By morning, Livia had become a villain in thousands of mouths.
She did not have to read every comment to feel them. They seeped into the house through screens, alerts, clipped headlines, and the careful faces of people trying not to look worried when she entered. Patricia had printed a summary for Dante and refused, mercifully, to show it to Livia unless asked.
Livia asked.
She regretted it before the second headline.
Single mother hid billionaire's son for five years.
Unknown woman returns as heir scandal shakes Vasconcelos empire.
Was the child concealed for money?
Mother or opportunist?
The worst used an old photograph from a Vasconcelos event five years earlier. Livia recognized herself with difficulty: tired eyes, plain uniform, hair pinned badly after a twelve-hour shift. Som
