Chapter 1

"Emily Lane, you're fired." The HR manager slid the thin termination notice across the desk with fake sympathy. "Business has been bad lately. You're new, so I hope you understand."

I gripped the paper so hard my nails nearly dug into my palm. Business was bad, my ass. The department had celebrated landing a huge deal yesterday.

The real reason was simple: I'd caught my supervisor kissing Mr. Warren in the stairwell, and I was the witness who hadn't known enough to look away.

"You'll get severance according to company policy, plus one extra month. Hand over your work today," the manager said, waving me off like I was a fly.

When I walked out of the office building carrying my cardboard box, the sky looked ready to collapse. I'd been in this city for three years, changed jobs four times, and still didn't even have five figures in savings.

My rent was due the day after tomorrow, and I still had no idea how I was going to cover next month's bills.

My phone rang. It was Mom. "Emily, your younger brother is getting married next month. The bride's family wants about seventy grand up front, and we really can't scrape it together. Do you think you could..."

"Mom, I have lost my job," I cut in, my voice dry and rough.

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, then my stepfather started yelling in the background. "Lost another job? You're already twenty-five. Can't you be more steady? Look at your cousin. He's got a secure government job..."

I hung up and switched my phone to airplane mode.

Then it started to rain. A thin, endless drizzle, like this city was laughing at me on repeat. I didn't have an umbrella, so I have to kept walking with the box in my arms.

Before long, the cardboard was soaked through, and the papers at the bottom were getting wet too, like my life right now. A total mess.

By the time I got to the building, I was soaked through. Two people were standing in the corridor downstairs. One was my landlady. The other was a stranger in a suit carrying a briefcase.

Miss Lane, perfect timing, my landlady said, her eyes lighting up. "This gentleman says he's here for you."

The man looked about forty. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and handed me a business card with polite ease. "Hello, Miss Lane. I'm Michael Grant from Celestial Holdings' legal department. May I have a few minutes of your time?"

Celestial Holdings? That multibillion-dollar international company? What could they possibly want with an overworked office drone who'd gotten fired?' I thought.

I looked at him warily. "I'm not buying insurance, I'm not taking out a loan, and I don't have money to invest."

Michael smiled. "You've got it wrong. I'm here on behalf of your brother, Charles Lane."

"My brother?" I froze. "I'm an only child. I don't have a brother."

"Yes, you do." Michael took a file from his briefcase. "Twenty-three years ago, your parents divorced. You were placed with the woman who raised you, while your full brother, Charles, went with your father.

"Later, she remarried, moved away with you, and changed your records, which is why all contact was lost. Your brother is now the Chairman of Celestial Holdings."

It sounded like some wild made-up story, but I still took the file from him. Inside was a yellowed copy of an old court ruling, with both my parents' signatures on it and the names of two children: Charles Lane and Emily Lane.

"Mr. Lane has been looking for you all these years," Michael said gently. "We only found you last month through public records.

"Mr. Lane is in Ravenport handling urgent business right now, so he asked me to come pick you up first. He also wrote you a letter by hand."

My hands shook as I opened the envelope. There was only one line on the page, written so hard it nearly pressed through the paper: "Emily, I will be here to take you home." Signed, Charles Lane.