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Katia looked at Stefan in astonishment at that question and shook her head. Something inside her shrank at the thought of Oscar.

She watched as Stefan walked away while placing a hand on her heart. Lately, her mind had been occupied with thoughts of the German, and it was starting to worry her.

She closed her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed with her hand on her chest, her mind still fixated on the mulatto man, and her heart ached.

At that moment, she realized that he hadn't called her for several days, and that worried her.

Unable to help it, she started crying with her hands covering her face. She began to cry silently so that no one in the house would hear her. She didn't want to worry anyone, especially Stefan, who had nothing to do with her.

The next morning, she hadn't managed to sleep at all. She got out of bed with swollen, red eyes. In the end, she had spent the whole night crying without knowing why.

Her head also hurt.

When she checked the time on her phone, she saw that it was six forty-five in the morning. She got out of bed with her hand on her forehead and left the room, leaving the puppies on the bed.

At that moment, Stefan was coming out of his room wearing workout clothes and putting on headphones, but when he saw her, he stopped in his tracks.

He was surprised to see her up so early.

Katia wiped her cheeks and looked away, gripping her arm. He looked at her somewhat puzzled and approached her.

"Why do you have swollen eyes?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her face. She didn't respond. "Katia, please. We're grown-ups now, no need to be like this. Did I say something I shouldn't have last night?" She shook her head, still holding onto her arm. "Then why do your eyes look like tomatoes?" She gripped her arm even tighter. He sighed. "I'm going for a run. If you want, you can tell me what's bothering you when I get back."

With no response, he closed his eyes and turned to head down the stairs. Before starting to descend, he turned back to check if she was still standing in the same spot and in the same position.

Without giving it much thought, he descended the stairs.

Katia slowly turned her body and entered her room again. She lay down on the bed with care not to fall on Panda and Booby and stared at the ceiling.

He was right; they were already too old, at least no longer children, to be in this situation.

She needed to clarify things between them, or someone would get hurt, and that person might be her, possibly.

Unbeknownst to her, she fell asleep on her side on top of the bed, resembling a baby in the amniotic sac.

...

Stefan was comfortably seated on the living room sofa in the large mansion. He was waiting for Hilbert to watch the soccer match, F.C. Bayern München, also known as Bayern Munich, against Hamburger Sport-Verein, commonly referred to as Hamburger S.V.

He wasn't a fervent football fan, but he enjoyed it, especially the banter he and his friend Hilbert had when Bayern played against another team. The city's team was one of the strongest in the German Football League and reigning Bundesliga champions.

Their favorite match to watch was the F.C. Bayern München vs. Borussia Dortmund game, considered the German Grand Classic. It was the only game where all their friends gathered at someone's house and shouted like fanatics.

He glanced at the clock and was surprised that his friend hadn't knocked on the door yet. If he didn't hurry, the beers would get warm.

At that moment, he stood up and, as he turned around, saw Katia approaching the room, rubbing her eye. He put his hands on his hips while she rubbed her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked with a hint of teasing.

"Well, yes, I slept very well," she replied, looking at him and letting out a small yawn.

"Didn't you sleep last night?" At that moment, the doorbell rang, but it didn't divert Stefan's attention.

"Not much, but... Did you put me in bed?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I woke up in the bed and covered, and as far as I remember... I was on top of the sheets... Was it you?"

"Sir, the police are here," Jennel interrupted with a worried expression. "It's Inspector Müller."

"Alright," he told the woman. "Stay here, Katia, I'll be right back," he said to the young brunette.

Stefan left the living room, cracking his knuckles. Katia watched him silently.

"Why would the police be here?" she thought with a knot in her stomach.

Without warning, the young American woman also headed towards the door and stood at a safe distance, leaning against the wall. She was surprised to see the man, that Adriel Bayern from the supermarket parking lot.

Was he a police officer? It seemed that he was.

She noticed that Stefan looked more serious than usual while talking to this Adriel person and another man, slightly older than them, with some gray hair in his black hair. Both had their badges hanging from their necks.

Curious about what they were talking about, she approached the man she had married, and when she stood beside him, she asked, "Is something wrong, officers?"

"Didn't I ask you to stay in the living room?" Stefan said with a smile. He sighed when he saw her shake her head. "They've come because Odelia has been missing for several days, and since this is where she worked, it's the first place they decided to look." He directed the last words at Adriel.

"Odelia is missing?" Katia asked in surprise.

"Do you know her, ma'am?" the older man inquired.

"Well... to be honest, not much. I arrived here three weeks ago... but she was already working when I got here... but it's true I haven't seen her all week, at least since Monday," Katia replied, wrinkling her mouth and tilting her head slightly.

At that moment, Hilbert arrived with a seven-year-old boy, with Asian features, dark skin, short, disheveled hair, and an F.C. Bayern München shirt. In contrast, Hilbert wore the Hamburger S.V. shirt. The lawyer stood in silence as he entered the house and stopped beside his friend.

Katia shook her head and walked toward the living room since her foot hurt, and she didn't have her crutch. The boy looked at the adult he had arrived with, and the man nodded, and the boy ran off in the same direction as the young brunette.

"If you don't need anything else... I think you should leave," Stefan said after a pat to get the police inspector's attention.

"We'll be back," Müller said sternly, "and it will be to arrest you."

"For that, you'll need evidence against me, and there's nothing incriminating me," Stefan said with a half-smile.

"We'll keep an eye on you, make no mistake, and then you'll make a mistake, and we'll catch you," he said with a serious expression.

"Do you think I don't know they've been watching me for a while? They won't get what they want," Stefan said with his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants.

"Stefan, as your lawyer and friend, but more as a lawyer, I advise you not to say those kinds of things, and certainly not to engage in this game. He wants you to incriminate yourself," Hilbert advised.

"Let's make a bet," Stefan said, ignoring Hilbert's advice, which annoyed the lawyer. "If by September they haven't found anything to incriminate me, they'll leave me alone... but if they do find something, I'll voluntarily surrender when they come to arrest me." He challenged them with a half-smile. "But I already say that they won't find anything because I'm innocent."