Page 60 of Stronger Than Fate

“Your friend,” was his only response.

“Sol?”

“I told you yesterday that I asked for information about her. I now know how she knows me,” he said, and ran his hands through his hair impatiently, messing it up, then sighed.

Upon hearing that, my heart stopped. If they knew each other, there could be a possibility that Henry had slept with Sol. In those seconds my mind was working at full speed, until he spoke again and pulled me out of that torment.

“That woman works at my company, but I assure you I didn’t know until today. You can imagine I don’t know all my employees, and I’m not the one who conducts interviews or approves new hires; the Human Resources Department handles that,” he declared, looking at me seriously.

“What? Sol works with you?” I said, amazed at the information I had just received.

“No; she works at my company, she works for me, but not with me. She’s on another floor, and we probably never crossed paths, or maybe we did, but I don’t remember her.”

We remained silent for a few minutes, looking at each other, but both of us were lost in our thoughts.

“She never wanted to tell me much about her job because she claimed she didn’t want me to use my influence to help her, although I always found it strange because in previous jobs she had asked me to do exactly that. For that reason, I don’t even know the name of the company she works for. All I know is that six months ago she started working there as the secretary to the head of finance.”

“Exactly, that’s the information I was given and later confirmed.”

“Now I understand many things. First, her surprise when she saw you at your mother’s house and, above all, what she’s been saying about you,” I stated.

“I don’t understand what she’s trying to achieve, but I assure you that, now more than ever, I’m certain that woman is hiding something and wants to cause harm.”

“I don’t believe that, but there is something I’m now convinced of and it doesn’t make me feel good,” I said, looking at him sadly.

“What is it?”

“If she already knew you and is upset about our relationship, to the point of saying and doing all the crazy things she has these past few days, it’s because she must have feelings for you. She might even be in love with you,” I concluded, dejected.

“That’s impossible. I hadn’t even spoken to her or, better said, I didn’t even know her,” he said, shaking his head.

“Think about it. First, she tried to keep me away from you by describing you as a womanizer who would only break my heart, and gave me a thousand reasons why I should stay away from you. When I told her I had been with you, she became furious with me and stopped talking to me, then started defaming me. Although it seems like a cruel joke of fate, now I understand,” I said, shaking my head and covering my eyes with my hands. “If she had told me, nothing would have ever happened between us.”

Henry came closer and took my hands to remove them from my face so I could look him in the eyes.

“If it’s as you say, I’m glad you didn’t know. Understand that I don’t want anything with her, I only want to be with you, Dalina.”

“I would never have hurt my friend, try to understand me. It doesn’t make me feel good to be with the person she’s in love with.”

“That’s just your assumption, we don’t know for sure,” he affirmed, caressing my face.

At that moment, the door opened and Bastián and Lolo walked in like they owned the place and looked at us with surprise.

I knew they would meet eventually, but at that moment, with what I had just discovered, I wasn’t prepared for introductions.

Henry stood up and approached them.

“I assume you’re Dalina’s brothers. I’m Henry Woollardy, her boyfriend. Nice to meet you,” he introduced himself very formally. And it was obvious that he remembered them from when he had seen me with them and thought they were my lovers.

“I’m Bastián Dukart, Dalina’s older brother. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Lorenzo Dukart, her other brother,” he informed, while extending his hand to greet him.

At that moment, all three looked in my direction because I was still sitting with my head in my hands, elbows resting on my legs.

“What’s wrong, little one?” Bastián asked, approaching my side.

“I don’t know if you’re aware of the problem Dalina had with the woman who claimed to be her friend, that girl named Sol,” Henry pointed out, and quickly came over, sat beside me and took my hand.