Chapter 1

Ten years ago, I saved Mason Whitmore.

He had collapsed outside an old warehouse by the docks. No bodyguards.

After he recovered, he found me.

“You saved my life, Alara,” he said. “Come back to the Whitmore estate with me. I’ll take care of you.”

I had no home, so I went with him.

Mason had four sons: Ethan, the champion race car driver; Julian, the billionaire CEO; Ryan, the professional hockey player; and Noah, the fourth son, who used a wheelchair and rarely appeared in public.

When Mason introduced me, he said, “This is Alara. When she turns eighteen, she may choose one of you as her fiancé. The man she chooses will inherit the company.”

I immediately said, “No. I’m not marrying anyone.”

Mason only smiled. “We’ll talk when you’re older.”

Everyone thought I would choose Ethan. So did I.

Julian and Ryan made their positions clear long before I turned eighteen. Julian called the arrangement inefficient. Ryan told me not to drag him into it. Ethan never rejected me. He let me follow him to races, accepted my concern, and never corrected the rumors between us. I mistook that silence for acceptance.

Until one week ago.

I had gone to Ethan’s racing club to deliver a sponsor file Mason asked me to bring.

The lounge door was half open.

Inside, Jenny was crying.

“Ethan, Miss Alara is the one your father chose for you. I shouldn’t make things difficult.”

Jenny Hayes was the girl the Whitmore family sponsored. After her mother died, Ethan, Julian, and Ryan brought her back to the estate. Since then, they had protected her like she was priceless.

Ethan said, “Alara was never my choice. I only said I’d marry her to keep my father happy.”

Julian said, “That agreement is Father’s way of controlling succession. She’s a condition, not a choice.”

Ryan laughed coldly. “What does she have besides Father spoiling her? Jenny, if she hurts you again, I won’t let it go.”

I left before they could say more.

Ten years meant nothing to them. If they wanted Jenny, fine. I would not stand in their way.

The next day, I went to Mason’s study.

“Have you made your decision?” he asked.

“Yes. I choose Noah.”

Mason looked at me as if I had named a stranger. For years, everyone had watched me chase Ethan. Noah was the last name he expected.

“Noah is my son too,” Mason said at last. “If you choose him, I hope it is because you see him, not because you are running from the others.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

Because in ten years, Noah was the only one who had never hurt me. He was also the only one who never treated Jenny’s tears as proof that I was guilty.

Mason closed the agreement. “Then keep it between us until the ceremony. I don’t want my sons interfering before the documents are ready.”

I nodded.

“If this is your decision,” he said, “I’ll support you.”

When I left his study, Ethan, Julian, Ryan, and Jenny were downstairs.

Ryan saw me first. “Well? Who are you choosing?”

Ethan frowned. “Don’t play games, Alara.”

Julian set down his tablet. “Why wait until the succession ceremony? Whoever you choose, Father will force him to honor the agreement.”

Ryan sneered. “Do you enjoy keeping us hanging?”

Jenny tugged Ryan’s sleeve. “Don’t say that. Miss Alara probably just can’t bear to choose.”

Then she looked at me. “Mr. Whitmore loves her so much. Whatever she wants, someone always gives it to her.”

I looked at her. “What does my decision have to do with you?”

Jenny’s eyes reddened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken. Please don’t be angry.”

Ryan stepped in front of her. “She only said one thing. Did you have to scare her?”

Julian frowned. “Alara, don’t turn Father’s affection into a privilege.”

Ethan’s voice was the coldest. “You’re just an orphan my father brought home. The Whitmore family gave you a name. That doesn’t give you the right to bully Jenny.”

Once, I would have explained. Now I would not. They had already chosen who to believe.

Not long after Jenny came to the estate, Ethan’s confidential race briefing was leaked from my account. A security audit traced the login to a guest tablet assigned to Jenny.

When I confronted her, she started crying.

“Miss Alara, I don’t know why it shows my device. I know you don’t like me, but you can’t blame me just because they care about me.”

Ethan was there. He did not ask why Jenny’s tablet had accessed my account. He only looked at me.

“I never thought you would become this kind of person.”

“I didn’t frame her,” I said.

Ryan pulled Jenny behind him. “Enough. Stay away from her.”

Julian only said, “Jealousy is ugly.”

Then Ethan warned me, “If this happens again, don’t expect me to marry you.”

Back then, it hurt. Now it was absurd.

Who said I still wanted him?

In the living room, Jenny was still crying. Ethan comforted her while Ryan and Julian stood on her side.

“If you bully Jenny again,” Ryan said, “I won’t agree even if you choose me.”

Julian said, “Without the Whitmore family, you are nothing.”

Ethan stared at me. “Stay away from Jenny.”

I listened quietly. They thought they could still threaten me, but I no longer wanted them.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t choose any of you.”