Chapter 117 Chapter 117
All eyes turned to Daniel Lutz. Knowing there was no way to dodge the question, the patriarch remained silent for a few seconds, digesting the public humiliation.
“Katherine Lutz, in fact, doesn't know much about blending fragrances,” Daniel said solemnly, his voice sounding heavy.
“This draft was given to her by her mother to play with, and most of the formulas in it are... random. Nísia is still young, and in her eagerness for quick success, she made mistakes. This caused today's misunderstanding. I apologize for wasting everyone's time with this.”
Saying those words was like swallowing hot coals for Daniel. His pride was wounded, and his cold tone barely concealed that he was speaking only to save what remained of the Lutz family's reputation.
Nísia, realizing that her father had sealed her fate, hurried to make one last tearful apology.
“Uncle, aunt, I'm sorry... I was confused with my studies... my mind betrayed me...”
“Enough, Nísia,” Daniel interrupted grimly, suppressing his disgust. “Go home now and don't disturb our guests any further.”
With tears smudging her expensive makeup and under the contemptuous glances of the entire elite present, Nísia had no choice. Without even lifting the skirt of her ball gown, she turned to flee that stage of defeat.
“Wait.”
A man's voice suddenly rang out. It was soft as an autumn breeze, but to Nísia, it sounded like a ghostly whisper that pinned her to the ground.
João Arbex wasn't done with her.
A cold shiver ran down Nísia's spine, paralyzing her in place.
It was his voice. João Arbex.
What did he intend to do now? The panic, which was already latent, became deafening. Daniel Lutz also turned his gaze to João, feeling a growing uneasiness. Subconsciously, he was transported back to that night in the courtyard of the Arbex estate, under the pale light of the streetlights, remembering the fearless and penetrating gaze of that young man. On that occasion, João had declared that if Katherine wanted him to, he would be her fiancé without hesitation. Daniel knew that there was a dangerous indulgence behind those words and that now João would hardly let Nísia get away with it.
However, Daniel felt his dignity wounded.
Disciplining a member of the Lutz family was his prerogative, and João's intervention sounded like a direct affront. “The focus of tonight's banquet is not Nísia,” Daniel interrupted, trying to regain control of the narrative. “I will deal with her discipline as soon as we get home. Please continue eating; don't let this inappropriate behavior spoil the mood.”
Grandpa, you agree, don't you?
Daniel appealed to the authority of the Arbex patriarch, hoping that respect for his elder would silence any conflict. He knew that no one dared to disobey Grandpa. But the old master, although he valued the decades-long friendship between the families, did not like Daniel's attempt to stifle the incident so abruptly.
“Since the incident occurred at the Arbex home,” Grandpa replied, with a cordiality that carried unquestionable weight, “it is best that we resolve it here, as the family we have been for decades. There is no need for such rigid divisions between us.”
Daniel swallowed hard, unable to counter such diplomacy. It was the perfect moment for João Arbex to act.
“Miss Oliveira,” said João, his voice sounding soft and polite, but falling on Nísia like a snowstorm in the middle of summer. “You still have something to say, don't you?”
That kindness was, in fact, invisible pressure crushing Nísia's lungs. She looked at that sculpted face, where a vague melancholy hid a sinister coldness, and remembered when he had expelled her from the East Wing as if she were an insignificant ant.
Trembling, Nísia felt her lips falter.
“I... I have something to say,” she stammered, her voice fading. “I apologize to everyone. I'm sorry, cousin João... I was... bewitched by a moment of weakness and made a terrible mistake. I'll never do it again. Please forgive me, Katherine. Forgive me!”
With a hasty, deep bow to Katherine Lutz, Nísia fled the hall, ashamed and trembling. Her words sounded mechanical, devoid of any real sincerity, merely a formality to escape João's relentless judgment.
The patriarch watched her departure, let out a heavy sigh, and, with the tact of one who masters social etiquette, changed the course of the conversation. The other guests promptly followed suit, burying the scandal under new layers of trivial dialogue.
João, however, leaned back in his chair with a solemn expression, visibly dissatisfied with the lenient punishment. Katherine remained silent, drinking water with her eyes downcast, immersed in her own impenetrable thoughts.
In a gesture that seemed to ignore all the chaos around him, João picked up the juiciest shrimp from the table and placed them delicately on her plate. He leaned in slightly, the scent of his shower gel enveloping Katherine's senses, and whispered in a tone that only she could hear:
“Don't waste your time worrying about insignificant people.”
His voice was a warm murmur, a refuge of protection amid the falseness of the banquet, making it clear that, to him, no one else in that room mattered but her.
Katherine paused for a few seconds, allowing the intensity of the moment to dissipate before regaining her usual armor of ice. She looked at the shrimp on her plate and then at João's face, which remained there, immersed in a tranquility that almost irritated her because it was so welcoming.
“It has nothing to do with her,” Katherine replied, her voice devoid of any emotion. To her, Nísia was such an insignificant figure that she didn't even deserve the effort of her anger.
She held his gaze for a moment, noticing how the banquet lights reflected in the deep blue of his pupils.
“I'm not a child, stop putting food on my plate,” she scolded, although her tone was less sharp than usual.
Those words, instead of pushing João away, softened the man's cold expression. A slight smile, almost imperceptible to anyone who didn't know him, appeared on his lips. He leaned slightly, the scent of mint and warmth enveloping her once again.
“As you wish,” he whispered, his hoarse voice laden with a promise of obedience that Katherine knew was only apparent.