After Anderson Bretti’s departure, Mark and Vargas remained alone in the quiet of the hotel suite.Lord Ferro sank back into the sofa, releasing a sigh of relief. He had not even needed to face Parliament about the succession of the throne.“I expected you to protest, Lord Ferro,” Vargas said carefully.Mark’s expression remained calm, his tone steady. “If Parliament wants to gamble on a man no one has ever seen before, someone who’ll have to learn from scratch how to be a king, let them. I’ve already given my share to Aurelia’s reign. They know who I am, and they know my qualifications.”Vargas tilted his head, curious. “And what exactly did that document you signed say about your identity?”A faint smile crossed Mark’s lips. “That I can tell anyone, if I choose.”Vargas studied his master with suspicion. “Then why do I feel you’ll keep the secret?”Mark’s eyes narrowed with quiet conviction. “Do the people of Braspolis really need to know? Would it change anything in their lives?”T

“What kind of zebra-and-elephant circus is that noise?” Vargas asked, glancing through the rearview mirror.Mark’s voice turned sharp, feral. “Would you believe me if I told you this happened at Glamour? Celia came to finalize her dismissal, and the staff did this to her.”“Looks like those days when you were humiliated as a janitor,” Vargas muttered.Mark drew a deep breath, but the sting was the same. He had endured humiliation for the sake of his hidden identity, but Celia — Celia did not deserve this.“She doesn’t deserve it,” he said darkly. “Someone instigated that mess. And I’ll find out who.”Vargas felt a shiver crawl down his spine at his master’s tone. He focused on the road, unwilling to invite that fury upon himself.Meanwhile, Mark dialed Gene, his foot tapping impatiently against the limousine’s carpet.At Glamour, Gene sat behind his desk, Celia seated calmly across from him. Her serenity seemed unshaken, as though nothing — neither what had happened nor what was happe

Briana stepped into her office at Glamour and immediately noticed Karl fiddling suspiciously with his shirt, as if he had just finished buttoning it up. Luana, on the other hand, looked perfectly composed behind her desk, calm and unbothered.“Good morning, lovebirds,” Briana said lightly, her eyes narrowing. “Did I interrupt something?”“Of course not, my dear friend!” Luana exclaimed, springing to her feet and embracing her warmly.Karl, still facing away, ran a quick hand through his hair, trying to appear casual.“I just heard that the staff drove Celia straight to HR,” Briana remarked.“She wasn’t planning on being fired,” Luana said with a sharp edge in her voice. “She wanted to confront me again, but my friends stood up for me.”“What a shame, Brie,” Karl chimed in. “I know how much you and Mark tried to help her.”A seed of suspicion stirred in Briana’s chest. “Exactly… and that help is starting to look suspicious.”Luana frowned. “What do you mean?”Briana sounded a bit jealo

Mark took a deep breath, uncertain of what else to do.Celia seized the silence, bent over the papers, and signed with renewed speed, determined to finish before Mark could try anything reckless.“I already received a call from Katrina,” she said as she signed. “My position is still available at Vasconcelos.”Mark exploded. “You’re going back to the company where they ‘used’ you over and over again?”Celia bit her lower lip, a shiver of longing running through her at the memory of the ruthless nights she had spent with the suited men at Vasconcelos.“I’m no longer your business,” she said with a shrug. “Focus on your pregnant wife.”He wanted to say more, but the weight of Gene’s presence forced him into silence.Celia signed the last page and rose with solemn composure, as though closing another chapter in her cycle of depravity.*******Meanwhile, in Jake’s dressing room, the actor sat at his vanity, reciting lines from his script.Yet the words blurred together in front of him, the

“If you are intent on starting a war before she even sets foot inside the building,” Gilson muttered, “I hardly know how to respond. Sandro will soon be buzzing demands in my ear, and I, lately, have been making every effort to avoid unnecessary stress.”Claudia groaned and dragged her hands down her face in frustration. “Oh, so now you’ll use your heart condition as an excuse to shirk your duty as CEO?”“And what exactly is that duty, according to you?”“To keep that tramp from reintegrating herself into this company, and—”She was cut short by the sharp ring of Gilson’s desk phone. The piercing sound shattered the air like a gavel. Relieved by the interruption, Gilson snatched the receiver with visible eagerness, as if even the most tedious business call were preferable to his wife’s tirade.“Presidency,” he said curtly.“Hello, CEO Vasconcelos,” came the receptionist’s voice on the line. “Miss Celia Soares is here in the lobby. She says she has a job interview scheduled.”“Send her