Amelia felt as if the ground were slipping from beneath her feet, the air turning thick and heavy, and everything around her seemed to stop as she tried to process the words that had just left Sergio's lips.

A wife? Why was he proposing to her? What was behind all this? she wondered, unable to quiet her rising anxiety. The question tangled in her mind, finding no answer, like a muffled cry with no way out.

"Sergio..." her voice barely managed to escape, trembling and broken. "I don't understand