Prologue

Prologue

“I’m sorry, Mr. Monteverde… but I will not marry you.”

My words echoed inside the room, firmer than I thought I could muster, but my palms were cold, clammy against the strap of my bag. I hated that he might see through me that despite my voice, I was trembling inside.

The Monteverde office was suffocating. High ceilings, dark wood panels, glass windows veiled by heavy curtains that blocked the city lights. Everything felt calculated, controlled. It wasn’t just an office it was a reminder of power, of a world I had spent years running away from.

I forced myself to breathe, to stand straighter, to pretend that I wasn’t intimidated by him. “I didn’t come back to this country just to be forced into something I don’t want. I left before to chase my dreams, and I won’t throw them away now. I won’t imprison myself in a marriage I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

Hunter Monteverde didn’t flinch. His eyes were sharp, unwavering, like a man who had already won the argument before it even began.

“The choice is yours, Ms. Rosales,” he said, his tone so calm it infuriated me. “But let me remind you—the only chance to save your father’s company is to marry me.”

My chest tightened at his words. The Rosales Group of Companies. My father’s pride, his empire, the very foundation of my childhood. I grew up watching him devote every waking hour to it—his laughter fading, his health weakening, his smiles becoming rarer, all because he carried the weight of a family legacy. And now, it was falling apart.

And here I was, the only child, the only heir. The only one left to save it.

Still, my heart rebelled. “Why marriage?” I snapped. “Why not a business partnership? An investment? A merger? There are so many ways to help without chaining me to you. We’re strangers, Mr. Monteverde. You’re asking me to marry someone I don’t even know.”

That was when something flickered in his gaze. Subtle. Brief. But it was enough to send a shiver down my spine.

“You don’t know me,” he said softly, leaning back in his chair, “but I know you, Viatrice Thaliya Rosales.”

Hearing my full name in his voice made my stomach twist. I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes locked on me, unblinking. “I’ve known you long before this night. And I’ve waited… five years.”

My breath caught. Five years? My mind raced, trying to search every corner of my memory. “That’s impossible,” I whispered. “If we had met before, I would remember.”

A humorless chuckle escaped him, low and unsettling. “Maybe you were too young. Maybe you were too busy running away, chasing the life you wanted. But I remembered, Thaliya. I never forgot.”

My pulse hammered in my ears. Five years? What did that even mean? Was this some kind of twisted game? My life wasn’t something he could just keep tabs on and then claim when it suited him.

“Waiting doesn’t entitle you to my life,” I snapped, my voice rising despite the lump in my throat. “It doesn’t give you the right to decide my future. You can’t just show up now, with my father’s company on the line, and act like you’ve owned me all along.”

Hunter’s expression didn’t waver, but there was a fire in his gaze that unsettled me. “This isn’t about rights, Thaliya. This is about inevitability. Your family’s survival. Your father’s legacy. And the promise I made to myself years ago. Everything leads to this moment.”

His words pressed against me like invisible walls closing in. I wanted to scream, to tell him he was wrong, to tell him I would never give him what he wanted. But images of my father’s tired eyes and weakened frame crashed into my mind. The man who gave me everything, who sacrificed his health and his happiness for the company now begging to survive.

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall, not in front of him. Not here.

I stood, the chair scraping softly against the floor. My knees shook, but I forced my spine straight, lifting my chin. “This conversation is over.”

I turned toward the door, desperate to breathe outside this cage of an office.

But just as my hand closed around the doorknob, his voice followed me, calm, deliberate, and haunting.

“You may think we’re strangers, Viatrice Thaliya Rosales. But I’ve known you. I’ve waited for you long before tonight. And whether you accept it or not… this is only the beginning.”

I froze, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might break through my chest. Then, without looking back, I pushed the door open and left.

The moment the door shut behind me, my legs nearly gave way. Somehow, I forced myself to walk through the polished hallways, keeping my chin high even though my chest was collapsing inside. The Monteverde staff I passed bowed their heads politely, oblivious to the storm raging in me.

By the time I reached the parking lot, my breaths were shallow, uneven. The sight of my car was my only anchor. I slid into the driver’s seat, shut the door, and finally, finally, let go.

My hands trembled against the steering wheel, and the tears I held back inside his office spilled freely now. Five years… he waited five years? The words looped in my head, crushing me. How could a stranger know me? How could a man I never remembered claim to have been waiting for me all this time?

I pressed a hand against my chest, willing my heart to steady, but it only raced faster. “This can’t be happening,” I whispered to the empty car. “This isn’t fair…”

But fairness didn’t matter. My father’s face tired, aging, and almost lifeless lying on that hospital bed while carrying the weight of an empire flashed again in my mind. I knew, deep down, that the choice wasn’t really mine to make.

And that terrified me more than anything Hunter Monteverde had said.