The Billionaire Princeton Brothers and I

Sakura, with no last name, was found in spring on the doorstep of Queen Mary Orphanage in a small town called South Hampton in St. Joseph Island. Her mother mysteriously disappeared after leaving the baby girl in a basket along with a note that said My daughter's name is Sakura and a necklace with a pink diamond pendant in the shape of a cherry blossom flower.

Sakura was a shy, quiet girl. Her childhood lacked the love and affection that one receives from one's parents. From early on, she knew she didn't have a mother or a father and longed to have them.

Mrs. Byrd, the headmistress of the orphanage, didn't like Sakura very much, and neither did her pretty little daughter, Tara. The blond-haired, blue-eyed girl enjoyed tormenting Sakura and making fun of her, isolating the girl from the rest and setting her as a target for her amusement.

Tara knew she was pretty, and everyone adored her. She had her mother and most of the staff at the orphanage wrapped around her little finger. Many times, she would tell her mother, and everyone else for that matter, lies about Sakura. Mrs. Byrd, always believing her beloved daughter, would punish Sakura, slapping the little girl on the cheeks, spanking her backside, taking away her toys and books, denying her meals, and making her kneel on the concrete floor from midday until midnight without any food or water, all in order to teach her a lesson.

Eventually, she grew accustomed to being alone and learned to endure the harassment. When she was told to pray for forgiveness for being a naughty girl, she prayed instead she'd get adopted by a nice family who loved her and to leave this horrendous place where no one liked her. Then she'd daydream about it happening, about her going far away and living with her very own family.

It appeared as if her prayers were answered, for Sakura's dream did come true one day.

The family she wanted to belong to appeared when she had turned seven. It was during the summer, and the children of Queen Mary Orphanage were invited to have a picnic with the Princetons, the wealthiest family on St. Joseph Island and sponsors of the orphanage.

Sakura knew the moment she stepped out of the bus and onto the neatly paved pathway and exotically beautiful garden that she wanted to be here. When she stared up at the enormous mansion like those castles in fairytale books, she sucked in her breath with wonder.

"Whoa! So pretty! So big!" the children murmured with delight. And Sakura agreed with them.

The man of the house came out to greet them. He was very handsome with gray eyes and blond hair. He had a nice smile on his face as he greeted every one of them, and Sakura felt her heart quicken with happiness as his eyes met hers. There was kindness within those eyes that Sakura had never received from anyone before.

The man ushered the children to the garden with a gentle, rolling lawn and magnolia trees, where delicious food and sweet drinks waited for them to enjoy. That was when the rest of the family came out, and Sakura instantly fell in love with them and knew she wanted to be with them.

They were a big clan of a family, just like she'd always wanted, and she did her best learning their names when they were introducing themselves to everyone.

The nice father's name was James, and the pretty mother's was Brenda. The oldest son was Nicolas, who was twelve years old and had blond hair and gray eyes like his father, complete with glasses. He looked kind and at the same time serious, just like his father. Then there were the ten-years-olds, non-identical triplets: Tristan with brown hair and blue eyes, Logan also with brown hair but with gray eyes, and Sebastian with blond hair and sky-blue eyes.

The boy with chestnut-brown hair and cobalt-blue eyes was eight-year-old Hayden. He had a mischievous look about him as he introduced himself. Next to Hayden were the non-identical twins, Alaina and Darcy, at six years old. Alaina, the older sister, had honey-blond hair and blue eyes, and Darcy, the younger brother, had ink-black hair and mauve-gray eyes. And then there was the baby of the house, Conrad, at four years old, with golden-brown hair and gray eyes, hiding his face behind his mother's skirt.

Sakura couldn't take her eyes off all the children because they fascinated her. She felt a sense of longing as she watched them play with the other children, especially with Tara.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Sakura became aware of one of the boys, Sebastian, watching her.

"Where are you from?" he asked. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Sakura shook her head as she gazed at him, marveling at his blond hair that glittered like white gold under the sun and his blue eyes, the same color as the beautiful summer sky that shone and stretched endlessly beyond the horizon.

She knew what he meant, for the majority of the population living on St. Joseph Island knew one another, and she, a half-bred little girl who'd been cast away by her own parents who knew no one, was a rare specimen indeed.

"Her mother threw her away when she was a baby," Tara said behind Sebastian. "Mommy said she's tainted, a devil's daughter, and no one wants her."

Cheeks flushing with shame, Sakura felt the urge to run away and hide. After all, she didn't want this boy to know she was a throwaway, a piece of rubbish no one wanted, not even her own mother or father.

Perhaps Tara was right. Perhaps she was tainted. Perhaps she was a devil's daughter, and that was why no one wanted her.

"How could a mother throw her own daughter away?" Nicolas asked. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and made a frown very much like his father when he was contemplating something very important. "That's just mean."

Tristan stepped toward her and pulled her hair. "Maybe you are the devil's daughter. Your hair is so black."

"And your skin is so white," Logan put in, pinching her cheek.

"If she's the devil's daughter," Alaina butted in, "then we shouldn't be playing with her. We shouldn't be talking to her at all. She might give us the pox or something." The girl shivered and pulled a face. "Has she given you anything nasty yet, Tara?"

Tara laughed. "No, not yet. Not unless nightmares count. Mama said she cries at night, and it sounds like a ghost. So we shouldn't talk to her at all. Otherwise, she'll give us nightmares."

Alaina shivered and hugged Tara. "I don't want nightmares. Go away, you devil witch. You're a bad witch just like the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz."

Sebastian frowned at his sister. "Don't be silly, Alaina. She's no witch, and she won't give us nightmares. She's just a little girl."

"Oh? How do you know for sure?" Alaina remarked.

"You're so skinny and short like a dwarf," Hayden said. "But those dwarves in books aren't that skinny like you."

Sakura blushed, feeling a bit overwhelmed at being the center of attention. She could feel herself shaking from nervousness and took a few steps back to get some space.

"I think she looks like Snow White," Darcy said. His hand reached out and stroked her hair. "Really black hair and really pale skin."

Sakura gasped at the intimate contact and turned to look at him. No one had ever stroked her hair before, and for him to do so caused her heart to flutter with a sense of joy.

Darcy grinned at her, his eyes sparkling as he moved his fingers to caress her face, marveling at the soft, pale skin.

Sakura shyly returned his smile, liking his warmth and his gentle, feathery touches. Her heart glowed, and she felt warm all over. She wondered if this was what it felt like to have a real family, to have someone love you and care for you.

Tara laughed hoarsely. "Don't be silly, Darcy. She's ugly and a devil's daughter. Don't go near her." She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back, away from Sakura.

Darcy glared at Tara. "Why'd you do that for?"

"Just get away from her!" Tara snapped.

Darcy scowled. "I don't want to. I like her."

"Darcy!" Alaina shrieked. "How could you like her? She's the devil's daughter!"

"She's not the devil's daughter!" Darcy replied firmly, taking Sakura by the hand.

Tara looked as though she was about to scream her head off but held herself in check before she embarrassed herself in front of the Princeton siblings.

"What's your name?" Nicolas asked.

Sakura was so conscious of Darcy's warm hand clasping around hers that she didn't hear Nicolas. When he patiently asked her again, she glanced up, licked her lips nervously, and said, "Sakura."

"Sa... What?" Hayden asked.

"Sa-ku-ra," Sakura said again.

"What does it mean?" Tristan butted in.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head to avoid their gazes. She felt rather ashamed that she didn't know what her name meant, but she was determined to find out once she got back to the orphanage.

"That name is too hard to pronounce," Logan said to himself. "Why don't we give you another name? A nickname?"

"Why would you give her a nickname?" Tara asked in annoyance.

"Yeah! Why?" Alaina shouted at her brother.

"I want a nickname, too," Tara demanded.

"Your name is easy to pronounce," Sebastian said. "And it's kind of short already."

"How about Sarah?" Nicolas suggested. "It's a popular name, and it means princess."

Tara butted in instantly. "But she's not a princess. She doesn't even look like a princess. She's a devil's daughter."

"She looks like Snow White to me," Darcy said again, smiling at Sakura. "We can call her Snow or something."

"What? Just because she has black hair and pale skin?" Tara muttered unhappily. "She's plain and ugly like Mommy said. So we should give her a plain and ugly name."

"Yes, we should do that," Alaina said, nodding her head furiously.

"What about Sally?" Sebastian suggested. "It sounds pretty close to Sa-ku... Sa-ku-ra."

"Yes, Sally sounds about right," Tara said, nodding her head. "She is silly, after all, and it rhymes, I think. Sakura is a silly girl. Sally and silly." She laughed. "Silly Sally."

And so Sakura had a nickname that she herself did not have a vote in, and soon the children returned to their play and forgot all about her.

Every night after that day, Sakura prayed the Princetons would adopt her into their family. Then one day her dream came true in the most bizarre way.

The orphanage was on fire and the building burned down, killing Mrs. Byrd, though all the children and staff escaped. After some hard and fast investigation by the police, it was found that Mrs. Byrd had been smoking in the kitchen while the gas was still on, thus leading to an explosion. However, a rumor was spread that Sakura was responsible for starting the fire by leaving the oven gas turned on. Though she had done no such thing, she could not rebuke the claim that Tara and her friends made as witnesses to the whole ordeal. Soon Sakura found herself hated by everyone who knew her, and she lost all hope of adoption.

One week after the incident, James Princeton walked in, claiming that such a nice little girl couldn't have done such a terrible thing, and since she had nowhere to go and no one would take her, he and his wife would adopt her.

Sakura was so relieved and happy over this man's kindness that, for the first time in her seven years, she cried in front of everyone. James wiped away her tears, told her everything would be all right, lifted her into his arms, and took her home to his family.

Sakura Princeton stroked the strands of her tresses away from her face. The glossy locks refused to obey her and fell back in place. She muttered under her breath and tossed them back, bunching up the curls and letting them fall to one side of her slender shoulder. Then she turned just so to the right to get into a good position, lifted the camera up to her eyes, and when she thought the lighting was as good as it was going to get, she clicked on the record button.

Just then a gust of wind blew, loosening her hair and fluttering it about. She, however, paid no heed to this as she was too consumed with what she was doing.

It's perfect! Just what she needed. Countless cherry blossom petals were flying all around her like rain. It was so beautiful, wildflowers and cherry blossoms in the woods giving out myriads of colors. It'd be perfect for her painting.

She took a step back in order to take in the whole picture-cherry blossoms, leaves, trees, and wildflowers in the background. Once she thought she'd taken enough photos, she lowered the camera and smiled with satisfaction.

"You're going to be my bestseller this week," she said, tapping her finger on the petal. "And I thank you for that." Then she imagined the digits increasing in her bank account-and yes, that also meant her plan to go overseas was getting closer to reality too.

She turned to pick up her bag and headed back toward the road as she hummed to herself.

Loud barking came her way, and Sakura felt something soft grazing against her legs. She glanced down and saw a canine with fluffy white fur and large black eyes watching her, begging for her attention. The West Highland white terrier barked her a happy greeting.

"Where have you been, Toby?" she greeted back. "I told you not to go too far. You might get lost. What if I couldn't find you? What would you do then? You'd become an orphan."

Sakura knew exactly what it was like to be an orphan. It was a most terrible feeling to have no one to share your love, your fear, your happiness, or your experiences. It was a lonely existence, and no one deserved that.

"You wouldn't want that now, would you?" she queried Toby as she bent down to pick him up. The dog stuck out his tongue and licked her cheek. She couldn't help herself and chuckled.

The fact was Sakura really loved Toby since it was she who had found him half-buried in the snow in the depths of the woods three winters ago. The pup was lost and very sick, having been abandoned by his owner who had left St. Joseph Island and never returned. If it hadn't been for her, Toby could've died from starvation and hypothermia.

"Don't!" She told him off. The dog looked somewhat disappointed as he tried to lick her again. "It's your fault for not listening to me." She returned him to the ground. "Now then, I think it's time to head back. I do have many more things to do before dinner." She paused, looking up at the beautiful spring sky; her eyes narrowed against the bright sunlight. "And then there's Saturday." She frowned, and her heart skipped a beat.

Saturday would come all too soon, the day when everyone would be arriving for the wedding and the holiday. There'd be so many people Sakura didn't know. But of course, that didn't matter. What really mattered-and what really worried her-was the fact that her adopted brothers-all seven of them-would be coming as well since it was their cousin Mary's wedding.

Sakura tilt her head to one side as she thought about the brothers. There were the very responsible, father-like figure Nicolas; the very popular, mischievous triplets Tristan, Logan, and Sebastian; the disobedient, bad-boy Hayden; the smart, arrogant Darcy, who disliked her most since those unfortunate incidents thirteen years ago; and lastly nice, sincere Conrad.

Of course, she couldn't really forget about Tara, Alaina, and their big-city friends. They'd no doubt only be too happy to be back and make Sakura's life as miserable as possible. But Sakura too had grown up into a fine woman with a strong will. Or so James, her adopted father, told her many times. Hence, come hell or high water, Sakura wasn't going to put up with their nastiness this time.

As she breathed in the fresh spring air and strolled along the woodland, a thought suddenly struck her. She nibbled her lower lip, her eyes gazing off into the distance to the sea beyond.

Would they still remember her, though?

She scoffed at the thought immediately. Of course not! If they remembered anything about her at all, it was probably the pranks they had played on her and the many scolding they had received from James and Brenda because of her. Not that she'd ever been the one who told on them. It had always been Tara, who was also adopted by the Princetons, and Alaina who had been the masterminds behind everything. Then they'd all gone off to boarding school-the boys to St. Michael's Boarding School for Boys, one of the most prestigious schools in America, and Tara and Alaina to Princess Margaret's Boarding School for Girls, also one of the most prestigious schools in America.

Not very long after, Sakura too had gone off to St. Helensburgh Boarding School for Girls where she met her friends Mary Collins, who also turned out to be the boys' cousin from their mother's side, and Katherine Hodge, a girl from a good family who also lived on St. Joseph Island. She, Mary, and Katherine had many lovely times together, helping each other with schoolwork and enjoying each other's company, both in and out of school.

Back then, during the holidays, Sakura would stay with the Collinses at their farm in California, enjoying her time there with Mary, Katherine, and Mary's brother, Richard. Then every so often James and Brenda would come and stay with them for a couple of days along with Dale and Molly, her adopted grandparents from James's side of the family. During those times, Sakura had never felt more warm, happy, and complete to have such a wonderful circle of family and friends. Hence, she never really saw the boys-nor Alaina and Tara for that matter-ever since she left thirteen years ago. By the time she completed her science degree at UCLA and had returned to St. Joseph Island to work in the local hospital, they all had left home completely to live wherever their hearts had taken them. Of course, she had no idea where they were living now, and to be frankly honest, neither did she care.

"So what do you think they're like now?" she asked Toby, who was busy sticking his tongue out. "Nicolas would be twenty-eight by now," she murmured to herself, picturing the young Nicolas when she last saw him when he was fifteen years old. "The triplets?" She watched Toby wagging his tail as he was sniffing something of interest. "They'd be what? Twenty-six?" The picture of the three when they were thirteen flashed in her mind. "What about Hayden and the twins?"

Hayden would be twenty-four by now, and the twins, Alaina and Darcy, would be twenty-two.

The name Darcy caused her heart to skip a beat, and that odd, dull pain was still there, lingering within her being, reminding her of what had happened that summer thirteen years ago.

Then there was Conrad, the baby of the house. "He'd be twenty by now," she murmured to herself, gently touching the overgrown tall grasses.

"And me," she said under her breath. "I'll be twenty-four in a couple of weeks." Then again, April the 8th wasn't her actual birthdate. It was the date she was found on the doorstep of the orphanage, and she'd already been more than a couple of days old.

Looking back, she thought how Tara had fit right in with the family as if she were born into it. Sakura, on the other hand, couldn't seem to make even one sibling like her. It had hurt since she badly wanted them to accept her. That, however, was not to be.

It didn't matter now, though, because there were James, Brenda, Dale, and Molly who loved her. There was also Beth Faber, the housekeeper, who doted on her in her own weird way. And of course, Ned Faber, Beth's young brother, who treated her like his own child since he had none and longed for one. Not to mention her real mother, the woman she'd never met.

Deep down, Sakura knew her mother loved her because otherwise, the woman wouldn't have given her a name-a very beautiful Japanese name-that meant cherry blossom and left her a cherry blossom pendant necklace. She found out not too long ago that the pendant stone was a rare pink diamond that was of the finest quality. She knew without a doubt there had to be a reason her mother had abandoned her, and Sakura was determined to find the woman and then...

Then what?

Unconsciously, she touched the pink diamond about her neck.

When the wedding was over, she'd be going out there into the world-she didn't care where-to find her mother.

With that thought in mind, she smiled up at the sky and closed her eyes, savoring this very moment, cherishing it in her memory, and praying that soon she'd find the woman who had given her life.

Sebastian Princeton wanted to throttle his triplet siblings-Tristan and Logan-for making his life a living hell. First, they invited themselves into his luxurious apartment in Manhattan. Though there were five large bedrooms, a fitness room, a modern kitchen, and a comfy lounge, he still thought it was a bit crowded, having gotten used to living alone for the past five years with only the occasional visits from his parents and grandparents.

The first night, they brought in their friends and had a blast partying in the house, emptying his cellar and fridge and destroying some of his precious paintings and photographs he'd bought from an unknown, talented artist he admired. The second night, they refused to let him stay home to finish his work and dragged him out drinking until the early hours of the morning. Their argument was, "It's Saturday!" The third night, they told him to get packing because they were leaving for St. Joseph Island three days early for their cousin Mary's wedding to surprise the bride-to-be-and their mom and dad, of course.

Sebastian knew instantly it was that damn Tristan's idea, who only wanted to annoy the hell out of him, and naturally, Logan went along. Then Hayden arrived on his motorbike, crashing on Sebastian's king-size bed without an invitation, informing them he was now homeless and girlfriendless. His girlfriend had kicked him out after she'd seen him hugging another guy and had wrongly assumed him to be gay and cheating on her. The guy, of course, turned out to be Darcy.

Tristan burst out laughing until his stomach hurt when Hayden explained that he'd been comforting Darcy by patting Darcy's shoulder-not hugging him-who'd had a bad breakdown because his girlfriend dumped him for another guy. Then Darcy arrived-all wounded and heartbroken like a little pup-as Tristan kept telling everyone, including Darcy himself, who in fact didn't give a shit whether this new ex-girlfriend of his dumped him or not and was indeed very glad the stagnated relationship was over.

Tristan insisted they had no choice but to comfort Darcy by taking him out drinking until early dawn, which in due course led to a house full of men with hangovers the next morning accompanied by lots of moaning, groaning, and of course, very colorful cursing from Darcy, who naturally wanted to also throttle Tristan for his distasteful tricks. They all knew Darcy couldn't handle much alcohol, and they forced him to have shots after shots.

By that evening, they were completely sober except for Darcy, who was still nursing his headache. Sebastian, on the other hand, had had enough and swore if this ever happened again, he'd throttle his brothers for sure.

The next day, Sebastian was on a warpath once again. It was entirely their fault that he was now as wet and cold as a drowned kitten and his laptop stuffed up. If Tristan and Logan hadn't been fooling around near the railing on the lower deck of their two-million-dollar, brand-spanking-new luxury yacht, trying to get a peek at his new apartment plan, then he and his laptop wouldn't have gotten thrown off board into the ocean. Furthermore, if he wasn't such an excellent swimmer since he'd been one of the best professional athlete swimmers during his late teens, he could have buried himself and his laptop deep under the ocean.

"I'm sure Hayden can fix it," Tristan said coolly, throwing him a dry towel.

Sebastian glared at his brother as the towel landed on his head, partially covering his face and eyes that were glinting with fire.

"Nope. Can't fix it," Hayden said matter-of-factly. "It's totally stuffed, bro. Better get a new one."

"Jesus! My work!" Sebastian muttered, looking heavenward as he pulled down the towel. "It's not the laptop! It's my work!" he growled.

"Surely you have a backup, right?" Conrad, the youngest of the brothers, put in calmly from the other side of the pool.

"Of course, but-"

"Ah." Logan butted in, putting down his martini. "Girlfriends."

"What?" Sebastian snapped. He was at his limit and was ready to throw at least one of them into the ocean, and that person was preferably Tristan who was smiling cheekily on the other side of the pool a good distance away.

Tristan knew he was in trouble, and it was best for him to keep out of reach since Sebastian had very powerful fists. After all, Tristan had seen too many times to count when perfectly good-looking faces got restructured into very distorted ones with a few of Sebastian's mighty punches. Of course, Tristan didn't want his gorgeous face to be ruined, and what would he do without his handsome face and flirty smile? The girls wouldn't bed him, that was for sure, and Tristan would be very devastated indeed.

"He's pissed because all his girlfriends' photos are ruined," Logan said matter-of-factly, emphasizing the word girlfriends as plural.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Sebastian replied. Though he had to admit it was losing the photos that really pissed him off since he hadn't backed up some of the most recent ones on his hard drive.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Sebastian," Tara said, sitting across from him, her slender body posing elegantly on the poolside lounge. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and leaned toward Sebastian-the brother she'd always wanted. Only, so far, she'd never been able to grab his attention let alone his interest in her as a woman. In fact, all the brothers had always treated her like a sister, like they treated Alaina, which annoyed the hell out of her.

"He doesn't," Alaina butted in, pulling herself out of the water. She grabbed a towel resting on the side of the pool, wrapped it around her, and sat down beside Tara. "My poor brothers," she said. "When will you all get a nice girl and settle down? Aside from you, of course, Conrad, since you're still too young."

Conrad snorted at his sister to show her his annoyance and returned his attention to his tablet, playing the new, not-yet-released zombie game Hayden and Darcy had given him as a trial from their video game company, HD Game, Inc., which they had built themselves from scratch a year ago.

"Don't feel sorry for me, Alaina. I'm not ready to get tied down yet." Nicolas chuckled. "I like my freedom." He took a sip of his cocktail and then relaxed back on the poolside divan, gazing up at the sky above. "Twenty-eight is still too young to settle down," he murmured to himself.

"What about Dad's offer?" Darcy asked.

Nicolas raised his brows.

"Didn't he want you to take over Princeton Group?" Sebastian queried. "He's ready to retire."