At the age of seven, I cried demanding to marry my neighbor.

I grew up.

She was no longer the seven-year-old girl who cried demanding marriage in the middle of the yard.

I studied a lot. I went to a good university in São Paulo. I graduated with honors in Finance. Everyone said I had a promising future.

But deep in my heart… there was always a space saved for Gabriel.

I didn’t know where he was.

I didn’t know what kind of life I was leading.

I didn’t even know if he still remembered me.

But every time I felt tired, frustrated, or afraid that I wasn’t good enough, I remembered his words:

“First, study law.”

And he moved on.

On the day I entered the headquarters of the Almeida Brasil Group, one of the largest corporations in the country, located in the heart of Avenida Faria Lima, I took a deep breath and said to myself:

I just want them to hire me. I’m not asking for anything else.

The Interview That Changed Everything

The interview room was large, elegant and cold.

Glass, steel, silence and expensive perfume.

I sat with my spine upright, answered the committee’s questions confidently, and did my best to hide my nervousness. Everything seemed to be going well… until the door opened.

A man entered.

Everyone in the room stood up immediately.

“The CEO,” someone whispered.

My heart missed a beat.

He was taller than I remembered. The impeccable suit, the firm look, the presence of someone who was used to commanding and being obeyed without having to raise his voice.

But the face…

The face was eerily familiar.

His eyes scanned the room until they stopped on me.

And they stayed.

For too long.

Enough time for my chest to tighten.

Then he smiled.

And that single expression made something inside me tremble in an old, almost forgotten way.

With a deep voice and a slight tone of provocation, he asked:

“You came to apply… to be the wife of the CEO?

PART 2

The silence in the meeting room of the Almeida Brasil Group became so heavy that it seemed possible to touch it.

The other three interviewers exchanged terrified looks, as if they did not know if the CEO had gone crazy for good or had just blatantly flirted with the most brilliant candidate in the selection.

I felt as if the chair disappeared from under me.