Chapter 1

I left without a word and spent the whole afternoon alone in a coffee shop on the corner.

By the time I got home, Julian and Sabrina were already on the sofa, laughing together.

Their smiles faded a little when they saw me.

Sabrina stood, took my hand, and said, "Avery, that gown fits really well. It was just too warm. Good thing you weren't the one wearing it.

"And the heels are no good either. They're beautiful, but your feet would kill you after standing that long.

"Julian told me to wear flats. He has absolutely no appreciation for anything."

Sabrina swatted his arm, playing at being annoyed.

Julian smiled and raised an eyebrow. "I was worried about your ankles."

Sabrina pretended to sulk. "What's wrong with trying things on for my sister? I can put up with a little pain."

There was no way into the warmth between them. I stood off to the side and said nothing, like someone who shouldn't have been in the room at all.

Sabrina and I have very different builds. I'm a little taller and finer-boned, and the gown fit her exactly.

I couldn't wear it.

They kept calling it protection, and yet they hadn't even let me try on the one dress that mattered.

I'd disappeared for an entire afternoon on the eve of something important, and neither of them had noticed.

I turned toward my room. Only then did the laughter behind me cut off.

Before I could shut the door, Sabrina caught up and braced it open. "Avery, are you angry?"

My voice came out cold. "No."

Her eyes filled at once.

"You must be angry. I know I meddle too much.

"But I really do it for you. You're the Castell heir. If something happened to you, what would Mom and Dad do? What would Julian and I do?

"I still remember the time our enemies took you. A bullet went right past my ear. We were terrified..."

Her voice broke, and she put her head down and started crying.

Julian's face darkened beside her.

"Avery, Sabrina is doing this for your own good."

For my own good. I'd been hearing that for more than a decade.

Ever since my parents announced at a banquet that I'd inherit the Castell family, they'd made every decision for me.

I wasn't allowed to appear in public, and I wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone.

I wasn't allowed near anything that carried even a hint of risk.

To this day I still hadn't met the family elders.

I'd looked into it myself. The old enemies had been picked up by the police years ago, and I could live a normal life like any other heir.

Sabrina and Julian held on to their own version anyway.

Julian took Sabrina downstairs, and at last it was quiet around me.

From the balcony I watched them talking and laughing in the garden, as though the whole scene upstairs had never happened.

I booked a ticket to Seabreak.

If there was no place for me here, I didn't want to stay.

I packed my suitcase and set it by the balcony door.

Then a message from Julian came through on my phone.

"Don't be late tomorrow."