Chapter 1
“Sometimes the life you dream of is only the door that leads you into the life you never saw coming.”
ZINNIAS POV
Turning twenty was supposed to be the best day of my life.
Twenty—the age where every girl gets fully welcomed to womanhood. The age of freedom … boy, drinks and sex… The age where I finally get to try things I wasn’t allowed to… the age would step out from beneath my brother’s shadow and finally live on my own terms. No more rules I didn’t agree to. No more sacrifices I didn’t understand. Just… me. A life that belonged to me and only me.
Freedom…
For as long as I could remember, I had imprinted this day in my mind like a sacred promise. I pictured every tiny bitty detail from the dress I would wear, the soft glide of fabric against my skin, the shoes that would carry me into a future that finally felt mine to claim. I had even imagined the way I would smile. The boys gushing and falling at my feet captivated by beauty.
I had dreamt about this day over and over again since the day Kael had told me months ago that he would throw me a birthday party out of the blue.
I should have questioned it.. for someone who hated wasting money why?
But I didn’t.
Because despite everything… Kael had always been my anchor after our parents died six years ago. He was the one who stayed. The one who worked too hard, sacrificed too much, and somehow still managed to keep us afloat when everything around us collapsed.
We weren’t rich… we barely had enough to feed on in some days.
Every day had been a fight just to stay above water.
And still, he promised me this one thing.
A perfect twentieth birthday.
So I let myself believe in it.
I let myself get excited.
I let myself glow with anticipation like nothing in the world could touch me.
If only I had known that some doors don’t open into freedom…
I looked at myself in the mirror, dressed in a soft peach gown that clung to me like it had been stitched from a dream I was too scared to wake up from.
I didn’t recognize myself.
For a moment, I just stood there—still, quiet—like if I moved too fast, the illusion would crack.
Kael had really gone all out this time.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. He had booked a room in one of the most expensive hotels in the city for my birthday party. And also rented the hall. Not just any room but A luxury suite that smelled like money and polished wood meant for people who never had to check prices before they paid.
When I had asked him how he managed to pull this off… where the money came from… he had only ruffled my hair and smiled like it was nothing.
You deserve something good for once, baby sis.
Those were his words and those words should have warmed me.
But… Instead, they sat somewhere strange in my chest. Heavy. Unsettling. Like a question I wasn’t allowed to ask out loud.
I blinked at my reflection again.
Peach silk. Soft glow. Hair perfectly styled. A version of me that looked like she belonged in a different world entirely.
A classy world.
A world where I didn’t have to worry about money.
I tilted my head slightly, studying myself the way the rich do in movies when they’re trying to decide if they like what they see.
And then I smiled.
Slow at first. Then wider.
“Damn, Zin…” I murmured to myself, leaning a little closer to the mirror. “You fine girl.. You dripping hotness baby!”
That did it.
A laugh slipped out of me—light, unguarded—and for a second, I felt it. That thing I had been waiting for all my life.
Freedom.
Twenty.
Mine.
I straightened up, smoothing my dress one last time, heart fluttering with excitement I couldn’t contain anymore. Tonight was supposed to be perfect. Tonight was supposed to be mine.
A light knock came from the door.
“Hey Zin, are you done getting ready?” Kael’s voice filtered through the door, warm as always.
I took a slow breath, smoothing my hands down the sides of my gown.
“Yeah. Come in.”
The handle turned.
Kael stepped inside.
For a second, he didn’t speak.
He just looked at me.
And something in his face shifted—so fast I almost missed it. Pride, yes… but there was something heavier underneath it. Something I couldn’t read.
“You…” he exhaled, shaking his head slightly as if he couldn’t find the right words. “Zin.”
I tilted my head, half-smiling. “What? Do I look that bad?”
That snapped him out of it.
He let out a short laugh and walked fully into the room, adjusting his sleeves like he needed to do something with his hands. “No. Not bad. Just… different.”
“Different good or different bad?” I asked, turning slightly so the fabric of my dress shimmered under the lights.
Kael’s eyes lingered for a second too long before he forced himself to look away.
“Different… perfect,” he said finally.
I rolled my eyes. “Really? Not you look breathtaking or omg you’re so beautiful.. different perfect what the hell was that… this isn’t poetry you know.”
“Well, it means the same still.. You’re perfect Zinnia not just beautiful.”
Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten… but I brushed it off.
Kael had always been intense about things he cared about. That was just him. That was all it was.
He stepped closer, straightening the strap of my gown at my shoulder as he used to when I was younger. The gesture was familiar… and always comforting.
But today, it felt… different.
His hand lingered on my shoulder for half a second too long.
Then he cleared his throat and stepped back like he’d touched something he shouldn’t have.
“We need to talk.”
My brows pulled together. “Right now?” I glanced down at the small diamond wristwatch he got for me as a birthday gift. “I’m already thirty minutes late for my party. Can’t we do this later?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
That alone made me feel uneasy.
“It can’t wait,” he said softly.
His voice wasn’t like before. The warmth was all gone…. He was being careful … Like every word had weight he was struggling to carry.
“Okay…” I said slowly.
panic tightened around my throat, making it harder to breathe. I didn’t understand why.
Suddenly the air felt uncomfortably
“You know I love you, right?” he asked.
I blinked.
That question wasn’t strange… but the way he said it made my tummy twist.
I forced a smile. “Yeah. I know. I love you too.”
His jaw tightened instantly.
And then he looked at me.
Really looked at me.
Like he was pleading.. My smile faded completely.
“Kael… what’s going on?” I asked, quieter now.
He hesitated.
For the first time in my life, I had seen my brother struggle for words.
Then— his word hit me
“You’ll be going home with your husband in the next twenty minutes.”
