Episode 3

Renato rises listlessly from his desk and kisses his mother in greeting; she detects the scent of whiskey in the room and frowns, yet on him, it appears not a single drop lingers.

"Son, tell me you haven't been drinking to oblivion?"

"Mom, I just had a few drinks and spilled a glass; I've already asked for the carpet to be cleaned."

"That man is not worth your suffering." She takes him by the shoulders to look him in the eye. "Forget all he told you; you need to be happy. Start a family, have a wife who loves you, and give you children."

"I don’t plan on bringing any child into this world, much less to be marked as the chosen one."

"That's nonsense." Abril is losing her composure, for years she’s had the same talk and he doesn’t see reason, pacing like a caged lioness until she looks at him furiously and says, "Look at my face; I've lived with this all my life," pointing to her eye. "And no madman will ruin my joy of seeing my eldest son start a family and be happy. Because listen well, you are Renato Rinalde, you have nothing to do with that lunatic and I know that our blood doesn’t run through your veins, but your heart was forged with the most pure and sincere love there is and it's time for my Reni to come back."

"Mom, I'm sorry, but that child you long to see again is stuck in the past."

"What are you afraid of? Look at your brothers; none were born with any birthmark, that theory is false."

"I fear that everything written in those diaries is true." He confesses at last, kneeling on the floor and crying like a child. "I fear that if I fall for an innocent woman, I might commit the same madness as that man and kill someone."

"Son." Abril kneels beside him, uncaring that her dress wrinkles, and embraces him. "That will never happen. That man wrote many incoherencies; you mustn't heed them."

Abril holds her son with much love, and he rests on her lap as he did as a child, she soothes his head until he finally calms down, yet her mind is on the day they received a box.

Ten years prior, still in Spain when they were notified of Lucas Tenesi's death, there were mere hours left before their flight home when the mansion's doorbell echoed in the space. Opening the door, a postal worker held out a box, a package sent from the penitentiary containing all the deceased's possessions. Abril refused to accept it, but Renato still sought some answers and took delivery under the condition that it could only be opened in Italy and in the presence of his parents, so they traveled home with a looming curiosity in their minds.

Upon opening the parcel, its contents were chilling, with books and notebooks explaining the chosen one's theory, how he'd lead a life of misery and the atrocities he might commit by having an heir with the mark of evil. The only valuable thing that truly served the poor boy was finding a photograph of his mother; the woman was very beautiful, blonde, wavy-haired, and with the same eye color as Renato. Of all the things in that eerie chest, it was the only thing he kept, as that woman gave her life to protect her baby. Seeing the boy absorbed in those pages, reading day and night, turning his son colder and more distant by the day, Facundo opted to get rid of it all, but it was already too late. The damage had cut deep into the young man's heart, and he never got the answer he wanted; he was just looking to see his father repent, and that never happened.

Renato stands and helps Abril to her feet. He hugs her affectionately and says,

"I'm sorry, mom, but it's late and I must get ready for a meeting."

"Renato, go home and rest a while."

"I will."

"Son, by the way, I gave Helen permission not to attend the meeting today. It’s her mother’s birthday, and you know what I think of such dates."

"That's fine, but don't interfere in my affairs again. She's my employee, not yours."

"She's a very sweet girl who fears you," says Abril. "You should be more accommodating."

"I'm as accommodative as I can be."

"Okay, darling." The woman sighs and kisses her son’s cheek. "I'll let you get back to work, see you at home for family lunch on Sunday."

"See you on Sunday."

Abril leaves the office and winks at the secretary as she passes by; the young woman understands she's secured permission and feels relieved. She watches the elevator doors with a smile when she feels her boss's piercing gaze reach the depth of her being; she turns to see him signaling her to enter his office. She follows, noticing his toned back, wearing only a shirt that contours the muscles of his well-built arms, and wonders what it'd be like to feel his embrace. She’s lost in imagining his warmth or him protecting her, but suddenly his voice snaps her back to reality

"If you had a birthday party, you should've told me instead of telling my mother what a monster I am."

"Boss… I," she stammers, pulled out of her reverie.

"Never mind; don’t say anything. You have permission to go to the celebration but don’t accuse me to my mother again. You’re not five years old."

"I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention."

"Tell me, were you crying before the meeting because you wanted to go to a birthday?"

"No, I wasn't crying," she lies blatantly, and he looks at her amused.

"Really? Your eyes looked teary, and your makeup was smeared."

"I have... allergies," she says hesitantly.

"Fine, I'll pretend to believe you, but remember, I don't like to mix things. Personal matters stay out of this building."

"I know."

"So no crying in corners over a boyfriend or your mommy."

"I don’t have a boyfriend, and I wasn't crying over my mom."

"Oh? So now you're not denying that you were crying."

"No, I… I wasn’t… I wasn't crying," she responds uncertainly, looking at the floor, and desperately asks, wanting to escape his presence, "May I go?"

"Alright, go. See you on Monday."

"Goodbye, sir."

"Ha-ha, goodbye, you're terrible at lying."

Renato watches the door, unable to believe that someone would fear him so much, or worse still, lie so poorly to his face, but well, at least now he knew this girl didn't have a boyfriend, and that's one less problem. If all goes as planned, in a month they'd both be traveling to Germany without a set return date. There were just a couple of things left to coordinate and to convince the young woman to accompany him.

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