Love at first sight.
Chapter 1
I was head–over–heels for Emily for five
years. Five years, and she was finally my
fiancée.
But when my grandpa was on his deathbed,
Emily didn’t lift a finger.
Word on the street was that some foster kid,
some guy named Jake who the family took in, whispered in her ear that it would be a good chance to “toughen me up, sand off my rough
edges.”
Grandpa died scared and alone. And yeah, I guess I did what Emily wanted. My edges are gone, I’m “tougher.” I’m done chasing her.
く
And I’m definitely not in love with her
anymore.
- 1.
When I finally limped back to town, I was the
laughingstock of the whole damn place.
They were all saying the Starks took back
that long–lost son, the one who’d been out in
the sticks since he was a baby. And that Jake
kid, well, he was running circles around him.
Even had the guts to threaten his folks, and
ended up running off with nothing, scrounging
for change to get by.
Some rich jerk, who’d always loved to make
my life hell, got wind of my misfortune. He
rolled up with his crew downtown, and held
up his phone and started snapping pictures,
no shame.
I didn’t even bother to cover my face or put
up a fight. All my pride had been ground into
the dirt by those loan sharks, anyway.
Ever since I was forced to my knees and
made to slap myself silly, my heart doesn’t
even twitch at this kinda humiliation.
The old me, the reckless kid who was always
looking for a fight, using that tough act to
hide how lost and scared I was? He’s dead.
The Starks, Emily–they killed him.
Suddenly, a couple of black SUVS pulled up
like they owned the place. The rich jerks
scattered when they saw the plates.
L
The lead car was low–key, but I knew who
was inside.
Emily Lancaster, the woman in charge of the Lancasters, and the person I was supposed to
marry.
I froze when I saw that car. I almost turned
and walked the other way.
The door swung open, and a woman in a
business suit stepped out. She walked over to
me, and her eyes widened for a split second
when she saw how I looked.
Yeah, I knew I was a mess.
I was still wearing the white shirt from
Grandpa’s funeral. It was wrinkled and dirty,
and there were
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ouple of clear shes printe
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and there were a couple of clear shoe prints
on it. My face was swollen where those guys
had beat me the day before, and my
fingernails were packed with dirt. My hands
were shaking, and one of my feet was bare,
red with cold. The other had a beat–up
sneaker I’d found in a dumpster.
Emily’s assistant lowered her eyes to hide her
surprise and gave me a polite wave.
“Mr. Stark, Ms. Lancaster would like to see
you.”
I took a step back, my voice raspy. Every
word felt like sandpaper.
“No thanks. I’m going home.”
I started to walk around her.
Г
The assistant looked shocked.
I used to worship Emily. I followed her around
for five years. Even when she gave me the
cold shoulder, I’d bend over backward to get
close to her. Now, I saw her as a venomous
snake. It must have been a shock to the
assistant, who was used to my puppy–dog
act.
“Hey, Ethan!”
That cold voice stopped me in my tracks.
The assistant saw me clench my jaw. She
hesitated, then gestured to the car again.
I did my best to stand tall, ignoring the pain in
my leg and the assistant’s look of concern. I
く
Emily was sitting inside.
She looked up from her paperwork and saw
the state I was in. She didn’t ask if I was
okay. Instead, she frowned and said, with a
nasty edge to her voice,
“Are you trying to look like a homeless guy?
Dressing like this is embarrassing.”
It didn’t sting like it used to. I didn’t feel the
familiar pang of hurt that she couldn’t see the
damage, just hung my head.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
But I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to be
conned into a high–interest loan because I
needed money for the funeral. I didn’t want to
be kicked and beaten on the ground by those
L
loan sharks, or forced to slap myself, or
chained up like a dog in a corner, or forced to
lick food off the floor.
But more than anything, I didn’t want them
digging up Grandpa’s coffin and disturbing
his final resting place.
She paused, glanced at me, and I almost
thought she sounded…impressed?
“Jake was right. A little hard work, a little
suffering, and you finally got some backbone.
You’ve learned to be tough.”
Before the Starks brought me back, Jake had
been living my life. And me? The real Stark
son had been living with Jake’s blood
relatives.
<
My brain was too slow to figure out why she
even mentioned Jake.
Emily must’ve thought I finally met her
expectations. She smiled and waved me
closer, as if to reward me.
“Come sit over here.”
I was sitting as far away from her as possible,
and I hadn’t looked at her once since I got in
the car.
Hearing that tone, like I was a pet, made me
cringe. I didn’t budge.
