Chapter 1: A Marriage Built on Lies
The next morning, the penthouse felt less like a home and more like a luxury hotel occupied by strangers.
Elena woke before sunrise.
She had barely slept.
The unfamiliar bedroom still smelled faintly of fresh cedar from the wardrobe where Ricardo had locked away his mother's wedding gown. Every time she looked at it, she remembered the way he had lifted the dress with care while treating her as though she were invisible.
She washed her face, applied light makeup, and dressed in one of the elegant designer outfits that had already been placed neatly inside her closet.
Every dress carried a price tag she would never have dared imagine.
None of them felt like hers.
When she entered the dining room, Ricardo was already seated at the twelve-seat marble table.
Fresh coffee.
Financial newspapers.
Tablet in hand.
Three assistants waited beside him with folders full of contracts.
He didn't look up.
"You are seven minutes late."
Elena glanced at the antique clock.
"It is exactly eight."
"I've been working since six."
His tone remained perfectly calm.
"You'll learn the difference."
One assistant stepped forward.
"Mrs. Montero, today's schedule."
She handed Elena a leather planner.
Ten-thirty.
Visit children's hospital.
One o'clock.
Lunch with investors' wives.
Four.
Photo session for a luxury magazine.
Seven.
Foundation charity gala.
Every appointment had already been arranged.
Every smile had already been purchased.
Ricardo finally looked at her.
"The media believes we married for love."
"They'll continue believing that."
She nodded silently.
"You'll never have to lie," he added.
"You simply won't tell the truth."
The words settled heavily between them.
For the first time, Elena realized she wasn't living as Ricardo's wife.
She had become part of his public relations strategy.
...
That afternoon, they visited the children's hospital funded by the Montero Foundation.
The cameras loved Ricardo.
The billionaire knelt beside sick children.
He smiled gently.
He listened patiently.
He signed stuffed animals and laughed with frightened little patients.
The journalists admired his compassion.
Elena watched in disbelief.
This man couldn't possibly be the same person who had reduced her to a business transaction only hours earlier.
Then she noticed something.
When the cameras briefly turned away, Ricardo quietly paid for a young father's emergency surgery without announcing it.
No photographers.
No applause.
No publicity.
He simply signed the authorization.
"Don't tell him," Ricardo instructed the hospital director.
"He has enough to worry about."
Elena stared at him.
Perhaps...
May you like
The man she married wasn't heartless.
Perhaps he was simply hiding behind walls even stronger than hers.
