Chapter 2

In an unknown place, a man sitting in his armchair looks to the side.

He observed the mountain scenery.

There were many pine trees, with dark greenish leaves.

The sky above was white and gray. That wasn't an isolated cloudy day, the weather in that place was always like that.

There was a lake in front of that house and fog almost always took over the place.

He gets up, walks barefoot and looks at the white, plush carpet in front of him.

Despite the cold weather, he was only wearing sweatpants and shirtless, showing off his athletic physique.

Dominic kneels and then bends down on the floor, doing some push-ups.

He continues, ignoring the sweat dripping from his forehead.

Suddenly, he hears a clearing of his throat and says:

—What is so important that brought you here to interrupt me?

He doesn't look at the woman in front of him, he just continues with his push-ups, seeing only her pointy-toed shoes and her shin adorned with thin, dark-colored tights.

— Mr. Jared sent you something.

— Is it something important? — he asks, stopping his push-ups when he hears Jared's name.

The woman extends her hand, with an envelope.

Dominic finally looks up, staring at Mrs. Patel.

He gets up and takes the envelope, then opens it and takes out a printed photograph, in an exaggerated size.

Dominic raises her eyebrows and heads towards her armchair, looking at the photograph.

— Sir, may I know what he sent you? It must be something very important to have sent in print.

Dominic sits in the armchair, snorts and says:

—Jared is a braggart, you know. — then, he turns the photo over for Patel to see.

She looks curiously at a photo of a girl's face. She had dark hair, full lips and different colored eyes.

— She's a beautiful woman... — Patel pauses and then continues — Is that the one? The girl girl from three years ago?

Dominic looks at the photo again for a few moments and then says:

— There's a great chance.

Mrs. Patel approaches, with a towel in her hand, which he takes and then dries her face, still with that photo in her hand.

— I think there's something else in the envelope. — Mrs Patel says, seeing that there was a white piece of paper sticking out above.

Dominic looks, and doesn't take long to remove the paper, she remains silent, reading, with her eyebrows drawn together.

After a while, he looks away from the paper and looks at the lady who was still in front of him, waiting for an update.

He lets out his breath and then says:

— It's a resume.

— A resume? — she asks, thoughtfully — Whose?

— Nina Moon, — he raises his eyebrow and makes a thin line, bringing his lips together, after concluding — it's probably the girl in the photo.

— So you already know her name.

— I never wanted to know her name.

— Are you sure? He never had a girl again after that day…

— Patel, I give you too much freedom. Leave me alone.

He says, the lady shrugs and leaves the room.

Dominic goes to the window, with the photo in her hand. Looking at that serene face, very different from the face he saw years ago. The face of that girl who fainted in her arms when he was running in the park.

It was different, because she seemed scared, nervous. She was injured and easily fainted as soon as he laid eyes on her.

In his other hand, he held his smartphone. He dialed some numbers and held the device to his ear. Just one touch and it's already taken care of.

— Hi Dom, did you like the gift?

— You know that if I wanted to look for her, I would have done it already.

— I think you've always wanted to, but you're too proud to admit it. Anyway, now you don't need to look for her, because she applied for a position at your company.

— How did you know it was her?

— It was a feeling. And you don't see many girls who look the same every day. But to know if it's really her, only you can prove it.

Dominic listened to Jared, without taking her eyes off that photo.

Was it her?

…

Nina just graduated from college and it was very difficult to find a job, but she finally got an offer for an interview.

This interview would take place at the headquarters of Bright Corporation, a company owned by Billionaire Dominic Bright. She didn't really know who he was, as she wasn't familiar with the world of the rich and famous. Maybe that's why he fell into Samuel's trap so easily.

Therefore, to find out more about her possible new boss, she consulted Júlia.

It wasn't difficult to find her, she was working as a waitress in a bar at night, and during this period, Júlia stayed in the hospital, helping to take care of Hannah.

Nina arrived at the hospital, opens the room door slowly and sees her friend, watching something on TV with the girl.

Seeing that everything was fine, she doesn't enter the room and goes straight to the hospital locker room, there she takes a shower and puts on clean clothes, and only after feeling that all the smell of alcohol and cigarettes has left her body, she goes to the room .

When he returns and enters the room, he sees that Hannah has already slept. Júlia gets up, goes towards her and hugs her.

— Nina, how are you? Did any drunk disturb you today?

She hugs her friend tightly and then responds:

— No, today is Wednesday, so there hasn't been much movement. — she lets go of her friend, and lowers her head, discouraged — There were no annoying drunks, but I barely got any tips.

Júlia opens her purse, takes out some bills and puts them in Nina's hand.

Nina tries to push the notes back, giving it back.

— No, friend! The whole situation I put you in is enough.

— Accept it, Nina! I already told you, Hannah is not hers, she is ours. I'm here with you, you hear?

— You've already done a lot for us, taking on all the hospital bills and medicines is already a lot.

— You say it as if I had managed to pay for everything. — Julia says, smiling — Being in debt for a friend is better than being in debt for having maxed out your credit card buying shoes. I will definitely have a place in heaven. — she says with a wink.

— I promise I'll be able to work hard and get you out of this. — Nina says worriedly and Júlia, taking advantage of Nina's distraction, puts the money notes in her friend's pocket.

— Now come here, tell me something, do you have clothes for the interview? — Julia pulls her, and the two sit on the sofa.

— Yes, I do, mom bought me some clothes. She told me that I will definitely pass this interview and get this job. — Nina holds Júlia's hand and looks into space, continuing to speak — I really wanted to pass the interview, friend! In the email they sent me, they told me that the salary is three thousand, in addition to very good benefits. If I manage to pass, I will work hard, work overtime and continue working as a waitress at night. Our situation will certainly become much better.

— I have no doubt that you will work hard, but think about your health a little, okay? You need to be well, for Hannah.

They look at the girl, who was sleeping peacefully, it didn't even seem like her health was so fragile.

— I'll be fine, I have no other choice. — Nina gives a weak smile and then says — Speaking of the interview, do you know anything about this Dominic guy?

Júlia puts her finger on her chin, thoughtfully, then says:

— Hmmm… I don't know much. I just know that he disappeared from the spotlight a long time ago, I think about three years ago. Oh, it was at the same time that you discovered that was pregnant. Yes it was! — she says excitedly — Many speculations arose, they say that he went in search of the largest diamond ever found, other people said that he was sick and wanted to hide from the media... anyway, it seems that the last one isn't true, right? He came back and coincidentally is going to interview you.

Júlia furrows her eyebrows, thoughtfully, and after a while continues:

— Nina, how did you find this job opening?

— Well, I didn't think… — Nina arches her eyebrow and purses her lips, bringing them together, making a suspicious expression — I received an email with the invitation. — she relaxes in the chair and concludes — Anyway, I distributed my resume to almost all the employment agencies in this city, they probably thought I was like that. And don't say it like I'm the only one who's going to be interviewed, there will probably be a lot of candidates.