Chapter 1

I stood in front of the door to room 217 and knocked twice. No answer.

Inside my jacket pocket, my phone buzzed softly. Mom’s text message was still open on the screen, the letters burning like needles.

We’re leaving for Miami tonight. You have to come.

I had come to this men's dorm for only one reason: to tell Daniel that I was moving to Miami. The guy I had been dating for a year—the kind of man who always knew how to calm me down and made me forget, at least for a while, the boy from my past.

The door in front of me remained closed. For some reason, an uneasy feeling churned in my chest. Finally, I punched in the PIN code I had memorized by heart.

Click.

I pushed the door open and froze instantly. Sitting on the shoe rack was a pair of white sneakers with blue ribbons. Shoes I knew all too well.

I was the one who had bought them as a birthday gift for Elena a few months ago.

No. It has to be a coincidence.

But from behind Daniel’s slightly ajar bedroom door, the muffled sounds of a man and a woman calling out to each other drifted through. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs. Both of my hands began to shake and sweat.

No, please don't let a panic attack start now.

My breath grew shallow. The walls seemed to close in on me. I kept walking with unsteady steps, feeling as though I were walking the plank, and when I reached the threshold, I saw more than enough. The dim glow of the bedside lamp. Daniel’s bare back, and beneath him, a woman I had known since high school.

Elena.

My world spun.

“Did you ever feel this with Ave?” Elena, my own best friend, asked with a voice that sounded almost amused.

“She’s like a nun,” Daniel replied. “Prudes like her won't let you touch them. Besides, she’s nowhere near as attractive as you, Honey.”

Those words cut deeper than anything I had just witnessed.

Behind my eyelids, an old phantom image flashed uninvited. The sound of shattering glass, a woman’s desperate screams, and a man and woman naked on a bed.

For a second, my hands trembled so violently that my knees buckled.

No. Not now.

I opened my mouth, but only a shallow gasp escaped, sounding like a stifled sob. Then Daniel turned his head.

His eyes widened. “Ave—”

Elena shoved him away, frantically pulling the sheet up to her chest. “Avery, it’s not what it looks like—”

That line.

Something inside me almost let out a bitter laugh. Five years ago, I had heard the exact same words from someone else’s mouth, and I had foolishly thought I’d learned my lesson.

“Ave, just listen.” Daniel scrambled up and stepped forward with an outstretched hand. “You always push me away. I’ve been patient for a whole year. I just—”

Slap.

My palm burned. “Don’t touch me.”

I spun around before he could answer and bolted out without bothering to close the door.

At the end of the hallway, I collapsed onto the bottom step of the stairs. The cold concrete seeped through my jeans. I hugged my knees, pressing my forehead against them, trying to choke back the sobs clawing at my throat. My fingernails dug into my palms until my skin felt warm and damp.

Ten years ago, I learned that a home doesn’t always mean a safe place. I remembered witnessing my father with another woman in the master bedroom. Mom screaming in rage, only to be brutally beaten and tortured by him for daring to challenge him. And me, watching it all unfold, only to catch his blows as well.

A heavy, lingering trauma I could never truly erase.

I had come here tonight to say goodbye and ask him to soothe my racing thoughts. I had been terrified that the man Mom married might turn out just like my father.

Instead, the man I gave my heart to had done the exact same thing. He shattered my trust and broke me.

Now, I was just sitting alone on a college dorm staircase, Daniel’s cruel words looping endlessly in my mind.

I hated unfaithful men. I despised them because I knew firsthand what it felt like to live with monsters like them.

The next day, I sat in the back of the car, oversized sunglasses hiding my swollen, tear-stained eyes. My phone flashed with forty-one missed calls from Daniel and dozens of unread messages from Elena.

“Are you nervous?” Mom’s voice made me lift my head. She smiled at me through the rearview mirror.

“A little.”

“It’s going to be okay.”

Mom always said that. The exact same words she uttered on that night. I hadn't told her about Daniel and Elena yet. She was too genuinely happy, and I refused to be the one to ruin it.

The city landscape gradually shifted into rows of increasingly grand estates. Tall palm trees lined the streets, and the afternoon sun glinted off the glass of distant skyscrapers.

“Mom? Are you happy?”

She paused for a few seconds, then smiled softly. “Very.”

“Then I’m happy too.” I forced a small smile onto my lips.

The car rolled to a halt. I stared up at the building before us.

“Wow.”

That wasn't a house. It was a castle. A three-story white mansion perched on a hill, surrounded by sprawling gardens, rows of palm trees, and ornate black iron gates that looked more expensive than every home I had ever lived in combined.

“Mom. Are you sure this is the right house?”

“Very funny, Avery.”

“Is this a house or a hotel?” I asked, half-joking out of pure awe.

“A house,” she chuckled, finding my reaction amusing.

I couldn't begrudge the genuine happiness on her face; I was glad she had finally found peace. At least one of us was getting a happy ending. I just wasn't sure if I’d ever get mine.

The Miami air welcomed me with a wave of heat and humidity that made my hair frizz within seconds. The front doors swung open, and a tall, dark-haired man stepped out.

“Welcome home.”

Robert Walsh. We had only met in person once before the wedding, but he had always been kind to me.

“Avery. It’s good to finally have you here.”

“Thank you.”

It was a small lie. I didn't know yet if I was glad to be here. I only knew I had no other choice. My university credits had already been transferred to Miami, and my old apartment had been rented out to someone else.

The interior of the mansion was even more insane than the exterior. High ceilings, marble staircases, crystal chandeliers, and paintings that probably cost more than Mom’s first car.

“Your room has already been prepared,” Robert said. “Make yourself at home.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but the sound of footsteps from upstairs made me stall.

Someone was coming down.

I didn't know why my entire body suddenly went rigid. Maybe it was the sudden prickling sensation of being watched.

I lifted my chin and looked up toward the grand staircase in front of me.

A towering figure stood at the edge of the landing. Tall, with slightly messy dark hair, a plain black t-shirt, and dark jeans. His sharp, piercing gaze locked instantly onto mine.

Thump.

I forgot how to breathe.

His face was far more mature than it had been five years ago. His jawline was sharper, his shoulders broader, and a faint, thin scar sat just near his left eyebrow. But I would have recognized those eyes anywhere, among thousands of people.

Eyes that used to light up and smile every single time they looked at me. Eyes that once made me believe that a first love could actually be your last.

My hands tightened desperately around the straps of my bag.

Luca.

For five years, I had fought tooth and nail to erase him from my mind. And now, while I was completely shattered by another man, he was standing barely a few feet away from me.

***