Chapter 1

The moment I stepped into the cavernous foyer of Harrington Estate, Sienna burst into delicate, theatrical tears.

"I love Adrian. Nobody else but him."

My brother Julian glared at me like I was an intruder tormenting his family.

"Adrian and Sienna have always been close. Why would you insist on being the third wheel?"

My parents chimed in with patient, coaxing voices. "Sienna's been pampered her whole life. The Sterlings — with all their power and influence — are exactly the kind of family she belongs in."

"Hazel, won't you just step aside for her?"

I stood stiffly with one hand on the handle of my suitcase, watching the four of them close ranks against me.

"I'm sorry," I said evenly. "Which room should I put my luggage in?"

All four of them froze.

A few seconds passed before Julian cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "The housekeeper cleared out a room on the second floor this morning. I'll take you up."

I nodded and followed him up the staircase.

The suitcase was heavy. Halfway up, he finally seemed to remember his manners and reached out to take it from me.

I followed behind him and, out of pure habit, murmured, "Thank you."

Julian's shoulders stiffened.

The room was a converted storage space. The bed looked like it had just been hauled up from the basement, and they hadn't even bothered to put sheets on it.

For a family as wealthy as mine, this wasn't even a room the housekeeper would sleep in.

Julian coughed uneasily. "The third floor —"

"I know," I cut him off. "It's fine."

There were four bedrooms on the third floor. The two with the best views were both occupied by Sienna — one of them housed her million-dollar Steinway grand.

For a long moment, Julian and I stood in silence. Then he finally spoke.

"Hazel. Grandfather arranged the Sterling engagement for you. He left you a huge inheritance on top of it. But Sienna — she doesn't have anything. Couldn't you just —"

"What do the Sterlings say about it?"

"The Sterlings —"

He hesitated.

"It's an arrangement between our two families. As long as we handle things on our end, we can negotiate with them later."

So it wasn't Adrian's idea.

I let out a quiet breath of relief.

When I was eleven, I'd been found and brought back to the Harringtons. I'd imagined loving parents and a brother waiting for me with open arms.

Instead, I'd walked into a family that already had a "Sienna."

They told me that after I disappeared at four, "Sienna" had come along and healed my parents' grief. They'd long since come to see her as their own daughter. They'd even given her my name.

So they gave me a new one. Hazel.

Sienna used our parents' doting as a weapon. She smashed the princess-themed bedroom they had prepared for me, jabbed her finger in my face, and called me an orphan-trash nobody who didn't deserve such a nice room.

She threw tantrums, sobbed about needing "a proper environment to practice piano," and bullied her way into claiming it.

At the dinner table she wouldn't let me speak. She mocked me for being too poor to have ever eaten real food, and cackled at the clumsy way I cut my steak.

Whenever my parents tried to correct her, she'd run up to the rooftop of the estate and threaten to throw herself off.

My father, helpless, kept telling me to "get along" with her and never upset her.

My mother said nothing. But the way she looked at me was never warm.

Everyone treated me like the cause of the chaos tearing the family apart.

After the first time I fought back, Julian finally suggested sending me away — to a quiet little town called Wickham.

"Hazel."

In front of me now, Julian's face had hardened again.

"You weren't raised by our parents. In manners, in sophistication — you're no match for Sienna."

"A family like the Sterlings — you wouldn't even survive there."

I looked calmly at the man in front of me — my blood brother, who had been tearing me down from the moment I walked through the door.

My voice came out cold and clear, one word at a time.

"I'm not giving Adrian up to Sienna."