Chapter 1

The rain tapped against the glass windows, soft and relentless, as if the heavens were trying to warn me. The world outside was gray and blurred, headlights smeared into pale streaks across the drenched streets. Inside, the air was heavy with silence. The scent of polished wood and faint cologne lingered, yet it did nothing to calm the storm inside my chest.

Across the table, Adrian sat watching me.

The man I had loved for years. The man who had once sworn he would protect me, who had told me that no matter what the world threw our way, we would face it together. My first love. My only love.

And yet tonight, his words cut sharper than any knife.

“Just this once,” Adrian said. His voice was low, coaxing, the kind of tone he used when he wanted me to bend. His hand slid over mine, his grip firm, almost desperate, as though afraid I might vanish before he finished speaking. His dark eyes gleamed with intensity, and for a foolish heartbeat, I mistook it for love. “It is only temporary. If you do this for me, for us, I will take care of everything. I will get you out in a matter of days.”

My heart lurched. I wanted so badly to believe him. I wanted to cling to every trembling word that fell from his lips, to hold on to the picture he was painting of a future where love was enough. But the knot in my chest tightened with every breath.

“You want me to… take the fall for her?” My voice came out small, broken.

He nodded. “Your cousin was careless. If this scandal touches her, her entire future will be ruined. She does not deserve that.” He leaned closer, his hand lifting to cup my cheek. His touch was gentle, practiced, and my tears betrayed me by spilling over. “But you,” he murmured, “you are stronger than she is. You can survive this. And I promise, I will make it right. I will make it right for you.”

Eloise. My cousin.

The name tasted bitter on my tongue. She was the one everyone adored, the polished gem of the family. Beautiful, poised, admired. She had always been the sun, radiant and untouchable, while I lingered quietly in her shadow. I was the quieter one, the one who never seemed to shine enough beside her.

And now, I was being asked to throw myself into the fire so that her glow could remain untouched.

“You want me to confess to a crime I did not commit?” My voice cracked on the words. “Adrian, this could ruin my life.”

His eyes softened, and his thumb stroked the back of my hand in that careful, tender way that used to melt my doubts. “You have my word, I will not let it. I love you. You know that. And once this is over, it will just be us. No more secrets, no more obstacles. Trust me, sweetheart.”

Trust. Such a fragile, breakable thing.

My hand fell to my stomach instinctively, a gesture I had repeated so many times in the last few weeks. I could feel the faint flutter there, a whisper of life that had already changed me forever. He did not know. No one knew. And perhaps that was the only reason I even considered agreeing. For the child growing inside me, I wanted to believe in a future where their father would be a man worth admiring.

But what if I was wrong?

The pen trembled between my fingers as the papers were slid across the table. The confession form was stark, black letters on white, cold and unforgiving. My name already printed neatly at the top, waiting for my signature at the bottom. The sound of my pulse drowned out the rain, pounding in my ears like war drums.

My mind scrambled to escape, and with it came memories.

Adrian standing outside my window when we were younger, tossing pebbles against the glass until I laughed and let him in. Adrian whispering that he loved me under the stars on my eighteenth birthday, his hand clutching mine as though he would never let go. Adrian kissing me for the first time, his lips soft, trembling with both hesitation and desire.

Those same lips now asked me to give away my freedom, my future, perhaps even my life.

I pushed the papers away for a moment, standing abruptly. “I need air,” I muttered, my chest tightening. “Just a moment.”

My heels clicked across the polished marble, each step echoing far too loudly. I rounded the corner, desperate to breathe, when the sound of a familiar voice froze me in place.

Eloise.

I peeked through the narrow gap, and my heart slammed painfully against my ribs.

There they were. Eloise and Adrian.

Standing close. Far too close. Her hand rested on his sleeve in a way that spoke of intimacy. His gaze lingered on her lips, not with the guilt of a man hiding something, but with the hunger of someone who had already tasted what was forbidden.

“You are certain she will do it?” Eloise whispered. Her voice was sharp, cold, slicing through the pounding in my ears.

Adrian’s lips curled into a smirk. The same smile that once belonged to me alone. “She loves me enough to throw herself into the fire. Once she is gone, we can finally be together.”

The floor seemed to vanish beneath me.

My hand flew to my stomach, clutching protectively at the secret that had been betrayed without ever being spoken aloud. My knees trembled, my breath hitched, and for a fleeting moment, I thought I might collapse right there.

So this was their plan.

Eloise’s future, Eloise’s reputation, Eloise’s happiness, all secured by the sacrifice of my ruin. And Adrian—my Adrian—was the architect of it all.

I stumbled back, every step heavier than the last. My vision blurred with tears I could not stop, but somehow, I forced myself back into the room.

The pen still waited on the table, cold and merciless.

Adrian looked up at me, his smile smooth, practiced, as if nothing had happened, as if he had not just shattered my world into pieces. “So,” he asked softly, sliding the papers closer once more, “will you do this for me?”

My fingers hovered over the pen. My heart screamed to run, to fight, to scream the truth in his face. But my mind whispered of love, of promises, of the child inside me who deserved a father.

The rain outside battered harder against the glass, each drop like the ticking of a clock counting down my fate.

And still, the decision was mine to make.