Chapter 001

EVIAN.

It always happened like this. The moment my father brought his new family into the house my grandfather built, I became a ghost.

I drifted through rooms that no longer saw me, a presence tolerated but never acknowledged. I was the daughter who resembled the woman he’d erased, the memory no one wanted to look at too closely. So when I saw them together, it shouldn’t have shocked me.

And yet, it still split something open inside my chest.

Beneath the fairy lights strung across the garden...lights meant to celebrate Kate’s latest triumph...sat Francis.

My Francis.

He had once told me that peeling shrimp was a sacred, ridiculous ritual. 'Our' ritual. Fingers intertwined, laughter low, promises whispered like vows. "It’s only for you," he’d said, smiling as though choosing me was the simplest truth in the world.

Now his hands moved with the same care, the same tenderness, for her.

He leaned toward my half-sister and offered her a perfectly curled piece of shrimp. She accepted it with a laugh that sparkled in the night air, bright and victorious.

I couldn’t move.

Rage surged, sharp and immediate.

I wanted to cross the lawn, demand answers, tear his promises back into his mouth. But history rooted me in place. I had already lost my father to his mistress, to her children, to the neat new family that replaced me before my mother’s grave flowers had even wilted. To protest was to invite the same quiet deletion.

So I did what I’d learned to do best.

I swallowed the bitterness burning my throat, wrapped my invisibility around me like armor, and turned toward the house, aiming for the stairs...my one safe escape.

"Evian."

Kate’s voice rang out, sweet and sharp, slicing through the music and chatter. I could’ve ignored it. I almost did. But her call had already done what it was meant to...dragged me into the light.

"Evian, come here."

My father’s voice followed coldly. I stared at the open door, so close it hurt, and decided I’d just go inside anyway. Two steps was all I managed before the guards appeared...men paid with my mother’s money...blocking my path. Their grip wasn't polite.

Of course.

This was the truth of it. I was the intruder. The ghost. The inconvenient heir in a house ruled by a man who had married into wealth and now spent it freely, the fortune my mother and grandpa had left for me.

They guided me to the long dining table and pressed me into a chair beside Kate. She smelled like luxury and triumph.

"I heard you failed," she said gently, sympathy dripping like poison. Every gaze swung toward me.

"You're right. I did," I replied trying to be calm. I've gotten more humiliation than this.

My father didn’t hesitate. "Useless child."

The sentence landed like a slap. But of course, I was used to it.

"Mr. Crowley,” Francis said lightly beside Kate. He looked at me with something meant to be kindness. It felt like pity. "Let’s not be too harsh. She was top of her academy… before her mother passed."

Kate rolled her eyes, practiced and perfect.

"My dear," my stepmother sighed, lifting her wineglass, "her mother indulged her far too much. It’s no wonder she’s so unprepared for reality."

The dissection continued. My mother’s "excesses." My "lack of discipline." My failure, served neatly alongside roasted lamb and polished silverware.

I sat very still while my life was stripped apart bite by bite. The man I loved fed shrimp to another woman while my family spoke about me as though I were already gone.

The room shrank. My chest tightened. I stood so suddenly my chair shrieked against the floor.

"What now?"my father snapped.

"I’m full," I whispered, though my plate was untouched.

I turned away, desperate to reach the door before the tears betrayed me.

"Evian."

Francis’s voice stopped me. I turned, hating myself for the fragile hope that flared anyway.

Kate suddenly pressed a hand to her chest, her expression delicate with distress. Francis forgot me instantly.

"Kate." he murmured, all concern and softness. "Is it your heart? Do you need your medication?"

"It’s nothing," she said weakly, smiling bravely. "Just a slight pain. I suppose it’s hard, being so accomplished… and still will die unmarried." Her eyes flicked to me.

I watched them, something inside me hardening to stone.

I started walking again.

"Evian, wait!" Francis hurried after me, catching my hands. They felt unfamiliar, wrong. "There’s something I need to say."

I said nothing.

"You know I love you," he said.

Once, those words had been shelter. Now they felt cruel.

Kate slipped in beside him, looping her arm through his. "Evian," she said softly. "I passed my boards with the highest score in years. And you haven’t congratulated me once. Or given me a gift."

Something snapped.

"Are you insane?" The words tore out of me. "You have my father. You live in my house. You have everything that was mine. What else do you want? My life?"

Her eyes filled instantly with tears. She swayed, and Francis held her tighter.

"The doctors say I may only have two months," she whispered.

The table erupted into murmurs of sympathy.

"I don’t want to steal him," she continued, tragic and gentle. "I’ve never known love. Couldn’t you… lend him to me? Just two months. When I’m gone, he’ll come back to you. I promise."

Wait... Is Francis the man she wants? Wow.

She spoke of him like an object. Something to borrow. Something to return.

I couldn’t believe my ears.

"It’s only two months," Francis said, pleading. "For a dying girl. Just a wish. We’ll have a small ceremony...just to make her happy. Then we’ll go back to us."

"Don’t be selfish," my stepmother added. "You couldn’t even pass your exams. Why do you even need a man?"

Francis reached for me again. I pulled away as though burned. Tears burned my vision, but I refused to let them fall. Kate nestled closer into his side. He didn’t stop her.

And I understood.

I had already lost everything.

My home. My father. My future. And now, undeniably, the man I loved.

They all watched me, waiting for the answer they’d already decided.

"If you agree," my father said calmly, "the wedding can be next week."

My consent was a formality. The pain became a hollow ringing, too large to feel.

I looked at Francis...at the stranger wearing his face. Then at Kate, clutching her prize.

"Fine," I said quietly. "You can have him. Consider it my gift… for passing your exams."

The room tilted as I turned away.

"Evian." Francis grabbed my wrist. I looked at his hand, then into his eyes. There was no love there...only guilt, and the hope I’d make this easy.

I pulled free.

And I walked away from the feast, the laughter, and the ruins of my life...

the ghost, finally leaving the house that had stopped being her home long ago.