Chapter 1

Emery’s pov

The hallway outside my bedroom was quiet, but the heavy, measured footsteps coming up the stairs made my stomach knot tight. I knew the sound of those heavy leather soles better than my own heartbeat, and every thud sent a cold wave of panic through my chest.

Moving silently across the worn carpet, I slipped the heavy brass bolt into place and let out a shaky, quiet breath. The lock was my only defense in this house, a pathetic barrier between me and a man who thought he owned every inch of my life. I leaned against the cold wood of the door, waiting until the footsteps finally drifted toward the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

Once the house fell back into its usual silence, I exhaled and turned toward the small ring light mounted on my desk. The bright blue glow illuminated the tiny bedroom, casting long shadows across the walls and masking the peeling wallpaper near the corner.

I adjusted the angle of my phone screen, tapping the encrypted app where my best friend, Sasha, was already waiting for me.

Her face lit up the display, her eyes assessing as she took in my nervous expression through the camera. This small screen was my secret portal to a completely different world, one where I controlled who saw me and who paid for the privilege.

"You look like a deer caught in headlights, Emery, so take a deep breath and relax your shoulders," She whispered through my wire earbuds.

"Remember why you’re doing this, because that cash is the only thing standing between you and another year in this nightmare. Now arch your back just a little bit and let the lace sleeve drop off your left shoulder."

I followed her instructions, shifting my weight on the edge of the bed while trying to project an air of confidence. The camera clicked repeatedly.

I opened my creator dashboard to check the evening’s analytics, watching the numbers tick upward in real time with a quiet sense of triumph. My eyes immediately locked onto the top of my supporter list, where the familiar screen name sat perched in the number one slot as always.

RinkKing99 had dropped another five-hundred-dollar tip on my latest teaser set, accompanied by a simple note in my private inbox.

He was my biggest whale subscriber, a wealthy stranger who tipped thousands every single month just to watch me pose in front of this ring light. That money was accumulating in my private bank account, slowly building the financial ladder I needed to climb out of this living hell forever.

"He tipped again, didn't he?" Sasha asked with a knowing smile, watching the subtle shift in my expression through the screen. "That guy is absolutely head-over-heels obsessed with you, Emery, and his deep pockets are going to pay for your transfer tuition by next month."

I nodded silently, staring at the notification as a mixture of gratitude and strange discomfort washed over me. I didn't care who RinkKing99 was in real life as long as his money kept flowing into my escape fund. Every single dollar brought me one step closer to buying a one-way ticket out of this city, far away from my stepfather’s suffocating control.

Satisfied with the shot list, I ended the call with Sasha, closed out the creator app, and locked my phone screen. My throat felt dry from the tension, reminding me that I hadn't had a glass of water since early this afternoon. I unbolted my door as quietly as possible, slipping out into the dark hallway in my oversized sweater and tiny sleep shorts.

The house was pitch black, save for the faint, pale glow filtering up the staircase from the downstairs kitchen. I tiptoed down the carpeted steps, careful to avoid the third board from the top because it always creaked loudly under weight.

As I rounded the corner into the lower hallway, a low rumble of deep voices stopped me dead in my tracks. The smell of cold beer and stale ice immediately hit my nose, letting me know the hockey team was back from their game.

Jax, my stepbrother and the team captain, was standing near the kitchen island alongside his two best friends, Miller and Brody.

They were still in their athletic gear, their tall, broad frames dominating the room as they laughed over a play from tonight's match. My heart hammered against my ribs as I tried to melt back into the shadows, praying they wouldn't notice me standing there.

Before I could take a single step backward into the hallway, Jax turned his head toward the dark corridor, his blue eyes locked onto mine, instantly cutting through the dark like a pair of ice picks.

The arrogant smile on his face vanished, replaced by the familiar, bitter contempt he always reserved strictly for me. He set his beer bottle down on the marble counter and the other two guys stopped talking immediately, following Jax's gaze until all three pairs of eyes were fixed directly on me.

"Look who finally decided to crawl out from her little cave," Jax drawled coldly, "Stepping out in next to nothing while my friends are over, just like your gold-digging mother used to do whenever she wanted attention."

He took a slow step toward me, his towering six-foot-two frame blocking out the kitchen light as he narrowed his eyes. Miller and Brody smirked behind him, bodies leaning casually against the counter as they tracked my every move. I gripped the edge of my sweater tight, my knuckles turning white as I backed up against the cold hallway wall.

"I just came down to get a glass of water, Jax," I whispered, keeping my tone flat and even so he couldn't hear the terror shaking my insides. "I didn't know anyone was still awake down here, so I'll just go back upstairs right now."

I turned quickly to retreat up the staircase, eager to get behind my locked door and escape his toxic presence. But as I spun around in the dark, my foot caught the edge of Jax’s hockey bag sitting in the middle of the floor. I stumbled hard, losing my balance completely as my hands flew out to catch myself against the banister.

My unlocked phone slipped from my sweaty palm, flying through the air before landing face-up right at Miller's feet. The bright screen illuminated the dark floorboards, glowing loudly in the quiet room with my open, uncurated photo gallery in full view.

Miller bent down and picked it up, his smirk instantly freezing in disbelief. Brody leaned over his shoulder, his eyes going wide as he stared at the provocative photos filling the display. Jax stepped up beside them, his cold glare shifting down to the screen as his entire body suddenly went rigid.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Miller breathed out, a slow, predatory grin spreading across his face as he scrolled through my private creator dashboard. "Our quiet, innocent little stepsister has a filthy little secret, boys."

I scrambled to my feet, my heart pounding so hard against my ribs I thought it would burst right out of my chest. Jax didn't say a word, but his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle ticking wildly under his skin. His eyes moved from the screen back to my face, with a rage that I had never seen in him before.

"Give me my phone back right now, Miller!" I pleaded, taking a desperate step forward with my hand outstretched. Brody chuckled softly, stepping in front of Miller to block my path with his massive shoulder while tapping the screen.

"Look at these stats, Jax, she's pulling in thousands selling dirty pictures online under everyone's noses," Brody taunted, his thumb hovering over the app's messaging tab. "Wait a minute... check out this private message thread she just replied to ten minutes ago."

Miller read the text on the screen out loud, his voice dripping with cruel amusement that shattered my world into a million pieces.

"'Sorry babe, but the photos are as far as I go because I'm actually still a virgin in real life,'" Miller quoted, bursting into a loud, mocking laugh that echoed off the high ceilings. "A virgin with an adult account, are you fucking kidding me right now?"

I felt the blood completely drain from my face, my knees threatening to buckle right beneath me as the humiliating truth hung in the air. I looked over at Jax, silently begging him to say something or stop them from digging any deeper into my private life. But Jax just stared at me, his eyes burning with a dark, hypocritical fury that looked like pure poison.

"So the untouched little princess wants to play wild online for cash," Brody purred, stepping closer until he was standing just inches away from where I trembled against the wall. "It would be a real shame if your stepfather or the whole university found out about your little side hustle tomorrow morning."

He held the phone just out of my reach, tapping the share button on my profile while Miller grinned like a ravenous wolf. Jax finally broke his silence, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying rasp that made my blood run instantly cold.

"She's not going to let anyone find out, Brody," Jax said quietly, stepping up until his chest was practically brushing against mine. He reached out and grabbed my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw with a grip that pinned me in place.

"Because starting tonight, my sweet little stepsister is going to do whatever the fuck we tell her to do, or her life is completely over."