Chapter 1

My dad was a mob boss. My mom was a Crestfield socialite.

And I have a genius older brother who spoils me rotten.

The year I turned five, Dad's enemies kidnapped me. They wanted to trade his life for mine.

I couldn't let my dad make that choice. So the first chance I got, I ran.

But I fell off a cliff, lost every memory I had, and woke up as an orphan at a welfare home.

The kidnapper wanted to break my father completely, so he lied and said he'd dumped me in the ocean.

From that day on, my name became taboo in Crestfield high society.

*****

Twenty years later, Brian's new girlfriend ran me over with her car and put me in the hospital.

At my bedside, she tossed a bank card at me and said, "My adoptive dad's a mob boss, mom's a Crestfield socialite, brother's a top scientist. What have you got that could ever compete with me?"

My boyfriend, Brian, the one who swore he'd love me forever, now looked at me coldly. "Emily, you've got nothing to give me. Let me go, okay?"

I held the bank card and whispered back, "Okay."

It was a blessing in disguise. The car crash brought all my memories rushing back.

I should go home.

*****

"Good thing you know your place. If my family stepped in, you'd get a lot worse than three broken ribs," said Chloe.

She had on a custom beige Chanel suit, a Chanel bag, and diamond-studded heels. Every inch the pampered little princess, raised in luxury and spoiled rotten.

Chloe lifted her chin and spoke, her tone unreasonable. "Leave Crestfield in three days. I don't want my boyfriend's ex in my city. It creeps me out."

I looked down. She really was as bratty and bossy as the rumors said.

I had three broken ribs and couldn't even leave the hospital for three days, and she wanted me out of Crestfield?

I looked at Brian, hoping he'd tell this airhead to give me a little more time.

But when Chloe saw me look at Brian, she lost it with jealousy.

She grabbed her pricey handbag and threw it at me. "Slutty bitch. You took my money, and you're still hung up on my man!"

Blood seeped from the bandaged cut on my forehead.

I held my forehead, face white, hissing at the pain.

Chloe still wasn't done. She smirked, then strutted over in those high heels.

Brian's hand jerked up as he tried to stop her, then his eyes flickered, and he let it drop. "Chloe, don't take it too far. Too many eyes here. It's bad for your name."

"Who cares about it?" Chloe said as she yanked my hair so hard I thought my scalp would tear off. "I'm Chloe Quinn. Nobody in Crestfield dares mess with me. Even with a trashed reputation, people still line up to grovel like dogs."

Then she raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face.

Just when I thought I wasn't going to make it that day, a tall, gorgeous man appeared in the doorway.

"Chloe!" At the sound of her name, Chloe froze, let go of me, put on a sweet smile, and trotted over to him.

She snuggled up against his arm and said, "Lucas, what are you doing here?"

Lucas fondly ruffled Chloe's hair and said, "Who are you bullying this time?"

He then let out a helpless sigh. "When are you going to grow up?"

The spoiled princess wore a soft, sweet pout now, like a naive girl who'd been kept safe her whole life.

"I don't want to grow up. With you and Mom and Dad, I'll be a little princess forever."

When I heard Chloe call him "Lucas", I fought to turn my body toward him. But Chloe jostled my broken ribs.

The pain blacked out my vision, cold sweat everywhere. I couldn't make a sound.

If the will to see Lucas hadn't held me up, I'd have passed out already.

But Lucas, the brother I'd been apart from for twenty years, was only steps away. And I still couldn't reach him.

I watched, helpless, as he treated Chloe with such warmth and care.

He wasn't Chloe's brother.

He was my real brother.

He was five years older than me.

He spoiled me since we were little, always saving the best food and toys for me.

Back then, Lucas loved to ruffle my hair too. He'd say softly, "Be happy forever, little sister. I'll always be your knight."

But now all that warmth went to the snake who stole my boyfriend, ran me over, caused my miscarriage, and tormented me without end.

All at once, hatred rose up in me.

Why did they take Chloe in and give her all the love that should've been mine?

Was that fair to me?

I struggled on the bed, whimpering, trying to get Lucas to notice me.

And he did notice.

Through my blurry eyes, I saw him walk slowly toward me.

He stopped at my bedside and said, "Let me apologize for my sister. She's young and spoiled, so she may be nasty, but she doesn't mean real harm."

As he spoke, he took a bank card from his pocket and set it by my pillow. "There are 650 grand on it. I hope you'll take it and let this go."

Watching Lucas stand there, blank-faced and flat-voiced, my body and heart ached as if they'd split.

"Lucas, I already gave her 65 grand. Why more? Someone this pathetic isn't worth a cent more," said Chloe.

"Chloe," Lucas was scolding, but his voice was full of doting and patience, nothing like the cold flatness he'd used on me.

Chloe stuck out her tongue and turned to look down at me. "Quit being so dramatic. I'm not that strong. The worst I did was scratch you a little."

Lucas saw how pale and sweaty I was and seemed to sense something was off.

Maybe he thought I wasn't being dramatic.

But so what if he did?

I was a nobody to him. He never cared whether people like me lived or died.

Lucas turned to take Chloe's hand. "It's the day your sister passed. We should visit her grave."

Chloe smacked her forehead in frustration. "Oh no, I can't believe I forgot something this important. If we're late, Annie won't be mad at me, will she?

"I bet she won't. You all say Annie was sweet and kind, and she sent me to you guys. How could she be mad?"

Lucas smiled, eyes crinkling, and fondly pinched her cheek.

"That's right. You're the little princess she sent to us.

"Eighteen years ago today, we came to visit Annie's grave and found you, three years old, asleep in front of her headstone.

"The moment we saw you, we thought Annie had come back to us.

"Your eyes, especially. They look so much like hers."

As Lucas spoke, his eyes went distant, as if he were looking past Chloe at another girl he missed day and night.

After a while, he forced a smile, his voice sad. "Let's go."