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That same day, Tadeus heads to the Singer mansion to talk to his father, but decides to stop by and say hello to his sister first. The butler tells him she's with Elena in the backyard. Tadeus watches them chat and water the flowers for a few seconds before going through the sliding door. — Good afternoon. How are you? — he announces himself.
— Hi, Tadeus. It's been a while — Elena replies, approaching — How's everything?
— Fine, I've been a bit busy — Tadeus answers. He glances in his sister's direction, but she doesn't come over.
— Are you staying for dinner? I'll ask Lucille to make you a dish — Elena says and heads to the kitchen.
Tadeus decides to approach Yenedith, but as soon as she sees him, she starts walking quickly toward the sliding door into the living room. — Yen, please, we need to talk.
— You were never going to tell me, were you? — she says — Now that I know, it turns out you wanna talk.
— Who told you it was my decision? — Tadeus asks. He takes her arm and pulls her closer to speak more quietly — Do you really think I wouldn't do everything I could to keep her alive? I did everything I could; she's the one who refused!
Yenedith squirms to get Tadeus to let go, but says nothing. — I took her for the tests and treatments so she could have the surgery. I told her I had gotten a raise and that I'd be able to take out a big loan because of it.
— The surgery didn't work? — Yenedith asks.
— On the day of the surgery, she simply refused. I don't know if it was because she found out or if she simply gave up on life, but that was never my decision — Tadeus says. Yenedith feels a knot in her throat that fills her eyes with tears.
— I'm so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me — she says, resting her chin on her brother's shoulder.
— It's this place, these people. Don't believe anything they tell you — he says gently, while stroking the back of her head.
— We'll have beef with cheese and spinach for dinner. Yenedith, will you come with me? — Elena asks from the living room.
— I thought Lucille was doing the shopping — she replies, walking over.
— I like to make sure I eat good quality food — Elena says. Yenedith nods, and they both head out to the garage where they get into the truck D'mitri is driving. Charles gets in the passenger seat, and they begin their trip to the supermarket.
— Did you also study accounting? — Elena asks after a while — I heard you were in the factory accountant's office.
— I just wanted to know the budgets to plan the marketing campaign, — Yenedith replies — I've made a lot of progress with the stores. The reports show a twenty-five percent increase in sales.
– That's impressive, Yenedith! — Elena says, smiling — That's something to celebrate!
— Thank you.
— It's great that your brother is home; we can celebrate properly.
— I don't think it's necessary.
— Your successes are very important — Elena says. Yenedith remains silent the rest of the time.
Meanwhile, Tadeus is in his father's office, sitting in a brown leather armchair away from the desk. He's been silent for a few minutes since he arrived, until he says — You have to be a real bastard to try to turn her against me. The call? Seriously?
— Be careful with the way you talk to your father.
— As if you cared about us that much.
— I thought you were here for an important matter — Edwin remarks.
— So I'm not welcome in your house if I don't bring you news? — Tadeus asks. He approaches the desk but doesn't sit down — You kidnap her, you take her away from her family, and now you want to convince her with lies too.
— Speak up already — Edwin orders.
— Go to hell! — Tadeus says.
Edwin gets up from his chair to slap him, to which Tadeus responds with a kick to his stomach. — Alexander invited me to his birthday party — Tadeus says, while Edwin doubles over in pain.
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At dinner, Elena proposed a toast to Yenedith's work and gave her the opportunity to explain her marketing campaign to allocate more resources to that part of the company. After dinner, Yenedith decides to go see her friend Gem, who greets her cheerfully. — I'll order lasagna for dinner with red wine. What do you think?
— I'm fine, I just had dinner — Yenedith says.
— Okay, go on up — she says, gesturing — I'll be up in a minute — she adds, noticing her downcast expression. Gem decides to order the lasagna despite what her friend says, because she senses it will be needed later.
When she goes up to the room, they both sit cross-legged on the bed, where Yenedith tells her about her doubts. — It seems like nobody really knows the whole story. It's possible your brother did make the call to refuse his dad's help, but it's also possible he did it at your mom's request — Gem says — I don't think either of them is lying.
— What bothers me is that all of this happened almost two years ago, and he never intended to tell me — Yenedith says — If Edwin hadn't found us, Tadeus would never have told me.
— It must have been difficult for him too. He told you he was personally involved in helping your mom recover, and then suddenly she says she doesn't want anything anymore… I mean, I imagine that must have hurt him a lot — Gem says — To think that his mom might have given up.
— I hadn't thought of it that way — Yenedith says — But why wouldn't she want to spend more time with us?
— If you're asking that question, the answer is that she had to keep fighting her illness to spare you all the pain of missing her — Gem replies.
— I'm being very selfish, aren't I? — Yenedith says. She takes a deep breath and leans back, resting the backs of both hands on her forehead. Gem leans toward her friend, propping herself up on her elbows beside her. — It's hard to think there was hope when it's all over.
Yenedith looks at her with a faint smile, but her eyes express something more than simple sadness. Gem decides to hug her, and they remain silent until they fall asleep.
In the morning, Yenedith and Gem decide to spend the weekend out of town. — Yes, I'll let you know when I get back. I'll be fine — Yenedith assures her brother as she heads for the exit. After hanging up, she's surprised to see Charles asleep in the driver's seat and wakes him by tapping on the window. — What are you doing here? Why didn't you come in?
– I didn't think it would take so long, miss — he replies.
— I'm sorry, next time I'll invite you in — Yenedith says.
When they arrive at the mall, Jimena insists on buying something at a swimsuit store she saw online. Despite having enough clothes at home, Yenedith prefers not to return to the Singer's mansion for a while.
After buying what she needs, Yenedith approaches one of the men's clothing stores belonging to her father's company. — Come here, I need you to tell me your size — Yenedith says, addressing Charles.
— I'm a size L. But why are you asking me that, miss?
— If you're coming with us as my bodyguard, you'll need clothes too.
— But you don't have to buy them yourself. I can ask Lucille to send me a suitcase with D'mitri — Charles says.
— I don't want them to know where I am or where I'm going, and I hope you won't tell them either — Yenedith says — Besides, I'd like to apologize for you staying out all night. That was rude of me.
Charles insists that he can go get his clothes himself or buy new ones, but Yenedith refuses. If they gave her a credit card, she's going to spend whatever she wants as compensation for the psychological damage they've caused her.