Chapter 1The Wrong Man
The first time I saw him, I knew I was in trouble.
Not the kind of trouble that came with police sirens or broken windows.
The kind that made your heart beat faster when you heard someone's name.
His name was Adrian.
And he was the one person I had been warned never to fall for.
I still remember that rainy Tuesday evening when everything changed.
I was standing outside the university library, hugging my books against my chest while the rain poured heavily around me. My umbrella had broken ten minutes earlier, my phone was almost dead, and I was already late for the bus.
Then a black car stopped in front of me.
The window slowly rolled down.
"Get in."
I stared at the stranger behind the wheel.
"Excuse me?"
He looked at me calmly. His shirt was perfectly pressed, his dark hair slightly wet from the rain, and there was something intimidating about the way he looked at me.
"I said, get in. You're going to get soaked."
"I don't get into cars with strangers."
For the first time, the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Good. At least you have sense."
I turned to leave.
"Wait."
I stopped.
"My name is Adrian."
I looked back at him.
"And?"
He laughed softly.
"And now I'm not a stranger anymore."
I should have walked away.
I should have ignored him.
Instead, I got into the car.
That was my first mistake.
I didn't know then that Adrian wasn't just some rich, handsome man who happened to find me in the rain.
He was my father's biggest enemy.
And three weeks later, I would discover that the man I was slowly falling in love with was the same man my family had spent years trying to destroy.
By then, it was already too late.
Because Adrian had fallen for me too.
