Chapter 4

Blood droplets from my arm hit the marble floor.

I bit down hard, forcing myself still. This was the Sterling family's coming-of-age ceremony. One wrong move and I'd hand them exactly what they wanted.

Kellan's hand hovered in the air, jaw tight, putting on the performance of a concerned lover.

"Oh my god." Aria pressed herself against his chest, her voice trembling on cue. "Kellan, I think I twisted my ankle..."

She clutched his wrist with both hands, locking his attention like a vice.

Classic.

The champagne glasses kept clinking. So did the whispers.

"Did you see that? She shoved her own sister in front of everyone."

"The Sterling heir? More like the Sterling embarrassment."

"Kellan would never touch a girl like that. What was she even thinking?"

I stood there and let the words wash over me. Every single one of them.

Kellan turned to me, his expression cutting straight through the noise. "Why are you still standing there? You think this is funny?"

The crowd behind him smelled blood.

"Apologize! Get down and apologize!"

"You saved his father once—what, you think that makes you good enough for a Blackwood?"

"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic."

Memories hit me without warning.

The late nights I spent obsessing over the right dress, the right smile, the right everything—all for him. The lengths I went to push other women out of his orbit. I built my entire world around Kellan Blackwood and called it love.

God, I was such a fool.

Kellan closed the distance between us, lowering his voice to something that was supposed to sound reasonable. "Father's about to announce our engagement tonight. Don't embarrass yourself further."

Then came the offer. It always came.

"Play your part, and I'll put you in the CFO seat at Blackwood Corp after the ceremony. That's more than you deserve." He let that sit for a second. "All you have to do is stay out of my way."

I held his gaze and said absolutely nothing.

That seemed to unsettle him more than any response could.

The string quartet cut out mid-phrase.

The Sterling butler stepped into the room, spine straight, expression carefully neutral—until his eyes caught the blood on my arm. Something flickered across his face. Gone in an instant, but I saw it.

"Miss Avery." His voice carried across the room. "It's time for the selection ceremony."

Then the room shifted.

A figure appeared behind the butler, and every conversation in the hall died within seconds.

Broad shoulders. Tailored black suit. Cufflinks catching the chandelier light—Blackwood family crest, unmistakable. He didn't scan the room so much as assess it, the way someone does when they've already calculated every exit.

Kai Blackwood.

Dean's eldest. Back from five years of doing the kind of work that doesn't make it into press releases.

Nobody breathed.

His reputation preceded him like a storm front. Two years ago he'd tripled Blackwood's offshore holdings. The methods? Nobody asked. Nobody wanted to know.

He walked directly toward me.

No detour. No hesitation.

He stopped close—closer than expected—and his fingers brushed the wound on my arm. Barely a touch. But deliberate.

"Who did this to you?"

Low. Quiet. The kind of quiet that has weight behind it.

I looked up. Those dark blue eyes didn't match the coldness everyone talked about. They were focused. Completely, unsettlingly focused—on me.

A memory cracked open without my permission.

Him. A basement. Blood soaking through his shirt as he dropped to his knees beside me. His voice breaking on my name. The way he held me like putting me down would kill him too.

He had burned everything to the ground trying to save me.

Too late. But he tried.

"It's nothing," I said. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Kai." Kellan cut between us before I could blink, shoulders squared, smile sharp. "This doesn't concern you. Avery and I had a small misunderstanding. It's handled."

He let that land, then added: "She's going to be my fiancée. I think I can manage my own relationship."

The butler opened his mouth.

One look from Kai closed it again.

Kai didn't even glance at his brother. He straightened the cuff of his jacket, unhurried, like Kellan's entire presence was a minor inconvenience.

"Father sent me personally." His tone left no room for argument. "The Sterling daughter's decision tonight affects both families. That makes it my business."

He turned back to me. "Let's go."

I walked past Kellan without a word. Head up, shoulders back, each step deliberate.

Behind me, I heard him lean toward Aria.

"She has at last recognized her true role."

I almost smiled.

He has no idea what's coming.