Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
“Her what?” I cut him off. “Her stepbrother? Her protector?” I let my lip curl in disdain. “You had years to be those things, brother. Years to claim her, to protect her from them. What stopped you?”
He flinches, the barb hitting its mark. We both know the answer—his cowardice, his compliance, his willingness to play the dutiful Hayes heir even at the expense of his own desires.
“Stop it,” Lilian says from the doorway, her voice quiet but firm. “Both of you. This isn’t helping.”
She looks different today—harder somehow, more determined. She’s dressed simply in jeans and a sweater, hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. No makeup, no jewelry, nothing to hide behind. Just Lilian, raw and real and unafraid to show it.
“He started it,” I mutter, falling back into childhood patterns I didn’t know still existed. Another surprising side effect of finding my twin after all these years—the immediate regression to behaviors I thought I’d left behind.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m ending it,” she says, moving into the room. “Arson will come with me as Aries. You’ll monitor from outside, ready to extract us if needed.” She looks between us, daring either of us to challenge her. “That’s the plan. Are we clear?”
My brother’s jaw works silently, the struggle evident in every line of his body. Finally, he nods once, sharply. “Fine. If anything happens to her—”
“Save the threats.” I interrupt, checking my watch. “We need to leave now if we’re going to make it by four.”
“I need a minute with Aries,” Lilian says, her gaze holding mine. “Alone.”
I want to refuse, to insist we don’t have time, but something in her expression stops me. I give a curt nod and step out of the room, closing the door behind me but lingering just outside. Not because I’m jealous—I’m not, I can’t be, jealousy implies an emotional investment I refuse to acknowledge—but because I don’t trust him. Not with her, not with anything.
Their voices are muffled through the door, but I catch snatches of their conversation—her reassurances, his concerns, the soft intimacy in their tones that makes something ugly twist in my chest. Then silence, followed by the sound of movement.
When she emerges, her cheeks are flushed, lips slightly swollen. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened in those private moments. The knowledge burns like acid in my veins.
“Ready?” I ask, voice deliberately flat, emotionless. He’s free now; does that mean she’s chosen him…the one she always wanted?
She nods, a slight furrow between her brows as she studies my expression. “Let’s go.”
The drive to the Hayes mansion is silent, weighed down by unspoken tensions. I take the familiar route on autopilot, having driven it countless times during my months as Aries. The irony doesn’t escape me—after all my planning, all my careful manipulation, I’m willingly returning to the heart of the empire I’ve sworn to destroy. All for her.
The mansion appears through the trees as we round the final curve of the private drive—a monstrosity of glass and stone, designed to impress, to intimidate, to announce to the world that the Hayes family is untouchable. I’ve always hated it. Even though we grew up here, it always felt more like a hotel than a home.
“Remember the plan,” Lilian says as I pull up to the front entrance. “We’re just here to appease my mother and find out what they know.”
“I know how to play Aries,” I remind her, killing the engine. “I’ve been doing it for months.”
“That’s what worries me,” she murmurs, reaching for the door handle.
Before she can exit, I catch her wrist, my grip firmer than intended. “If anything feels wrong—anything at all—you give the signal. No heroics, no improvisations.”
Something softens in her expression. “I will. I promise.”
I release her, suddenly uncomfortable with the tenderness in her gaze. She shouldn’t look at me that way—like I’m worthy of concern, of care. Like I’m anything more than the monster who kidnapped her stepbrother and manipulated her into my revenge plot. It hurts too much to think maybe…she’s done with me.
The front door opens before we reach it, revealing Patricia in all her frosty perfection. Her blond hair is swept into an immaculate chignon, her cream silk blouse and tailored trousers a study in understated wealth. She looks more like Lilian’s sister than her mother—the benefits of expensive skincare and strategic Botox.
“Lilian,” she says, relief momentarily softening her features before the mask slips back into place. “Finally. We’ve been worried sick.”
Her gaze shifts to me, a slight narrowing of her eyes the only indication that something doesn’t sit right. “Aries. I didn’t realize you would be joining us.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I reply, slipping into the role as easily as breathing. Aries is deferential but not subservient, affectionate but restrained. The perfect son Patricia always wanted. “Lilian mentioned Dr. Winters was coming. Thought I should be here for her.”