Chapter 10 - What about Dad?

Aurora spent the afternoon immersed in the Bella Vista project. She opened a fresh spreadsheet, dividing columns by departments: engineering, architecture, material suppliers, inspections, budgeting. One by one, she listed the professionals connected to Grupo Estelaris and marked in red those also involved in the Flor Dourada project.

With a folder in hand, she began comparing invoices, contracts, and internal reports. The supplier seemed legitimate—dates matched, prices were fair, and deliveries were made on time. But the internal reports… that's where things fell apart.

Information was being tampered with after deliveries. Falsified overtime hours, duplicated material entries, inspections that had never taken place. She confirmed with three separate documents that the discrepancies were internal. Someone inside the company was manipulating data before it reached upper management.

She jotted everything down, compiled a summary with evidence, and saved the files. It was too early to name anyone, but too late to pretend she hadn't seen what was there. She sent everything to Leandro before shutting off her computer.

It had been a long day. On her way home, Aurora felt her head heavy, eyes tired. She caught a direct bus home, her body drained but her mind racing.

When she arrived, she found Davi playing with Amanda on the living room carpet. He lit up the moment he saw her and ran into her arms with his usual excitement.

"Mommy! Look at the castle we built!"

"It's beautiful, sweetheart," she said, kneeling beside him. "It's huge!"

"João said his dad builds real castles," he said proudly.

Aurora smiled, running her fingers through her son's hair.

"Really? That's cool."

"Do you know João's dad?"

"No, honey. But he must be a pretty great guy."

"João said his dad builds houses with his own hands. Not like your boss who tells others what to do." Amanda and Aurora both laughed.

Davi fell quiet for a second.

"Mommy… what about my dad?"

The question hit her like a jolt. She froze for a moment, looking at him. He was just curious, but it struck a very tender place inside her.

"What about him?"

"What does he do?"

Aurora took a deep breath, her stomach tightening.

"He builds houses too," she said with a soft sigh. "Not with his own hands like João's dad, but like my boss. He tells others what to do."

She stared into the distance as she spoke.

"Why doesn't he come see me?"

She swallowed hard. Because he doesn't know you exist… or he doesn't want to, she thought, looking at her son, who was still waiting for an answer.

"He can't. But mommy loves you for both of us, right?"

"Yeah," he said, still a little sad.

"Mommy loves you very, very much," she said, tickling him until he burst into laughter.

After a bath and dinner, she tucked him into bed and stayed there, watching him sleep for a few minutes. His peaceful face, his messy hair on the pillow. He was the most precious thing in her world.

But what would happen when he learned the truth?

Aurora went to bed late that night, but it took a long time for her to fall asleep. The spreadsheets, the names, the altered reports… and Davi's question. It all spun through her head, past and present colliding in waves.

She knew that soon she would have to face the two worlds she'd worked so hard to keep separate: the strong woman working alongside Leandro… and the young girl who ran away pregnant to start over.

And time was running out.

The next morning, Aurora arrived at the company early. She left her purse on her desk, powered up her computer, and quickly checked her emails. Then she dove into reports from other construction projects led by the same team. She looked for repeated mistakes and anomalies across unrelated teams. There was a pattern. It needed a closer look, but her suspicion was gaining ground.

"Good morning, Aurora," Leandro said, stepping into her office.

"Good morning, sir. I'm just finishing something quickly and I'll head to your office."

"Okay," he said, already turning to leave.

She closed the files and sent Leandro a quick summary of her morning notes before walking to his office. The door was half open. He was seated, coffee cup in hand, eyes fixed on his monitor.

"You did great work on the spreadsheets yesterday," he said as she took a seat in front of him.

"Thank you. This morning I started checking other projects to see if the pattern is new or if it's been happening for a while."

"Good. And the data's definitely being manipulated from the inside, just as I suspected—and as Henrique warned."

"The suppliers all seem clean, even the invoices. I've gone through over fifty documents already."

Leandro let out a long breath.

"We'll need an audit. An official one. And fast."

"Would you like me to organize it?"

"Henrique will take care of that, but I want you involved in the meetings with the auditor."

She nodded, surprised—and grateful—for the trust.

"I'll talk to Henrique and Rafael today. Can you come with me?"

"Of course. Just let me know what time."

"Ten o'clock."

"Okay, I'll finish today's report and confirm next week's schedule."

"Perfect. Go ahead."

She left and got back to her desk. Made a few calls, finished her weekly report, and filed the Bella Vista proposal.

At 9:50, Leandro came out of his office and called her. They rode together with the company driver to Rafael's firm.

"How's Davi?" Leandro asked, breaking the silence in the car.

"He's well, thank God. Yesterday one of his little school friends visited. He was really happy."

"That's good. We should plan a lunch at Rafael's place so he can play with the other kids."

She looked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to actually suggest something like that.

"He'd love that."

Once at the firm, she followed Leandro through the hallways to the executive floor. Henrique greeted them with his usual good mood, while Rafael, always more serious, was already reviewing documents from another project.

"Hi Aurora," Henrique said, giving her a warm hug.

"Hi. How are you?"

"Great. And how's little Davi?"

"Davi?" Leandro asked, giving him a pointed look.

"Her son. Obviously," Henrique replied.

"Getting pretty close, huh?"

Henrique raised his hands with a grin.

"The kid's my little bro."

Leandro gave him a long stare before turning away.

"Let's get to it."

Rafael, who had been watching the exchange quietly, cleared his throat and gestured toward the meeting table.

"Let's sit."

"Aurora did an analysis of the Flor Dourada spreadsheets," Leandro began as they settled in. "And compared them to data from other projects. The discrepancies aren't from the suppliers. It's internal."

Henrique nodded with a deep sigh.

"Exactly what I thought. We need to act carefully, without raising suspicion."

"And without removing anyone too early," Rafael added. "If whoever's behind this realizes they're being watched, they'll start covering their tracks."

Aurora opened her notebook and skimmed her notes.

"I mapped out everyone involved in Flor Dourada and in two other projects showing similar data. Some names repeat. Those people and projects should be the audit's first focus."

Henrique leaned over the table.

"Should we bring in someone from outside?"

"Yes," Leandro confirmed. "Someone discreet, with experience in corporate investigations. Fast, too."

"He'll pose as a process improvement consultant," Rafael added. "No department will suspect a thing."

"I can write the cover letter and draft a fake schedule," Aurora offered. "That way we can justify the consultant's presence."

Leandro nodded, satisfied.

"Perfect."

"I spoke to Rafael about Arnaldo," Henrique said, opening a WhatsApp contact. "You remember him?"

"Yeah. I do."

"He's perfect for this. Already worked some low-key audits with great results."

"Great. You handle it all quietly. Aurora joins the meetings. I'll only show up for external ones to avoid suspicion."

Henrique stood.

"Leave it to me. You'll have everything by tomorrow—name, profile, setup."

Rafael glanced at Aurora with a faint smile.

"You're going way beyond your original role, huh?"

She smiled, a little shy.

"Just trying to help however I can."

"And you are," Leandro added with a small grin.

Henrique arched a brow.

"So… are you staying for another meeting or heading off to lunch with that little spark in the air?"

Aurora gave Leandro a quick glance, unsure how to react. Leandro just raised an eyebrow at Henrique.

"Go back to work, Henrique."

"I'm going, I'm going," he laughed, walking away—but not without winking at Aurora, who shook her head, half amused, half embarrassed.

As they left the meeting room, Leandro waited by the elevator.

"Any place you'd like to go today?"

"You choose. As long as the food's good, I'm in."

"Then I think I know just the place."

They walked out of the firm side by side. Their roles at work remained clear, but something in the air had shifted—a quiet warmth, a growing bond that was slowly extending beyond job descriptions.

Aurora still had a lot to sort out—at work, and within herself. But for now, she let herself enjoy the idea of… just having lunch.