Chapter 1 Happy Birthday To Me

Alina’s POV

Tonight was supposed to be the most perfect night of my life.

At least that’s what everyone kept saying as they hovered around me like I was a priceless artifact being prepared for auction.

Born into the wealthiest family in Pennsylvania, I learned early that independence is a myth…especially when a team of professionals is responsible for approving even my nightwear.

Tonight…like every other day since birth…I did the one thing I’ve been trained to do best… staying still.

I sat perfectly still on the velvet stool in front of the triple mirror in the east-wing dressing room, chin tilted exactly the way Elise liked it, eyes fixed on my own reflection while four pairs of hands moved over me with practiced efficiency. 

The air smelled like expensive foundation, fresh orchids, and the faint metallic tang of the diamond necklace they were fastening around my neck.

“Eyes up, miss,” Elise murmured, brushing a final layer of highlighter across my cheekbones. 

The brush felt like a whisper against skin that had already been airbrushed, contoured, and set to perfection. 

Another maid knelt at my feet, sliding the crystal-encrusted Louboutins onto my arches…size seven, custom-dyed to match the midnight sapphire of the gown. 

A third maid pinned the last loose curl into the elaborate updo that had taken three hours and two heated arguments over whether the pearls should be freshwater or South Sea.

They might as well use swamp water.

I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I just watched the stranger in the mirror become more unrecognizable with every pass of the brush.

The gown waited on the chaise behind me like a sleeping dragon…seventeen layers of hand-embroidered silk organza, ten thousand Swarovski crystals hand-sewn in Rome by Valentino’s atelier, a twenty-foot train that would need its own security detail. It cost more than most people’s houses. I hated it more than I’d ever hated anything.

Not because it wasn’t beautiful. It was breathtaking.

I hated it because it wasn’t mine.

Every bead, every stitch, every inch of fabric had been chosen by someone else. The color palette had been approved by the board. The silhouette had been debated in three separate committee meetings. Even the neckline had been adjusted twice because “it needed to convey power without being provocative.” I hadn’t been asked once what I wanted to wear on my twentieth birthday.

If I could have chosen…even just once…I would’ve picked something stupid and comfortable and mine.

Sweatpants that actually had pockets. A cropped hoodie that showed a sliver of stomach when I raised my arms. Sneakers I could run in. 

And for the celebration, maybe a tiny pizza party in someone’s dorm with music I actually liked and people who laughed too loud and didn’t care what my last name was. Friends who called me “Alina” instead of “Miss Sterling.” Friends who knew my favorite song was some cheesy 2010s pop track I’d never admit to in public.

I didn’t own a single crop top. And I didn’t have a single real friend.

Elise stepped back, tilting her head like an artist appraising her canvas.

“Perfection,” she said softly.

The other maids echoed quiet agreements. One of them offered me a hand. I took it and stood. The gown settled over me like a second skin…fifteen pounds of silk and expectation. It rustled with every breath.

They walked me down the east-wing staircase, past oil portraits of ancestors who all looked vaguely disappointed, and out to the circular drive.

The Maybach Pullman waited…matte black, windows tinted to absolute opacity, license plate STERLING 1. 

Two black SUVs idled in front and behind like silent bodyguards. My escorts…dark suits, earpieces, no smiles…flanked me as I slid onto the cream leather seat. The door closed with that soft, final, expensive sound.

The convoy pulled away smoothly.

I stared out the window at the coastal highway lights glittering on the water. 

I'm twenty years old today. 

My father had called it “a milestone worthy of legacy.” The Sterling Grand Hotel’s Grand Ballroom had been booked for a year. One thousand guests. Champagne fountains. A string quartet playing Vivaldi. A five-course menu flown in from Paris. Seven figures spent to make sure the world remembered Alina Sterling turned twenty in style.

I didn’t care.

I wasn’t ungrateful. I knew what this life looked like from the outside…private jets, black cards with no limit, a name that opened every door. I just wished, sometimes, that my father saw me as his daughter instead of his most valuable asset. A girl he loved instead of a trophy he carried.

The car glided on. But suddenly, the brakes slammed.

My body jerked forward against the seatbelt as the Maybach lurched hard.

I gripped the armrest. “What’s happening?”

The driver’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. “Stay put, Miss Sterling. We’re checking.”

Both escorts were already out…guns drawn, moving fast toward the lead SUV that had stopped diagonally across both lanes. Headlights flared. Something metallic clanged against asphalt.

Then groaning…low, pained accompanied by muffled screams.

My pulse slammed into my throat the moment I heard it.

The rear door on my side was yanked open immediately and so violently that the hinges protested.

Cold night air rushed in.

Three masked men in black tactical gear filled the doorway. One grabbed my wrist in a vise grip. Another clamped a gloved hand over my mouth before the scream could leave my throat. The third slid into the driver’s seat, shoving the original driver aside like he weighed nothing.

“Move!” the man holding me barked.

I thrashed…elbows flying, knees driving upward…but they were faster, stronger. The one gripping my arm twisted it behind my back until white-hot pain shot through my shoulder. I cried out against the leather glove, tears springing up fast.

The car lurched forward again, tires screaming as we peeled away from the convoy.

I kicked. I clawed at the mask. I screamed into the hand until my throat burned.

A fist connected hard with my temple in a precise and practiced manner. These were trained men. They have to be. For them to overpower my bodyguards.

Stars exploded behind my eyes as the world tilted sideways.

As the darkness rushed in, one single, wild, almost giddy thought cut through the pain…

At least something different is happening this time.

Happy fucking birthday to me.