cy, as if everything around them was breathing for only one purpose: to formalize this commitment, this union, as calculated as it was icy. Ariana stood there, in her white satin dr

age. She was the spectator of her own destiny, trapped in

ration which echoed the coldness of the ceremony. Rafael was there, his dark charisma striking like an electric shock through the room. The crowd was there for

your wife? » The voice devoid of warmth blended into the decor, as if this commitment was only a formalit

say a lot about the control he had over this situation, over this ceremony. It wasn't a marriage of love, and that was never the goal.

for Ariana , it was etched in her memory as a symbol of everything she had just accepted. This cold contact, his lips landing on hers with calculated precision, left a strange feeling, a shiver

formulas. Everyone around her seemed more concerned with their own interests than with the union that had just been sealed. Rafael, still impassive, allowed himself to be surrounded, speaki

universe over which she had no control. An icy look made her straighten up. A well-groomed man with piercing eyes and an

aren't you?" » he asked in a

his spine. That look...it seemed familiar. The man was a former ally of her father, one of those names

peak to convey the warning, to remind this man that he was not welcome. But Ariana , although she couldn't explain it, understood this tension betwe

milies or two economic interests. It was a battlefield where the weapons were looks, whispered word

sort of invisible weight. He stared at her, his eyes dark, in silence. "You sa

resting on him, full of questio

is words were slow, weighed, like a truth that he let weigh on her. "But you don't have to worr

was not a smile of appeasement. It was a smile of enigma, of challenge. She understood that he would never try to explain to her the world in which she had just

ust dealing with alliances and contracts here. » He approached her, leaning slightly towards her ear. "This world is made of power, respect... a

aware of this bond she had just forged, of the impact Rafael had on her, even in the most insignificant moments. But at that moment, a cold chill came over him. She knew there was