Chapter 1

  Adrian’s POV

  

  The phone on my desk rang sharply, cutting through the heavy silence of my office. I had just finished another tedious meeting, my mind barely focused, when Jack’s name flashed across the screen.

  

  I frowned. Jack never called unless it was urgent.

  

  Picking up immediately, I pressed the phone to my ear.

  

  “Sir,” Jack’s voice was tight, almost panicked. “It’s Lucas. He’s been in an accident. They’ve taken him to St. Augustine’s Hospital.”

  

  For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

  

  Lucas Valentine.

  

  My best friend. My brother in every way that mattered.

  

  Without another word, I threw my phone onto the desk, grabbed my keys, and stormed out of the office.

  

  All I could think about was Lucas.

  

  The man who had stood by me through everything—my parents’ death, my first business failure, the rough beginnings of my empire—he had been my constant. My family.

  

  And now he was fighting for his life.

  

  I got into my black Aston Martin and slammed the door shut, the engine roaring to life beneath me.

  

  The drive was a blur of screeching tires, blaring horns, and flashing lights. Every second that passed felt like a year.

  

  A thousand thoughts raced through my mind.

  

  What happened?

  

  Was he alone?

  

  Was he conscious?

  

  Lately, Lucas had been… different.

  

  Ever since that damned breakup with Aurora Black, he hadn’t been himself.

  

  He had lost that easy smile, that endless optimism that used to drive me crazy.

  

  Instead, he withdrew into himself, hiding behind fake laughter and hollow reassurances.

  

  I saw the cracks long before the world did.

  

  I’d never even met Aurora Black. Only seen her once on TV during a press conference, standing next to her father, Nathaniel Black, for one of their family’s billion-dollar ventures.

  

  She was beautiful, sure. Elegant, poised, with eyes that seemed to hide a thousand secrets.

  

  But none of that mattered now.

  

  All I saw was the woman who had shattered my best friend.

  

  I didn’t know the details of what happened between them—he never told me.

  

  All I knew was that after Aurora Black walked out of his life, Lucas was never the same.

  

  He lost his spark.

  

  And now this.

  

  The hospital’s white walls loomed ahead like a fortress.

  

  I pulled into the emergency lot, slamming the door behind me as I sprinted through the entrance.

  

  Everyone knew who I was.

  

  Adrian Knight — billionaire, CEO of Knight Industries, and a man who didn’t have time for formalities.

  

  A nurse spotted me immediately.

  

  “Mr. Knight—this way, please.”

  

  She led me to the surgical floor, where the smell of antiseptic hung heavy in the air.

  

  I hated hospitals.

  

  They always smelled like loss.

  

  I stopped a passing doctor.

  

  “Lucas Valentine. Where is he?”

  

  The man’s face turned grim.

  

  “He’s in surgery. Severe injuries. Internal bleeding, multiple fractures…”

  

  I stopped listening.

  

  I couldn’t.

  

  I just stood there, feeling helpless for the first time in years.

  

  The hours dragged by.

  

  I sat in the waiting area, my head in my hands, replaying every memory I had of Lucas.

  

  From the time we built forts in my backyard as kids to the time he covered for me when I almost got expelled.

  

  He had always been there for me.

  

  And I wasn’t going to let him down now.

  

  Finally, the surgeon appeared, exhaustion written all over his face.

  

  “We managed to stabilize him,” he said carefully. “But… he’s in a coma.”

  

  The words hit me like a freight train.

  

  “A coma?” I echoed, my voice barely a whisper.

  

  The doctor nodded.

  

  “He might wake up. There’s a forty percent chance.”

  

  Forty percent.

  

  It wasn’t good enough.

  

  “And…” the doctor hesitated, glancing at something in his hand. “He was holding this.”

  

  He handed me a photograph.

  

  I stared at it, my chest tightening.

  

  Lucas and Aurora, smiling together like nothing could ever tear them apart.

  

  The doctor’s next words made my blood run cold.

  

  “His last word before we put him under was… Aurora.”

  

  Aurora Black.

  

  The name burned itself into my mind.

  

  I nodded stiffly, thanked the doctor, and moved past him toward Lucas’s room.

  

  The sight broke me.

  

  Lucas lay there, pale and unmoving, machines beeping steadily around him.

  

  Tubes ran in and out of his body.

  

  His face—usually so full of life—was eerily still.

  

  I sat beside him, gripping his cold hand tightly.

  

  “I’m sorry, brother,” I whispered. “I should’ve seen how bad it was. I should’ve done something.”

  

  I glanced at the photo again, rage building inside me until it was a living, breathing thing.

  

  Aurora Black.

  

  She did this.

  

  She broke him, and now he was lying here between life and death because of her.

  

  I leaned closer to Lucas’s ear, my voice low and fierce.

  

  “I promise you this, Lucas. I’ll make her pay. I’ll make her feel every ounce of pain you’re feeling. I swear it.”

  

  The promise settled deep inside me, heavier than anything I had ever carried before.

  

  After a few more minutes, I forced myself to leave.

  

  There was work to do.

  

  The ride back to my office was filled with a simmering anger that refused to cool.

  

  By the time I arrived, my staff practically jumped out of the way.

  

  “Get me Jack,” I ordered sharply as I walked in.

  

  Jack was already waiting for me in my office.

  

  “Sir,” he greeted, concern etched on his face. “I gathered the information you asked for.”

  

  He handed me a thick folder.

  

  I flipped it open, scanning quickly.

  

  “Aurora Black. Twenty-five years old. Only daughter of Nathaniel Black.

  

  Harvard graduate—top of her class. No major scandals. Well-liked. Smart. Beautiful.”

  

  I snorted.

  

  Yeah. Beautiful enough to rip a man’s heart out and leave him for dead.

  

  “Only one known relationship,” Jack continued. “Lucas Valentine.”

  

  My hand tightened around the folder.

  

  “Anything else?”

  

  Jack hesitated.

  

  “There’s something… interesting.”

  

  I looked up sharply.

  

  “She’s currently looking for a personal bodyguard,” Jack said.

  

  “Apparently, after some recent threats to her father’s company,

  

  Aurora is looking for a personal bodyguard. They’ve been interviewing candidates quietly.”

  

  The air shifted.

  

  Everything snapped into place at once.

  

  A slow, cold smile spread across my face.

  

  “Stop right there,” I said.

  

  Jack blinked. “Sir?”

  

  I leaned back in my chair, the plan forming so clearly in my mind it was almost beautiful.

  

  “I’m taking a leave of absence,” I told him. “Effective immediately.”

  

  “Sir, but—”

  

  “You’re in charge until I get back. Handle everything. No mistakes.”

  

  Jack nodded quickly, though confusion lingered in his eyes.

  

  I stood, grabbing the photo of Lucas and Aurora one last time.

  

  I stared at her face—the face of the woman who destroyed my best friend.

  

  “I’m going to destroy you, Aurora Black,” I whispered to the picture.

  

  “And you’ll never even see it coming.”

  

  Without another word, I left the office, my mind already working ten steps ahead.

  

  First step: infiltrate her life.

  

  Second step: make her fall.

  

  Final step: break her.

  

  Exactly the way she broke Lucas.

  

  I drove home, the city lights blurring past me.

  

  I was a man with a vow.

  

  And nothing would stop me from keeping it.