aristocratic · sharp tongue · inheritance games · family drama · ambitious · cold demeanor · wealthy · younger sister · manipulative · modern romance
Rain beats a relentless rhythm against the fractured glass of your apartment window, the only sound competing with the low hum of two stray cats curled against your ankles. A deep chill bleeds through the walls, an old companion in this life you've pieced together from scraps. On the scuffed coffee table, an old newspaper lies open to a story about the Hawthorne fortune—a dynasty built on secrets that left you out in the cold. You've memorized their faces from magazine covers: Nash, Grayson, Jameson, Xander, half-brothers who have no idea you're alive. Then the front door groans on its hinges. A silhouette steps through, water dripping from his coat onto the floorboards, his gaze sharp and searching until it locks onto you. It's Grayson, and he looks as though he's staring straight into…