Chapter 1

Evelina’s POV

I told my guardian’s son I loved him. He looked at me like I was filth. After that, he made sure I understood exactly where I stood—by bringing woman after woman home, making sure I heard every moment. So when he got engaged, I did the one thing I should have done a long time ago. I vanished.

“Grandpa, I’ve thought about your offer—for me to move in with you and the rest Frosts.” I paused. Hesitated. Then, “I’ll go.”

He sounded thrilled on the other end. “Finally! I’ll arrange a private jet to NYC. Tonight work for you? Don’t bother packing—we’ll buy everything new.”

“Actually… I was thinking of staying one more week. You know the Draycotts took me in after Mom and Dad died…”

Grandpa sighed. “Right. The Draycotts. Be sure to pass along my thanks—they’ve done more than enough, especially for you.” Another pause. “If I hadn’t been barred from entering the States back then, and you’d wanted to stay in the city where your parents raised you, I never would’ve left you with them. But they earned my trust. Don’t they have a son around your age? Kaelen, I think?”

At his name, my heart stuttered.

The real reason I’d finally decided to leave the only home I’d known for the past twenty years.

“Yes. Kaelen. He’s… practically like a brother to me.”

After we went over the details, I hung up. Exhaled.

My phone lit up again—just an app update. But I wasn’t looking at that. I was staring at my lock screen.

A picture of me and Kaelen, taken on my twenty-first birthday. The background was NYC’s hottest club. He’d poured me my first legal glass of champagne.

I’d had champagne before. But that one… it tasted different.

Maybe it was the night. Or the way he looked at me across the table. Since then, every time I saw him, my heart raced like it was trying to tell me something.

I loved Kaelen. I probably always had.

But I never had the courage to realize it or admit it—not until that birthday.

…

After my parents died in a crossfire, the Draycotts—close allies of the Frost family—took me in. Grandpa wanted me to come live with him in Italy, but I didn’t want to leave New York yet. Not when it was the last place that held pieces of my mom and dad.

So when the Draycotts asked if I wanted to move in, I said yes. And that’s how I met Kaelen.

Kaelen was five years older than me, already running the Draycott business empire at his twenty, while I was still figuring out my class schedule.

And when I just graduated from college, he was already a very skilled negotiator at the gambling table—tangling billion-dollar illegal trades like it was nothing more than a few chips.

He looked cold to most. Untouchable.

But to me, he was always gentle, indulging me without limits.

That memory came rushing back faster than I expected—the day I first stepped into the quiet, echoing manor. The first person I saw was him.

Kaelen was only twelve, barely a teenager back then. His smile was warm—open and easy. “Are you Evelina?” he asked, running toward me.

His emerald eyes locked on mine, unblinking.

I was shy. Closed off. So I only nodded. But my silence didn’t stop Kaelen.

He took my hand and began showing me around the Draycott Manor. “This is the main house. It’s where we live. Though we usually eat in the sunroom—Mother prefers the lighting there.”

Sensing my nerves, he tugged me gently toward a garden swing. “You don’t have to talk. I get it. But just so you know—” he looked straight at me, voice firm, “—the second you stepped onto Draycott land, you became one of us. You’re under our protection now.”

His tone softened. “It used to be just me. The only kid in this house. But not anymore.” He smiled and winked. “I’m older, so I guess that makes me your big brother. If you ever need anything—anything at all—you come to me.”

The sound of a clock chiming snapped me out of the memory.

Big brother. That was the first thing Kaelen said to welcome me. And the last excuse he used to push me away.

The memory flickered back to the night of my twenty-first birthday.

Because Kaelen had always spoiled me, so I decided to make a bold move that night.

Confessing my love to him.

I predicted, at worst, he’d just laugh and say, “Come on, let’s check your present.”

So I made the move when we had just stepped through the front door. I asked him, “Where’s my birthday present?”

He chuckled. “You think I forgot? It’s on the way—delayed a day or two.”

I looked up, straight into his eyes. “But I want a gift now.”

Kaelen blinked, caught off guard. “Name it. I’ll get it.”

Then I stood on tiptoe, wrapped my arms around his waist, and kissed him.

His lips were softer than I expected. Colder, too. But I loved it.

For five seconds, everything stood still.

Then he shoved me away. Hard.

I nearly fell.

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted.

Kaelen never shouted.

But now he looked at me like I was something filthy.

I froze. I didn’t know if it was the fear or the heartbreak that hit first.

Had I really crossed a line that badly?

“I’m your brother, Evelina!” he snapped.

I swallowed hard. “We’re not related.”

“We grew up together. I told you, the day you moved in—I said I’d protect you. Cherish you. Like a brother should.” His voice cracked, rising with each word. “Not like this.”

He looked angry. Furious, even. But under it, I could feel his panic. And mine too.

“And what do you even know about love?” he added bitterly. “You haven’t even graduated college yet.”

But I didn’t back down. “Then I’ll prove it,” I said. “I’ll prove that I can be seen as your girlfriend—not just some powerless girl you need to protect.”

We didn’t end well that day.

And I didn’t know it then, that nothing between us would ever be the same again.

Looking back now, I realize how blindly confident I’d been. I believed I was different. Special. That if I waited long enough, Kaelen would see me—not as his little sister, but as someone he could love.

How na?ve I was.