They Mocked Her as Worthless — Until Fate Delivered Her Into the Hands of an Apache Warrior, and a Love Story No One Expected Began

The next day, Don Patricio summoned his daughter to his office.

The walls lined with law books and maps of his extensive estates bore silent witness to the conversation that would forever change Jimena’s destiny.

The man paced back and forth, his mahogany cane rhythmically tapping against the wooden floor, as he searched for the right words to express his frustration.

“Fireplace,” he finally began, without meeting her gaze.

“You are 24 years old.

At your age, your mother had already given birth to three children and cemented alliances that greatly benefited this family, but you stopped, gesturing vaguely at her.

You have turned out to be a failed investment, a disgrace to the Vázquez de Coronado name.”

The words hit Jimena like hammer blows.

She had heard variations of that speech for years, but never expressed so crudely.

Her hands balled into fists in her lap as she struggled to maintain her composure.

I have decided, her father continued, that it is time to find a definitive solution to your situation.

Tomorrow an Apache prisoner will arrive at the military fort, a warrior captured during the last skirmishes on the border.

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