Prologue

LORETTA

I am a good girl.  

I mean….I was a good girl. Until today. 

My name is Loretta. Loretta Rea Sterling. The first child of George Sterling. Being born into the Sterlings family meant many things: power, generational wealth, fame, you name it

But being born as a girl meant only one thing, my life will never be mine. Not fully at least.

So I learnt to be invisible. For eighteen years, I mastered the art of being unnoticed.

Quiet daughter.

Dutiful child 

Obedient niece. 

Good, Sweet, agreeable Loretta.

It worked perfectly until a few weeks ago, when fate placed me somewhere I should never have been in

My father's office.

I witnessed something I shouldn't have, I heard a conversation that wasn't meant for my ears, and now... I'm standing in a courtroom full of people eager to hear my testimony.

“This way Miss” the kind officer says to me. I nodded silently and follow

I have never had so many eyes on me at once before, even the judge watches from above like an eager executioner as I make my way to the witness box

But none of these people terrifies me as much as...Him

“Don't look Loretta. Don't look” I whispered to myself like a mantra, taking my seat in the witness box

The hairs on the back of my neck stands. 

He's watching me.

‘I can't do this. I can't do....” I'm about to turn back when...

“Miss Sterling,” A loud voice cuts through the murmurs in the courtroom. “Please proceed to tell the court what you witnessed that night.”

A heavy ball of lead clogs my throat. I try to pry my lips open, my brain sends the signal but my body fails to respond. I can't open my mouth let alone speak. Cold sweat trickles down my spine as I sit there in frozen silence 

God not now. Please not now

I can't mess this trial up. There was too much at stake, too much to lose

Abel...Abel could die. 

“I....I...” My voice shakes and my vision blurs with the tears I was holding back. “I saw him”

The silence that hangs in the air of the courtroom is so thick, I could almost reach out and touch it. Camera shutters clicks, a few people whisper and I swallow before continuing 

“H...He picked up the paper knife on my father's desk, and stabbed him with it”

Collective gasps echo throughout the courtroom, and inside me something breaks. Something irreversible 

The pricking sensation at the back of my neck intensifies. My entire body freezes out of fear 

One mistake. All it would take was one mistake and everything would go up in shambles 

I would lose something more important than my family's empire. 

My fingers tremble against my thigh and I quickly hide them before anyone notices

The prosecutor looks behind me, towards where He's seated. I don't look back. I don't dare to

 “Miss Sterling here has testified against you, saying you are responsible for the near murder of George Sterling." He pauses carefully “What do you say about this Mr Fitzpatrick?”

Silence

The silence was louder than anything I have ever heard. If the bead of sweat on my forehead dropped to the floor, I was certain everyone would hear it

The gravel strikes thrice. Bells ring in my ears and the loud silence threatens to turn me deaf

“Elion Fitzpatrick, You are hereby sentenced to three years in prison...”

I tune out the rest of the sentence. I can't hear it. I can't breathe. I cannot live with myself after what I have done

An officer approaches, guiding me out of the witness box, but as he does, I make the biggest mistake by following my intuition. I turn and look 

At him

Elion 

And my heart forgets how to beat 

The courtroom has erupted into chaos around him. Lawyers begin leaning in, speaking fast and making calls, some reporters are surging forward

But all through it, Elion Fitzpatrick sits completely still, His huge frame filling up the seat, larger than the courtroom, bigger than life

And his eyes....

His eyes were focused on me. Not the lawyer trying to get his attention, not the reporters bombarding him with questions, not even the officer who was approaching him with handcuffs 

Me.

Quiet, agreeable Loretta 

Evil, wicked Loretta 

My legs wobble, and oxygen thins around me.

Those coal black eyes give away the emotion his calm, unamused face doesn't; Anger. Boundless, unfathomable anger

If eyes alone could kill, my throat would have been slit open and I'd be dying a slow torturous death by now

I tear my gaze away from him and run out of the courtroom while I still can. I don't look back, but I know he's watching me

Just as I know with a chilling, bone-deep certainty that this wasn't over. Elion Fitzpatrick was going to find me, and he'd make me pay

It was only a matter of time