I feel bad, I create courage and get out of bed, the contact of my feet on the floor send small shocks to my spine.


    ¡°Look¡­¡± I close my eyes, I regret the things I said to her, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for saying those things to you, I¡­ I had no right to offend you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry too, a lot of things happened to you and I just kept making light of it, no one deserves to go through what you went through.¡±


    I feel the tears burning my eyes, I can¡¯t control myself, I have never been so alone in all my life, there, in my parents¡¯ house, I at least had my sister, even with the fights, it was her and me, now it¡¯s me and only me, I don¡¯t know what to do. The tears run hot with a salty taste, my nose starts to run, I lower my head, this is so Comfortable!


    Warm arms surround me and squeeze me in a weing way, I can¡¯t even remember thest time someone hugged me in such a loving way. The tears stop at the same instant, without even thinking I raise my arms and reciprocate, resting my head on Mrs. Carmen¡¯s shoulder, we stay like this for a few minutes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk,¡± she says, undoing the hug.


    She sits on the bed and I do the same, she takes a deep breath and takes a few seconds to start talking.


    ¡°Iuri told me about the things that happened to you,¡± she looks into my eyes, ¡°My husband and I made the decision to take care of you.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ What do you mean by this?¡±


    ¡°You from now on, you will be like¡­ like¡­ You will be like my goddaughter, I won¡¯t leave you on the street, you will live here and go to some university, when you graduate you are guaranteed a position in thepany, in the sector in which you choose to work.¡±


    I feel my heart skip a beat, I insulted her so much yesterday. Not only her, but Iuri too, and yet¡­ She is being generous with me, I can¡¯t ept it.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m very grateful, but I can¡¯t ept it,¡± I speak with a hurting heart, I have nowhere else to go.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I hurled terrible insults at you and your son, no matter what happened to me, I never had the right to say what I said, especially since I don¡¯t even know you,¡± I have never felt this bad, this is the first time I raised my voice, too bad it was to the wrong people.


    ¡°I want you to study and be a great professional, I want you to help thepany grow, and I want you to show your mom and dad that you don¡¯t need their money for anything!¡±


    Again I feel my eyes burning with tears, how could I have said that I hated people like her? She is not even remotely like my mother, you can see that she loves and does everything to see her son happy, very different from mine, for my mother, the one who has to do everything is me to make her happy.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± I hold my breath, I don¡¯t want to cry again.


    ¡°I have known your mother for many years, we always got along well, she was always strict and very perfectionist, very different from me, however, she always seemed to have a good heart,¡± she sighs heavily, ¡°I never imagined that she was capable of doing what she did to her own daughter, I also heard that she was forcing you to ept Iuri, the idea of the dinner was mine, I thought you two were close since you studied at the same school, but Iuri told me you like someone else, I feel very bad, it never crossed my mind to force you to ept my son.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°I always wanted my son to date a girl, I was so happy when he mentioned your name, I always thought you were very polite. He has liked you since he was six years old, I was so happy¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have to apologize to him,¡± I interrupted her and she looked at me attentively, ¡°He¡­ he¡­ He was the only one to help me¡­ Even though I said so many horrible things to him.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t lie, I also think you should apologize to him, even though he already apologized to you the second after you insulted him, I am very proud of my son, but you can¡¯t do that now.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I feel my heart squeeze.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone, and he won¡¯t be back anytime soon, he left early this morning.¡±


    ¡°How long is it so soon?¡± I ask, guilt eating away at me, I need to see him and ask for forgiveness in a proper way.


    ¡°Many years, I just know it will take years for him toe back, more than five years.¡±


    My mouth goes dry, he¡¯s gone¡­. My fault? Probably, I said horrible things to him, I regret it bitterly, he was not the one who nned that dinner, he never even forced a conversation with me¡­ He must have left so that I could stay here¡­


    I feel like the worst person in the world, at this moment, I feel like apologizing with my forehead on the floor, just like I see in anime. My heart squeezes, he really liked me, and even after everything, he was the only one to reach out to me. I really am a horrible person!


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry over spilled milk, take my advice and ept my help, time will tell what surprises await us,¡± he speaks kindly.


    ¡°You are right, I do ept your help and I hope one day to be able to repay all the good that you and your family are doing to me,¡± I say sincerely, I need to change myself.


    ¡°So it¡¯s all right, now it¡¯s time to go shopping, you need clothes and aputer, as you are already graduated you need to think about the course you want to follow and in which college.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± my voice came out shy.


    [ Leandro Silva¡¯s Vision]


    ¡°Who is that?¡± I look in the direction Marcos points and see Luana behind the ss of the exit door.


    ¡°A friend, man,¡± I take off my apron and hang it up with the others.


    ¡°She is very cute, how about introducing me?¡±


    ¡°Get real, she¡¯s not for you,¡± I turn away and walk towards the exit, where Luana waits for me.


    Luana has always been close to Suzana, and despite the regrets, I could not kill the love I feel for her, however, I will never forgive what she did. I was never close to Luana, if I ever spoke to her it was only once or twice. But on the day of the prom incident, we exchanged our numbers and talked a lot. She told me about her situation and how she has to work hard to get a better life for her mother, I identified with her, we are simr.


    ¡°I thought I was never going to get out of there,¡± she says smiling, she actually has a very nice smile.


    ¡°My co-worker likes you,¡± I say and notice her cheeks blush, she turns her face and I find it kind of cute.


    I hold back my smile, her face now looks like a very red pepper. But she really does look beautiful, the light blue dress looks great on her dark skin.


    ¡°Thank you, you look¡­¡± she looks down at me, ¡°You look presentable.¡±


    I had tough, I¡¯m smelling like pizza, with messy hair and wearing a beat-up shirt and shorts, and she still says I¡¯m presentable.


    ¡°Of¡­ What are youughing at?¡± she asks.


    ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t feel embarrassed to go to the movies with me?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! You are a hard working man, a straight man, I would be ashamed if you were a drug addict bum.¡±Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    ¡°I am happy that someone can see me in such a positive way,¡± I say, smiling, and she smiles too.


    We agreed to go to the cinema to watch the movie Matrix, I saved up the money for two nights so that I could take her, she told me that she had never been to the cinema, I thought it was a pity, it is very good to go to the cinema, I have been four times, and I rmend it very much, it is money well spent.

 Chapter 17

    5/29/2023 ¨C New York, Manhattan, East Vige.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    [Vision of Aya Millenis].


    It is impossible not to get emotional, in these four years that have passed, so many things have happened¡­. I am ashamed of many of them, but I thank God for the people around me, especially for Mrs. Carmen and Mr. Gustam, they are the reason that I can be here today.


    The numerous shes in our direction register the awarding of the trophy, I hold the graduation diploma above my head while Mr. Stevens embraces me. Even though I wanted to give it all up, thanks to my friends, today I have a degree in Economics. My smile is huge.


    ¡°Congrattions Aya¡± after the photos, Leandroes to congratte me. Mrs. Carmen and Mr. Gustam went to greet the children of the other employees of thepany.


    ¡°Thank you, congrattions to you too,¡± the hug.


    The mark on my wrist reminds me of the stupid thing I tried to do two years ago. After I epted the help of the Stevens family, I asked them not to tell my parents about me or that they were helping me. I didn¡¯t want to have to face my mother so soon, I know what a spiteful and poisonous mother I have. The scenes from myst dance are crystal clear in my memory:


    ¡°-You¡¯re a slut!¡± my mother¡¯s scream makes me cry even more, I raise my hand to my face and sure enough it is red, it burns badly, she has never hit me so hard.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you did that, Aya!¡± my father says disappointed and angry ¡°I told you not to lie to me!¡±


    ¡°Mo-mom, dad¡­¡± my voicees out shaky from crying ¡°Let me exin, no¡­ that¡¯s not how it happened¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± order and I shut up at the same time ¡°I¡¯ve been clear with you, Aya! You have shamed your whole family! You are a disgrace to the Millenis! Your existence¡­¡±


    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± I shake my head frantically in denial, getting punched in the stomach must hurt less than hearing that.


    ¡°You humiliated me, you humiliated your mother and your sister, you disgraced our name.¡±


    ¡°She is no longer my daughter!¡± my mother cuts him off and his speech hurts more than the p that was given to me a few moments ago.


    ¡°Mom, please¡­¡± I try to get closer, I can¡¯t take being rejected like this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± his hands push me, I fall off my heels and fall on my ass on the floor


    ¡°From this day on, you are no longer part of our family, we disown you! You slut!¡± my father points his finger in my face, tears catch in my throat ¡°I gave you the best of the best, and yet you didn¡¯t think twice before lying and exposing us to public humiliation, throwing our name in the trash, you are nothing to us! And don¡¯t evene back to my house, what you thought you had there is not yours, it was me and your mother who bought it, and we¡¯re going to burn it, the only thing you¡¯re going to take is the clothes on your body.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t even deserve that!¡±


    ¡°No, Mom, please ¡­. Stop it! Stop it¡­¡±


    No matter how much I ask, the hatred in my mother¡¯s eyes cut through my skin like sharp knives. She pulls at the thin straps of my dress ripping them, I try to stop her, but I get another p in my face. The screams give way to sobs, and as if on fire I feel the fabric being torn, my breasts are exposed, I try to cover them at all costs. The shame I feel is so great.


    ¡°You are not worth a penny, we raised you in the best way possible! We raised you with the best! But you¡¯re a fifth-rate, scrotum-sucking slut, a¡­.¡±


    ¡°Please stop¡­¡± even though my knees are shaking, I stand up while holding the tears to hide the nakedness of my breasts ¡°That¡¯s not me, please believe me¡­ I would never do anything to embarrass you like that, that woman in the video is not me, please¡­.¡±


    ¡°The floor is your ce! You filthy scum!¡± my mother pushes me using more force than before. The contact of my forehead with the damaged floor of the court makes blood run down my forehead and the cut stings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve wasted enough time in this shithole.¡±


    ¡°No please, don¡¯t do this to me, believe me, please¡­¡± I hold my mother¡¯s dress and she kicks my hand, my wrist throbs.


    I close my eyes tightly to scare away these memories.


    In my mind, I imagined that I would only see her on the day I entered thepany headquarters, however, the world put her in front of me long before that, when I was leaving college, the memories to this day hurt me, every line and expression are extremely clear in my memory:


    ** It is thest day of autumn, the ground is covered with many different colored leaves, the onset of winter was very close. I take a deep breath, the fourth semester is being very hard, even though I am very studious, even I was having difficulties in some subjects. I need to clear my mind. I decided to study in a different ce, I wanted to breathe the fresh air, so I decided to go to the little square near the college, I sat on the wooden bench and took the book and notebook from the backpack along with a pen, but as soon as I opened the book on the marked page, thin ck heels entered my field of vision, I raised my head and my mother¡¯s gaze distilled disgust in my direction.


    ¡°Where did you steal that book?¡± she speaks harshly.


    I answer nothing, I just put my head down, memories of the day of the prome flooding back and I take a deep breath.


    ¡°From your clothes and the direction you got here, you came from college in New York, how did you get in there? I know, you got into bed with everyone in the management to get a ferry, right? I could only, the way it¡¯s a¡­¡±


    ¡°Yo¡­ You have no right to pry into my life or make any wrong spection about¡­¡±


    ¡°Bitch has no life, without selling your body you could never get in there, also do you lie with the students for a ce to sleep? You are a filthy pig, surely you must have several STDs by now.¡±


    Headless to listen, I start to pack my things inside my backpack, better to go back to the Stevens residence, but she gets in my way and throws everything on the floor, stepping right after, crumpling the expensive book Ms. Carmen gave me.


    ¡°Why¡­ Why did you do that!¡± I kneel on the floor, taking the book from under her heels.


    ¡°You¡¯re not worthy of reading those books or even stepping foot in that ce, you¡¯re just a slut who fucks anyone and makes videos to expose yourself in front of everyone!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do any of that!¡± I speak with a choked voice and get up from the floor, hugging the book tightly over my breasts.


    My cheek burns, again, this is the third time she has hit me, tears fall, I deserve this p, no matter how hard I fight against it, I will always be defeated by my mind.


    ¡°Your ce is in a brothel, wiping the floor with your tongue. A worthless slut, don¡¯t you ever dare appear in front of me again, stop spoiling the scenery with your promiscuous presence.¡±


    She turns her back and starts walking away, I feel my knees weaken, but before they reach the ground, she turns towards me again and looks me up and down, even though I haven¡¯t done anything wrong, I feel dirty in front of her eyes.


    ¡°You should be dead¡± her words hurt me ¡°Or rather, you shouldn¡¯t even have been born, then we wouldn¡¯t be subjected to the shame of having you tarnish the Millenis surname.¡±


    Her words cut me, I can no longer bear the weight of my body and copse on the floor, once again the tears fall thick from my eyes.**


    I shake my head to shake off these memories, today is not the day for that.


    ¡°And Luana?¡± I ask as I take a sip of the champagne in my ss.


    ¡°She is taking pictures with her mother¡± he replies and points in the direction where she is.


    I watch her smile for the cameras as she hugs her mother. I am happy for her, I became friends with her two years ago, I know all the struggle she had to go through to be here today, just like Leandro. They make a very beautiful couple, I am happy for them. Despite the pain of remembering what they did to me, I am also happy for their transformation and for the friendships that they came to have with me.


    The day when Leandro and I met again for the first time after the dance, somehow still hurts me, and every second of that day are vivid in my mind:

 Chapter 18

    **After I packed everything into my backpack, I walked to the Brooklyn Bridge, where the East River passes and connects to Manhattan, it is very high, during the course I thought a lot about my life, I often have the feeling that I¡¯m messing up the lives of Mr. Stevens and that I¡¯m taking advantage of their kindness, I¡¯m not worthy of their help; today I can¡¯t trust anyone else, I exclude myself from the world and always manage to convince the teachers to let me do my homework alone.N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    Dona Carmem didn¡¯t want to tell me where Iuri went, I haven¡¯t had any news from him for two years, every day my heart eats with guilt for the things I said to him, I don¡¯t even know if I will see him again, but I pray to God that I will, I really need to apologize.


    Today I know that if I had valued what he felt, maybe I would be really happy next to him, yes, although he is still young, he was a real man and the only one I have ever met in my life, I have learned to fake a smile of happiness, but it is so hard to sustain him, and it gets worse every day. I know I need to get better, but inside, every day in my head I hammer how useless I am, how much I am trash, that I don¡¯t deserve anything good in life, only things that hurt me and make me cry every night.


    The road is busy, throwing myself in front of a car would be very painful, and this could ruin and dy the lives of other people who have nothing to do with my unfortunate situation.


    I take a deep breath, sit down on the railing of the bridge facing the river and feel the wind blowing in my face, it is calm, a pity my mind is not like that. I feel troubled, haunted, and dark. I remember my mother¡¯s words, I should be dead, or rather, I shouldn¡¯t even have been born. My chest hurts, I don¡¯t want to live anymore, I don¡¯t want to ruin anyone¡¯s life anymore.


    From the small pocket of my backpack I take out a stiletto and look carefully at its sharp point, it is possible to see a glimpse of my reflection, surely everyone will be better off without me, my parents will no longer have reason to be ashamed of me and Messrs.


    Yeah, I have no ce in the world.


    With my mindpletely nk, I don¡¯t even need to gather my courage, I take the stiletto to my wrist and make a long cut right in the middle of my wrist and down to my forearm, I¡¯m not sure how deep it is, the pain is burning, but I don¡¯t stop. I feel the warm blood running down my forearm, no more tearse out of my eyes, my legs are shaking, I stand on my body guard and watch the river flow, the wind blows making my hair dance, I open my arms and ept that finally I will have peace. The sun is setting, and with it my sadness too. Just one step¡­ just one step, I lift my leg and close my eyes tightly, I take onest deep breath, I propel my body forward, but instead of feeling the cold water choking me and burning my lungs, what I feel is a cut opening on my forehead, I open my eyes,rge male hands encircle my waist, I stand up startled and my head spins, my vision blurs and thest thing I see is a familiar face, Leandro¡¯s face.**


    ¡°What do you intend to do now?¡± I snap out of my reveries with Leandro¡¯s voice.


    ¡°I will start working full time at Stevenspany headquarters, in the economics department of thepany¡± I say smiling, I will now no longer be living with Messrs Stevens ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to do a master¡¯s degree in ounting,¡± he answers smiling.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you at thepany.


    Two years ago, when he saved my life, Mr. Gustam offered him a job at Stevens as a way to thank him, he epted, but said he would only go when he finished his studies and had the ability to perform the job as best as possible.


    I didn¡¯t forgive him right away, but I only noticed that we were in the same course after these events, I was in the same ss with him for four semesters and never noticed his presence. I only really started the process of forgiving him after he insisted a lot, to the point of making the heads of the professors to put us as a pair in the assignments, after this and many conversations with the psychologist, it took three months for us to be friends, and I am happy, today I no longer feel alone and not as guilty as before, I can say that I am in a new phase.


    ¡°I finally found you!¡± my older sister appears hugging me ¡°I¡¯m so proud, you¡¯ve grown so much¡± she says with emotional eyes.


    ¡°Thank you, sis¡± I smile and she hugs me tight.


    I contacted her a year ago, she was very happy and so was I, she is the only fragment I have left of my family, she has not told our parents that she talks to me, they will only hear about me tomorrow, when I will enter as an employee at the headquarters of the Stevenspany, before I was an intern at a nearby branch office, I can¡¯t even imagine the face my parents will make when they see me there.


    ¡°Mrs. Carmen appears and greets my sister, who also hugs her.


    ¡°Every day you look younger¡± she says smiling.


    ¡°How nice of you¡± she smiles openly, ¡°Too bad you arrived on time to leave.¡±


    It¡¯s already two thirty in the morning, from today I will no longer live at Mr. Stevens¡¯ house or use their car, I¡¯ll be independent. The money I earned from the internships I saved and bought an apartment with two bedrooms, one suite, arge living room and kitchen and service area veryrge. they did not let me refuse the gift and furnished the AP, it was perfect. Now I have a little ce that I can call my own.


    ¡°Well, at least I will be able to see you tonight, tomorrow I will be in court all day.


    ¡°I hope you win, as always,¡± he smiled at her and hugged her once more as a way of saying goodbye.


    ¡°We will give you onest ride,¡± Mr. Gustam speaks smiling proudly.


    I agree and we leave the college. I can¡¯t wait for the time toe and show that I have value.


    ************


    The ss doors open, it is exactly seven thirty in the morning, in half an hour thepany goes into full swing, I know that all the managers are already gathered to meet the new employee in the president¡¯s office, I take a deep breath. With firm steps I enter the metal box and press the button for the top floor, in less than five minutes the doors open and I take the first step into another new phase.


    I didn¡¯t want any position that I had to be in, and because I¡¯m just a simple employee I shouldn¡¯t be introduced to the entire management of thepany, but Mr. Gustam insisted, he wants to show what his rejected daughter has be.


    I feel my heart beating hard, as if it were about to burst out of my chest, I need to stay cool and centered, I can¡¯t falter. Sucking in a deep breath onest time, I open the big smoked ss door. I enter with my head down, I am wearing a ck pencil skirt and an ice-colored social blouse, ck stiletto heels, and loose hair that bangs against my butt. Raising my head, I note with satisfaction the wide-eyed, disbelieving eyes of my parents.

 Chapter 19

    7/26/2026 ¨C Cambridge, Massachusetts.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°Will you call me again?¡± asks the green-eyed brte I didn¡¯t even make a point of asking her name.


    Last night was myst night here, in half an hour I will travel back home and take over the presidency of thepany, my parents will have their dream retirement. It¡¯s already seven years away, has anything changed there?


    ¡°I think your friend told you that I don¡¯t stay with anyone more than once,¡± I say in a cold way while I fish my clothes spread on the floor.


    Whenever one of themes to ask me if I will call or meet them again, I remember when I was twelve years old. I thought that was the age when everyone finally kissed for the first time. There was a girl in my ss, her name was Marina, she was the prettiest girl in the sixth grade, she had curly hair and blue eyes. One day she came to talk to me, she said she thought I was very cute and smart, I found it strange, but she kept talking to me and then I started thinking that maybe it was true. Early in the morning she said that she wanted to be with me, this was on a Friday ¨C if I am not mistaken ¨C she said that I was to meet her behind the school when sses were over. I remember how excited I was, I was going to have my first kiss. Ah¡­ what an illusion.


    When I arrived at the ce, everyone from my ss was there, this made me even more gloomy, my youthful mind couldn¡¯t understand what was actually happening, it only said that I should run out of there. Those guys had already yed several tricks on me, and if they saw me reaching for the books in the closet they would pull at my underwear, once they did it so hard that I needed an ointment for a rash. But there they were, all looking at me andughing. Until she appeared, and in apletely different tone than she used to talk to me, without a shred ofpassion she spoke:


    ** ¡°Did you really think that someone like me would be with someone like YOU?¡± they allughed and I cringed, grabbing the strap of my backpack, ¡°Look in the mirror monster, look at those pimples on your face that look like volcanoes, that awful messy hair,¡± at that moment I remember her touching my hair and saying how soft it was, liar! ¡°You stink like a pissing nerd. I would never put my mouth in your mouthpiece! I¡¯m disgusted just thinking about it.¡±


    And look how I am today, they try to win me over, they get me, and then they want a second round. Only now I¡¯m the one who dismisses them.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    I still remember that after that speech I tried to leave the circle, but the gang stopped me. Devid appeared and kissed Marina right there in front of me, a kiss that you could see the drool dripping off. When they stopped, they turned to me and started throwing eggs in my face, the ones holding me back moved away and joined them in throwing eggs at me and called me an ugly virgin. Thankfully, at that time my parents were not home during the day, and I always sneaked in through the back door so Mrs. Lueni would not see me. Ah¡­ bad memories, how I wanted to get you out of my mind.


    But these memories don¡¯t hurt as much as Aya¡¯s words.


    During these seven years, Aya kepting and going in my mind, thanks to the truths she threw in my face seven years ago, I am today a very different person from what she knew. She managed to destroy me in a way that no other person could. I didn¡¯t want to hear from her, but I know that my parents took care of her and that today she must be able to support herself, our story hasn¡¯t even begun but has alreadye to an end; I don¡¯t want to feel anything for her anymore. Since I am only twenty-five years old, at the age of thirty I will get anyone to have children. I never want to love anyone the way I loved her again. I know that no woman but my mother loves me, and her love alone is enough for me. I don¡¯t delude myself with the sweet words that the women I stay with speak, they know who I am and they only want the money and status they would get from having a rtionship with me.


    ¡°I thought I was different¡­¡± she says, pouting.


    ¡°Why did you think that?¡± I ask, turning my back to her and putting on the top of my suit.


    ¡°You treated me like a princess, just calling me kitten, such an affectionate nickname¡­¡± I only called her that because I didn¡¯t know her name.


    ¡°Don¡¯t confuse things, I¡¯m a man, not a boy. Now get dressed, I will leave the motel bill paid, if you want to eat before you leave just ask, I will leave it paid too.¡±


    I finish the knot of my tie and leave the room, leaving her alone, I go downstairs and the car is already waiting for me at the hotel entrance.


    I am returning home.


    [ New York, Manhattan, Upper East Side ¨C View by Aya Millenis]


    ¡°What do you say we go out drinking?¡± Leandro suggests, ¡°We haven¡¯t done that in over a year¡± hements as he tidies up the papers on his desk.


    It¡¯s been more than a year since we all went out together on a program, Leandro keeps calling, but both my sister and I are busy, she because of her work, and I?


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the orphanage,¡± I reply, smiling.


    ¡°I understand, you can¡¯t stay too long away from her.


    ¡°No¡± I agree with his statement, ¡°I like her so much¡­. I will go with my sister today.¡±


    ¡°Well, then I will take the opportunity to take my cat on a walk. Oh no¡­ She is also at the orphanage, it seems that now you exclude me from your programs. I feel lonely!¡± oh drama, I hold back the urge tough.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so melodramatic, that¡¯s not your strong suit.¡±


    ¡°You are right, I will wait for her toe back, I guess a movie at eight is not a bad idea.¡±


    ¡°It is a good idea, and it does a lot of good, keeping romance in marriage is very healthy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. So, see you tomorrow Aya.¡±


    ¡± Bye¡± I wave goodbye to him and go back to organizing the papers.


    After putting everything away, I take my bag and leave the room and walk to thepany¡¯s parking lot, time has really flown by, I have been working here for three years. Leandro is one and a half years old, but he already holds the position of director of the economic development sector, and now I am his secretary.


    I have been visiting the Zion orphanage for two years now, Luana is the director there, but to everyone¡¯s misfortune, when she joined, the orphanage started to go through many difficulties, the government turned its back and the social parties for donations were not working anymore, nobody wanted to help an orphanage that has no positive prestige, the former director embezzled money and mistreated the children. Two years ago, a baby girl was abandoned in the orphanage, she will be two years old today, I really wish I could adopt her, but I can¡¯t because I¡¯m is single.


    I get out of the metal box and drive to thepany¡¯s parking lot, get into my silver Audi A4 and drive to my sister¡¯s house, the drive takes about ten minutes.


    ¡°I thought I would never leave thepany again¡± she speaks as she gets into the car and throws a huge bag on the back seat.


    ¡°And miss my little one¡¯s birthday? Never!¡± I say, and as soon as she closes the car door, I start the car.


    I won¡¯t bring anything like cake or party stuff, there are many children there and it wouldn¡¯t be fair to do it for only one, so I¡¯ll just bring a small gift. My sister brought gifts for everyone yesterday, just to give me the excuse that today she¡¯ll only get one.


    ¡°What did you buy?¡±


    ¡°A barbie doll, from that movie diamond castle.¡±


    ¡°I love that movie, it was one of the best.¡±


    ¡°I agree, I also bought the DVD and am taking it to the kids there to watch.¡±


    ¡°What a coincidence, I¡¯m bringing popcorn and soda, we can already simte a movie theater for them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a really cool one.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and tomorrow we¡¯ll go to a party, you need to find a husband soon, Luana said there were some couples with their eye on the little one,¡± she pauses and we both sigh, ¡°Too bad Leandro¡¯s friends gave up at thest minute.¡±


    At this moment I cringe, they gave up because after a month I didn¡¯t want to go to the next phase. For a year and a half I¡¯ve been trying to get a husband so that I could adopt Heloysie, but with every man I meet, failure alwayses within a month. I didn¡¯t tell anyone why they gave up, and I am thankful that they didn¡¯t either, I couldn¡¯t even stand it when they touched my arms. I felt that those hands didn¡¯t belong on me, I can¡¯t exin it, I don¡¯t have any trauma, but I don¡¯t understand why I can¡¯t do it, I don¡¯t have the ideal of marrying a virgin like my parents always wanted, but I think that deep down I feel that I haven¡¯t found the right person and that must be what is holding me back.


    I remember how the conversation with the first suitor went:


    ** ¡°Do you want to go to my ce or yours?¡± Luan asks me already inside the car, we were in the restaurant talking about his visit to the child on Monday.

 Chapter 20

    ¡°To my house¡± I answer tiredly. All I want right now is to put my feet up and sleep veryfortably.


    I feel his hand on my thigh, and my whole body tenses up immediately.


    ¡°Rx love, when we get to your house I will make you see stars!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask holding myself back from screaming.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to cum so much on my cock¡± he answers me smiling and I feel my stomach turn.


    ¡°No-No¡­ We¡¯re not going to have sex!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± he removes his hand from my thigh, I breathe a relieved breath.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to¡± I answer with a firm voice.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    ¡°So I have to ept a child that isn¡¯t even mine, marry you in two weeks and you don¡¯t even want to give me the piriquita? Or better yet, we¡¯ve already been going out for a month and you haven¡¯t even given me a tongue kiss.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your dream to have a family?


    ¡°I want to fuck you!


    Now I¡¯m the one with the incredulous look in his eyes, my mother¡¯s wordse back to my mind: ¡°You¡¯re just a slut that will be eaten and thrown away.


    ¡°Stop the car¡± Imand.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I told you to stop the damn car, stop it now!¡± I speak loudly and he brakes sharply.


    I open the door and get out, but before I close it:


    ¡°You¡¯re a disgusting man, you shouldn¡¯t even consider yourself a man!¡± I m the car door hard.¡± **


    I shake my head to push these memories from my mind, I am feeling hopeless.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry sis, we¡¯ll find him¡± he speaks confidently.


    During this year and a half, I met more than two hundred men, and among them seven agreed to marry to adopt the girl, however, they wanted something ¡°more¡±, ahead of time and even though I really wanted to adopt this girl, I couldn¡¯t get into bed with any of them. Of these seven, five came to meet my little girl, but she didn¡¯t like any of them and got naughty.


    After fifteen minutes I park in front of the orphanage and take a deep breath, I will kill the longing of the weekend away from her.


    [Leandro Silva¡¯s vision].


    ¡°Leandro¡± I hear Mr. Gustam¡¯s voice and stop walking, I turn to him, it is notmon to meet him here.


    ¡°Is there a problem sir?¡± I ask worried, could it be that there was an error in my sector¡¯s reports? Impossible, Aya always checks everything.


    ¡°No, no, you and Aya always do a great job¡± I feel relieved, then he continues, ¡°It¡¯s something else.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°My son ising home from a trip, he finally finished his studies and now he will take my ce as the president of thispany.¡±


    His words weigh heavily on my mind, I feel the guilt weighing on my conscience, I have never apologized to Iuri for the things I said and did to him, but who would have thought that I would end up working for his father and, consequently, for him. I don¡¯t know how I will face him, but I hope he doesn¡¯t fire me, in just a single year I got a very high position, now I live well and have my own house and family. Luana is four months pregnant.


    Most of the memories I have are not good, I remember more than twenty-five years ago my mother married Carlos when I was five years old, my father had died in a car ident, he was drunk and hit a pole, the car exploded and he died on the spot, I don¡¯t even remember his face, all I remember is the beatings he used to give me and my mother. He left nothing, and in just six months, my mother met her ¡°husband¡±, at first he was nice, he was about forty years older than my mother, he treated her well, but after I turned twelve years old, he retired and became a disgusting old man, I couldn¡¯t even stand to be in the same presence as him.


    After my father¡¯s death, I became aplicated child who only got into trouble and made fun of other people¡¯s faces. As time went by, practicing these things got tired of me, I won¡¯t lie saying that I became an example of a person, I did something with Aya that I know will never be forgiven, even though she told me to leave the past where it is, in the past.


    I have never told anyone about what my personal life is like, not even to Suzanne, who is the reason I did what I did with Aya at that time. She never knew my mother, all I let others know was that I was a good looking guy and did super well in sports, they thought I had the perfect life.


    I worked at night in a pizzeria, what I was paid was enough to disguise my real situation, my mother also worked, as a cleaner somewhere, I stopped asking, she always changed jobs because her retired husband constantly took immense pleasure in making our lives a living hell. But thank God, this situation did notst forever, I did everything to get out of that hole and give my mother a better life, because despite everything, she does the best she can for me, and I am even more grateful to God for opening my eyes and putting Luana in my life.


    ¡°I¡¯m d Mr. Stevens,¡± I end up stammering, damn it!


    ¡°Well, I want you to arrive very early tomorrow and hold a meeting with the other directors, I will announce the arrival of my son,¡± he says with a giant smile, despite everything I am really happy, I know as Mr. Gustam waited anxiously for the return of his son.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I smiles yellow. I¡¯m afraid, but if he dismisses me, it will be well done for me, nobody told me to be an idiot like that.


    Ah, that damn ball, I still remember seeing for the first time the hatred in Iuri¡¯s eyes:


    ** Without saying a single word, Iuries towards me, raises his closed fisted hand andnds a right punch to my mouth. He is much shorter than me, but I deserve it so I don¡¯t discount or defend myself, I just ept the punch.


    ¡°You are trash, a scumbag, what you did in that girl¡¯s life is unforgivable, you are worse than shit!¡± the truth hurts, what you say is unforgivable.


    ¡°I know.¡± That¡¯s all I can say.**


    Mr. Gustam¡¯s voice takes me out of my thoughts.


    ¡°Well, you can go now,¡± he turns away and walks back the way he came.


    I go to my car, and as I get into it I take my cell phone from my jacket pocket and type the message that will notify everyone, press forward and the message goes to all the directors informing them that they should all be at thepany at seven thirty in the morning. The presentation of the new president of thepany willst half an hour.


    I take a deep breath, I will not be able to take my wife for a walk, I will be eating myself up with anxiety and fear until it is time to meet Iuri.


    I look at my wristwatch and it is five o¡¯clock in the afternoon, she is still at the orphanage, I will buy ready-made food for us. Since today is Aya¡¯s child¡¯s birthday, she should not arrive until eight in the evening. I take a deep breath, tomorrow will be a long day.

 Chapter 21

    [Aya Millenis¡¯ Sight]


    ¡°Why are you looking like that?¡± I question Luana and she looks at me with a sad look.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± she speaks and walks away from the room with the children, I follow her to the hallway where there is no one.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± I ask, but something tells me that it is a problem, and a big one.


    She sighs and hugs her own body, this only makes the tightness in my chest increase.


    ¡°I have two pieces of news, Aya, and neither of them are good news.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I try to control my vocal cords that want to shudder.


    ¡°Well¡± she sighs and I hold my breath: first I want to thank you for all your effort and constant giving that you do. It¡¯s thanks to you, your sister and my husband that the orphanage hasn¡¯t closed its doors yet, however, they bought the orphanage¡¯s ce and well¡­ The children are going to be relocated to other orphanages in other cities.¡±


    I can¡¯t hear you right, I feel my eyes burning, I will never be able to bear to see Heloysie again, I have to do something, I can¡¯t let this happen. She can¡¯t be taken away from me.


    ¡°I know how much you love the girl, but there is a couple who want to adopt her, they are kind, I am sure they will take good care of her¡­¡±


    ¡°No, no, no,¡± I repeat frantically as I shake my head in the negative. ¡°They¡­ they can¡¯t adopt her, I¡­ I will¡­¡±


    ¡°I know how painful this is for you, Aya, I more than anyone else do, but think of her welfare¡­¡±


    ¡°I will adopt her,¡± I interrupt her, ¡°Her welfare will be mine to give!¡± I speak and the air starts to get heavy around me.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been trying for over a year to find a husband, and unfortunately, you haven¡¯t even found a boyfriend. The truth hurts. Luana doesn¡¯t hold back her words.


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage, Lu,¡± I say with my eyes filled with tears.


    ¡°You have to understand me Aya, my duty is to take care of these children, I can¡¯t let her live here waiting for you, she needs parents and many parents need a child. Don¡¯t be petty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not being mean, but she wants me as her mother and I want her as my daughter!¡± my voicees out shaky, my heart hammering hard in my chest. There has to be another way.


    ¡°Just wanting doesn¡¯t make thew act Aya, I know how special one is to the other, but she is only two years old, if I don¡¯t let the couple adopt her she will have to go to another orphanage and God knows what the people she will have to deal with are like, you know exactly what I am talking about.¡±


    Yes, I do. I don¡¯t want my little girl to be mistreated by anyone or to starve, to get absurd punishments for nonsense. My heart squeezes, I know that the best thing to do is to let her be adopted, but my heart won¡¯t ept that no one but me can be her mother.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t ept it,¡± crying tries to rise up in my throat, ¡°Only I can be her mother¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop being selfish!¡± she vociferates loudly surprising me, it¡¯s not like her to lose her temper like this, ¡°Look, it hurts my heart to have to separate you two, it hurts me a lot to be one of the ones responsible for inflicting suffering on you once again, but I need to think about what¡¯s best for her, Aya, please, I beg you to try to understand my side.¡±


    ¡°And.. What if I get help? Someone to buy the orphanage back?¡± I am desperate, I know, but I need to fight for my daughter with all my heart.


    ¡°Only a miracle will make it happen¡± she sighs, I know that just like me, she doesn¡¯t want the doors of this orphanage to be closed ¡°I¡¯ll give you that chance, but you¡¯ll have to find someone by four o¡¯clock tomorrow afternoon, after that time, Heloysie will be adopted.¡±


    I know I swore I would never ask Mr. Gustam for anything again, but no amount of pride is more important than the smile on my little girl¡¯s face.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the room,¡± Luana speaks and walks back in front of me.


    * At dawn in the apartment *


    Now what? How will I ask Mr. Gustam to buy the orphanage? He and his wife have already done so much for me, I don¡¯t want to have to bother him again. It¡¯s past three in the morning, I can¡¯t stand still, I keep moving around. Every month I donate half of my sry, my sister donates a third and so does Leandro, I know it has always been little, but at least that would put at least three meals a day on the tes of the thirteen children inside.


    I take a deep breath, I need to calm down, today Mr. Gustam has nothing scheduled, he will have the morning free, he always arrives half an hour before the other employees, I will go to thepany at seven thirty, I usually arrive with ten minutes to spare, but I do not know how long it will take to convince him, better to arrive at the same time as him. But how will I convince him?


    I already know, as soon as I open the door to his room, I¡¯ll do it like in the anime movies, he surely won¡¯t refuse!


    I feel a little more confident, I go to the kitchen and drink a ss of natural water, then return to my room, set the rm clock and lie in bed, I can¡¯t have a face full of dark circles under my eyes.


    *At exactly seven thirty in the morning at the Stevenspany headquarters*


    The doors are only an inch away, my heart is beating so hard I can hear it, I try to control my breathing, I press my briefcase to my chest and feel the blood getting warm, after three years, I haven¡¯t kept much contact, nothing but good morning, how are you and take care, that¡¯s all. What the hell¡­ After three, searching to ask for something that will take so much money¡­. I can¡¯t give back, I need to ask for help, I did my best during these two years.


    I take a deep breath and close my eyes, now is the time, I know Mr. Gustam is behind his desk looking at some papers as he always does, every day,e on Aya, be brave, remember Zenitsu, he is the embodiment of fearfulness, but when ites to Nezuko he turns into the bravest in the whole universe of the anime Kimetsu no Yaiba, be like him!


    With my eyes closed, I open the door without even knocking, he is probably looking at me without understanding anything, I let my briefcase fall on the floor and still with my eyes closed I kneel down, put my hands on the floor and rest my forehead, I always see the anime characters doing this position to beg for something or to apologize, I need to beg for help. I fill my lungs with air, open my eyes and stare at the floor.


    ¡°Good morning Mr. Gustam, forgive me for entering your office like this, but I didn¡¯t know what to do or who to turn to, I¡¯m desperate, I urgently need help, and ¡­¡± I feel a lump forming in my throat, but I can¡¯t go back, the words have toe out anyway, ¡°I know it¡¯s very abusive of me, but please, BUY THE ZAIN ORFANATE¡± I shout thest part ¡°I know I have no right to ask this ¡­ But the children¡­ They¡­ They¡¯re amazing¡­ They are very special¡­¡± tears are alreadying out of my eyes, the image of Heloysie giving me her back and holding other people¡¯s hands invades my mind and my heart hurts, my voice gets weak and now ites out only whispers ¡°She can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Aya¡­¡± the voice of Leandro makes me stop talking, I feel my body freeze.


    The tears stop, slowly, not yet believing the voice I hear, I lift my head, my eyes widen and tremble, all the leaders of thepany are here, my eyes go through them one by one, the disgusted looksing towards me are those of my parents, all the others look at me either with pity or disbelief. My eyesnd on a tall brte man. I know him from somewhere¡­ Where have I seen those eyes before?C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    Iuri!


    No no no, it can¡¯t be him¡­ I don¡¯t want it to be him¡­ but my heart tells me yes, it is. He¡¯s back.


    He is so different, he is no longer as thin as before, now he has a body with more muscles than Leandro¡¯s was when he was a teenager ¨C today he is a little chubby, thanks to the delicacies Luana prepares ¨C his ck hair isbed perfectly back and his beard is well done, his posture is totally different from what I remembered, he now seems to be dominating everything around him, I feel small and helpless before his superior look?


    No, no, no, no¡­ Why is he here? His eyes look at me, not like before, in a warm and loving way, at this moment they look at me in a cold way, for sure he didn¡¯t want to see me here. The tearse back, I asked God so much to see him one more time, but now that he is finally here, I realize that I am not ready, even after seven years, I still can¡¯t look into his face and apologize.


    Unable to hold back the tears I pick myself up off the floor and run out of the room, I shouldn¡¯t have gone in there.

 Chapter 22

    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°Finally, my boy is back!¡± my father hugs me tightly and I reciprocate in the same way.


    Seven years away from here, from my parents. During the vacations from one semester to the next, I dedicated myself to the academy and to learning martial arts. I worked hard to improve physically, and I am happy with the result. Today I look in the mirror and feel handsome, even though I am still tormented by Aya¡¯s words that insist on hammering in my head day after day.


    ¡°You have be a very beautiful man, my son,¡± my mother also hugs me, and I lift her off the ground by the waist and spin around with her in my arms. How I have missed her.


    ¡°You look even more beautiful, Mom,¡± I speak and release her.


    ¡°The years have favored us, honey,¡± she smiles openly.


    ¡°How about we go to a pizza ce, the one we used to go to when you were a teenager,¡± my father suggests.


    ¡°Come on!¡± smiled, I really missed the pizzas there. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t really change, let¡¯s go for pizza lunch? Really? When are you going to be adults?¡± my mother hasn¡¯t changed a bit.


    ¡°Once in a lifetime won¡¯t kill you, honey.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Mom, when was thest time we had pizza together?¡±


    ¡°Okay, this time I¡¯ll let it go!¡± she says smiling and we head for my dad¡¯s car.


    I still like anime a lot, one of the few things I still keep from the past. But of course, I only watch it when I finish my responsibilities.  My father has made the Stevens name grow a lot in the construction business, and I already have ns on how to make this name even more prominent.


    The way to the pizzeria takes about five minutes, as soon as we enter the establishment, we choose a table. It is no longer as rustic as before, now it is modern, I remember the sound system that used to be here, where people would choose the music they wanted with chips, now there are only two televisions that are showing the newspaper, the same newspaper on both.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that this ce isn¡¯t like it used to be,¡± I say, observing the ce.


    ¡°Yes, technologyes in everything. But the pizzas are still a delicacy, my son!¡±ments my father smiling.


    I have missed them both a lot, they have always been loving andpanions, I have perfect parents! I always wanted to have a rtionship like theirs, but I have epted that I won¡¯t be so lucky.


    ¡°What will you have?¡±


    ¡°Family size four cheese pizza,¡± my father answers the waiter, the same order as always.


    In less than ten minutes we are served. During the meal we talked a lot about how I went to college, if I met any special girls and stuff like that, I noticed the sad look on my mom¡¯s face when she said that I haven¡¯t met anyone worthwhile. I know how much she wants a daughter-inw, and a granddaughter. But this will take a little while yet.


    After eating thest piece of pizza, we went back to my parents¡¯ house. Tomorrow I will get my own ce, I don¡¯t want to go on living with them, I am already twenty-five years old. I need to hold the reins on my life.


    ¡°Have a good night, honey,¡± my mother kisses my cheek and leaves the room.


    I look around, nothing has changed, my anime posters are still here in the same ce.  Sigh, I am still a big anime fan, but now I don¡¯t have as much time as before.


    Seven years ago, Aya was sleeping right there, right in the next room¡­ No! Don¡¯t think about her! I close my eyes and in a short time I manage to fall asleep.


    The rm clock goes off at half past six in the morning, I stretch out on the bed and after a few seconds I get up, withzy steps I go to the bathroom and do my morning hygiene. The cold water from the bath rouses me from my sleep, I dry myself and put on the suit made by my tailor, with theb I put my hair back. I look in the mirror once again, I let my beard grow because I read in a magazine a survey asking women if they like men better with or without a beard.


    ¡°Son, coffee,¡± I hear my mother shout, I finish putting the watch on my wrist,e out from inside the bathroom and go to the pantry of the house.


    At the table my parents are already setting their tes.


    The mealsts ten minutes, and as soon as my mother is finished we get up from the table and leave the house. I still remember thest social party I went to, I always found it so boring, I only went to see Aya, but she only went twice. That doesn¡¯t matter anymore, I would probably never see her again, and that¡¯s good.


    It doesn¡¯t take more than twenty minutes until the car is parked in thepany parking lot, I take a deep breath, from today on I will be in front of all this. I walk in front of my parents, the tinted ss doors don¡¯t let me see anything from the inside, however, they saw meing and opened the door for me, Juliana, Aya¡¯s mother, I had forgotten that this woman worked here, she should have retired by now.


    ¡°Wee, Mr. Iuri Stevens,¡± she speaks softly, but it annoys me just to hear her voice.


    I enter without answering, she swallows dryly, all the leaders of each sector are present, but I don¡¯t have time to notice the faces of any of them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the presidential office¡± my father gives the order.


    My parents and I go to the private elevator. They don¡¯t stop smiling for an instant, they are probably already nning the first country they will travel to on vacation. The doors open and we go to the president¡¯s office, which from now on will belong to me. Everyone enters and settles in, I observe the view from the ss wall, everything is more beautiful when you look from above.


    ¡°Well¡±, my father begins and I turn to pay attention. ¡°From today, my son will be the president of the Stevenspany, he was away for seven long years, studying to be able to upy the position and my wife and I can finally rest and enjoy our retirement, it¡¯s been a long thirty-five years here, working with each one of you was very good¡±, he turns to me ¡°Son, in these years that he was away, new employees entered the management of thepany, I will introduce them, step forward, Marcos Decapri, director of HR and Leandro Silva, director of the economic development sector.¡±


    You have to be kidding me, I can¡¯t believe that the guy who spent his childhood bullying me is now one of the directors in thepany. How did he get this?


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Stevens,¡± Marcos extends his hand and I shake it.


    I notice Leandro¡¯s hesitation to approach me, he must think that I will fire him as a way to get revenge for everything he did to me. Maybe I will fire him, but first I will see if he has changed and if he is a good employee and leader, I can¡¯t start by firing good employees.


    ¡°Sir¡­¡±


    Her voice is cut off as the doors are opened simultaneously, a woman of short stature enters with her head bowed, who is she? I wonder if it¡¯s someone from the management who waste, she already started off on the wrong foot with me, I hate beingte¡­ What is she doing!? She kneels down and sticks her forehead on the floor, I have seen this position before, however, only in anime. Who is this woman? She must be a deranged madwoman.


    ¡°Good morning Mr. Gustam, forgive me for entering your office like this, but I didn¡¯t know what to do or who to turn to, I¡¯m desperate, I urgently need help, and ¡­¡±, she shuts up for a few seconds, her voice sounds soft, ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot of abuse on my part, but please, BUY THE ZAIN ORFANATE¡±, she shouts thest part, what does she think she¡¯s doing, ¡°I know I have no right to ask this ¡­  But the children¡­ They¡­ They are amazing¡­ They¡¯re very special¡­¡±, the voice gets whiny, and I don¡¯t understand why, but it bothers me much more than it should ¡°She can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Aya¡­,¡± Leandro calls her.


    This can¡¯t be a coincidence, the world has to be ying with my face! This can¡¯t be the same Aya I asked my parents to take care of. She slowly raises her head, her big round violet eyes leave me in no doubt, it is her. I have worked so long to get her out of my thoughts, and now she is standing right in front of me! On her knees and crying. Her eyes look at me startled, surely she didn¡¯t expect to see me here. Denying with her head and crying eyes she gets up and runs out of the room, Leandro runs after her.


    ¡°She must have heard that the heir is single, manhunter,¡± Marcos mutters, but I can hear him well.


    ¡°Well, you can go back to your sectors, I want only Mr. Marcos to stay,¡± I speak giving myself up, I need information.


    ¡°Goodbye Mr. Stevens,¡± they say goodbye and shake my hand.


    ¡°Goodbye son, and well ¡­ Be wise in your decisions,¡± my mother hugs me, and I hug her back.


    ¡°I will, Mom.¡±


    ¡°Sess, my son,¡± my father hugs me too, then hugs my mother by the shoulders and they walk out together closing the doors.


    I adjust my jacket and walk to my chair behind the table, Marcos remains standing, I signal with my hand for him to sit too, so he does.


    ¡°What can I do for you, Mr. Stevens?¡±


    I take a deep breath, I know I didn¡¯t want to have any information about her, but now she works here, I may have to see her every day. I will have to have information about her, all these years that I have stifled this desire, have gone down the drain as soon as her eyesnded on me.


    ¡°Why did you say that about Miss Aya?


    ¡°Are sr. a friend of hers?¡± he asks with wide eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one asking the questions,¡± I speak firmly.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    ¡°Well¡­ For over a year now she has been dating over two hundred men, a different one every night or every week.¡±


    ¡°Were you one of them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Leandro introduced usst month,¡± he pauses and scratches his head, ¡°She wanted me to marry her in less than a month.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I feel disappointed. This information hurts too much. I should have gone on without knowing anything about her, ¡°What does she do here at thepany?¡±


    ¡°She works in the economic development department, as Leandro¡¯s secretary for two years.¡±


    I have actually lived to see them work together, which has happened in the years that I have been away.


    ¡°She has been making donations to the Zain orphanage for two years now, after she moved up in position, the orphanage can¡¯t get any more donations and things got critical, since then she has been manhunting. However, the building has been bought and the children will have to be relocated. Leandro¡¯s wife is the director there. I believe that¡¯s why she came here, because she couldn¡¯t get a richer husband than herpetitor.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the information, you can go now.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± he gets up and leaves.


    I spin in my chair and watch the cars rushing down the street, I just wanted distance from her, I thought I would never see her again and to increase my surprise even more, besides seeing her, I also saw Leandro again and from the scene, the two of them are now friends.


    She is even more beautiful than before, her body has many curves, her breasts before hidden by the wide blouse of the school uniform, are now almost protruding through the small buttons of the white blouse, her hair is even bigger, but her eyes? Although they stared at me in a frightened way, they still seemed to be innocent, but I know they are not, she is a man-hunter, she is now a slut. Sigh, I really didn¡¯t want to know about these things. I didn¡¯t want to be bothered like that, it¡¯s her life and her body, she who decides what to do.


    ¡°What are you talking about!¡±,  I ask confused, ¡°Our parents are friends,¡± I try to justify myself. ¡°They always had dinner at home, and for me it was also a surprise when you showed up¡­.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a liar!¡± He rolls his eyes, ¡°That dinner?¡± tears fall from her eyes again, my heart clenches, even more because I don¡¯t understand the real reason, ¡°My mother made me go, just because the spoiled son of her bosses was in love with me. I¡¯m sure you just wanted to use me like Leandro did, you must be the same, two unscrupulous bastards who think they can do whatever they want without¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tpare me to him!¡± I never lie to you, I have never thought of using you, because I don¡¯t¡­.


    ¡°Because I never gave you the time of day,¡± she screams hysterically, ¡°I never even noticed you in the room, a prickly ugly man who thinks he has money and then wants to manipte everyone around him! All you¡¯re going to get in life are women who only want you for your money, because you have nothing else to offer!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought I was better than anyone,¡± I say wearily- ¡°nor have I forced you to do anything, I know I¡¯m not the prettiest, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Go to hell, you invisible piece of shit!¡± she interrupts me, with a sad face, ¡°I want to fuck you and all the others!¡±


    ¡°Aya¡­, ¡± I shake my head, this is no time to remember these things.


    Aya, Aya, what am I going to do with you?

 Chapter 23

    [Aya Millenis¡¯ vision]


    ¡°Wait Aya,¡± I hear Leandro¡¯s voice calling me, but before the elevator doors close he manages to get in, ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you to make that scene, Aya?¡±


    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t know he was back¡­ Why didn¡¯t you tell me! You know how much I wanted to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Aya, I-I¡­ I was eating myself up, I also did and said many things with Iuri that I regret, I even thought he would fire me for revenge¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Now it¡¯s done¡­ I was embarrassed in front of the entire management of thepany and worse¡­ In front of my parents¡­ I¡­¡± tears cascade down without me being able to control them. ¡°Why do I have to be such an idiot¡­ I¡­¡±


    Leandro hugs me, the elevator doors open again, now stopped at the fourth floor, where our department is, we walk to my desk which is in front of his room, he undoes the hug and wipes my tears.


    ¡°D-Did you know?¡± I whisper with my eyes closed, still feeling them damp.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That they had bought the orphanage?¡± I open my eyes and see him sighing.


    He is silent for a long second, for a good understanding, this silence is enough. I was thest to know, myst hope was Mr. Gustam, but now¡­ It is your son who is in charge of everything, and I can¡¯t even face him. Why does life always have to have something to take away our happiness?


    Sigh, everyone already knew this, but nobody told me anything, left me to agonize alone when nothing else could be done.


    ¡°Better go home, you¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be even more of a coward, I won¡¯t let work pile up, I need to organize the paperwork for the reports today¡­ Damn, I forgot my folder there¡­¡± I sit down on the chair, frustration takes over me and I can¡¯t go back there to get it, I am a coward.


    ¡°Listen to me, take it today¡­¡±


    ¡°I believe this is yours,¡± my briefcase is thrown roughly on my desk. ¡°You made that whole scene to get Iuri¡¯s attention, didn¡¯t you?¡± uses me.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know he was back!¡± I defend myself.


    ¡°Tell another girl, your life is all about going out with different guys every new week, you¡¯re just a slut, you wouldn¡¯t listen to me and now you¡¯re like this, humiliating yourself to get attention from men who want nothing more than to have sex with you.¡±


    ¡°Ms. Millenis, please leave my sector, I will not tolerate this kind of behavior here,¡± he speaks firmly, but she does not get intimidated, she just stares at him defiantly.


    ¡°I am the vice-president¡¯s secretary¡±, she highlights her husband¡¯s position. ¡°I am the one who tolerates you here,¡± she speaks with her chin up, but Leandro doesn¡¯t lower his head to her. ¡°Look at that,¡± she goes around Leandro looking him up and down with her hand on his chin, analyzing him. ¡°The boy who took this thing to the wrong ce, now that he upies a position of respect, who did he really marry, Miss Aya?¡±


    I don¡¯t answer, I¡¯m powerless, I¡¯m used to his disgusted look at me.


    ¡°I always knew this day woulde, the day he would bitterly regret his disobedience, I hope Iuri despises you, just like you did him.¡±


    ¡°Just like you did with him¡± ¨C it wasn¡¯t contempt that I felt for him, I just fooled myself thinking that he just wanted to use me like all the other people always do, I never thought I was the most beautiful, but I also never thought I was ugly, I always knew that my eyes are my greatest charms¡­ I want to disappear from the world.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to that woman, Aya,¡± he says, looking at me.


    ¡°Impossible, in a way, I know she¡¯s right, a lot of things wouldn¡¯t have happened if I had listened to her,¡± that¡¯s the absolute truth.


    If I had listened to her, I wouldn¡¯t have gone out with Leandro, I wouldn¡¯t have been ridiculed at school, I wouldn¡¯t have suffered from attempted abuse, I wouldn¡¯t have had to live on the street? But also, I would never have had a will of my own, I would be an eternal puppet, even though my sister always made our parents proud, she is not a puppet, I don¡¯t understand why things happened to me like that.


    ¡°We have to make mistakes to learn, Aya. We can¡¯t live forever eating ourselves up for something that can¡¯t be taken back, we need to lift our heads up and find a way to keep moving forward¡­¡± I know he is saying this more to himself than to me.


    I feel my heart beating strongly in my chest, Iuri is so beautiful, very different from before, I wish I could see him again, but without those serious eyes staring back at me, I just admire what I have lost.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I ask, he leans back against the table.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I wanted to ask forgiveness, but I can¡¯t find the words¡­ A cake forms in my throat¡­ I did so much shit with him¡­ And now, I depend on him for a sry at the end of the month,¡± smiling sadly, I share this feeling.


    ¡°Do you think he will ever forgive us?¡±


    ¡°I hope so, well, we better get to work, you have to take the reports from the sector and deliver them personally, he is still without a secretary¡­¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you take them? I¡­¡±


    ¡°Better not, Mr. Gustam said that he hates people who don¡¯t do their job, and unfortunately, taking the reports is part of your duties.¡±


    Damn it, I will have to face him again, and on the same day¡­ Why doesn¡¯t the ground just open a hole to hide me? When will things stop going wrong in my life?


    I can only sigh and start organizing the reports, I only need about half an hour, just to check everything, I already left the things ready yesterday before I left, today just review, print and deliver. Hurry up.


    In twenty minutes I¡¯m already inside the elevator, my fingers are shaking, I adjust my sses nervously, my legs don¡¯t want to stay still, what will I say? After a minute the doors open, I draw in as much air as possible with my nostrils and fill my lungs. With long strides I approach the door and knock three times.


    ¡°Come in,¡± he says, in a thick voice that makes the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. He really isn¡¯t a boy anymore.


    (Iuri Stevens¡¯ vision)


    For about three years the orphanage has been abandoned, thest director caused it to fall into disrepair, now, a theme park has bought the ce and will demolish it, but the fact that she makes donations doesn¡¯t answer the fact that she wants my father to buy it so badly¡­ I wonder if she abandoned any children there. Since she went out with so many men, she might have identally gotten pregnant and put the child inside so as not to hinder her in her next conquests. This sucks!


    I can¡¯t believe she has stooped so low. My thoughts are interrupted by three knocks on the door.


    ¡°Come in,¡± I order and close the pages about the orphanage from theputer screen.


    ¡°G-g-good morning, Mr. Stevens, I¡¯vee to bring you the reports from the economic development sector,¡± she stutters with his head down.


    ¡°Leave it here on the table,¡± I watch her walk to my desk with her head down, I notice that her hands are shaking, she puts the folder down.


    ¡°Well¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°Work is no ce for conversation,¡± I cut her off, and she will see that I am not the same as before.


    ¡°You are right, I am sorry, excuse me,¡± she turns back and starts to walk, impossible not to notice her hips, they are very round and steep. How will it be to tighten them?N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    ¡°Miss Aya,¡± I call her attention and she stops walking looking at me for the first time, I cannot lie, she looks very beautiful with those round sses, a perfection, ¡°We can talk tomorrow, after work, at sixteen o¡¯clock at Lupis restaurant.¡±


    ¡°O-okay,¡± she turns around again and leaves the room.


    The years have only enhanced her even more, I want to prove it, I think this will not be a problem, after I kill my years of desire for her, I will fire her, not because she slept with me, but because she will flirt with all the men in thepany, I don¡¯t want to see this, or I can transfer her to some branch office, I just want to see her gone.


    I am not like I used to be, I wanted only her in the world, I dreamed of marrying and having children with her, building a family like my parents¡¯ and being very happy, but she made sure to step on my dreams and say that no woman will ever want anything but money from me, because that is all I have to offer, well, whatever, I will buy her off for one night too.

 Chapter 24

    [Carmen Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± my husband asks.


    ¡°Was it really a good idea to put her there?¡± I scrutinize, but the question is more for me than for him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s let time tell, darling,¡± you hold my hand, to this day, whenever I feel your contact, warm, I feel like the happiest person in the world, the best man in the world is mine.


    It was my idea to put her in thepany, I wanted Juliana to see her conquering things, oveing the abandonment she suffered, however, after a year and a half of being a model employee, she started going out with practically all the men in thepany, even going out with partners. I never questioned why she started acting this way because it is her life, however, Iuri left asking us to take care of her because he loved her, and now? After seven years, he has not found any other woman, is he still in love with her?


    During the four years that she lived with my family, I almost turned my hair white, and almost had a heart attack when Leandro contacted her that she was in the hospital, she had been gone all day, but to find out that she was trying tomit suicide, that really moved me too much, I had never witnessed anything like it. Two monthster, she told me that on this day she had met her mother, who told her many things and she med herself for everything bad that was happening and that she thought that everyone would be better off if she no longer existed. I wanted to hit Juliana hard, but I controlled myself and just hugged her.


    Observing the huge buildings makes me think: What will the air be like in the countryside?


    ¡°Honey, how about spending our vacation on a farm? I want to change the air, get to know a little of what the countryside is like.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go, my love,¡± he kisses me.


    No matter how many years go by, I will always be in love with my husband. The memories of what we lived will always be alive in my memory, love is the most beautiful feeling in the world. I want my son to live a love like this, without suffering, without regrets, where one strengthens the other. I want that for my son, and as much as I like Aya, I cannot feel that she is the ideal woman for my son.


    ¡°Love?¡± I call him.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Why did Aya go and ask to buy the orphanage?¡± It was only now that I realized what she had asked, she was even crying while talking about the children.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, but Leandro said that there is a girl there that she really wants to adopt, but she can¡¯t because she is single.¡±


    ¡°And if you buy it, will she be able to adopt it?¡±


    ¡°No, but the owner of the park bought the ce and the children will be moved to another ce. That orphanage was abandoned by the government and the former director embezzled the money and perverted the children, a very sad thing.¡±


    ¡°How absurd!¡± How is someone capable of mistreating children?


    ¡°Yes, the new director is Leandro¡¯s wife, a pity that she stayed there for only two and a half years.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    Is that why she goes out with different men, in search of someone who could be the father of this child? Forgive me Aya, I even believed the rumors that spoke ill of you.


    How many times do I have to be hit in the face before I learn? This is the second time I judge you without knowing the facts, I need to improve this defect in me.


    [ Juliana Millenis¡¯ View]


    Do I regret what I did?


    Yes, as soon as I set foot out of that salon seven years ago, I regretted it, however, my pride always spoke louder. I know that I have always demanded too much of Aya, Cristine although she was hardworking, intelligent, educated, and never embarrassed her family, she never let me mold her, she was always independent. Since I couldn¡¯t make her be like me, I was left with Aya, I wanted to turn her into a version of me, however, she never let me, always being rebellious and only caring about anime drugs, the only thing I could make her do was to get good grades at school.


    When I heard that Iuri was in love with her, a euphoria settled inside me. My daughter had managed to get the heart of the heir of one of the biggestpanies in the world, she was done in life, however, once again she did everything the wrong way, she didn¡¯t listen to me, she got involved with the wrong people and today her name is on everyone¡¯s lips. Only disappointment.


    I am married to a good man, who has a great job, he started at the bottom, as a simple janitor in thatpany, first ss, my focus was on the heir, however, he fell in love with my friend Carmen, even though I was frustrated I was happy for them, I am not jealous. I met my husband at apany party, I drank a lot, he was still a cleaner and I did what I shouldn¡¯t have done, I went to bed with a nobody, but in a way I was lucky, he was about to finish his studies and then started to rise in position, I had to marry him and learn to love him with time. It was not difficult, he was always kind to me and we are both perfectionists so we are totallypatible.


    Do I miss my youngest daughter?


    I miss her a lot. Like it or not, she is my daughter.


    Cristine left two days after it happened, she didn¡¯t ept what I did and I don¡¯t me her. Aya¡¯s room is still the same, I didn¡¯t change anything. When the longing was about to leak through my eyes I would go to her room and turn on the TV, watching over and over again the anime that she left there as thetest one.


    I kept wondering how she was doing now, but my upbringing and my pride kept me from looking for her, when I told my parents what happened, they said I did the right thing. She chose the wrong path, now she would have to face the consequences. That my parents supported what I did, only gave me more reason to throw her into oblivion, even though I never forgot her.


    Two yearster, I met hering from college in New York, an anger rose in my head and I couldn¡¯t even think, my legs moved by themselves and I ended up going to her, I said horrible things, things that I didn¡¯t really mean, but I said them and now I can¡¯t go back, no matter how much I want to hug her, she is not my little girl anymore.


    I need to keep my heart cold, seeing her kneeling and crying like that, in that humiliation, hurt me, I never wanted to see her in that miserable way, but in a way, it felt good to see her like that, she is now feeling in her skin the pain of not having listened to me. She insisted on going out with that boy and lost someone who would give her everything, without even needing her to ask.


    Sighing, I look at my husband reading the papers on his desk, I know that he also feels sad and misses her, between the two of us, he was always the one who went in her favor, but just like me, faith in traditions made us close our hearts and turn our backs on her.


    Whatever, I won¡¯t dwell on it, she chose the path she wanted, she nted it, and now let her reap it!


    [Iuri Stevens¡¯ vision]


    I look at the clock on the wall and it is already six in the evening, thest employee left an hour ago. I stayed because I wanted to advance as much as possible in the updates about thepany. I need to find a secretary, I had to schedule a meeting with Lucas Philip myself, exhausting.


    Loosening my tie I leave my room and walk to the elevator, the car that came to thepany with my parents is now mine, sigh tired, I arrived and have not even bought an apartment for me, if I had a secretary this would already be done.


    I get in the car and drive off, arriving at the restaurant half an hour before the agreed time.


    ¡°Good evening, do you have a reservation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Iuri Stevens, I made a reservation for neen o¡¯clock.¡±


    ¡°This way sir,¡± she walks in front of me and leads me to my table, ¡°I hope you have a great experience here.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I sit down and she leaves.


    I take my cell phone and start searching for apartments, I don¡¯t want anything too big, I find a perfect one, and it¡¯s not too far from thepany, I take my cell phone from my jacket pocket and dial the owner¡¯s number.


    ¡°Hello, who am I speaking to?¡± a male voice speaks on the other end of the line.


    ¡°Iuri Stevens, I want to buy the apartment immediately,¡± I say immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s two hundred thousand, if you give me that money now, in half an hour I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell me your ount, I will transfer you two hundred and fifty thousand, I want you to get the master bedroom and the kitchen ready, you have half an hour for that, do you think you will manage?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I will text you.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I turn off my cell phone.


    At least I already have a ce to live, I put the cell phone away and Lucas appears, smiling.


    ¡°Hello, young businessman,¡± he says, sitting down.


    ¡°Hello, Mr. Philip.¡±


    ¡°Why did you want to meet with me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about the orphanage site you bought.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see, you want me to hire you to demolish and build my park, don¡¯t you? But I am sorry to tell you, I have already hired anotherpany and¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I see the confusion on his face, this old man does not look like a bad person, I want to buy it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± he asks looking at me without understanding the reason. ¡°That ce was abandoned by society! And I paid a huge amount of money there.¡±


    ¡°I will pay you double, I want it to continue to house children.¡±


    ¡°And you will pay me a million?¡±


    ¡°Right now, just tell me the ount to transfer.¡±


    ¡°Stubborn boy, I foresee much sess on your path,¡± he says with a smile.


    ¡°I predict that too, and I predict a fat bank ount in a matter of seconds.¡±


    He smiles, good point; it was even easier than I imagined.


    ¡°Here is my bill,¡± he hands me a piece of paper.


    ¡°Perfect, tomorrow when I sign the paper that transfers the ce to my name I will send you the money.¡±


    ¡°Done.¡±


    ¡°What would you like to order?¡±The waiter arrives.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have the special,¡± I answer, not even looking at the menu.


    ¡°And for you, sir?¡±


    ¡°Nothing dear, I¡¯m leaving,¡± he gets up and extends his hand, I shake it. ¡°See you tomorrow at seven thirty, Mr. Stevens.¡±


    ¡°See you,¡± and he leaves. Five minutester my meal arrives.

 Chapter 25

    [Aya Millenis, vision]


    ¡°Here,¡± my sister hands me a mug with hot chocte.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I take the mug.


    It¡¯s been two hours since I got back from work and I feel down, the first thing I did when I arrived was to call my sister, she came immediately and the first thing she did¡­ That¡¯s right, she made me take a shower, a cold shower¡­ It helped, but I still feel bad.


    ¡°Come on, tell me what happened,¡± she sits down next to me, also drinking hot chocte.


    I sigh and run my index finger over the rim of the mug, Iuries into my thoughts¡­ He gave me an order, just told me to meet him tomorrow to talk, what will happen? Remembering how rude he was to me hurts me, but I can¡¯t feel anger, I treated him much worse in the past, now I know how he felt when I said and did those things to him without even caring how he was feeling.


    ¡°Iuri¡­ He is back¡­¡±


    ¡°And, is he still a skinny spindly guy?¡± I remember when she used to go to social functions and say that the bosses¡¯ son was weird.


    ¡°No, he is a man now, tall, full of muscles. He has a dominant presence and is thick! There is nothing left of that teenager you and I knew.¡±


    ¡°This makes me curious.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure your chin will drop to the floor,¡± I give a forcedugh. ¡°He is no longer a teenager suffering with puberty.¡±


    ¡°You are also no longer the teenager he knew, nor are you in a moment of fragility.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Is there something more to your sadness?¡±


    ¡°Heloysie,¡± my chest hurts just to pronounce my little girl¡¯s name. ¡°I only had until four o¡¯clock this afternoon to find a way not to have the orphanage close its doors¡­ I had hoped that Mr. Gustam would buy it¡­ but when I got to his office¡­ I knelt down and asked¡­¡±


    ¡°You knelt down to ask for it!?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I know it¡¯s humiliating, but in anime that¡¯s how they ask for help!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not in anime, Aya!¡±


    ¡°I know, okay? I regret this bitterly¡­ He wasn¡¯t alone¡­ Our parents were there, along with the entire management of thepany and the new president¡­ Iuri looked at me in a way¡­¡± her eyese to my mind and I close mine tightly, I shake my head to keep those cold eyes away. ¡°I can¡¯t hold back the tears before that look, I run away¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh my sister,¡± she hugs me tight, I cry some more.


    ¡°And what¡¯s worse, now it¡¯s toote, my little girl has probably already been adopted by a couple¡­ What a pain, sis¡­ I want her so much¡­ Our hearts have chosen each other,¡± I squeeze her and close my eyes just feeling the tears thate out of my broken heart in several pieces.


    Why have things gone so wrong? Now all I can do is cry, that¡¯s all, I lost the daughter I wanted so much. Why is it that every time I think I am taking one step forward, I am actually taking five steps back? I can¡¯t stand to suffer so much anymore, it¡¯s not possible that I haven¡¯t paid for all the wrong I¡¯ve done!


    ¡°Come, let¡¯s go to bed,¡± she helps me up.


    I can¡¯t control my tears, too many things happening at the same time, life has once again made me go to the canvas, from where will I draw the strength to continue now?


    I lie down on the bed and close my eyes, her smilees to my mind, how I wish I could have seen her at least one more time. I sigh and close my eyes, it is toote now. I hope the day will dawn soon.


    [ Iuri Stevens¡¯ Vision]


    I will leave the apartment more properly over the weekend, my first week at thepany will be very busy and I need to catch up soon. I look at myself once again in the mirror, everything is in its right ce. I remember that when I was a teenager I didn¡¯t mind my messy hair, I even thought it was cool, but now, I just walk around with it neat, my beard well done and that¡¯s it. The teenager who didn¡¯t care about his appearance has given way to a very vain man.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    I check the time on my wrist watch, it is seven o¡¯clock, just like my father, I will be the first to arrive at thepany and thest to leave. I will do everything I can to be the best in the business and invest in several other sectors.


    I start the car¡¯s engine and begin to drive it, it takes no more than fifteen minutes until I reach thepany. I take the keys from the front door and unlock the tinted ss doors, the air conditioners are off, but it¡¯s not hot in here. I know the cleaning staff will arrive in ten minutes, they are the first to arrive to leave thepany in order. I go to the private elevator and in a matter of a few minutes I am on the top floor, a floor reserved just for me. I need a secretary, and I need someone who already has experience and preferably someone who already works here¡­ I know, I¡¯ll put the good and the bad together, so it will be even easier to get her to bed.


    I unlock the door to my room and sit down in my superfortable armchair, turn on theputer and start organizing what I have to do today, this is the secretary¡¯s job, but since Aya has not arrived yet, I will have to do it myself.


    Two knocks on the door catch my attention, I look at the clock and it is exactly seven thirty, what a punctual old man, I like that.


    ¡°Come in,¡± I say self and he opens the door, with a huge smile on his face.


    ¡°Good morning, young man,¡± he says when he is next to me and extends his hand.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± I shake his hand and he sits down.


    ¡°I brought with me the papers for the sale of the property,¡± he opens his suitcase and takes out the papers.


    ¡°You work very fast,¡± Iment.


    ¡°Time is money, son, we can¡¯t waste even a second, here,¡± he hands me the papers.


    It takes me twenty minutes to read each line written there, I even read the fine print. It is very stupid to sign anything without reading, it is understandable only in cases where the person can¡¯t read, otherwise it is stupid! After everything is checked, I take the pen and sign with my initials on every page.


    He smiles, one more card up his sleeve to use on Aya.


    Mr. Lucas takes his cell phone from his suit pocket and makes a call.


    ¡°Mrs. Silva? Yes, I called to tell you that the orphanage has a new buyer and that he will be there soon,¡± he looks at me. ¡°When will you be there, Mr. Stevens?¡±


    ¡°In half an hour,¡± I answer.


    ¡°In half an hour the new owner will be there, that¡¯s all, goodbye,¡± he hangs up the cell phone.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure doing business with you,¡± he shakes my hand once more and puts the papers away.


    On theputer I make the bank transfer.


    ¡°The money is already in your ount,¡± I say finally, and he leaves my room.


    I go back to organizing things, in the morning I am free, I have a midday meeting and then just review the contracts that have arrived. The day is not full today. I look at the clock and it is already eight o¡¯clock in the morning, the employees must have arrived by now. I pick up thendline phone on my desk and call the RG department, where they check their wallets.


    ¡°Yes, what can I do for you?¡± a male voice speaks.


    ¡°Has Miss Aya Millenis arrived yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, she has just clocked in.¡±


    ¡°Have here to the President¡¯s office now,¡± I hang up the phone.


    I take from the table the copy of the orphanage¡¯s deed and put it in a drawer, five minutester I hear a knock on the door, I tell her toe in and Aya enters with her head down, with short steps shees slowly closer. No matter how much time passes, I will never be able to see her in any other way but the most beautiful of all, even though I know I will only have contempt for her. Fuck me.


    ¡°I-I thought you were only going to talk to me at the end of the¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t call you to talk to you,¡± I cut you off rather roughly.


    ¡°So, um, why did you call me?¡±


    ¡°To let you know that as of today you will be my secretary.¡±


    She finally lifts her face, and in her big eyes there is confusion, still so beautiful and seemingly innocent, too bad I know there is nothing innocent about her. Although they are now looking sad, it is surely her frame.


    ¡°L-l-like sir?¡±


    ¡°I will not repeat myself, just get your things and settle in front of my office, make my schedule for today and be quick, now I will leave and when I return I want everything ready. Now you can leave,¡± I look at theputer again and pretend that I am working on something. I hear her sigh.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± she leaves my room.


    I wait two minutes and leave too, go to the private elevator and then to the parking lot, start the car and in less than ten minutes I am in front of the orphanage. Which is in ruins, it urgently needs a renovation here.


    I walk briskly and the door is open, but before I can touch the handle, the door is opened and a couple walks by, we greet each other with a nod of the head and I enter. A woman wearing only a simple dress and you can tell she is pregnant. She looks at me in a sad way.


    ¡°Good morning, are you Mrs. Silva?¡± I ask politely.


    ¡°Yes, and who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Iuri Stevens, the new owner,¡± I speak and give a small smile.


    ¡°I-Iuri? My goodness gracious!¡±


    I look at her confused, I don¡¯t remember ever having seen her before.


    ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me, do you?¡±


    I nod my head no. She sighs. She sighs.


    ¡°I¡¯m Luana, thest time we saw each other was when I called you to help Aya.¡±


    The memoriese back to that day and I look her up and down once more, she lookspletely different. She is not so short now and her hair is short, her face round.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t recognize you either, but I¡¯m d you¡¯re all right,¡± she smiles.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m happy for you too,¡± I say, to be cordial.


    ¡°I am surprised, Aya managed to¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell her I bought it, I will tell her personally.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I am very happy to hear that you are getting along well. Come visit the orphanage.¡±


    She walks ahead and I follow her.


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