Luan finished bathing. Wearing a white V-neck t-shirt and casual Lacoste sweatpants, he went down the stairs, and arriving at the first floor, he went to the living room. In the living room, he heard the laughter of his mother and Olivia, Elias' mother.
Not seeing Elias, Luan used his sensory perception and found him near the pool talking to Catharina and Cristina.
"Good night, Aunt Olivia," Luan said as soon as he arrived in the living room.
"Good night, Luan. Come here, let your aunt give you a hug," Olivia said with a smile as she stood up.
Luan came over and hugged Olivia.
Moving away, Luan said, "You can keep talking. I'll go to the pool and talk to Elias."
"Okay, Luan. Elias missed you a lot; he kept talking about you the entire way here." Olivia laughed when she said this, without even realizing that Luan had known that Elias was also in the pool. She didn't even have time to think that this was strange, but when she thought about it for a moment later, she imagined that Luan just saw him through the second floor window, so he "knew" that Elias was in the pool.
When he arrived outside the house, Luan found Elias, Cristina, and Catharina talking near the jacuzzi and the barbecue, facing the pool while sitting in comfortable chairs around a round table.
When Elias saw Luan arrive, he immediately smiled broadly and said out loud, "Luan, why didn't you tell me that you now have got such a lovely little sister? You knew how to hide it well..."
"Stop it. I didn't say anything because I thought it was better for you to meet her in person. And what happened, yes?" Luan pulled out a chair and sat down next to Cristina. He ran a hand over her head and asked softly, "Hey, did he say anything strange?"
"Hey, Luan?! What do you mean by that?" Elias asked, offended.
"Nothing much. I was just worried since you always liked small and cute things," Luan said worriedly, which made Cristina blush with embarrassment. "Look at my little sister, isn't she adorable and cute? With her being like that, I should be concerned if someone like you approaches her, yes?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Elias nodded, but then he realized something was wrong with what Luan said, and frowned, "Wait a moment there, I'm not a danger! Stop talking as if I'm going to kidnap her!!"
"Mm, true, you're not going to kidnap her. But not because of not wanting to, but because you couldn't," Luan scoffed, leaving Elias confused.
How come he couldn't kidnap a little girl if he wanted to, not that he actually wanted to do that, but...
"Don't think too much on it. You'll soon understand," Luan said mysteriously.
"Stop the theater, you two. Can't you see you're scaring my little sister?" Catharina said and pulled Cristina into her embrace as the older sister protecting her younger sister.
Elias scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Catharina, aren't you using this as an excuse to take advantage and hug your little sister?"
"... Of course not!! I'm, um, just genuinely concerned for her," Catharina stammered when caught, but she didn't admit anything. "See, doesn't she look scared?"
"Yes, but isn't it because you're hugging her too tightly?" Luan said while trying to get Cristina out of Catharina's embrace.
"Tsk, go on over to your girlfriend and stop meddling in my relationship with my little sister," Catharina snorted playfully.
Ingrid, who had just arrived outside the house and intended to walk towards them, froze when she heard what Catharina said. Her face immediately turned apple red until her neck turned a little red as well.
Catharina saw Ingrid at the door and said aloud, "Sister-in-law, come over here and take my brother away. He keeps intimidating me." She pouted in an attempt to look like she was hurt.
Ingrid was wearing a simple, elegant dress with a slit down the front. She tied her hair in a versatile bun and wore a black two-inch high-heeled set of sandals.
There were few moments that had left Luan speechless when seeing Ingrid; this was one of them.
"Luan, dry your drool," Catharina said when she saw her brother's stunned reaction. She laughed secretly.
Luan pretended not to hear Catharina, got up, and went over to Ingrid. Holding her trembling hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek, he then looked into her eyes and said, "That dress is beautiful. It looks great on you."
"Thanks." Ingrid ducked her head and thanked him timidly.
Luan took her hand and brought her in front of Elias. "Ignore Catharina. Let me introduce you: This is my best friend, Elias Levy Cardoso. Elias, this is my girlfriend, Ingrid Anjos."
Ingrid felt nervous when being introduced as Luan's girlfriend. She smiled shyly and said, "Nice to meet you."
"It's my pleasure," Elias said with a silly smile and ended up saying too much. "The sister-in-law is very beautiful and also very polite, different from that old girl which Luan liked..."
"Are you talking about Carol?" Ingrid took an interest in this subject.
"Yes. Did you know her? Had Luan mentioned her to you?" Elias was a little surprised that Ingrid knew about Carol.
"I saw her once at a mall," Ingrid replied.
"Oh, I see. She's a cheap girl, isn't she?" Clearly, Elias did not like Carol at all.
"Well..." She looked at Luan and saw that he didn't seem offended to call the girl he had liked cheap, and so she said, "She... How can I say it? She looks like that sort of manipulative and unfaithful girl." She still remembered Carol's reaction to being seen with that other man.
Speaking of Carol, Ingrid involuntarily remembered her sister. If one were to compare the two, they were quite similar.
"Ingrid, are you really going to ignore me?" Catharina asked.
"No, of course not, sorry. I ended up being distracted," Ingrid said, apologizing.
"Hehe, Don't worry. I know it's my smelly brother's fault. Okay, come here, sit next to me; I'll tell you all about Carol if you want. I went to the same school with her, so I know a lot about her," Catharina said invitingly. But her real intention was to move Ingrid away from her brother's side to see what his reaction would be.
"Okay." Ingrid answered reluctantly, letting go of Luan's hand, and went to Catharina and sat on the other side of her.
"Ingrid, you look beautiful." Cristina, who had been quiet until now, took the initiative to praise Ingrid.
"Thank you, cutie. You also looked very beautiful in that floral dress." Ingrid smiled as she looked at Christina.
"Hehe. Thanks." Cristina, who was not used to receiving praise, was very happy. Today in particular, she felt blessed, especially when her two older siblings fought over her. Of course, she understood that it was all a joke, but even so, it filled her heart with happiness.
"Luan, I am very happy for you. Your girlfriend looks like a great person, and I see that she likes you a lot," Elias said sincerely. He treated Luan as his blood brother, and knowing that he was doing great, made him very happy.
"Mm, I'm lucky to have her," Luan nodded.
"..." Ingrid, who was talking to Catharina and Cristina, blushed when she heard what Luan said to Elias.
"Sister-in-law, do you have a fever?" Seeing Ingrid's red face, Catharina pretended not to know why she was like this and put her hand on Ingrid's forehead to measure her temperature.
"Boys, girls, come in, dinner is ready!" Suddenly, Maira's voice came.
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