AVA'S POV
"You really think you belong here, don't you?"
Celeste's whisper sliced through the orchestra music, sharp enough to draw blood. My stepsister smiled at the crowd of business executives around us, but her green eyes stayed cold when they landed on me.
I forced myself to smile back. After twenty-two years, I should be used to this. "Dad asked me to come. The acquisition affects our whole family."
"Your family, you mean. Some of us actually earned our place here." Celeste adjusted her diamond necklace—the one our father gave her last Christmas. I got a book. "I've been working with Kane Industries for months. You've been hiding in the basement playing with computers."
My fingers tightened around my cheap clutch purse. She wasn't wrong. While Celeste charmed investors in designer dresses, I spent sixteen-hour days writing code that kept Chen Technologies running. Dad's company would have crashed three times this year without my security patches. But he never mentioned that to anyone.
Why would he? I was just Ava. The quiet one. The invisible daughter.
"I'm going to get some air," I muttered.
"Wait." Celeste grabbed my wrist, her perfect red nails digging into my skin. Her expression changed, softening into something almost kind. "I'm sorry. That was mean. I'm just stressed about the acquisition."
I blinked. Celeste never apologized. Not when she "borrowed" my college acceptance letter and hid it until the deadline passed. Not when she told Dad I crashed his car even though she was driving. Not when she convinced him to give my corner office to her assistant.
"It's okay," I said carefully.
"No, it's not. You work so hard, and nobody notices." She squeezed my hand. "Let me make it up to you. Stay. Have a drink with me. We should stick together tonight, right? Sisters?"
Something felt wrong. But I was so tired of fighting. So tired of being alone in a family that barely saw me.
"Okay," I agreed.
Celeste's smile widened. She plucked two champagne glasses from a passing waiter and pressed one into my hand. "To family."
I raised the glass. The champagne tasted bitter, but everything at these events did. I took another sip to be polite.
"There's Dominic Kane," Celeste nodded toward a tall man across the ballroom. Even from here, I could see why people talked about him. He looked like he'd been carved from stone—all sharp angles and cold beauty. "He's the one taking over Dad's company. Ruthless. Brilliant. Gorgeous."
"Sounds like your type," I said.
"Maybe." Celeste's smile turned mysterious. "Drink up, sis. You look tense."
I finished the champagne. It felt rude not to.
Five minutes later, the room started spinning.
"Celeste?" My voice sounded far away. "I don't feel good."
"You probably just need to sit down. Too much excitement." But she was already walking away, melting into the crowd. "I'll find Dad."
She didn't look back.
My skin felt like it was burning from the inside. Sweat dripped down my spine despite the air conditioning. Every breath came too fast. The music got too loud. The lights got too bright. Something was very, very wrong.
Drugged. The word floated through my fuzzy brain. She drugged me.
I stumbled toward the bathroom, but my legs wouldn't work right. I crashed into a waiter. Champagne glasses shattered on the marble floor. Everyone stared.
"I'm sorry," I gasped. "I'm so sorry."
I had to get out. Had to hide. Had to—
Strong hands caught me before I hit the ground.
"Easy there."
The voice rumbled through me like thunder. I looked up into the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. The cold, gorgeous man from across the room. Dominic Kane.
Up close, he was even more devastating. But there was something else in his expression—concern. Real concern.
"Please," I whispered. My body was shaking now. The drug, whatever Celeste gave me, was getting stronger. "I need help."
"You're burning up." His hand touched my forehead. "Did someone give you something?"
I tried to nod, but the room tilted sideways.
"Security!" Dominic called out. But his voice sounded underwater now. Everything was fading—the lights, the music, the staring crowd.
The last thing I remembered was Dominic lifting me into his arms like I weighed nothing. His cologne smelled like cedar and winter snow. Safe. He smelled safe.
"Stay with me," he commanded.
But darkness was already pulling me under.
I woke up in pieces.
First, softness. Silk sheets that probably cost more than my rent.
Second, warmth. A heavy blanket tucked around me.
Third, pain. Every muscle ached. My head pounded.
Fourth, memories. Oh God, the memories.
Burning skin. Desperate hands—mine. A deep voice asking if I was sure. Blue eyes above me, concerned even as I pulled him closer. The feeling of being wanted, even if it was just the drug talking. Being seen for the first time in years.
No, no, no, no, no.
I sat up too fast. The room spun again, but differently this time. No drugs. Just panic.
I was in a hotel suite. Expensive. Empty. My dress lay torn on the floor next to a man's white shirt. The sheets smelled like cedar and winter snow and something else. Something that made my stomach drop.
What did I do?
A note sat on the nightstand, hotel stationary with two words in sharp handwriting: "I'm sorry."
That's when I saw it. On the desk across the room. A leather portfolio with gold lettering: Dominic Kane, CEO, Kane Industries.
The man destroying my father's company.
The man I just slept with.
The man whose baby I might be carrying.
I pressed my hand to my mouth, holding back a scream. This couldn't be happening. Celeste drugged me. Set me up. But with who? Just anyone? Or specifically with him?
My phone buzzed. A text from Celeste: "Hope you're feeling better, sis. Dad's looking for you. Might want to come up with a good excuse for where you disappeared to."
She knew. She planned this.
But why?
I grabbed my torn dress and ran.
I didn't know it then, but I was already three weeks pregnant. And in six years, everything I thought I knew about that night would turn out to be a lie.
The truth would destroy us all.
But first, it would save me.