Elizabeth didn’t know how long she stayed there in silent prayer. When she left the room, the house was completely silent; there was no sign of John, and she didn’t dare look for him. She decided to explore the house. The mansion was truly enormous; perhaps it had been built with the intention of housing a large family... or perhaps its size served only to reinforce the power of those who lived there.She returned to the living room, which opened onto a large deck and, beyond it, a vast garden.The grass was impeccably trimmed, and flowers were scattered everywhere in carefully planned arrangements. There was a tennis court in the back and an infinity pool, worthy of a magazine cover. The place was stunning, but it didn’t move her. She preferred a simple home, with sincere hugs and spontaneous laughter. A real home, not a silent palace.As she admired the garden, she spotted a car driving up the flower-lined driveway. The vehicle rounded the reflecting pool, where carp swam calm

What she didn’t know was that John had stayed in his office late, trying to keep his mind occupied. He buried himself in reports and spreadsheets, as if the numbers could silence the feelings that were troubling him. So he took his frustration out on Bruce, rejecting all the balance sheets and setting increasingly demanding goals.Bruce, for his part, thought what his boss was proposing was absurd. When he tried to argue, he was immediately cut off:“Just do what I’m telling you,” John said sharply.“Yes, sir,” Bruce replied in a weary voice.He was already used to moments of harshness from John, but lately his boss’s bad mood had become unbearable. He was harsh with everyone; nothing was good enough. Not even the best reports escaped severe criticism, leaving the team on edge.John and Bruce used to have a good working relationship, with occasional moments of levity. But since the wedding announcement, John’s temper had visibly worsened, and even with Bruce he had become more imp

Now she understood why John had thrown it in her face that she had sold herself.“Dad, how could you accept this?”Peter remained silent, unable to look her in the eye.Elizabeth closed the contract and stood up. Anger burned in her throat, but she refused to cry there.She expected an explanation from her father, but it was Helen who spoke, with unusual gentleness.“Elizabeth, we only had your best interests at heart.”“My best interests… or yours?” she retorted bitterly. “It seems you’ve been very well rewarded.”She turned to leave, but as she passed through the living room, she looked at the spot where her mother’s piano used to stand, the one she loved so much to play. She returned to the office.“Where’s my piano?”Peter remained silent.“It didn’t match the new decor, so we put it in storage,” Helen replied coldly.Elizabeth couldn’t believe her mother’s piano was in storage.“If you want, we can send it to your new house. It’s useless to us.”Helen had always been heartless an

JohnJohn glanced distractedly at the screen. He usually ignored messages and calls, almost always from his mother, rarely from his father, and sometimes from his grandfather. The latter was the only one he still answered frequently. Old man Walker couldn’t stay away from business, and lately he’d been insisting on asking about the wedding, praising the beautiful and kind wife his grandson had “chosen.” If only he knew the truth, he thought bitterly.His mother had assured him that his grandfather didn’t know about the contract. She was afraid the patriarch wouldn’t accept such a ruse just to secure the presidency for John. And, in fact, at first, he himself hadn’t accepted it. He didn’t want to marry just for convenience. But when he found out who the bride was, everything changed. It was John himself who demanded an additional clause: if he divorced before three years had passed, he would forever lose his right to the presidency. His mother considered the clause absurd, but he

ElizabethThe days went by, and a new routine began to take hold in the mansion.As John had explained to her, a maintenance crew came to the house twice a week. In fact, it was a veritable battalion of professionals who took over every room with almost military efficiency. Divided into groups of two or three, they spread out throughout the residence, even employing climbers to reach the immense glass panels that made up the facade.They worked quickly and discreetly; only the supervisor exchanged a few words with Elizabeth, keeping the rest of the team silent and focused. In about two hours, the mansion was spotless. Their departure was as swift as their arrival: in a few moments, silence reigned once more.On the other days, the care of the house fell to Elizabeth. She tended to John’s room and the meals with care and love. Elizabeth woke up before dawn, when the mansion was still shrouded in twilight and the silence seemed absolute. She would go to the kitchen to prepare breakfa