The thumping bass of the music vibrated through Princess Bella Daño’s headphones, a seductive rhythm that pulsed through her veins. In the quiet solitude of her family’s sprawling kitchen, she let loose, her body swaying, hips rolling, fingers tracing imaginary curves. She was lost in the moment, a blissful escape from the gnawing emptiness that had settled in her chest for the past three years. Clad in just short shorts and a loose white shirt, her long black hair cascaded around her as she untied the clip.

As the music crescendoed, Bella spun around, eyes still closed, a soft moan escaping her lips. When she finally opened them, her world froze. Her hands, mid-air, stopped. Her father stood there, dumbfounded, flanked by his business partners. Shame burned through her.

“L-let’s go to the g-garden,” her dad stammered, awkwardly ushering the men away. Bella’s gaze dropped, mortified.

Minutes later, about to flee upstairs, her eyes landed on him. Standing by the kitchen door, as if he had always been there, was Black De Villa. Her ex-husband. His piercing grey eyes scanned her, unreadable, yet his Adam’s apple bobbed. He adjusted his tie, the faint scent of his masculine cologne reaching her before he turned and walked away. The man she wanted to bury from her memory, one of the most powerful CEOs in the world, had just seen her at her most vulnerable.