Marry?

The word echoed around her. It wasn’t a question. Nor a plea. It was a proclamation. From the mouth of a man used to getting what he wants.

Leonardo Verano.

The man believed to feel nothing. But now he was offering her marriage. Not because he loved her. Not because he needed her.

Because he wanted to claim her.

“This is not a joke,” Ysabel whispered, barely able to meet the man’s eyes.

“I never joke about things I want,” he replied, cold but firm. “And I want you, Ysabel.”

“This isn’t normal,” she blurted. “This isn’t a love story. This isn’t a fairytale.”

“It isn’t.” Leonardo stood and moved closer, until she could feel his body heat even though they were still a step apart. “But this is life’s reality.”

“I’m not for sale,” she said, trying to steady her trembling voice.

The man smiled. Slightly bitter. Slightly… possessive.

“I never said I was buying you. I’m offering you a position no one else will ever hold.”

“What position? To be your hidden woman?”

“To be a Verano.”

She paused.

“To be my wife. Legally. Openly. Protected in every way.”

Ysabel stared out at the view beyond the mansion’s glass balcony: the sweep of Tagaytay, the tranquil lake in the distance, the stars above.

Leonardo was silent, letting her think. He didn’t rush her. He didn’t force her.

But his presence was enough to wrap fear around her heart.

Is this world the one she wanted to enter?

Wealth. Power. Security.

In exchange for her heart? In exchange for her freedom?

Her memory flashed back to Marco — how he had once made her happy, how he had made their shared dreams feel real. But in the end? He traded her. Made her a plaything.

And now this was Leonardo. No promises of love. But certain that he would never leave her. He would never disregard her.

This man felt truer than any man she had loved.

The only question…

Could she marry a man she didn’t love?

Or… had she not yet admitted she loved him?

She couldn’t sleep all night. Back in Manila, she found her mother with a severe cough, barely able to breathe. They rushed her to the hospital. Speaking with the doctor almost made her cry.

“If we don’t act quickly, this could worsen. Your mother will need regular medication and the cost of each medicine is quite high.”

She had no job. No savings. No one to lean on.

But someone offered help — in exchange for herself.

After they came home from the hospital, she couldn’t speak. She sat on her mother’s bed, watching her breathe, heavier than before.

The next day, Leonardo sent a text.

“I want to speak with you. I accept, but on conditions.”

She wasn’t sure her decision was right.

But she knew one thing.

She was no longer the Ysabel who had been left.

She was not the woman made foolish, humiliated, and forgotten.

Now she was the woman who would choose her own fate.

Even if it meant sin.

When she arrived at Leonardo’s office, his face was serious. No hint of a smile, but an odd gleam in his eyes.

“Are you sure about your decision?” he asked.

Ysabel nodded. “Yes. But I want all our conditions to be clear.”

“Okay. I’ll listen.”

“First, there will be no physical obligations in our relationship. We will not behave like a married couple at first.”

“Okay.”

“Second, we are equals. You will not cast me out. You will not put me in a box to the point that I cannot breathe.”

“If I am the box, I will never put you there.”

“And…” she took a deep breath. “If the day comes when I feel I can’t take our situation anymore, I want a way to be free from you.”

Leonardo was quiet, as if thinking deeply.

After a few seconds…

“I will accept everything you said,” he answered. “But remember this, Ysabel…”

He came closer and gently cupped her face, not aggressively, but as if to impress the gravity of his next words.

“If you enter my world, you will not leave so easily.”

And thus began the agreement from which there would be no retreat.

An agreement full of secrets.

Of tension.