— Malú, I can explain. – claims Ícaro, trying to hold Malú's arm, who breaks free, shocked by the revelation — Wait, don't go.
The door opens once more and Graziela and Thiago come out. Malú's father positions himself between his daughter and brother, showing that he is irritated by the latter's presence.
—What do you think you're doing here? – asks Thiago — You were supposed to have disappeared from our lives.
— Malú deserves my explanations. I came for her. – Answers Ícaro — Please, brother, I need to talk to her.
— You had sixteen years to tell her about Malú and to tell her about us and you refused. For greed, envy, revenge, whatever. – accuses Thiago — You lost that right. As well as the right to call me brother, you bastard.
— Thiago, I know you're angry, but only Malú can tell me what to do. – claims Ícaro looking at his niece — Tell Malú, do you want to hear what I have to say?
Malú puts her hands on her throat and starts to cry. He still doesn't know what happened, but she comes to the conclusion that even if she hadn't lost her voice, she doesn't want to hear anything from Ícaro. He's just like everyone around him... A pack of lions and vultures just waiting for her to fall.
Malú runs up the stairs, leaving Ícaro without any answer. He looks at his brother and the two women behind Thiago, not knowing what to do.
— Get out of here. – orders Thiago calmly — Go on your way... She has a father now and only me Malú needs.
— No… – Ícaro refuses, shaking his head — She needs me, because I'm sure what Malú told me, she still feels.
—I find that difficult, but what did she tell you? – asks Thiago ironically.
— She said I'm her father. – replies Ícaro — And I think so too.
Thiago advances on top of Ícaro throwing him to the ground. He punches his brother until blood starts to come out of his face. Ícaro holds him and turns him, getting on top of him and punching Thiago's ribs. The fight intensifies even with the screams of Graziela and Vera asking them to stop. Ícaro is already hanging Thiago when Maria Luísa arrives in the hall of her house.
— What's going on here? – Asks the matriarch irritated — Get off the ground!
The two get up panting and not taking their eyes off each other. Graziela goes to the groom's side, pulling him away from his brother.
—Get out of my house, Ícaro. – orders Maria Luisa with the security guards at her side.
— Your home? – asks Ícaro — This house is as mine as yours.
— No, it is not. This house belongs to my family and therefore you no longer have access to it. Security, get this man out of here and let everyone know his entry is no longer welcome. – Orders Maria to the security guards who are ready.
— You can't do that, Maria. – exclaims Ícaro irritated — This is my house!
—You don't have anything here, Ícaro. – Maria Luisa replies, approaching her stepson. — You are not part of my family.
The security guards hold Ícaro, who faces his brother in disbelief. They lead him to the door of the house with some resistance on his part.
—If you think it will turn out like this, you are wrong. – Threat Ícaro — MALU! I PROMISE I COME TAKE YOU OUT OF THIS FAMILY! PROMISE FOR YOUR MOTHER!
Everyone is silent watching Ícaro being carried out of the mansion. Thiago goes to the kitchen being accompanied by his mother, while the two sisters stare at each other without understanding what was happening.
— Wow, what a mess. – exclaims Vera, surprised.
— There's a lot more to this story than we know, Vera. And there is only one person who can clarify all this for us. – Grazi comments, looking enigmatically at her sister.
***
Malú cannot close her eyes, not remembering the scene that took place in the hall. Aline's words make perfect sense. She sits on the bed thinking about how to get out of that house, then hears someone knocking lightly on her door. He thinks about not opening it, but the person insists once more. Malú gets up and opens the door and is surprised when she sees Graziela on the other side.
— Hello Malú, can we talk? – he asks his stepmother.
Malú moves away from the door, allowing Graziela to enter her room. She crosses her arms facing her stepmother, waiting for what Grazi has to say.
—I'd like to know... How are you? – asks Grazi Analyzing the young woman's room. She looks at her future stepdaughter who has a curious expression and continues to show a weak smile on her face — I've been in the same place as you today. I know what it's like to lose... A mother when you're too young and have to deal with an absent father.
Malú passes by Grazi and sits on the bed. She takes the tablet she is carrying and writes:
"How was it? How did you handle it?"
—It was very painful. Unlike you, my father didn't really care about us – Grazi answers, approaching the bed. — Can I sit down? – She asks, then receives a positive nod from Malú and sits down — I was lucky to have a sister by my side who I could count on... Otherwise I would be wearing men's clothes, bitter and hating my father. Things won't pass quickly and you won't love your father overnight, but I hope you can forgive your father the way I couldn't forgive mine.
“Impossible to love someone who never cared about me and didn't even care about me. As much as he didn't know about me. ” Malú replies.
—So he didn't know you existed? – asks Grazi, surprised.
"No".
— So you are in the same situation, but apparently Ícaro was fully aware of its existence, at least that's what we could see...
“Yes and that hurts me more. I'll be thinking about my Aunt Aline when I find out."
—So you have an aunt? – Graziela asks arching her eyebrow — That's good, she can help you deal with all this. You don't have to deal with... This family, as you can see, the environment is horrible.
“I wanted to live with her, but she's just a considerate aunt. She was my mother's best friend, but she couldn't have custody of me... yet."
— I'm sorry Malú. – asks Graziela, holding the young woman's hand — Look, I know what they say about stepmothers, I even had one like that. But I promised myself that if I ever had a stepdaughter or stepson, I wouldn't do to them what they did to me. So if you need to vent, let me know. I'm a good listener, I swear.
"Thank you" thanks Malú, trying to smile.
— Whenever you need it. – answers Graziela. She gets up from the bed. — I'll be going, I think you need some time to process all this. I hope that one day all these things will become just bad memories...
“Have they already become memories for you?” asks Malú.
— I wishes. – mutters Graziela, before leaving.
***
Graziela leaves Malú's room and is intercepted by her sister who was waiting for her in the hallway, distressed.
—So how was it in there? – Vera asks, curious.
— Thiago didn't know about her, but Ícaro did. Apparently, there's a girl who knows the whole story. That's all, not to mention she has the same look we had when our mother died. Completely aimless. – Graziela replies, frustrated.
— Very good. But you could have asked more, Graziela – scolds Vera — I need to know what I'm dealing with, in case anything else appears in the media.
—I don't think you heard me, she's shaken. I think it was a bad idea to have talked to her. – Graziela concludes walking down the hall.
— Quite the contrary. – denies Vera, holding her sister's arm — That was a good idea, especially coming from you. Create a bond with her and we will have an asset in our hands. Who knows, maybe she doesn't appear on the platform with Thiago from now on? Our! This would leverage Thiago's candidacy and even guarantee the elections. This girl ended up coming to serve something.
— But Thiago asked not to involve his daughter in all this. – recalls Graziela.
—But that's easy to fix. Just convince the girl to want to go with her father on the campaign and Thiago will accept.
—But that's wrong! – argues Graziela, upset by her sister's attitude.
— Santa Grazi! – exclaims Vera sarcastically — I thought I'd learned something from Dad and that woman. Always having the cake ready while people are going with the flour. We need to be willing to do anything to get what we want. And what I want is a table in the National Congress for your husband's alternate. I want to earn 35, 000, off thirteenth, fourth, and fifth salaries. In addition to my private driver, home, vacation... So I'll do everything I can to get that.
—Manipulating people? Is this how you will conquer all this? – asks Grace.
—Yes. – Vera replies smiling — And I will do much more, even if I have to get some stones out of my way. You know, Grazi, you can't judge me. You are as dirty as I am.
—What? As well? – asks Grazi, confused.
—Which is little sister? Do you really think I don't know that you manipulated Thiago into marrying you? – Vera Lúcia asks, smiling — How many years have you been together? Ten years?
— Twelve years old. – corrects Graziela sadly.
—And how many more would it take to marry you? – Vera asks, fiddling with her bag — I know the answer: Everyone! He would never have married you if he hadn't said he was pregnant. Besides losing the baby, just when he needed votes. All very convenient... Dad always thought you were naive, pure, sweet, but I always saw the potential for evil in my sister.
— I'm not bad. – answers Grazi, upset — I would never lie to Thiago!
— Okay, if you didn't lie to him, I'll change my name to Bozo. – Vera replies, applying lipstick on her lips. She puts her makeup away and stares at Irma — Look, I like your strategy, I'm not condemning you and I'll never tell him. You are my sister and we protect family members. Now I need to go to the police station to see if they've found the suspect.
Graziela nods her head positively, not really caring where her sister would go. She walks down the hall slowly, head down.
Malú closes the bedroom door very slowly and goes back to bed with her arms around her head . I'm surrounded by snakes, but can I trust Graziela? She defended me against her sister, but she lied to my father about a son, just to marry him. What do I do?
***
The noise of Malú's cell phone message forces her to get out of bed and desperately look for the device. He's almost certain it's Aline wanting to know if they've arrived safely. She's already rehearsing what she's going to tell her aunt about everything that happened at dinner and about Ícaro. How will she handle all this?
The bedroom door is opened abruptly, allowing Maria Luísa and Adelaide to enter, scaring Malú, who sits on the bed, facing the two of them. What do they want now? As much as Maria Luísa doesn't want to admit it, her resemblance to her granddaughter is incredible, they just don't look alike anymore because of Malú's badly cut hair.
— Apparently, she's already adapted to her new room. – comments Maria Luísa, looking at her granddaughter from top to bottom: t-shirt, shorts, short disheveled hair and three holes in her ears, everything the matriarch hates most about seeing a woman wearing. She prays that her granddaughter doesn't have any hidden tattoos on her body, which would be the icing on the cake to declare her a marginal in the making. Hands a paper to granddaughter, explaining — This is your weekly schedule, with all your daily activities and obligations. I ask you to follow them strictly, because in this house we have schedules and obligations to follow, so don't get in the way so as not to interfere with the schedules of others. You understood?
Malú nods her head, indicating that she has understood every acidic word that came out of her grandmother's lips. She opens the paper that looks more like a schedule with all the days and times filled in, including Sunday.
— So, I'll go over topic, by topic of the week – Maria comments, adjusting her gray suit — Breakfast is served between six until six forty–five, but it's important that you join us from six, without delay, so it will not interfere with the service of Adelaide and the servants. Adelaide, as you know, has been our housekeeper for years and will be here to serve you in whatever you need. At seven o'clock, Jaime, the family driver, will take you to your new school, Erasto Gaertner, the college where all the members of our family studied. Lunch time follows the same instruction as the cafe and will be the same for dinner. You will also have, starting tomorrow, psychology sessions and a consultation with a speech therapist who we are still looking for for your treatment, we are doing it intensively, so that you get better soon. And the singing lessons were recommended by her speech therapist in Minas Gerais, even if she is aphonic, he said it will be a great exercise for her vocal cords. There will still be courses in English, computers and at school, a German course. Ballet Tuesday and Thursday, to help you have a decent posture. Painting classes, as all the women in this family can paint and, of course, etiquette classes. Etiquette classes will be taught by me and I do not tolerate delays. You will also have free hours, but they can be occupied with our family's social events, without prior notice or arrangement. Sleep time must be followed without fail. So much so that ten minutes before the time, internet access is blocked. No television, computer or cell phone. I know that in your house, things were a little... free , but here there are rules and you will follow them. Adelaide has brought her school uniform that she will wear tomorrow. Any questions, look for it. Have a good night.
Maria Luísa leaves the room leaving only Malú with Adelaide. The girl looks at the maid who is arranging her new uniform in the closet. Tears start to run down the face of the young woman, who aggressively tries to wipe them away.
— What's wrong, girl?– Adelaide asks, approaching her. — Did something happen?
“I hate this family, I want to get out of here! I want my life back!" writes Malú.
—Don't say that, they're your family too. – the housekeeper claims.
“No they are not. They are terrible people... all of them! Even Ícaro is cruel and bad...”.
—No, they are people who live in a cruel world. – Adelaide explains, sitting on the bed — All of them, even Mr. Ícaro, have gone through trials in life that leave deep marks. I'm sure he did it to protect you... As he wasn't protected when he arrived in this house.
"Like this?" asks Malú.
— Miss Maria Luisa, my family has always worked in this house. And I followed the story of each of them. Even Mr. Ícaro's, and I can tell you if you want.
Malú wipes her tears and waves, saying she wants to know the story behind the man who destroyed her family.