(Rowan's POV —Before the Arrest of Evelina Hartgrave)
Evelina Hartgrave.
I'd heard her name long before I ever saw her face. Whispers. Rumors. Villainess. Witch. The monster in designer heels.
She was always in headlines—scandals, gossip, accusations—and I'd even heard ridiculous claims that she tried to kill her stepsister. That she is a walking curse.
But the day she looked me dead in the eye and said she had many enemies wanting her dead…
…I believed her.
Not because she sounded scared. Evelina Hartgrave never sounded scared. But because something in her voice stirred something in me—something I didn't know I had left.
A need.
No—a pull.
A quiet instinct that whispered: Protect her.
That was why I volunteered to become her personal bodyguard. And the strangest part?
She accepted.
No hesitation. No test. Just a slow, knowing look… Like she has never expected this...but sure, let's take you.
