Chapter 1

The female lead, Celeste Rodgers, wanted to escape my brother, Graham Hart's control.

So, in front of everyone, she jumped off a cliff into the endless ocean below.

Standing at the edge in a white dress, tears shimmering in her eyes, she said her final words, "I'm sorry, Graham. If there's another life, I swear I'll never betray you again."

If I hadn't already read the spoilers and known she'd faked her death so she could run away with Luca Hodge, the male lead, I might've actually believed that load of crap.

Unfortunately, Graham knew nothing about any of that.

Celeste's "death" devastated him. He sent multiple search-and-rescue teams out to sea. They searched for an entire week without finding a trace of her.

After that, he spent his days crying his eyes out and going to the shore, constantly threatening to throw himself into the ocean after her.

Then he got a call from my kindergarten teacher, Carly Rocha.

"Hello, is this Graham Hart, Mila Hart's brother? We need to discuss some concerns about Mila. Could you please come to the school so we can talk in person?"

Graham sounded impatient. "Can't you just tell me over the phone?"

Carly sounded even more exasperated. "She says her brother goes to the beach every day pretending to be a seagull, so she's going to be a goldfish. Apparently, if you both die, you'll find each other again and still be brother and sister in your next life. What on earth is going on?"

Graham fell completely silent.

After retrieving me from kindergarten, he took me home and sat me on the kitchen counter. Then he put his hands on my shoulders so we were eye to eye. He looked at me with absolute seriousness.

"You little troublemaker. Why do you want to die with me? Am I really that important to you?"

Young and clueless, I told him exactly how I felt, "Of course you are. You're the most important person in the whole world to me. You're Graham. You're the only family I have."

And just like that, the villainous second male lead became the world's most overprotective big brother. He stopped trying to die and started doing everything he could to become a good brother instead.

His text history went from endless walls of messages to Celeste to endless walls of messages to Carly.

[Ms. Rocha, Mila doesn't like drinking water. Please remind her to drink more. I bought her a 27-ounce insulated bottle. That's how much she needs to drink during the day, so please make sure she finishes it.]

[Ms. Rocha, Mila is short. If you put her all the way in the back, how is she supposed to see the board?]

[Ms. Rocha, Mila told me you gave another kid pudding today. Why didn't Mila get any? Did I donate that library to the school last month for nothing?]

Carly replied coldly: [Zoe Fox's mother brought the pudding from home. I only helped her open it.]

That shut Graham up.

The very next day, he had someone deliver an entire case of pudding cups to the school and asked my teacher to open one for me.

By the time I started elementary school, I thought Graham had finally gotten over Celeste.

Then one night, I caught him secretly scrolling through her social media, wiping tears from his eyes.