Love is separated by mountains and seas, and long separation does not bring sorrow

Everyone in Northwood knew Maria as the woman who had betrayed William.

Though she was the family’s adopted daughter, she had seduced her own nephew, William, dragging him to bed and shattering the goodwill between their families.

Then, just as both sides were reluctantly coming to terms with the situation, she accidentally caused the death of William’s father, stole a fortune, and vanished.

The once-glorious family lay in ruins because of her.

Five years later, the woman who had once driven William to the brink of tearing Northwood apart was now draped over some stranger’s chest, planning her own funeral.

“Buy the plot next to my sister’s. The urn has to be Barbie pink. And don’t forget to stud it with diamonds.”

As her friend, Scott couldn’t take it. “Maria, it’s early-stage lung cancer. It’s treatable. It’s just money, isn’t it? William has plenty. If you just… apologized, he’d forgive you.”

He never understood these two stubborn souls. “It was all a misunderstanding. If you just explained, wouldn’t that settle it?”

Maria took a slow drag of her cigarette and said nothing.

Inside, everything was bitterness.

How could she explain?

Back then, Samuel had been working undercover in the Syndicate. Drugged, hooked, he’d betrayed the operation and sold out his own wife—Kimberly, another undercover agent. In the end, Maria had been the one to pull the trigger.

She had seized that moment, taken over their mission, and used the stolen money as her ticket to stay embedded in the Syndicate.

Forget that Samuel had always been William’s hero. She was the one who had killed his father.

How could she, his father’s killer, ever be with him?

Samuel’s last words still echoed in her mind: *Take these secrets to the grave. My son could never accept his hero father was a traitor.*

She could still see his face, hear his voice. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell William.

Bitterness churned inside her. Maria exhaled a cloud of smoke. “It’s all in the past.”

Too much stood between them.

Loving each other was a luxury she could no longer afford.

“The past? Then why are you still by his side?”

Maria didn’t answer.

Because the Syndicate had William in its sights.

Even though the organization was mostly dismantled, the remnants were thirsty for revenge.

William, as family to undercover agents, was the perfect target.

She had to protect him.

Swallowing the bitterness, Maria forced a smile. “Because I’m a bad woman. Bad women survive by conning men out of their money.”

“So I send you for medicine, and you come here to pick up a man? Auntie, am I not giving you enough?”

William’s voice cut through the air behind her, cold as steel.

Before she could react, he seized her arm and dragged her back to the villa.

The moment they were inside, he slammed her against the wall.

“Do you know what you are? Slipping behind your patron’s back?”

Maria offered a faint, joyless smile. “Done entertaining your