Leandro Castellano, a wealthy businessman known for being cold and heartless, has lost faith in love. Every woman who approaches him wants nothing more than his money and status. Fed up, he takes drastic measures-disguising himself as a poor old man named "Enzo" and living a simple life in a small town. There he meets Seraphina Duarte, a woman willing to marry in order to save her family from crushing debt. She accepts the old man's proposal, thinking that at least she can live with someone who seems kind but helpless. However, Seraphina is no ordinary woman either. She hides a big secret-the real reason she is so desperate to marry. Over time, Leandro-under his identity as Enzo-begins to fall in love with his own wife. But the deeper he digs into Seraphina's life, the more he realizes that something is not right. He is not the only one lying in this marriage. Who will discover the truth first? Can their love survive when all the masks are finally removed? Or will this be a war between two people who both hide wounds and secrets?
The rain drizzled lightly over the city, creating a soft patter against the windows of a small café tucked away in a quiet neighborhood. The place was nothing grand-just a modest coffee shop with wooden tables, the scent of roasted beans lingering in the air, and a handful of regulars who barely glanced at newcomers. It was exactly the kind of place where no one would think to find him.
Leandro Castellano sat at a corner table, his gnarled fingers wrapped around a cup of black coffee. To anyone who spared him a glance, he was just another elderly man-gray hair, weathered skin, slightly hunched posture. His clothes were plain, his demeanor unassuming. There was nothing about him that screamed billionaire. And that was exactly the point.
For years, Leandro had been a name whispered in boardrooms and exclusive parties, feared and respected in equal measure. A man of power, of ruthless ambition. But power came at a cost-one he was no longer willing to pay. Every woman who entered his life did so with a purpose, and it was never love. They wanted his wealth, his name, the security that came with being attached to a Castellano. It sickened him.
So he had disappeared. Not in the way the world would have expected-no dramatic scandals, no public goodbyes. Instead, he had stripped away everything that made him him and had rebuilt himself into Enzo Valente, a simple, aging man with nothing to his name. No one knew the truth except for one person: his assistant, Matteo, the only man he trusted enough to carry out his affairs while he played this ridiculous, necessary game.
He wasn't sure what he was looking for-perhaps a sign that there was still something real in the world. That not everyone could be bought with power and money. But after months of living in obscurity, he had found nothing but disappointment.
Until tonight.
Leandro's eyes flickered toward the entrance as a woman stumbled inside, drenched from the rain. She was young, perhaps in her mid-twenties, her dark curls clinging to her skin, her simple dress soaked through. There was an air of desperation about her, the kind that came from someone with nowhere else to go.
She hesitated at the door, her gaze scanning the café as if searching for someone. When her eyes landed on him, she stiffened. He didn't know her-he was certain of that. And yet, there was something in her expression, a flicker of recognition, as if she did know him.
She approached cautiously, her hands trembling slightly. "Are you Enzo Valente?"
Leandro leaned back, feigning mild surprise. "That depends," he said, his voice roughened with the weight of his disguise. "Who's asking?"
The woman swallowed hard, her dark eyes filled with something he couldn't quite place-fear, urgency, maybe even regret.
"My name is Seraphina Duarte," she said softly. "And I need to marry you."
Chapter 1 The Man Without a Face
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Chapter 2 A Proposal in the Dark
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Chapter 3 A Deal with a Stranger
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Chapter 4 Leandro-or Enzo Valente
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Chapter 5 The drive to Leandro's home was silent
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Chapter 6 The opulence of the room was suffocating
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Chapter 7 Seraphina barely tasted the food on her plate
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Chapter 8 The Gala's Glittering Mask
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Chapter 9 gold leaf accents
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Chapter 10 She moved through the crowd like a specter
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Chapter 11 that nagging feeling that she was out of place in a world
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Chapter 12 Leandro's words echoed in her mind
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Chapter 13 The silence in the grand hallway felt suffocating
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Chapter 14 You think you understand power
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Chapter 15 Ruin everything
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Chapter 16 The queen
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Chapter 17 What was she walking into
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Chapter 18 Her thoughts were a jumbled mess
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Chapter 19 The city lights shimmered beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows
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Chapter 20 She forced herself to move
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Chapter 21 He's watching you
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Chapter 22 Julian shut the folder with a sharp snap
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Chapter 23 The room was dim
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Chapter 24 A Tightening Noose
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Chapter 25 Lucien had brought her here for a reason
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Chapter 26 scattering like ashes on the car's pristine floor
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Chapter 27 Not everything
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Chapter 28 tightening with every passing second
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Chapter 29 Didn't breathe
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Chapter 30 the silence between them was deafening
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