Olívia remained seated on the edge of the bed. For a moment, it felt as though the entire room waited for an answer along with Vânia. But she simply couldn’t speak. Her throat locked. Her eyes—still red from crying—dropped to the floor.

How could she explain what had happened in that room hours earlier? How could she say it wasn’t a real marriage, that it was nothing but a contract, that she herself had provoked Liam, driven by feelings that might have existed only inside her? How could she adm