Introduction

RONAN BARRET

**SIENNA HART **

The sun was dipping low over the streets of Athens, casting a golden glow across the ancient city, as if trying to soften the edges of a harsh reality. In the heart of this vibrant metropolis, where history collided with the modern world, Sienna Hart stood on the balcony of her apartment, camera in hand, capturing the beauty of the sunset. She was good at capturing what the eye could see—the perfect angles, the perfect lighting—but the truth was, Sienna could never capture what truly mattered: the heart.

As she pressed the shutter, the click of the camera resonated in the quiet evening. Her gaze drifted from the viewfinder to the photograph she had just taken, and for a moment, the sadness in her heart mirrored the distance between the camera lens and the reality it froze. The world saw the polished image of Sienna Hart—successful, confident, happy even—but no one knew the pain beneath her carefully constructed exterior.

Sienna had long learned to mask the truth behind a smile, to stand tall even when the weight of her own existence threatened to crush her. The only daughter of parents who never wanted her, she had grown up in a house where love was a foreign concept. Her parents, affluent and cold, had never seen her as anything more than a responsibility they wished they'd never had. Their cold indifference toward her had shaped the woman she became—someone who learned early on that happiness could be faked and love could be forced.

And now, it was time to force love.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind her. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The air shifted, his presence undeniable, as if it had been waiting for this moment all along. Ronan Barrett, the man she had trapped into this marriage, stood in the doorway. His sharp, chiseled features were just as cold as the day she first laid eyes on him, his demeanor rigid and unyielding.

Ronan was everything she had imagined—and more. A handsome, accomplished police officer from a well-respected family. His reputation for being stoic, serious, and unwavering had made him the perfect candidate for her plan. She had manipulated the situation, pulling strings in the background, knowing the right words to say, the right moves to make. And, in the end, she had won. He was her husband now.

Or so she thought.

“You’re still up here?” Ronan's voice, deep and steady, broke the silence. It was the same voice that had barely spoken to her the day before, their first as a married couple.

Sienna didn't respond right away. She couldn't. It wasn’t the words that were missing, but the feeling behind them. There was no real connection between them, not yet. And maybe that was the point. She had always known that he wasn’t going to fall in love with her right away—not in the way she had envisioned. Love had never been a part of their arrangement. The marriage was forced from the beginning, a strategy that had been meticulously planned by her and executed with precision.

She didn’t need him to love her right away. That would come—eventually. At least, that was the plan.

“I’ve been waiting for you to speak first,” Sienna said with a smile, one of those smiles that made her appear as though she was in control of everything, even when her heart felt like it was breaking under the pressure of this carefully orchestrated lie.

Ronan stepped forward, his posture stiff. “We need to talk.”

Her stomach churned. This wasn’t the first time he had said those words, and every time he did, it made her feel like a stranger in her own life. She had married him with purpose, with the intent to secure something she had never had—love, or at least the illusion of it. But now, with the weight of the day upon them, she knew this moment would define everything.

“I’m listening,” she said, her voice soft but firm.

Ronan's gaze met hers, piercing and cold, and for a moment, Sienna wondered if he could see through her—if he could tell just how hollow her soul truly was. But he didn’t speak right away. Instead, his eyes flickered to the photograph in her hand, the one she had just taken. The shuttered image of the sunset was frozen, just like their marriage.

“I don’t know what you expect from me, Sienna,” he finally said. “But this marriage... it’s not what I thought it would be.”

Sienna swallowed the bitter taste of those words, trying not to let them show. She had anticipated his resistance. She had expected him to be cold. In fact, she was counting on it. A man like Ronan Barrett—strong, stoic, determined—was exactly the kind of man she could control, even if she had to do it from the shadows. What he didn’t know was that this coldness, this distance, was just a stepping stone. It would be her means of breaking through the walls he had built around himself, one brick at a time.

“I don’t expect anything from you,” she replied smoothly, lowering the camera and placing it on the table next to her. “You’re here because you have no choice, Ronan. Just like me. We’re both in this for different reasons, but we’re in it together. So we may as well make the best of it.”

There was a long silence between them, thick with unspoken words. Sienna could feel the tension hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break. And yet, she didn’t feel fear. Not anymore. She had never been afraid of him.

He was her husband, but that didn’t mean he could control her.

Ronan’s jaw clenched as he took a step closer, his gaze still cold, his posture unyielding. “Don’t mistake my compliance for weakness. I don’t want this, Sienna. And I’ll do what it takes to make sure you understand that.”

Her heart raced, but it wasn’t fear that surged within her. It was excitement.

“Then we’re both in the wrong place, aren’t we?” she said, her voice low and almost teasing. “But we’ll see who breaks first, won’t we?”

Sienna didn’t wait for his response. Instead, she walked past him, her fingers brushing against his as she moved to the window. The night sky had settled in, and the stars above seemed to mock her, reminding her of just how small she was in the grand scheme of things. Yet, as she looked out over the city, a quiet determination took root within her. This marriage wasn’t the end of her story. It was only the beginning.

Ronan Barrett would be hers, just as she had planned.

And when the time came, he would fall in love with her—not because of who she was, but because of who she would make him believe she was. The perfect wife, the perfect partner—everything he had ever wanted, but never knew he needed.

But even in her most calculated moments, Sienna couldn’t escape the truth: No matter how hard she tried to force love, she would never be able to control what the heart truly felt.

And that was the real battle.

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