Chapter 3

Isabella POV:

My father once told me that a Don only kneels for two things: God, and his Queen. It is a sign of ultimate reverence, an acknowledgment that she is the heart of his empire, the one person before whom he can show vulnerability.

When I was a girl, I imagined Marco kneeling before me on our wedding day, a symbol of his undying loyalty. A promise that I would be his sacred, untouchable center.

But I had always sensed a resistance in him, a part of him that chafed under the weight of tradition, under the laws that governed our world.

Now, in the garden below, I watched him break that sacred law.

He knelt on the cold stone path, not for me, but for her. For Angelia.

My heart didn't break. It wasn't a clean snap. It felt like it was being slowly, methodically torn in two, the pain a deep, visceral ache that stole the air from my lungs.

I couldn't watch anymore. I turned away from the balcony, the image burned into my mind.

I choked back the sob that threatened to escape. I would not cry. Not for him.

I needed to move. I needed the burn of exertion to chase away the cold ache in my chest. I went to the stables, the familiar scent of horses and hay a small comfort.

I saddled Diablo, my stallion, a magnificent black beast with a spirit as wild as my own. He was a challenge, a force of nature that demanded respect. Today, I needed his fire.

We took to the training course, a grueling track of jumps and obstacles. I pushed him hard, faster and faster, the wind whipping at my face, the thunder of his hooves a drumbeat against the earth.

We approached the final jump, a high, treacherous wall. We were perfectly in sync, a single entity of muscle and will. We soared over it, a moment of weightless freedom.

And then, something snapped.

The rein in my left hand went slack. It had been cut, a clean, deliberate slice through the thick leather.

I was thrown from the saddle, a helpless puppet with its strings cut. I hit the ground hard, a blinding flash of pain exploding in my leg as the bone shattered.

Diablo, riderless and spooked, galloped wildly around the track, his powerful hooves a chaotic, deadly threat.

Through a haze of pain, I saw Marco in the distance. He was still with her, his back to me, completely absorbed in her fabricated drama.

A raw, animalistic scream tore from my throat, a sound of pure agony and rage.

That finally got his attention.

He whipped his head around, his eyes widening in horror when he saw me on the ground, Diablo charging erratically. In a blur of motion, he was there, a calming hand on the stallion's neck, his voice a low command that instantly soothed the panicked animal.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was the stark white of bone protruding from my skin.

The weeks that followed were a blur of pain, surgery, and physical therapy.

And Marco was there for all of it.

He sat by my bedside, he brought me meals, he read to me in the long, quiet hours of the night. His care was efficient, his attention unwavering.

A small, foolish part of me started to hope. Maybe the accident had scared him. Maybe he realized what he stood to lose. Maybe he would apologize, beg for my forgiveness, and cut Angelia out of his life for good.

But there was no warmth in his touch.

It was the same dutiful care he'd shown me when I broke my wrist, but this time it was colder, more detached. I could see the difference between the fervent devotion he gave Angelia and the perfunctory duty he was performing for me now. He was polite, but distant, his eyes holding a coldness that had never been there before.

One night, I woke to the sound of hushed voices outside my room. It was Marco, talking to Luca.

"You went too far, Marco," Luca said, his voice low and tense. "A warning was one thing. This... this is something else. If Don Alistair finds out..."

My blood ran cold.

"I didn't mean for her to get hurt this badly," Marco's voice was a harsh whisper. "The reins were just supposed to snap, throw her off balance. A warning to stop interfering, to leave Angelia alone. I miscalculated."

I couldn't breathe. The air in my lungs turned to ice.

"Now I have to play the part of the devoted fiancé," Marco continued, his voice laced with resentment. "To make sure no one suspects a thing."

The room started to spin. The walls seemed to warp and distort around me.

It wasn't an accident.

It was a punishment.

His care wasn't a sign of remorse; it was a cover-up. He hadn't rushed to my side to save me. He had rushed to save himself.

The last flicker of hope inside me died, its ashes turning to ice in my veins.

The pain in my leg was nothing. A dull, distant ache compared to the agony that ripped through my soul. He hadn't just betrayed me. He had tried to break me.