Chapter 1

Liana

Freedom is supposed to make you feel light. When the music thumped in the room and your classmates gave you a tight farewell hug, you should be heaving a sigh of relief. 

That was what everyone said. In fact, what the professors hinted at with indulgent smiles, and what my classmates toasted to with cheap champagne and their laughter echoing through the corridors of the art building. Freedom was meant to arrive the moment I zipped my portfolio case shut and turned in my studio key. 

Instead, it sat heavy in my chest like I just knew what life meant.

I stood alone in my studio, my fingers resting on the scarred wooden table where I had spilled paint and tears over the last four years. The afternoon sun slanted through the tall windows, illuminating unfinished sketches pinned crookedly to the walls. Sketches of faces without names and cities unpainted. My name was already removed from the door. 

I folded my smock carefully.

"You did it," I told myself. "You survived."

As I reached for my sketchbook, a memory surfaced without warning, dragging me backward through time.

I had been bent over my locker, back in high school, flipping over my sketchbook that had been smeared with gum by the school brats. That was when I heard his voice.

"Liana?"

I remembered how my heart had leapt, how it always did back then, before I even turned around.

Liam Shedrach stood behind me, his hands tucked casually into the pockets of his pristine and neatly ironed trousers, his dark eyes hidden behind curled dark hair. He had looked remorseful that day.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he’d said.

I had waited for the punchline and insult, but it didn’t come.

“I’m… sorry,” he continued, saying the words that felt impossible coming from his mouth. “For being mean to you. I didn’t want to graduate without saying that.”

I had stared at him, convinced I was being filmed, or tested, or set up for a prank. Liam Shedrach didn’t apologize. He didn’t notice girls like me unless it was to remind us where we stood.

Yet there he was.

My hands trembled as I snapped my sketchbook shut, the present rushing back in. I swallowed and forced myself to focus on the art school I had earned my place in, the scholarship I had fought for, and the future that was finally, finally within reach.

The Shedrach Foundation’s name stared back at me from the paperwork stacked neatly on my desk. 

I was grateful, truly. Without their funding, I would have never made it this far. That was why I never thought about standing up to Liam, ever.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out without looking back. The bus ride home was quiet, my excitement slowly building despite the lingering unease. Today was the day everything changed. I had an internship lined up at the Shedrach Art Museum, my chance to prove I was more than a charity case. My mother would cry when I told her. 

The house was unusually still when I arrived.

There was no television murmuring in the background, or the loud clatter of dishes. I paused in the doorway, unease crawling up my spine. The living room was spotless, and the air smelled faintly of perfume.

My mother stood near the dining table, dressed in a pale blue dress I hadn’t seen before. Her hair was neatly styled, makeup carefully applied. She looked beautiful. And also terrified.

“Mom?” I called softly.

She turned, her smile tight and fragile. “You’re home.”

I nodded, setting my bag down slowly. “I was going to call you. I have news.”

“I do too,” she said quickly, cutting me off. Her fingers twisted together, knuckles whitening. 

"Liana, please sit." My mother asked without looking at me. She was busy cleaning a glass that looked like it didn't need to be cleaned. 

"Mom, you don't have to worry about me getting a job. I have an internship at the museum. It means I can help with the bills now." I said, my words colliding as they tumbled out. 

Her hand stopped moving. "That's not what I'm saying. But even if you worked there and gave me all your year's worth of salary, it wouldn't be enough."

My smile curled downwards. "Enough for what?"

My mom started walking closer, her brows drawing together as she spoke. "The loan I took from the bank had accrued so much interest that I had to take another loan. But it was from a loan shark. A private lender."

I blinked. "A what?"

"And now, I don't even have a business to pay them back because everything has gone down the drain." She swallowed, her eyes gazing past my shoulder. "I had lost hope. I wanted to give up. But that was until I met him."

"You're dating someone?" I asked, trying to fill the gap between bankruptcy and romance. 

"Yes. And we're getting married next month."

"Wait, what!?" I gasped. "That's so fast. And who is this person? And how is he going to help with your debt?"

"He is a Shedrach. And his name is Tim."

I felt a hysterical laugh bubble up. "Tim Shedrach?" I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, until I ran out of breath. I inhaled deeply, before glaring at my mother. "Oh, shit. That makes Liam Shedrach...my step-brother?"

I remembered again, how he had invited me for dinner after his apology. 

"Meet me at the mountain overlook. I'll be there with my truck. We can gaze at the stars there, and maybe forgive me while at it."

I had almost laughed from the shock of it. 

"I'll take your silence as a yes. So, dress cute," he said, his mouth quirking into a smile that made my stomach flutter despite every instinct screaming at me to run.

And I went.

I remembered standing in front of my mirror for over an hour, smoothing my dress, brushing my hair until my arms ached, daring to hope. For the first time, I allowed myself to imagine that maybe, just maybe, I hadn’t been wrong about him. That maybe the cruelty had been immaturity. That people could change.

The city lights had been breathtaking that night, scattered like fallen stars beneath the dark sky. Liam had been charming and attentive. He asked about my plans, my art, and my life beyond high school.

"I know I have been mean to you, but I'd like to ask. Liana Bethany Roberts, will you be my friend?"

“Yes,” I’d said so eagerly, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

That was when his friends appeared. They came out of the bushes laughing and clapping, their voices loud and merciless. Someone whistled. Someone else wiped fake tears from their eyes.

“Did you really think you had a chance?” one of them had asked between laughs.

“You, friends with a Shedrach?” another added.

I remembered how the world had tilted, and Liam hadn’t said a word. He’d just stood there, watching.

That night didn’t just break my heart. It erased something in me I never quite got back.

But now, the man who ruined my teenage years, was no longer just my past. He was about to become my family.