PROLOGUE

TRIANA remained stoic as her tears slowly cascaded down her cheeks. She held a white rose and gently put it in her father’s metal casket.

They were inside the mausoleum of the Allende family. And most of the people who attended the burial had already gone home. Only the immediate family remained.

It took her a while to accept that this was real. Everything that happened to her father was unexpected. She went home on vacation from the United States for Christmas Eve, but this bad news greeted her.

Trevor had suffered a cardiac arrest, and he died on arrival at the hospital. Triana couldn’t believe it, since her dad was too young to die. He was only forty-nine! And now, he couldn’t even be with his family to celebrate the holiday season. Celebrating New Year’s Eve without him made her heartbroken.

“Ria…” She looked down at her ten-year-old twin brothers, Travis and Tristan. Their eyes were swollen from crying so much since they were so close to their dad. Trevor always spent quality time with them, despite his busy schedule.

“I bet Dad didn’t want us to mourn like this.” Triana stretched her arms to her brother’s shoulders and gently played with their ear-length hair. Their mother, Lucia, stood beside them, sobbing in silence.

Lucia still looked regal even when crying. At forty-eight, she seemed younger than her actual age. It was not surprising since Trevor always pampered her when he was still alive.

Looking at her family, Triana realized that life was indeed unpredictable. She had never anticipated that her dad would only live this short. How would he walk her down the aisle if ever she got married?

“You can go now. I’ll be home later,” she said to her mom before wearing her dark sunglasses.

She needed more alone time with her dad. She knew he was Trevor’s favorite. Even the twins came along in their life. Triana had always been a daddy’s girl.

“How could you do this to us, Dad?” her eyes welled up in tears again.

At twenty-one, she lived a luxurious life. She was born with a golden spoon in her mouth because her dad worked hard to build his business empire. They owned a multinational company well known in the food industry—the Allende Group of Companies.

Somehow, Triana knew why her father had suffered a heart attack. He must have been stressed. Mainly because the effects of the pandemic recently had caused a lot of damage to the food industry. She was aware that Trevor was deeply affected when their business went down. Too bad that he couldn’t wait any longer to witness the economy getting back on track.

Triana went inside her car when she came back to her senses. She could do nothing to bring him back. She had to move on without him. All of them were caught unprepared for his death. Even their future was uncertain. How were they going to continue his legacy?

She drove slow until she finally reached home in one elite subdivision in Naga. The house was nearly empty since they had let their housemaids go on vacation for a few days after the burial.

Triana got out of her car. She immediately felt the soft afternoon breeze. The surrounding was calm. The sky was cloudy as if it would rain at any moment. And the air around seemed to lament her father’s passing.

She thought of ways to entertain herself to distract her mind. Triana decided to read her favorite book to be occupied. She went to the mini library. But she immediately halted when she overheard her mother talking with some guy inside.

Triana held her mouth when she heard what they were talking about. They were talking about her!

“I don’t know what to do now, Akhil.” Lucia sobbed hard. She held a white hanky and put it in her mouth to control her weeping.

“I have a proposition to make. Let’s merge our businesses,” said the guy whose back was only visible from Triana’s sight. He wore a black coat and had grayish hair.

Lucia’s forehead creased. “What do you mean?”

“I owe everything to Trevor back when we were still young. I want to help, and the easiest way to do this is to let our kids tie the knot. They must be married.” The man shook his head.

Lucia gasped. She appeared unsure. “But Triana is only twenty-one.”

“And that is a marriageable age, Lucia. What do you think of my proposal?”

Lucia remained still as if thinking. She wiped away her tears and gently massaged her forehead.

Triana was dumbfounded beside the door when her mother suddenly tilted her head in agreement.

“Yes, I’ll accept. I don’t have a choice, do I? I trust you raised a wonderful son.”

“Of course, our kanchha is a loveable man.”

She could not bear to listen any further. What she had heard was enough. She carefully closed the door and hurriedly walked going back to her room. She had seen an unfamiliar young man strolling the house’s main entrance, but she was too occupied to scrutinize him.

Triana was so stupified that her body trembled in fear. Her mother wanted her to marry a stranger to save their dying business.

Goodness, gracious. She would never allow it to happen!