tment building. She wore a simple but professional navy-blue sheat

older man in a perfectly tailored suit, with silver hair and a ramrod-straight po

alm, his eyes sharp and intelligent. There w

of the city completely. Hayes didn't pry or make small talk. He simply offered her a

nto a private road, passed through two sets of imposing security gates, and came to a stop

e in magazines, but they hadn't captured the sh

lit library. He gestured for her to sit in a leather armchair

s was her only advantage. "Why am I here? Why

question, Miss Castillo. We have a proposal for

like you to marry the heir to the Ma

ank. She was sure she had misheard him. She stared, waiting

voice a dry whisper. "I don't kn

"Mr. Julious's health is... precarious. He was in an a

believes that a marriage, a stable and positive presen

positive presence?" Elliana repeated, frownin

al page, a handwritten note from a renowned spiritual consultant-a tarot reader and witch of considerable reputation. It stated that after an extensive reading of both her fate line and Mr. Julious Marshall's,

the words. "You

t explain," Hayes said calmly. "We have exhausted al

d thing she had ever

reviewed your profiles, she insisted that the two of you shared a rare and powerful conver

ind reeling. She cut to the heart o

ts own. Upon signing the marriage contract, a trust fund will be estab

ill have the full and unwavering protection of the Marshall family. Any and all h

lt. Freedom. Not just financial freedom, but freedom f

m, at the empire it represented. This was a level of power she coul

against her trembling fingers. She took a s