Chapter 1

For ten years, my stepbrother Kason Oneal was my protector. After our parents divorced, he fought to keep me in his home, becoming the only family I had. Everyone knew he cherished me, and my gratitude slowly blossomed into a secret love.

Then, his old high school flame, Dalia Keith, came back.

The man who once kissed me in the dark of my room vanished overnight, replaced by a stranger. I overheard him telling Dalia, "She's just my stepsister. I feel sorry for her, that's all."

He demanded I give back the jade pendant he once worked all summer to buy for my birthday, only to give it to her.

When I asked to move out of the room next to his, he laughed cruelly. "You'll move into the servant's quarters in the basement. That's where you belong now."

The final blow came when he gave an interview to the press, painting me as a clingy, delusional girl. I became the public villain in their perfect love story, a parasite who couldn't let him go.

Staring at a taunting picture Dalia sent of her wearing my pendant, I finally understood. My love was worthless. I picked up the phone and called my biological father. "Dad, I agree. I want to marry Hadley Payne."

Chapter 1

Isabela Walker held the phone to her ear, the New York City skyline a blur of distant lights outside her window.

"Dad, I agree."

A beat of silence, then Arvil Parrish's voice, warm but laced with surprise, came through the line.

"Isabela? Are you sure? We don't have to do this. I can find another way."

Isabela closed her eyes, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek. "I'm sure," she said, her voice steadier than she felt. "I want to marry Hadley Payne."

Arvil had another plan, a slower one. He wanted to bring her into his company, let her build her own life away from the Oneal family, to stand on her own two feet before even thinking about marriage. But this was faster. This was a clean break.

A wave of joy washed through Arvil's voice, overpowering his initial shock. "That's wonderful, honey! Hadley is a good man, a great man. You'll be happy. You'll finally be safe."

Isabela managed a small, watery smile. "I know, Dad."

She felt a complex mix of relief and sorrow. Relief at the thought of escape, sorrow for the life she was leaving behind, for the boy she once thought was her everything.

"I'll call the Paynes right now," Arvil said, his excitement bubbling over. "They'll be thrilled."

"Okay, Dad. I'll talk to you later."

She hung up and sank onto the edge of her bed, the phone slipping from her grasp. The silence of the room was heavy, pressing in on her. Her mind drifted back, pulling her into the past.

It all started when her mother died.

Her father, Arvil, remarried a woman named Cora Stout. Cora already had a son, Kason Oneal, from a previous marriage. At ten years old, Isabela was thrust into a new house, with a new mother and a new brother.

The new house felt cold and unwelcoming. Cora and her own daughter treated Isabela like an unwanted guest, a burden. They saw her as an outsider.

The neglect was constant. Her clothes were always old, her meals were whatever was left over. Cora' s daughter would steal her things, then blame her for losing them.

Isabela learned to be quiet, to make herself small, to endure the taunts and the cold shoulders.

One afternoon, Cora' s daughter and her friends cornered Isabela in the backyard. They pushed her into the mud, laughing as they ruined her only clean dress. Isabela' s eyes filled with tears, but she didn' t make a sound.

She ran inside, looking for her stepmother, for anyone. She just wanted someone to help her.

That' s when Kason appeared. He was a few years older, tall and quiet, but he saw everything. He walked straight past his mother and sister, grabbed a clean towel, and knelt in front of Isabela.

"Don't cry," he said, his voice low as he gently wiped the mud from her face. "I'll protect you."

He kept his promise. From that day on, Kason was her shadow, her guardian.

That protection lasted for years. He stood up to his mother and sister for her, made sure she ate properly, and checked her homework.

Everyone in their social circle knew that Kason Oneal cherished his stepsister, Isabela Walker, more than anything.

Even after Arvil and Cora divorced, and Isabela was left in the Oneal household, Kason' s devotion never wavered. He was the only family she had left.

He got into a huge fight with his own father, who wanted to send Isabela to a boarding school. Kason refused, threatening to leave home if she was sent away.

Over the years, Isabela's gratitude slowly blossomed into something more, a secret love she held tight in her heart. Living under the same roof, it felt forbidden, but she couldn't help it.

She confessed her feelings to him more than once, her heart pounding with hope.

Each time, Kason would gently push her away. "We're family, Isabela. I'm your brother."

His rejection hurt, but his constant presence was a comfort she couldn't live without. Then, one night, after a university party where she had a little too much to drink, he broke his own rule. He carried her home and, in the quiet darkness of her room, he kissed her.

She thought that was it. She thought her love was finally returned. A new chapter was beginning.

But then Dalia Keith came back.

She was Kason's old high school flame, the one who had broken his heart. The moment she walked back into his life, everything changed.

Isabela saw the panic in Kason's eyes when he saw Dalia again. It was a look she had never seen before.

He immediately put distance between them. The warmth vanished, replaced by a cool formality.

Isabela overheard him explaining their relationship to Dalia in the hallway. "She's just my stepsister. I feel sorry for her, that's all."

His words cut her deeply. He became cold, distant, avoiding her at all costs.

He started spending all his time with Dalia, taking her to the places he used to take Isabela.

Isabela watched them, a silent observer of her own heartbreak. The laughter they shared, the easy way he touched Dalia's arm-it was a world she was no longer part of.

She finally understood. It was over. The little flame of hope she had nurtured for so long was extinguished.

She decided to let go. She would stop loving him, stop waiting for him.

She began to act detached, almost serene. She focused on her studies, made plans with friends, and built a wall around her heart.

One evening, Kason found her in the library.

"Dalia's birthday is next week," he said, not meeting her eyes. "She really likes that jade pendant you have. The one I gave you."

That pendant. He had spent his entire summer vacation working a part-time job to buy it for her eighteenth birthday. It was his first real gift to her.

She had worn it every day for years, a constant reminder of his care.

Isabela looked up from her book, her expression calm. "Okay."

She took off the pendant and placed it in his hand without a second thought.

Kason stared at her, surprised by her easy compliance. He had expected a fight, tears, a scene.

He saw something flicker in her eyes, but it wasn't sadness. It was something else, something he couldn't name.

"Isabela..." he started, his voice uncertain.

She gave him a polite, distant smile. "She'll be happy, won't she?"

He didn't look happy. He looked angry. His jaw tightened.

"What are you playing at, Isabela?" he asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"I'm not playing at anything."

"You're not to cause any trouble for Dalia. Do you understand?"

Isabela felt a chill run down her spine. The protector was gone, replaced by a stranger. "I need to talk to your mother about moving into the guest room in the back."

She knew she couldn't stay in the room next to his anymore, a room filled with memories that now felt like lies.

"I don't get special treatment anymore, do I?" she added, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

She remembered him promising her that her room would always be hers, that he would always be there for her.

Kason's laugh was harsh and cruel. "The back? Don't be ridiculous. You'll move into the servant's quarters in the basement. That's where you belong now."

His words hit her like a physical blow. The servant's quarters. He was demoting her, erasing her from the family, from his life.