Chapter 1

Three years.

For three damn years, I'd chased Ethan Cole.

Today was the 999th time I'd laid my heart out for him, here on this dusty Wyoming ranch he managed, a place so far from my New York life it felt like another planet.

"Ethan," I said, my voice steadier than I felt, "just one date. That's all I'm asking."

He didn't even turn from mending the fence, his back a solid wall of indifference.

"Miss Vance," he finally said, his voice flat, "I've told you. I'm not interested."

"But why?" I pressed, the familiar ache starting in my chest. "Is it Lily? Are you still hung up on her?"

He finally looked at me, his blue eyes cold as a winter sky. "Lily has nothing to do with this. My answer is no. And it's final. Don't ask again."

The finality in his tone, the way he dismissed me, it was different this time.

It wasn't just a no; it was a door slammed shut, locked, and bolted.

The pain was sharp, but something else sparked too – a decision.

I spun on my heel, humiliation and a strange sense of release washing over me.

Enough. I was done.

I marched back to the main house, a sprawling log monstrosity my father owned but rarely visited.

My hands were shaking as I grabbed my phone.

I scrolled to my father's number, a contact I usually avoided like a plague.

I hit call.

He answered on the second ring, his voice impatient. "Elara? What is it? I'm busy."

"Father," I said, my voice surprisingly calm, "I've decided. I'll go to that ranch in Wyoming you threatened me with. The one you said would 'straighten me out'."

Silence. Then, a dry chuckle. "Oh? Given up on chasing that foreman, have you? What happened to your grand romantic conquest?"

His words were like little jabs, but I didn't let them get to me. Not this time.

"I'm serious," I said. "I want to go. Now."

"And what makes you think I'll just hand over a working ranch to you, Elara? After all the trouble you've caused?"

"Because you want me out of your hair," I stated, not asked. "And because you owe me."

His voice turned cold. "I owe you nothing. You live a life of luxury because of me."

"Luxury?" I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "You call this luxury? Being a pawn in your business deals? Being paraded around like a show pony?"

I took a deep breath. "You sent me to that godawful boarding school when I was twelve, right after Mom died. You couldn't be bothered."

"That school was for your own good!"

"My own good?" I shot back. "Or was it because you were too busy with your new wife, with Lily's mother? Stepping on old graves to welcome new people, that's what you did, Father."

I remembered that day clearly. I was twelve. He'd packed my bags himself.

He'd told me it was a great opportunity.

I'd found a small, ugly porcelain doll he'd given Mom years ago, a cheap trinket she'd cherished.

I smashed it against the wall before they dragged me to the car. The sound of it breaking was the only satisfaction I'd had in months.

"That was a long time ago, Elara."

"It feels like yesterday to me," I said. "You owe me for that. You owe me for a lot. So, the ranch. Am I going, or do I start making your life very, very public and uncomfortable?"

A long pause. "Fine," he finally bit out. "The ranch is yours to 'manage'. Don't expect any help from me. Ethan Cole is the foreman there. He runs the place. You'll answer to him."

Answer to Ethan? The irony was thick enough to choke on.

"Just arrange the flight," I said, and hung up before he could say anything else.

Two days later, a private jet, one of his many extravagances I despised but now found convenient, deposited me onto a dusty airstrip near Cody, Wyoming.

A battered pickup truck was waiting. Ethan Cole leaned against it, arms crossed, Stetson pulled low over his eyes.

He looked even more rugged and unapproachable than he had when I'd been chasing him around my father's other, more polished, properties.

"Mr. Vance called," Ethan said, his voice devoid of any welcome. "Said you're the new boss." He didn't sound impressed.

He opened the passenger door. "Get in. Work starts at five AM. You missed today's."

He tossed a set of keys onto the dashboard as I climbed in. "That's for the main house. Rules are simple: you pull your weight, or you're out. I don't care who your father is."

His strictness was immediate, a cold shower after the already harsh reality of my new life. This was no socialite's playground. This was Ethan's domain.

The first week was hell. He had me mucking out stables, mending fences in the blistering sun, and trying to learn the basics of ranch work I was hopelessly unprepared for.

Every muscle ached. My designer nails were broken and caked with dirt.

One evening, after I'd collapsed onto my porch swing, too tired to even shower, he appeared with a glass of water and a small first-aid kit.

He didn't say a word, just cleaned and bandaged a nasty cut on my hand from a rusted wire, his touch surprisingly gentle despite his rough hands.

Then he left a bottle of aspirin and a canteen of fresh water by my door.

Another night, I woke up shivering with a fever, a result of overexertion and a sudden cold snap. I heard footsteps outside my room.

Through a crack in the door, I saw Ethan, a dark silhouette against the faint moonlight, standing vigil for a few minutes before retreating.

He was harsh, punishingly so. But then there were these small, almost imperceptible acts.

Was it concern? Or just him making sure his father's unwanted daughter didn't die on his watch?

The ambiguity was unsettling. His cold exterior was still there, but these moments chipped away at it, and at me.

Despite the hardship, despite his consistent rejections, a strange thing happened.

I started to fall for him, harder than before.

It wasn't the thrill of the chase anymore. It was something about his quiet strength, his connection to the land, even his damn stoicism.

The other ranch hands warned me. "He's a closed book, Elara," one of them, a grizzled old cowboy named Hank, had said. "And he's fiercely loyal to Lily Hayes. She's got him wrapped around her little finger."

Lily. The local girl. The one he always seemed to have a soft spot for.

I didn't care. I saw those flickers of something else in his eyes when he looked at me, even if he quickly hid them.

Or maybe I just wanted to see them.

Hope, that stubborn weed, began to grow in the barren soil of my heart.

I tried everything.

I'd "accidentally" bump into him in the narrow hallway of the barn, my hand brushing his. He'd just step back, his face impassive. "Excuse me, Miss Vance."

I'd wear my most flattering, albeit ranch-inappropriate, outfits to breakfast, hoping to catch his eye. He'd glance once, then focus entirely on his plate or his conversation with the other hands about cattle prices.

I even feigned incompetence with tasks I'd secretly mastered, just so he'd have to come over and show me, his hands close to mine.

"Like this," he'd say, his voice patient but distant, guiding my hands with a professional detachment that was more frustrating than outright anger.

Each attempt was met with the same cold, practical rejection. He was a fortress, and I had no siege weapons left. My frustration grew with each rebuff.

Then Lily Hayes started showing up more often.

She was pretty, in a sweet, girl-next-door kind of way, with wide, innocent eyes and a soft voice.

She'd bring Ethan homemade pies or cookies, her gaze lingering on him with an adoration that made my stomach churn.

And Ethan... Ethan softened around her.

The harsh lines around his mouth would ease, a rare smile might even touch his lips.

Hank had told me the story. Years ago, Lily's family had supposedly helped Ethan out of a tough spot, some kind of "saving grace" that earned his undying loyalty.

Watching him with her was like a constant, dull ache. His gentle tone with Lily, the way his eyes followed her, was a stark contrast to the curt, professional manner he used with me.

My despair deepened. This was the real obstacle.

One afternoon, I was heading back from the far pasture, exhausted and covered in dust.

I saw them near the creek, hidden by a grove of cottonwood trees.

Ethan was laughing, a real, open laugh I'd never heard from him before.

Lily was leaning against him, her head on his shoulder, and he had his arm around her. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she giggled, then tilted her head up.

He kissed her.

Not a quick peck. A long, tender kiss that spoke of intimacy and affection.

My heart shattered.

It wasn't just a crush anymore. It was... it was something I'd allowed to grow, something I'd nurtured with false hope.

And it was all a lie.

I turned and walked away, the image burned into my mind.

This was it. The breaking point.

I would leave. I would accept the life my father had planned for me, the arranged marriage, anything to get away from this constant, agonizing pain.

The ranch, Wyoming, Ethan Cole – it was all a mistake. A very painful mistake.

That night, I decided to take a long bath, a small luxury in this rugged place. The old claw-foot tub in my room was one of the few things that reminded me of civilization.

I was soaking, trying to wash away the grime and the heartache, when the door burst open.

Ethan stood there, his face a mask of fury. He'd obviously just come in from a long ride; he was dusty and sweat-stained.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled, his eyes blazing.

I sat up, clutching a towel to myself, my heart pounding. "What are you talking about? I'm taking a bath!"

"Don't play innocent with me, Elara," he spat my name like it was poison. "I saw you. By the creek. Spying on me and Lily."

His accusation, so public, so humiliating, hung in the air. He hadn't even knocked.

He took a step closer, his presence filling the small bathroom, making it hard to breathe.

"Did you enjoy the show?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Hoping to catch something you could use? Some gossip to spread?"

"I wasn't spying!" I cried, my voice shaking. "I was just walking back!"

"Right," he scoffed. "You New York socialites are all the same. Always looking for drama, always trying to manipulate."

He leaned down, his face close to mine. "Let me make this perfectly clear, Miss Vance. I am not interested in you. I will never be interested in you. Whatever games you think you're playing, stop. You're wasting your time."

His words were like slaps, each one more painful than the last.

He straightened up, his eyes cold and dismissive. "Stay away from me. And stay away from Lily."

Then he turned and walked out, leaving me shivering in the cooling water, my heart in pieces.