Chapter 3

He was thinking about this while Marina was lost in her own darkness. She was crazy in love—and when was love ever sensible? Love is everything that doesn't make sense on earth; it burns and inflames you, yet makes you whisper that it is cold.

Who escapes from the threads of fate? Who escapes from the destruction of an impending love? And who can ever forget mortal life? She knew that engaging in a lonely love was like walking across a mined field—it was playing with fire. And what did she do about it? She walked barefoot toward it, hoping her path would either culminate in him or be completely destroyed in the process.

Nevertheless, she was a woman crazy in love yet sane in life. Despite her deep love for him and her intense desire to get a little closer, she realized that although her affection was vast, he was a man with a hard heart. Marriage to the hard-hearted and falling for them are two dangerous games, akin to dancing on the edge of a cliff—and she was no dancer. Not a dancer at all.

Therefore, she did not hesitate to tame her traitorous heart, looking at her father with a composed expression that concealed her profound love and trembling soul. She asked: "But, Father, he doesn't even know me. We live in one half of the world while he resides in the other. How could he possibly agree to marry me?"

Michael understood her question and her doubt, so he spoke in an explanatory tone, clarifying the matter: "Do you remember the business meeting you attended in my place a month ago? His father was there... and he chose you. He called me personally a few days ago, and we talked at length. Based on our past professional relationship, I assure you, he's a gentleman from an aristocratic Spanish family. He said you were the only one who suited them... and he mentioned that Wolf had agreed. That's why he called me. But he laid down two conditions... or rather, Wolf did."

She scrutinized every single word he uttered, connecting them to what she already knew. She had indeed attended a gathering a month earlier where Wolf's father was present, but she had been careful not to risk exposing herself or stepping into his immediate orbit. She was obsessively in love with him, yet she was not the type to intrude upon or disrupt his life solely for her own desires.

She had made certain throughout that evening not to appear before his father. She wondered how he had ended up noticing and choosing her in particular. Was it fate? Or was it simply time? But her father's final sentence—had she not wished to guard her secret—would have brought a smile to her lips. Wolf... nothing ever came easy for him. He must have set those two conditions either to test her resolve or in an attempt to make her refuse. They had to be difficult, then.

So, the beautiful lover raised her perfect eyebrow and asked softly: "What are his terms?"

Her father furrowed his brow and lifted his coffee cup as if it were the only thing available to wet his throat. It seemed as though he needed a few extra seconds to phrase his answer appropriately. Indeed, it wasn't long before he spoke: "His first condition, which was difficult for me to accept at first, was that there would be no wedding. Just sign the marriage papers and become his wife. The second condition, should you accept the first, is that you live in the estate with his family... his parents, his sister, and his twins."

The corner of her mouth revealed the ghost of a faint smile at those words. To her father, it might have looked like a sarcastic smirk, but in reality, it carried profound pain and a deep, burning sadness. No woman would endure all this for just anyone. Perhaps if Wolf had known the things she had done for him, or had seen the magnitude of her love—so overwhelming that every fiber of her being screamed for him—he would have spent his entire life regretting that he never knew her. Or perhaps he would have knelt before the sheer depth of her feelings. Yet, she didn't want him kneeling or defeated. She wanted a little piece of his heart and a lot of his gaze.

How many people search high and low for true love and never find it, while Wolf has love sitting right beside him, completely unaware? He was an innocent killer, after all.

She was in pain, yes, that was true, but she was certain that rejection was out of the question. She loved him and knew he had loved his wife dearly. He had been shattered when she died, and it was now her duty to stand by him and help restore his life, at least for a time. She knew deep down that he would never return this love to her, because he had already given his heart to the mother of his children. She was truly destined for a life written in pain and torment, but ironically, she didn't care about herself when it came to him.

Because her father was waiting for a reaction, she brushed her hair back with a feigned outward calm and pressed beyond what he had said, steering toward something heavier. Her father looked at her with his green eyes—which bore no resemblance to her honey-colored ones—and stared at her for a few silent seconds. His only daughter... his ultimate pride. Her eyes were those of an angel, yet her hands had known blood. She was light and shadow, good and evil, and he could not help but shield her from the world.

"You told me that you felt my marriage to him was appropriate and that you hoped I wouldn't refuse... I want an honest answer from you, Father."

Her marriage was a heavy, difficult matter for him, as it is for any father. Anyone else in his position would have wanted his only daughter to walk down the aisle in a legendary wedding witnessed by the entire world. But in this case, he knew with absolute certainty that her true interest lay in marrying Wolf, for reasons he would share with her now and others he would keep to himself. That was why he found himself accepting conditions that might rob him of immediate joy in order to secure her future.

He answered her with a faint, gentle smile: "I am no longer young, my little girl. Any father in my place would think of his daughter's future. I know your true identity—the identity hidden from the rest of the world. I know what you are capable of, but no one else does. Therefore, they will treat you like Michael Barbosa's daughter and a businesswoman... the so-called beloved princess of Russia. But behind the scenes, there are hundreds of daggers waiting for you. One day, I won't be here."

Before he could finish, Marina placed her hand over his to stop those words, but he checked her with a soft shake of his head and continued: "It's the truth. I will not always be around. Look at this palace... as empty as life itself is without support. I know your true title cannot be revealed to the world, and because of that, you need another layer of impenetrable protection. My duty is to provide it. And who better than Wolf Sierra to offer that protection as your husband? You know exactly who he is."