“Luana, you scared me,” Briana complained.“That’s the point — scaring you so you won’t make the mistake of inviting someone I don’t want there!” Luana shot back aggressively.Karl stepped to Luana’s side, showing support. “Please, Briana. Couldn’t you make just this one exception for us?”Briana’s jaw dropped. “Wait... you too?”Luana couldn’t help but pile on the drama. “What do you mean, my friend? Karl and I are on the same page, just as a husband and wife should be. What will people think if he’s fine with the woman I hate?”Karl smiled, trying to defuse the tension. “Don’t worry, Briana. We just want to avoid trouble. It’s not like Celia is dying to attend anyway.”Briana frowned. “It’s just that I’m inviting almost everyone from Glamour. It’ll look bad if Celia’s the only one not showing up, especially when we’re inviting even the janitors and the parking lot guys.”“Invite them too — just not Celia. Even Mary Ellen can come.” Luana’s tone was firm, leaving no room for debate.

Briana took a deep breath, finishing Celia’s inclusion. “Done! Everything’s normalized.” She looked up at a stunned Karl. “Honestly, Karl? I’m hoping Celia WILL SHOW UP at the engagement party.”Karl widened his eyes comically. “You’re hoping for the party’s downfall, Brie?”“No. If Celia shows up at home, I won’t stop her. If she causes any trouble, she’ll be expelled properly. I won’t feel guilty for having tried. It’ll be Celia’s fault if she takes advantage of the chance I’m giving to mess everything up.”Karl pursed his lips to the right, then retorted, “I don’t know about you, but I feel she won’t take the chance to behave civilly.”“Why do we always have to think about the negative side?” Briana sat at her desk. “Maybe Celia will surprise us.”“Maybe, but I doubt it. There’s too much hatred in that woman’s heart. I don’t know what Mark saw in her,” He said and left.Briana didn’t know either. She only knew that Mark had never been a man to choose a partner lightly.If he marrie

“OK.” Briana stepped toward Luana, standing on the other side of her desk to face her. “Tell me what happened.”“Nothing happened, I swear!” Luana said, in a feigned tone.It seemed she was mocking Briana.She began banging impatiently on the CPU and monitor, thinking the computer was taking too long to boot. “LET’S GO!”“Don’t wreck the computer trying not to be frank with me,” Briana advised. “We’re not leaving here until you tell me what happened.”Luana, not wanting to talk before, suddenly sighed and spoke like a machine gun, “You have to stop Celia from coming into your house!”Briana stepped back, frowning.Then she said, “I can’t do something like that.”Luana rolled her bloodshot eyes, perplexed. “You don’t have control over who comes and goes in your house?”“I do. That’s why I decided Celia would be invited.”Luana gave up waiting for the computer and stood up abruptly, causing the chair to drag and slam against the wall, making a nasty noise.“WHY DID YOU INVITE THE ONE WH

Karl entered Briana and Luana’s office and found the two “best friends” nearly throwing themselves at each other’s throats.The smell of gunpowder was suffocating, causing Karl to cough involuntarily.“Cough, cough... COUGH! What’s happening here? You two look like hens about to fight.”Luana rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have a more honorable nickname for your fiancée, did you?”Karl closed the door. “Where is the honor in witnessing two friends fighting?”Briana cleared her throat unnecessarily. “AHEM... Karl, we weren’t fighting. We had a misunderstanding regarding the engagement party.”Karl crossed his arms and asked impatiently, “Oh, no, is this about the invitation to Celia?”Briana widened her eyes at Karl as if shouting, “How stupid can you be!”Luana, who didn’t know Karl’s knowledge, aimed her harpoons at him, turning on her heels.“Did you know the tramp was invited and didn’t tell me?!”“I came to tell you that very thing!” Karl aimed his harpoons at Briana. “And now, Brie

“You deduced correctly.” Ribeiro said, wanting to drop the case already. “OK, then I won’t bother with this any longer. I just hope Miss Diaz is more selective with the ‘contacts’ or ‘sources’ she uses for her stories. Something like that could ruin her career.”“Definitely! She learned her lesson. Thank you very much, Lieutenant Ribeiro!” Mark said goodbye to Ribeiro and ended the call.Briana waited for her husband to finish the conversation before questioning him sternly, “Why did you say that to the lieutenant?”Mark tucked the cellphone in his pocket and looked at his beloved. “Calm down, dear. There’s a reason for everything.”“Explain it. By the way, you should have said this first to me.” Briana crossed her arms.Mark ran his hand down her right shoulder. “I wanted to tell you, but I came upon that awful scene and lost my patience. I’m sorry.”Briana finally remembered what happened when Mark walked in. “Ah, yes. Sorry about that scene.”“You don’t have anything to worry about