Chapter 47 Katherine realized, at that moment, that the game of identities had just become dangerously
At that moment, Thor approached, carrying a bag with several balls in his mouth. The dog, in a display of innocent greed, tried to bite two balls at the same time. When he squeezed one, the other jumped out and rolled across the lawn.
João crouched down, picked up the ball that had fallen, and said to the animal, although his eyes were fixed on Katherine: “If you've already bitten one, don't covet the second. In the end, those who try to have the best of both worlds always end up empty-handed.”
Katherine felt the weight of the metaphor. Was he warning her? Or was he talking about his own double life? She realized that continuing this conversation would be like entering a minefield where her every word would be used as evidence.
“I'll leave it here,” she said, placing the amulet on a nearby marble bench. “What you do with it is up to you.”
She turned her back and walked away, feeling his gaze burning the back of her neck.
João Pedro watched her figure disappear before picking up the amulet. As he squeezed the fabric, he felt something hard inside. A small round bead, deep and dull gray, was stuck in the fold of the knot. The moment he pressed it, a subtle and indescribable aroma was released. It was fresh, purifying, like the smell of the earth after a summer storm.
He squeezed the small sphere between his fingers, sinking into thoughtful silence.
In her bedroom, after a hot shower, Katherine was trying to relax at her desk. She picked up a red string bracelet she was weaving—a complex technical piece, where each transparent bead functioned as a tiny reservoir for solid fragrance spheres.
She was placing the last beads when she realized her mistake. One was missing. The main bead, the most powerful one.
She searched frantically across the table until the memory hit her. The amulet. It must have fallen in there while she was rushing to prepare it.
Before she could decide whether to return to the sports field, she heard three firm knocks on the door.
She opened it just a crack, holding the doorknob like a shield. João Pedro stood there, the light from the hallway highlighting his aristocratic features.
“What is it?” she asked.
João raised his hand, holding the small gray bead between his thumb and forefinger. There was a glint of dangerous curiosity in his eyes. “What is this?”
Katherine raised an eyebrow, regaining her bold composure. “Is Mr. Arbex now interested in girls' trinkets?”
João took a step forward, forcing her to back away slightly. “This ‘trinket’ has the same chemical stabilizing base as the perfume you gave me today at the Tower.”
The silence that followed was absolute. Katherine realized, at that moment, that the game of identities had just become dangerously shorter.
João Pedro looked up at her, handing her the fragrance bottle with a deliberate gesture. “Don't be so careless next time,” he said, his deep voice vibrating in the narrow space between them.
There was a silence of a few seconds, during which his gaze seemed to pierce Katherine's defenses, searching for something she was not yet ready to reveal. She sensed that he had more to say, a question or an accusation, and prepared herself for the confrontation. However, unexpectedly, he turned around and left without saying another word.
Katherine leaned against the doorframe, watching his imposing figure walk away down the hallway. That man is an irritating enigma, she thought. As soon as he was out of sight, she closed the door and completed her bracelet, fitting the gray sphere into the last compartment.
She shook her wrist, listening to the soft tinkling of the beads, and picked up her cell phone to contact Adam. \[Inform the auctioneer that I will be present.\]
On Monday, the atmosphere at the college was anything but academic. After two dense English classes, the bell rang for the dreaded Professor Wilson's math class.
Katherine walked calmly to her seat, but when she opened her desk drawer, a cascade of colorful envelopes fell at her feet.
“Wow, Katherine!” Gabriel Park, with his impeccably slicked-back hair, widened his eyes. “You have a collection of love letters here that would make a movie star jealous.”
He bent down to pick up a few, scattering them playfully across her desk. “But these are too common. Look what I brought you.”
Diego, the class clown, appeared with a small black heart-shaped box, waving it around with theatrical mystery. “Ta-da!”
He opened the lid and a mechanical pig dressed in a swan tutu jumped out. The doll displayed its buttocks in a classic ballet pose as it spun to the sound of a music box melody. Diego began to hum, moving from side to side in front of Katherine: “Be my girlfriend... be my girlfriend...”
Katherine watched the scene with icy coldness. Without moving, she tilted her head slightly to look past Diego and said, in a deliberately audible tone: “Teacher, he's bothering me.”
Diego froze in his dance pose, with one leg raised and his hands holding the music box. He turned his head mechanically, only to be hit squarely by Professor Wilson's math book.
“GABRIEL PARK!” thundered the teacher.
“Teacher, let me explain...”
"Shut up! The monthly test is in a few days and you still have time for these romantic antics? I'm warning you: if you fail this time, I'll criticize you by name at the next parent-teacher meeting! I want to see if your parents have any shame!
The teacher then turned to the rest of the class, his fury unabated. “And you, Katherine! And you, Anders! Don't think I don't see you looking at Dandara Arbex instead of looking at your book. You're driving me crazy!”
Behind her book, Nísia smiled imperceptibly. Her cell phone was strategically positioned, recording every word of the public humiliation. In the next second, the video was sent to her mother, Rosana. \[Mom, Katherine is involved in a romantic scandal at college.\]