Chapter 1: The Christmas Invitation
Katherine Jerald stared at the message on her phone for nearly a minute before she finally laughed.
AVA: You’re coming home with me for Christmas. Don’t argue.
Katherine typed a reply.
KATHERINE: No.
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
AVA: That wasn’t a question.
Katherine rolled her eyes and tossed her phone onto the couch.
Christmas was five days away, and the last place she wanted to spend it was at the Ray family estate.
Not because she disliked Ava.
Ava had been her best friend since college. She was the closest thing Katherine had to family outside her own small circle.
The problem was her father.
Kingsley Ray.
Even thinking about the man made Katherine’s shoulders tense.
She hadn’t seen him properly in almost two years. Whenever Ava visited her, Kingsley was either away on business or conveniently absent from the house. Katherine had never questioned it.
Kingsley had always been a difficult man to read.
He wasn’t the kind of father who joked with his daughter’s friends or made them feel comfortable in his home. He was quiet, intimidating, and carried himself with an authority that made people lower their voices without realizing it.
Katherine had never been afraid of him exactly.
She simply preferred keeping her distance.
Her phone buzzed again.
AVA: My mom already said yes. I’m picking you up Friday.
Katherine frowned.
KATHERINE: Your mother said yes to what?
The reply came almost instantly.
AVA: You staying with us until New Year’s.
Katherine sat upright.
KATHERINE: Absolutely not.
AVA: Too late.
KATHERINE: Ava.
AVA: Katherine.
KATHERINE: I have plans.
AVA: You told me your plans were watching Christmas movies alone and pretending instant noodles are festive.
Katherine stared at the screen.
That was annoyingly accurate.
Her apartment had been painfully quiet lately. Her work had been exhausting, most of her friends had gone home for the holidays, and her parents were spending Christmas out of the country.
Still, spending an entire week in the Ray mansion wasn’t exactly her idea of a relaxing holiday.
Her phone rang.
“Ava,” Katherine answered.
“You are coming.”
“Your family has a huge house full of people. Why do you need me there?”
“Because you’re my best friend.”
“You have cousins.”
“I don’t like them.”
“You have friends.”
“They’re annoying.”
“And I’m not?”
“You’re the only annoying person I tolerate.”
Katherine laughed despite herself.
Ava continued, “Please, Katherine. It’ll be fun. Christmas dinner, decorations, movies, shopping, maybe a little drinking. You know, normal things.”
“Nothing about your family is normal.”
There was a pause.
Then Ava laughed awkwardly.
“Okay, that’s fair.”
Katherine narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Ava.”
“I said nothing.”
“You have that voice.”
“What voice?”
“The voice you use when you’re hiding something.”
Ava was silent for a moment.
Then she said, “Dad is coming home.”
Katherine’s smile disappeared.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
That single word changed the mood completely.
Katherine leaned back against the couch.
“Then maybe I really shouldn’t come.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“He barely talks to you.”
“Exactly.”
“So?”
“So it’s uncomfortable.”
Ava sighed. “Katherine, you’re twenty-four years old. My father isn’t going to interrogate you or chase you around the house.”
“I didn’t say he would.”
“You act like he’s some terrifying monster.”
Katherine remembered Kingsley Ray’s dark eyes and the way he could silence an entire room simply by walking into it.
“He kind of is.”
Ava burst out laughing.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m serious.”
“Come anyway.”
Katherine hesitated.
She wanted to say no.
She should say no.
But the truth was, she had nowhere else to go.
And maybe, after two years, Kingsley Ray wouldn’t even remember her.
That thought strangely bothered her.
“I’ll come,” she finally said.
Ava screamed so loudly that Katherine pulled the phone away from her ear.
“Yes!”
“Calm down.”
“I’m picking you up Friday morning.”
“Fine.”
“And Katherine?”
“What?”
“Don’t dress like you’re going to a funeral.”
Katherine frowned.
“Why?”
“It’s Christmas.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
The call ended.
Katherine stared at her phone.
She couldn’t explain why, but something about Ava’s excitement made her uneasy.
Still, she pushed the feeling away.
It was just Christmas.
A week with her best friend.
A big house.
A few family dinners.
Nothing was going to happen.
At least, that’s what Katherine believed.
---
Friday afternoon, Katherine stood outside the Ray estate with one suitcase beside her.
The mansion looked exactly as she remembered.
Huge.
Beautiful.
And slightly intimidating.
Snow covered the long driveway, while warm golden lights wrapped around the trees and the enormous Christmas wreath hanging above the front doors.
Ava jumped out of the driver’s seat.
“Finally!”
“You picked me up three hours late.”
“I had things to do.”
“You were shopping.”
“Important things.”
Katherine laughed as Ava grabbed her suitcase.
The moment they stepped inside, warmth surrounded them.
Christmas music played softly through the house. The enormous tree in the foyer reached almost to the ceiling, decorated with gold ornaments and white lights.
Katherine smiled.
“Okay. This is beautiful.”
“I told you.”
Ava pulled her toward the staircase.
“Come on. I’ll show you your room.”
Katherine followed, but halfway up the stairs, she heard something.
A car.
The sound of tires crunching over snow outside.
Ava stopped.
Her expression changed.
Katherine noticed immediately.
“What?”
Ava looked toward the front windows.
“He’s here.”
Katherine’s stomach tightened.
“Your dad?”
Ava nodded.
Before Katherine could respond, the front door opened downstairs.
Voices filled the foyer.
Then silence.
Heavy footsteps crossed the marble floor.
Katherine didn’t know why she froze.
She hadn’t even seen him yet.
Ava glanced at her.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
The footsteps stopped.
Katherine slowly turned toward the staircase.
A man stood at the bottom.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Dressed entirely in black.
Kingsley Ray looked nothing like the man she remembered.
He looked harder.
Colder.
More dangerous.
His eyes lifted.
And landed directly on Katherine.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Something strange passed across his face.
Shock.
Then something darker.
Katherine couldn’t name it.
Kingsley’s jaw tightened.
His hands slowly curled into fists at his sides.
Ava smiled.
“Dad.”
He didn’t answer her.
His eyes remained fixed on Katherine.
Katherine suddenly became painfully aware of everything—the dress she was wearing, the loose strands of hair around her face, even the way her fingers were gripping the banister.
She swallowed.
“Mr. Ray.”
His expression hardened.
“Katherine.”
Her name sounded different coming from his mouth.
Lower.
Almost like a warning.
Ava looked between them.
“You two remember each other, right?”
Kingsley finally looked away.
“Of course.”
He took one step forward.
Then another.
Katherine expected him to greet her.
Instead, he stopped several feet away.
His eyes briefly traveled over her before returning to her face.
“You’ve grown.”
Katherine didn’t know what to say to that.
Ava laughed.
“She’s twenty-four, Dad. Of course she’s grown.”
Kingsley’s gaze snapped toward his daughter.
“Twenty-four?”
Katherine felt something shift in the room.
Kingsley looked back at her.
This time, there was something unmistakably possessive in his eyes.
And for the first time in her life, Katherine wondered if Ava had been wrong.
Maybe Kingsley Ray wasn’t simply intimidating.
Maybe there was something about him she had never understood.
Something dangerous.
Something she should stay far away from.
Unfortunately, neither Katherine nor Kingsley knew that this Christmas would make staying away from each other impossible.
