Chapter 2

As I spoke, I reached for the glass the cameraman had been drinking from. Before my fingertips touched it, someone grabbed my hand.

Ethan knocked the table sideways. His grip was shockingly strong.

“He already drank from that.”

Ignoring everyone’s startled looks, Ethan pushed Sophie aside and forced me into the seat next to him.

“If you want water, use my glass.”

I’d never seen him like this. When I caught the brief glimmer of tears in his furious eyes, my heart ached despite myself.

“Actually, I…”

Mom hushed me.

“Remember what he did to you. This is not the time to go soft.”

She was right. I couldn’t let this relationship keep me trapped.

Ethan hadn’t even been a good older-brother figure.

He knew my aunt’s family had put a dog collar on me and sewn my mouth shut with a needle and thread. Yet he’d still let my cousin take my place and star in Mom’s final work.

I forced myself to let go, but a voice inside me kept saying:

“He’s the man you grew up loving.”

Ethan’s support hadn’t just been financial. More than anything, he was the person I relied on when no one else was there.

I relied on him to listen when I was hurt. I relied on him to make sure I was never alone again.

Our lives had been intertwined for fifteen years.

Once we separated, even the smallest thing could become a thorn he drove into my heart.

“An obedient dog is a loyal dog. If you want him unable to leave you for the rest of his life, learn to keep a tight grip on the leash.”

Mom told me not to let go of the glass. Instead, she had me pull Ethan down onto his knees beside me.

Ethan hadn’t expected me to resist. As he nearly toppled onto me, something like fear flashed in his eyes.

Then he saw my mocking smile. Under the cameraman’s astonished stare, humiliation finally caught up with him.

“Go wait in your room. Don’t make me angry.”

“Mr. Wallace, show our guests out.”

“The party just started. Why should anyone leave?”

I released Ethan’s wrist and grabbed his collar instead, pulling hard enough to make him feel as if he were choking.

Forced to kneel halfway onto the chair between the cameraman and me, Ethan finally realized I was deliberately testing his limits.

“You don’t seriously think Adrian Hayes likes you, do you?”

He blamed all of this on his uncle and smashed his wineglass.

“He just doesn’t want me causing trouble. If you weren’t the orphan I brought home, he wouldn’t even spare you a glance!”

“Ethan.”

Just as the crash sent my heart racing, the front door opened.

Adrian stood there with a deep frown, his private doctor behind him carrying a medical bag.

“Smash something again, and I’ll bring back every etiquette tutor you had as a child. Clearly, they need to teach you some manners all over again.”

He gave the doctor a look. Understanding at once, the man hurried over and removed my hat.

The bandages beneath my long hair came into view.

Ethan’s expression changed. “You’re hurt?”

I cooperated with the examination and didn’t answer.

I’d always been the talkative one between us. After being ignored over and over, Ethan was growing frantic.

“When did you even meet Clara, Adrian?”

“She’s an orphan with no parents. A couple of days ago, she was still begging to be a nude double. Don’t tell me you’re going to fight me over someone like her.”

He said it deliberately. Beneath his forced smile, he was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.

Adrian didn’t notice anything wrong with his nephew.

After confirming that my wound was all right, he took my broken phone from his pocket and gently placed it in my palm.

“Where did you get that number?”

“Don’t answer. See the red cord around his neck? Pull it off.”

I trusted Mom completely. I reached out without even looking.

A button snapped off and spun to a stop at my feet.

The coworkers who’d been making excuses to leave froze.

“What is she doing? Throwing herself at him right in front of Ethan?!”

“That’s the jade pendant his first love gave him. He’s worn it for twenty years without taking it off, and Clara just ripped it off him?”

“You’d have to be his favorite person in the world to get away with that.”

Sophie crossed her legs, waiting for the show. Ethan’s eyes blazed as he glared at Adrian as if he wanted to tear him apart.

Adrian looked exactly like Ethan when he was angry.

I could practically hear him shouting at me to get out, but Mom was delighted.

“Oh, he hasn’t changed a bit. Still so easy to rile up.”

“It’s fine, sweetheart. Adrian and I were rivals forever. I can tell you exactly what he likes in two sentences.”

I had no choice but to push past the hand he was using to pull his collar closed.

His collarbones were beautiful. His neck was thicker than Ethan’s, his features sharply defined, his eyes unusually sensitive.

“You don’t need a protective charm once you’re well.”

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“Dad, after you received Mom’s corneas, did your eyes still hurt so badly at night that you couldn’t sleep?”

Adrian stopped trying to push me away.

He stared at me in disbelief. His slightly rough fingertips brushed my face again and again.

“You really are her… Why did you wait until now to find me?”

“Mr. Wallace, contact Mr. Lewis. Tell him I need an entire home designed and furnished for a young woman.”