Nisio Isin

"Help me tighten this?" Her voice trembles as she turns her bare back to the doorway. Calloused fingers brush her spine – but it’s not her stepmother. It’s Asher Voss, SU’s star quarterback and her new stepbrother, smirking in the mirror， "Next time you mistake me for Mom..." His breath scorches her ear. "...I’ll leave a real mark." To survive the sweltering New York summer before college, Wendy Wu makes a deal with Asher: Act like strangers once school starts. He’ll remain the untouchable quarterback; she’ll be just another exchange student. No eye contact. No acknowledgement. Ever. But when her father’s long hauls and her stepmother’s busy schedule force Asher into babysitting duty, the lines blur: In the kitchen, he catches her weeping over a shelter documentary and lifts her against his sweat-drenched chest. Garage doors rattle open – his grip tightens: "Hold on. Unless you want them to see you like this." At a party, her friend spots a cherry hair tie on his wrist before he drags her into a dark hallway: "You didn’t want to see me?" His whiskey-laced kiss brands her lips. "Yet your eyes undressed me all night." In a restaurant, a rival girl glares through the window. He traps Wendy’s thigh under the table， "Call me ‘brother’ and I’ll save you."  Their secret collapses. Wendy ends it, and he freezes her out in public， "Do I know you?" Until a rain-lashed night when Ahser, drenched and desperate, pins her to the wall， "Don’t tell me you do not regret the breakup" His teeth find her collarbone. "I have to admit it-- I miss you." Can a love forged in stolen touches survive the spotlight? Or will their step-sibling bond shatter them both?

Isabella Sinclair bears the surname of the second richest and most prestigious family in the country, but only that. His father was banished from the prominent family, for marrying his mother, a woman of humble origins. Which is why Isabella has never had any contact with her father's family. At just the age of ten, Isabella has been left alone and helpless, living on the street, because her parents have died and the bank has taken everything from her, due to the accumulated debts. Isabella's whole world has fallen apart, when something incredible happens. She receives a letter from her father's family, the wealthy Sinclair’s, inviting her to a unique family reunion, which will take place on a two-week cruise. Not having a roof over her head, Isabella decides to go without knowing the turn her life will take during this short trip, will meeting the Sinclair’s mean her salvation or her downfall?