As the days after that night passed, Anastasia and Vincent carefully stepped back into their roles. They returned to the responsibilities that had defined their lives long before their private moments together had changed everything. Their worlds, though intertwined in the deepest of ways, remained separated by the expectations of their families, their countries, and the eyes of the world.
The decision was made without words—silent yet deeply understood between them. The bond they shared, the love they had discovered, would remain theirs alone. It would not be shared with anyone. Not their families. Not their friends. Not the world.
The pressure of their public personas, the weight of the responsibilities they bore, meant that revealing their relationship could be a catastrophe—one that neither of them was willing to risk. There were too many secrets that could come to light, too many dangerous alliances that would come into play, too many political and business strategies that had taken years to build. For them to be seen as more than just the heirs, more than just the faces of their families' empires, could cause their carefully constructed worlds to crumble.
And so, they kept the truth to themselves, a quiet secret locked away in the space between them. A secret that no one—no one—could guess.