Chapter 44 The Puppet Master's Pull

• (POV: Isabela)
• The silence after Mateo’s icy stare in the library felt heavier than usual. That brief, shocking flash of raw pain I’d seen in his eyes – before his defenses slammed down harder than ever – left me confused, unsettled. It didn't make him less scary. If anything, knowing there was something buried deep beneath the cold stone of his control, something capable of causing such hidden agony, made him feel even more unpredictable, more dangerous. The wedding was just days away now. Less than five. The thought sat like a lead weight in my stomach.
• I retreated to my suite, seeking the illusion of safety within its luxurious walls. I tried to read, to think about my dwindling options, to make sense of the swirling dangers around me – Mateo's absolute control, Emilio and Rena's shadowy games, the lingering anonymous threat, and now this confusing glimpse into Mateo's hidden pain. But my mind felt like a tangled mess of threads, none leading anywhere clear. The dagger under my mattress felt less like a weapon and more like another of Mateo's confusing psychological ploys. Freedom isn’t given. It’s taken. His words echoed, but what did they mean?