Chapter 1. The Substitute

A week before, at the Valencia family mansion...

"Give the order to prepare Adelaide," Bahram says without any hint of emotion on his face. His hatred for his daughter prevents him from feeling any compassion for her or seeking another solution to this great dilemma. "I don't want anything to go wrong this time. Make sure she reaches her destination by tomorrow. I want you to accompany her and personally deliver her to her future husband."

Calixto nods and moves away from the place, determined to carry out his father's command. In any case, he can't defy him, and his sister might have a better future with Egil than she does at the Valencia mansion. In that house, she will be the wife of the heir, the most feared and cruel CEO of all time, and it will also represent the salvation of his own family.

Mercedes, the elderly caregiver who has looked after Adelaide since her birth, receives Calixto's explicit order and requests a few hours to prepare her for the journey and to accompany her.

The old woman feels hopeful, even though she has heard terrible things about Egil Arrabal, there are more accounts that speak of his loyalty to his family name. In her old heart, she believes that Adelaide can earn his love and improve her destiny.

"My dear," the old woman says as she enters Adelaide's small room. Adelaide is seated in her old armchair, gazing out at the courtyard, lost in her thoughts.

"Why do you wear that expression, Mercedes? Is something serious happening?" Despite being only eighteen, Adelaide is a very intelligent young woman and notices the disturbance in her nanny. "Is something wrong with my father?"

"Your father is fine, my dear, but I've come to prepare you. We must leave within a few hours."

"Leave where?" Adelaide's surprise is evident. She was never allowed to even go outside to admire the scenery, let alone leave the mansion. Her heart begins to race, and a thousand questions flood her mind. Where are they supposed to go? For what reason?

"Your father has given me orders to prepare you to leave for the Arrabal family's hacienda. You are to marry Egil Arrabal." Adelaide is left stunned by the news. Her heart beats desperately as if it wants to fly out of her chest. "We must leave immediately. Your brother Calixto will accompany us to deliver you to your future husband. The wedding ceremony will take place in two days, at sunset."

"But my sister is engaged to Egil," Adelaide's voice trails off at the end of the sentence, revealing her distress. "Why do I have to marry him? Why did my father allow this absurd change?" The young woman's tears begin to soak her cheeks. The old woman looks at her with pity. She cannot understand how someone as kind as Adelaide has such a sad fate from the day of her birth.

"I don't know what happened, my dear," Mercedes takes her hand to comfort her, "but what I do know is that it's not wise to disobey your father's orders. Both of us are well aware of the power of his fury."

If there's one thing Adelaide has learned from a very young age, it's that complaining accomplishes nothing. She learned this early on. Here, no one except Mercedes respects and cherishes her; the others only see her with hatred and blame her for her mother's death during childbirth.

"We need to change you," another servant leaves a dark green dress on Adelaide's bed, one that she instantly recognizes as her sister Nadia's.

Mercedes and the other servant begin to remove her clothes and dress her in the new attire, combing her hair and placing heels on her feet to which she is not accustomed. However, she doesn't dare to protest.

A short time later, she is ready. She looks at her reflection in the mirror and doesn't recognize herself. She's not used to these tight dresses that don't allow her to breathe normally, let alone the heels on her feet.

"Calm down," Mercedes says, looking at her with sadness. "I'm sure a beautiful destiny awaits us at the Arrabal mansion."

Adelaide nods without much emotion. From every perspective, that seems impossible to her. If her sister Nadia fled, dishonoring her engagement to the heir and head of that family, her destiny will not be beautiful at all.

From one of the balconies, Calixto, alongside his father Bahram, watches Adelaide and her nanny prepare for the journey.

"Do you think Egil will accept a substitute instead of Nadia?" Calixto's voice interrupts his father's thoughts.

Bahram nods, understanding what he means, but the truth is that he is also unsure about this option. Egil and Nadia were engaged when she was six years old. It's a fifteen-year engagement that the young woman threw away without the slightest remorse.

Both are sure that the cold and solitary man of the Arrabal family, the CEO of all the companies on the west coast, has a special affection for Nadia, and that only increases their desperation. Egil will never forgive this affront. The friendship between their families is already destined to break, and, for the same reason, so is the support and protection they receive from the Arrabals.

What are they supposed to do now?

At this point, it's impossible to find a different solution. Nadia and Adelaide are their only daughters, worthy of becoming the wife of Egil Arrabal.

Bahram isn't even sure how Egil will react to the news of his fiancée's escape. It's almost certain that he will seek revenge against her and that wretch who has done nothing but dig his own grave by laying hands on Nadia, the fiancée of one of the most ruthless CEOs in history.

"We will do whatever it takes, but we must avoid Egil's wrath at all costs," Bahram responds coldly. Calixto knows exactly what his father means. This could trigger a war between the families in which they will not emerge unscathed. With all the power of the Arrabals, Egil wouldn't take long to bring ruin to the Valencias.

Calixto looks carefully at Adelaide from above. Although his contact with her has been almost nonexistent in these eighteen years, he doesn't hate her like his father or his sister, but she disturbs his peace, especially her resemblance to his father's dead wife, as if it were divine punishment.