Ava and Emily hastily began gathering the items from the bag. The young woman suddenly stood up and, through the window, saw the figure in black getting into a rather luxurious blue car, which the doorman detained to ask for identification or something similar; there was still time. Ava's palms tingled with desperation, and she only wished to know the identity of that person in black."Ava... seriously, this is insane, and I need you to explain everything, please. Besides, you're barefoot and wearing a hospital gown. Have you gone completely mad?" Emily pleaded amid questions, her brow furrowed with concern."Emi, I beg you, I need your help. I don't have much time for long explanations; I just know I'm following someone important," Ava clasped her hands together. "Please, just trust me."Emily began to pace and nervously bite her nails, trying to analyze as fast as she could. She lowered her head and then lifted it to look at Ava."Alright, Ava. If you say it's important, I'll help y

Ava was gaping, crouched in front of her friend, her heart pounding so fast she felt it might leap out of her chest due to the shock she was in. Emily shook her a little to bring her back to her senses, but Ava continued staring into space."But, Ava... Who is it? Tell me, I'm not a mind reader!" insisted Emily, her forehead beaded with sweat, still hesitant to straighten up."Ka..." Ava uttered in a faint voice, barely audible to Emily."Ava, I demand you speak more clearly, woman, you're testing my patience," grumbled Emily, her brow furrowed. "I assume you saw what you wanted; you have the answer now. Tell me so we can move on."The taxi was still too close to the blue car for Emily to want to sit back down. Her hands clung to Ava's cold ones, and she could swear Ava was trembling subtly."Sir, excuse me, have we left the blue car behind?" Emily dared to ask, unable to take it anymore, her legs beginning to tingle.The bearded man furrowed his brow and looked around. "Miss, there a

Ava furrowed her brow; her mother was usually always there. Perhaps she would be looking for her without knowing where she was. What was most terrible was that she didn't have her phone and feared it might fall into the hands of Mrs. Daniela or someone else."Darn it, I should have gone back to the hospital, but there's no turning back now," Ava thought to herself as she searched for a way to enter her house.Soon, she found a poorly closed window, which was her opportunity to enter, although the headache and occasional dizziness made the task more challenging, causing her to fall to the other side with a thud and a groan of pain."But where is everyone? At least my mom, she should be here," she said in her thoughts as she walked, feeling the coldness of the clean floor.Without a second thought, she checked the rooms, but as it was already evident, there was no one there. She entered her room and oh, how she had missed it; she truly preferred to be a thousand times in her home than s

Ava had never felt as uncertain in her life as she did at that moment, where the man she loved was in grave danger, facing a life-or-death situation, where everyone seemed to stand in the way of that relationship that had not yet decided to become something real due to catastrophic events that were slipping out of her control.The young woman's mind traveled to where Daniel was; she longed to see him. The previous day had been chaotic with unexpected revelations; the discovery and acceptance of her feelings hadn't been easy. Ava fidgeted with her hands as she rode the subway and asked herself many questions that had no answers."Ava, whatever it is, we're here to support you," those were the last words her mother, Rosaura, dedicated to her before leaving her home once more.The first stop Ava made was at the public hospital where her father was. Apparently, his condition had worsened over a couple of months. The sight of what she saw left her shattered.Her father Jeremy was so thin t

The tension in the hallway leading to the exit was almost palpable. Ava didn't know how the Busch family, especially Mrs. Daniela, would react. Mrs. Daniela's jaw nearly dropped upon hearing that name, which seemed quite familiar to her, unlike Natalia and Mr. Manuel, who simply widened their eyes in surprise."Karen?... Karen!" said Mr. Manuel, looking up at the ceiling while raising his index finger. "I think I recognize that name.""Dad, if you know who she is! You mean Karen... Dani's ex-girlfriend, right?" inquired Natalia, cradling her baby with a hint of anxiety. "I can't believe this! How do you know?"Ava took a deep breath."I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I saw her, and it was clearly her," replied Ava, resolutely fixing her gaze on the three Busches, who seemed confused."But Ava, how did you realize it was her?" encouraged Mr. Manuel.Ava began to recount what she had witnessed, how a person dressed in dark clothes had entered the room, what they said, as if they had se

Daniel rose slowly to sit and calmly approached Ava, while Natalia, don Manuel, and doña Daniela stepped out at his request, leaving them alone in the intensive care room. He reached for her hands, smiling tenderly, noticing the tension on Ava's face."Ava... Everything alright? You can trust me. Tell me what's bothering you.""It's just... I'm truly glad to be able to talk to you again. I thought the worst during those days when you were in a coma, all because you were trying to protect me. I felt like... I was losing you," Ava said, feeling heat rising from her chest to her face, flushing crimson.Daniel chuckled softly and continued to gaze at her with a smile."I also felt like I was losing you in that accident. I didn't think, I just wanted you to come out unscathed, and I realized a lot of things," affirmed Daniel, never breaking eye contact.That admission made her tremble inside. Ava swallowed hard, feeling her heart pounding fiercely."And... what did you realize?" the young

Stepping out of her thoughts and before Ava took a step away from Daniel, he quickly moved his free arm and took the girl by the wrist to catch her attention one last time before she left."Daniel... I see you've recovered more of your strength," Ava said, surprised by how quickly his body was responding, a sign of improvement.He shrugged and winked at her, which made the young woman smile."Did you want to tell me something else? I suppose," Ava said, eager to hear Daniel's words."Yes, that's right," he replied. "I want and need you to consider continuing your studies, please. Let me help you with that; from here, I can finance the rest of your studies."The young woman was moved inside; he genuinely cared about her progress, and that made her excited about such a gesture, even though she wanted to show reluctance."I don't want to be a burden to you, Daniel.""You're not a burden, Ava, for God's sake! Take it as an investment in our future together. Do you trust me?"Excited and g

With her heart racing and the indelible image of what she had just seen, Ava began gesturing to the driver; the words didn’t want to come out of her throat, but she finally managed to express her distress in the form of a rather heavy command for a young woman.“Mercy, park here, park here now!” exclaimed Ava to the driver, breathing heavily.The driver was startled by the distress in her boss’s voice and slammed the brakes, nearly causing a collision with another vehicle. Ava gripped the seat as tightly as possible, but she was grateful that Mercy didn’t scold her but instead sought a suitable place to park.“Thank you so much, Mercy, you deserve a very good tip at the end of the day,” praised Ava to her few-spoken driver. “Wait for me here; I won’t be long.”Ava exited the limousine and entered the café, which had a rustic and welcoming atmosphere; she had never been in that place before. The polished wood gave it a homely touch, and the scent of freshly ground coffee permeated the

Ava and Natalia were sinking into uncertainty; they wasted no more time and began to explore the surroundings. Within all those stacks of folders and files, they saw dead records of the company. Invoices, payment receipts with large sums of money from many years ago."God... this shouldn't be here, don't you think, Natalia?" Ava inquired, carefully examining those documents before putting them back in their place."You're right, all of this is the company's history... Just look at this, it's from the company's beginnings. No, no, no, Ava, we need to reorganize this place," Natalia snapped, her brow furrowed."What are we waiting for, Natalia? Today, we'll focus on this entire space," Ava commented, clenching her fist and raising it to her face covered by the mask. "But I think we need reinforcements; we won't be able to do it alone.""You're right, dear Ava. I'll call the cleaning team right away to help us," Natalia said as she hurried out of the room.Ava smiled, feeling supported b

There, in the darkness of the office in the early night, Ava, with hands completely frozen and trembling, and her heart wanting to leap out of her chest, was typing and analyzing every file housed in that dark computer. "This is unheard of... no wonder the invoices didn't have Daniel's approval... It's evident that Karen transferred amounts of money to an account of the supposed company she manages. Or did he consent to such a thing?" A shiver ran down Ava's spine. "I refuse to think this! I know that when I talk to him, everything will be clarified, and things will fall into place." As best as she could, the young woman opened her email and transferred each document so that this evidence would be in a secure place. She soon turned off the computer and placed it in a corner of the office, where it wouldn't be exposed to any prying eyes. She didn't know if she was doing the right thing, she just did what she felt in a moment of desperation. Without thinking twice, and after realizing