Ana Oliveira Part 3

It was so painful to show that to Marta. It broke me to see her almost fainting, the way she covered her mouth to keep from screaming through her tears, how she bit her hand as she fell onto the bed. I felt so awful having to do that, but there was no way to tell my mother-in-law without showing the evidence. She had blindly trusted Lucah, just like I had...
It took a long time for Marta to stop crying. I had to check her blood pressure, which had dropped, and gave her a glass of water with sugar to help calm her down. After a while, Marta asked for coffee. When we went to the kitchen, I handed her the drink. A bit later, Josiah came into the kitchen and was shocked to see his mother without makeup, disheveled, in her nightgown, and trembling. But he didn’t ask any questions. I think he assumed her emotional turmoil was due to the death of his friend.
I explained the plan to Marta while Josiah bathed Júlia before heading out to Bernardo's farewell. She needed to understand that Luana was dangerous, that she couldn’t be alone with her, and especially that my daughter couldn’t be near that snake. After all, Júlia would stay home so we could attend the funeral. Then my mother-in-law surprised me by suggesting we call Cristian, saying he would know how to get information out of Luana, because with her deceptive nature, she wouldn’t satisfy our doubts without some effort.
I was hesitant about bringing in the mayor, but my mother-in-law reminded me that in the things we saw on that USB drive, Luana was conspiring with Lucah against Cristian all the time. There was nothing against Josiah’s father. It was all about her and my brother-in-law.
I took a deep breath and allowed myself to enter the house to finally clear up the remaining doubts. As soon as I entered the living room, Luana was already there. She was sitting on a chair in the middle of the carpet. She wasn’t bound, but there were two security guards stationed on either side of her, large, stern-looking men in suits.
Luana gave me a mocking smile that sent a chill down my spine. I had to restrain myself from attacking that bitch, who wore a dress I had seen her in before, a long piece with a leopard print. It suited her well, the leopard’s friend!
A small trickle of blood ran from the right corner of her lower lip. She scanned the people in the room with her gaze, like a snake. How did I get it so wrong? How did I not notice anything? It was now clear how devoid of emotion her eyes were, the cynicism in how she looked down on people as if they were beneath her.
Josiah was beside his father, which surprised me. He was leaning over the dining table, scrolling through something on the dark laptop screen. Cristian turned abruptly, his eyes averted from the computer with disgust, as if he were holding back vomit.
The mayor, nearing the end of his second term, was dressed less formally, in tight olive-green pants and a loose white shirt over them. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, revealing his muscular arms. His square face was tightly pulled... The plastic surgeries were up to date. He was a handsome man, and Josiah looked a lot like him. The bastard gave me a raised eyebrow and a small smirk. I rolled my eyes, surveying the room and looking for my mother-in-law.
“Where’s Júlia?” I asked, noticing that Jow's mother was standing in front of Luana, her fists clenched.
Marta was still in her nightgown and disheveled. She looked like she had aged ten years in just a few hours. She looked at me over her shoulder, with an anger I had never seen on her face before, but softened her expression when she met my gaze.
“She’s at Dona Helena’s house,” she informed. “I thought it best she wasn’t here.”
“Isn’t it better to call the police?” Josiah suggested, walking over to me and stopping by my side, giving me a slight comfort with his electrifying presence next to me.
“No!” Marta and Cristian said in unison.
“Who hit her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at Cristian.
“I did!” Marta declared, advancing towards the woman in front of her again, but Cristian stopped her, grabbing her by the arm.
She quickly pulled away from her ex-husband’s touch, as if his contact was repulsive. Luana didn’t even flinch at the threat of being struck. In fact, she gave a broad, mocking smile to her aunt, defiantly crossing her legs and holding her knee with her bony hands.
“I hit this bitch because she refuses to answer our questions,” Marta said, in the most apathetic tone I had ever heard from her. I was shocked to hear her curse. In six years, I had never heard her utter a single swear word.
I looked over at my daughter’s father, and Josiah held my gaze. There was pain in his eyes, but also something else: curiosity.
“I thought I’d see you on top of your father when I came in,” I whispered to him.
“Oh, I was going to. But when I saw my mom slapping Luana, I understood everything,” he murmured, crossing his arms and shaking his head. Then Jow directed his gaze to his cousin. “Why did you hurt Bernardo, Luana?”
She mimicked Josiah’s gesture, glaring at him with disdain and a closed expression.
“I’m not going to say anything unless I feel like it,” she replied. “You can beat me, torture me... I can take it.”
“I’ll bring your mother then,” Cristian threatened, with his calm voice and a demeanor that perfectly resembled a fox. My whole body went cold at the thought of him threatening to torture Luana’s mother, after all, the woman was his sister. It only highlighted his coldness. That old man was dangerous... “We’ll do everything you said to her, right in front of you, until you start spilling the information.”
“I don’t care... You can even dismember my mother right here. I won’t feel anything. I’ll only talk if it’s interesting to me,” she shrugged, shocking everyone in the room. “I have no weaknesses. That’s what sets me apart from you emotional, passionate people.”
My heart was racing, my fists clenched at my sides, and I was grinding my teeth so hard I might break them.