Winter arrived early.
The first frost silvered Manantial’s fields before the end of November.
Isabella had spent nearly two months as Arthur’s wife.
The transformation in her was subtle but undeniable.
She no longer lowered her head when strangers entered a room.
Her dresses were still modest, but they were now fitted properly and made from fabric she had chosen herself.
Her voice had grown stronger.
And Manantial itself had begun to change around her.
The rose garden was no longer abandoned.
She and Arthur had cleared three paths.
New bulbs waited underground for spring.
The piano was played at least twice each week.
Elvira complained that Isabella had turned the kitchen into a meeting hall because workers’ wives constantly arrived asking advice about preserving food, sewing, or teaching children.
Arthur pretended to object.
He loved every minute of it.
One morning, Isabella discovered him standing in the doorway while she taught three little girls to read.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I’m allowed. I own the doorway.”
“You own too many things.”
“Apparently not my dining room anymore.”
She threw a folded cloth at him.
The children giggled.
It was the happiest Arthur had looked in years.
Perhaps that was why what happened next hurt so much.
Sebastian entered the study after dark carrying an envelope.
“No signature.”
Arthur opened it.
Inside was a single sheet.
THE WOMAN YOU MARRIED WILL DESTROY MANANTIAL. SEND HER AWAY BEFORE YOU LOSE MORE THAN YOUR NAME.
Arthur folded it.
“Where?”
“Left beneath the north gate.”
“Tracks?”
“Horse. One rider.”
“Tell nobody.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Especially Isabella?”
Arthur hesitated.
That hesitation became his mistake.
Two nights later, Isabella woke to shouting.
She sat upright.
Orange light flickered across the bedroom wall.
Someone screamed from the courtyard.
“FIRE!”
Isabella ran to the window.
The western barn was burning.
Flames ripped through the roof.
She threw on a robe and raced downstairs.
Arthur was already outside.
“Buckets from the river!” he shouted.
Men formed a line.
Horses shrieked inside the burning structure.
Isabella ran toward it.
Arthur saw her.
“Stay back!”
“There are animals inside!”
“Isabella!”
A stable boy emerged coughing.
“Three mares are trapped!”
Arthur grabbed a wet blanket.
Before he could enter, part of the roof collapsed.
Everyone jumped backward.
Isabella heard frantic pounding from the side stall.
Without thinking, she ran around the building.
“Isabella!”
Arthur chased her.
Smoke poured from a small service door.
She pulled it open.
A terrified mare kicked against the stall.
Arthur arrived and grabbed Isabella’s waist.
“Are you insane?”
“She’ll die!”
“I’ll get her.”
Together with two ranch hands, Arthur entered.
Minutes later they led three horses outside.
The final mare collapsed in the mud but survived.
By dawn, the barn was destroyed.
Thirty tons of stored hay were gone.
Several saddles.
Tools.
Feed.
But no person had died.
Arthur stood blackened with soot.
Isabella approached.
He looked furious.
“You ran toward a burning building.”
“So did you.”
“That is different.”
“Because you’re a man?”
“Because I knew what I was doing.”
“You entered after me.”
“That does not improve your argument.”
She crossed her arms.
He stared at her.
Then suddenly pulled her against his chest.
“I thought I was going to watch you die.”
His anger disappeared into fear.
Isabella’s expression softened.
“I’m here.”
Arthur buried his face briefly in her hair.
Behind them, Sebastian crouched near the barn wall.
“Arthur.”
Something in his voice made them turn.
Sebastian held a broken lantern.
Its oil reservoir had been smashed deliberately.
Nearby, straw smelled strongly of kerosene.
“This was no accident.”
Isabella went cold.
Arthur’s face changed.
That afternoon riders searched the property.
Tracks led north before disappearing onto a rocky road.
Arthur finally told Isabella about the threatening letter.
She stared at him.
“You hid it from me.”
“I didn’t want to frighten you.”
“You promised partnership.”
“I know.”
“Partners do not hide threats from one another.”
“You’re right.”
The immediate admission disarmed her anger.
Arthur stepped closer.
“I was wrong.”
She looked down.
“Do you think Beatrice did it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Valeria?”
“I don’t know.”
Sebastian entered.
“But I know someone who might.”
The man was named Raul Cordero.
He worked occasionally as a horse trader.
Several ranch hands had seen him drinking with Valeria’s cousin.
Arthur rode into town with Sebastian.
Isabella insisted on accompanying them.
“No,” Arthur said.
“Yes.”
“Isabella.”
“Partnership.”
He exhaled.
“You are becoming exhausting.”
“You married me voluntarily.”
At the sheriff’s office, Raul denied everything.
Until Sebastian placed a small brass button on the desk.
It had been found beside the barn.
The same style decorated Raul’s riding coat.
Raul’s face changed.
Arthur leaned forward.
“Who paid you?”
Nobody spoke.
Arthur placed both hands on the table.
“If anyone had died, you would be facing a hanging charge.”
Raul swallowed.
“I wasn’t supposed to burn the whole barn.”
Isabella felt sick.
“Who paid you?”
Raul looked at her.
“A woman.”
Arthur’s voice dropped.
“Name.”
“Valeria.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Raul continued rapidly.
“She wanted a scare. Said if Menezes believed the estate was cursed after marrying you, he might send you away.”
Arthur’s expression became murderous.
The sheriff raised one hand.
“Arthur.”
“I heard him.”
Raul shook his head.
“She said nobody would be inside.”
“There were horses.”
“She didn’t care about horses.”
Isabella whispered, “Did Beatrice know?”
“I never met her mother.”
The sheriff ordered Raul detained.
When Isabella and Arthur returned to Manantial, she remained silent for most of the ride.
At the river crossing, she stopped her horse.
Arthur turned.
“What is it?”
“She hates me that much.”
Arthur moved Thunder closer.
“This is not about you.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“She paid someone to burn your property because I live there.”
“That is about who she is.”
Isabella stared at him.
He continued.
“Do not take another person’s wickedness and make it evidence against yourself.”
The words struck deeply.
Arthur dismounted.
He walked to her horse and looked up.
“Come down.”
She did.
The moment her boots touched the ground, he embraced her.
“I will not send you away.”
“I know.”
“Say it.”
She looked at him.
“You will not send me away.”
“Again.”
“You chose me.”
“Yes.”
“And I choose you.”
Arthur smiled.
“Yes.”
Their peace lasted less than twenty-four hours.
The following morning, Sebastian arrived with worse news.
Valeria had disappeared.
Her room was empty.
So was Beatrice’s jewelry box.
And several documents were missing from Ambrosio’s house.
Among them was an old boundary deed.
A deed involving land adjoining Manantial’s northern spring.
Arthur’s face hardened.
“That spring feeds nearly half our dry-season irrigation.”
Sebastian nodded.
“If the document can be manipulated, someone could challenge ownership.”
Isabella understood.
“This was never just jealousy.”
Arthur looked at her.
“No.”
Valeria had discovered something potentially worth a fortune.
And now she had run.
For the first time, Isabella realized her stepsister’s attack might not merely threaten her marriage.
It might threaten the entire estate.