Valentina

Prologue

I remember a time when I would have done anything for the man I loved.

It was a time when we were young and naïve, oblivious to the workings of the world and the role we played amidst it all. A time when we would fantasize about running away from the life our parents had planned for us before I could even walk. A time when we lived in our own foggy bubble, clouded by our love and wishes. When you would hold me close and tell me everything would be okay; tell me that I was destined for more in life than to be married off to someone my father chose in order to gain more power. His only daughter, his only child. I remember every promise you made, every promise to save me from this life I hated so much.

All those promises you made to me turned out to be nothing more than lies.

The man I loved turned into a man I couldn't recognize.

I remember a time when your hurt led me to a love so passionate and ambitious.

When you failed me and I was at my worst, he came along, like a demon disguised as an angel. He was different than anyone I had ever met. He showed me all there was to the world that I thought I would never get to see. He opened that forbidden door to society which had been kept locked over all my upbringing. He taught me to be impulsive and fearless, to make my own decisions and leave a mark on this earth. Without him, I would be living a life I didn't deserve. Without him, I would have married you before I even knew what a normal life was like. Without him, maybe I would still feel the intense love I once did for you, which now felt like a fleeting sunset. Without him, maybe those lives would have never been lost.

Like you, this man also became someone I couldn't recognize.

I had to make a decision. In the end, it was me left standing. It's always been me.