Mariana bites her lip, trying in vain to calm down and understand things. Then, in a breath of her voice, the girl says:"Yes."That simple answer seems to turn on a flickering light on James' face, who was surely hoping for a negative. Subtly, the man strokes Mariana's rosy cheeks, with all the delicacy in the world. She snuggles into his touch, but her eyes are still curious, dazzled by the discovery and the surprise that still gripped her."James," she murmurs.The man's nose brushes against hers as he slowly brushes his own lips against hers.The kiss is quite sweet, soft and whispery, like the spring breeze on flowers.Every touch, every snap, and every movement is subtle and not at all disrespectful, as if James was pondering that the time was not right for that passion to be fully demonstrated.Mariana opens her eyes and frowns as she places her hand on her own belly."The baby kicked," she says in surprise, smiling immediately afterwards."That's good. I always knew he liked

!James flips through the newspaper page, sighs, and puts it back on the nightstand next to the bed. Mariana, who is reading a book, notices the obvious disturbance in the man."What's wrong?""The lack of news is driving me crazy, to say the least.""We knew it would take some time for Daniel to find out everything he could to help us. His absence is a good sign.""Do you really think so?""I do.""Well, I think we're too confident, and something terrible has probably happened to that detective. You know our phone call was tapped, and the police in this town already know who we are. We're trapped."Mariana sets the book aside and places her hand on her belly."I thought you were a little more confident than that.""And I was. But...""But?"Initially, James says nothing, just stares at a fixed point on the wall.Mariana insists, "But?""But it's been two weeks since we last had contact with him. And so far, we haven't received a single sign of life.""Don't be silly. What about the s

As James packs his bags, he paces back and forth as if he wanted to grab Maxwell's neck with his own hands. Sitting on the bed, trembling and still unable to believe the worst news she could receive, Mariana simply intertwines her hands and gazes at some invisible point on the wall.With crossed arms leaning against the bedroom doorway, Isabella's youngest son stares at the curly-haired man as if he knows his true violent intentions. Then he turns his gaze to Mariana."You suddenly became so quiet. What's wrong? Don't you like the moving plans?"There is scorn and mockery in his voice. The girl looks away, as if she could ignore his presence."Please, leave her alone," James pleads, still finishing up Mariana's things."And what did I do? It was just a simple question."As if the journalist's patience was wearing thin, which it was, James stops what he's doing, stands up, and coldly stares at Maxwell for a few seconds before speaking:"Mariana had a recent bleeding, and we received de

The entire journey is silent, tense, and absolutely terrifying.Not because Mariana has been attacked or frightened by Maxwell; in fact, the driver and now the new watchdog didn't even look at her while driving the black sedan with equally dark tinted windows.But knowing that James was officially out of the game, even if he claimed to have a plan, was a terrible sign that they wouldn't easily escape from that impasse.The only thing that gave her a glimmer of hope, albeit not much, was knowing that Daniel, somewhere, was gathering as much information as possible about the woman's ex-husband and, of course, uncovering any connections it might have with Isabelle and Maxwell.It was almost dusk when the man made a turn onto the dirt road, entering a partially hidden terrain surrounded by lush trees and the surrounding landscape.The approaching house appears quite large, albeit strategically camouflaged. All Mariana can see is the garage gate approaching, along with the windows with clo

The bar was incredibly crowded.Disguised appropriately, doing everything possible to avoid unwanted attention, Maxmilian sipped on a glass of whiskey (which tasted terrible, but he couldn't complain) next to a supposed stranger.The men and women entering the bar, mostly tattooed and grim-faced, barely looked each other in the eye. Silently, they would only request their daily dose of whatever drink they preferred, then glance around, observing everyone who came and went.A man nearly tripped over Maxmilian's foot, but wisely he stepped back against the wall to avoid a collision with the oblivious man. The stranger smiled."Well, you seem fine," he murmured."Do I? I suppose it's a habit."The stranger chuckled."Apparently, it runs in the family."That could mean anything. Max raised an eyebrow."So, when will I see him? We've been here for almost two hours.""Keep your impatience to yourself. We didn't bring you here for no reason."Resigned, all the businessman did was audibly sig