Chapter 1
The day my parents died, people started looking at me differently.
Like I was fragile.
Broken.
Someone to pity.
and I hated it.
That was the real reason I left the city and came to Lushbrook. Not for healing. Not to “find myself.” I just wanted to escape the suffocating stares and fake sympathy.
As I entered Lushbrook, it felt like a piece of heaven on earth. I stretched my hand out of the car window, letting the cold breeze rush against my skin. The wind tangled my hair, but I didn’t bother fixing it.
I looked good anyway.
The roads in Lushbrook were uneven and surrounded by endless hills and trees. Quiet. Peaceful. Exactly what I wanted.
No drama.
No people trying to treat me like some tragic story.
For the first time in weeks, I could finally breathe.
Then suddenly,
My hand smacked into something hard.
A sharp sound echoed behind the car.
I pulled my arm back immediately and turned around.
A man stood in the middle of the road, holding his cheek with an expression somewhere between shock and anger. Our eyes met for a second.
Oops.
Well, not really my problem.
If he was stupid enough to stand that close to a moving car, that wasn’t my fault.
I faced forward again like nothing happened.
A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of the house I rented for the month.
Small. Quiet. Decent enough.
White walls, wooden steps, and a little flower garden trying too hard to look charming.
Davis stepped out first and opened the trunk. “Wait here. I’ll call the owner.”
“I know how waiting works,” I replied dryly.
Ignoring him, I walked around the property instead. The place was peaceful, hidden away from the rest of town. Good.
Maybe Lushbrook wouldn’t be so bad after all.
I stepped into the garden carefully, staring down at the flowers.
Someone definitely cared too much about them.
“You shouldn’t step on those.”
I turned slowly.
And there was.
A guy .
“Hey, you.” he called out again,I glanced around lazily before looking back at him. “Do you see anyone else here?”
His jaw tightened.
Before he could answer, an older man approached us with calm eyes and tired shoulders.
“Ethan, what happened? Do you know her?”
Ethan.
So that was his name.
He didn’t answer his father. Didn’t even look at him. His eyes stayed locked on me as he stepped closer.
Too close.
Then he leaned down slightly, his voice low enough that only I could hear.
“You’ll pay for that slap.”
For a second, I frowned in confusion.
Then I remembered.
The road.
The hit.
My hand.
Oh.
I looked at him again, finally understanding why he looked ready to murder me.
Instead of apologizing, I crossed my arms.
“If you stand in the middle of the road like an idiot, getting hit is kind of your fault.”
His expression darkened instantly.
Interesting.
The older man cleared his throat awkwardly before handing the house keys to Davis. “Everything is ready for your stay.”
But Ethan still wouldn’t stop staring at me.
Like this wasn’t over.
Good.
I hated unfinished things.
Without another word, he turned and walked away with his father.
I watched him leave before finally stepping inside the house.
It was smaller than my place back in the city, but strangely cozy. Warm lights, polished wooden floors, and windows overlooking the hills.
Davis carried my bags upstairs while I walked toward the bedroom window.
The view stretched endlessly beneath the golden evening sky.
Peace.
That was all I came here for.
No drama.
No distractions.
And definitely not some arrogant small-town boy with anger issues.
Davis had just stepped out to buy groceries when I saw him from my upstairs window, walking through the garden with his usual calm expression.
On impulse, I called out to him.
I didn’t want to stay inside anymore. The silence in the house was starting to feel too loud. I needed air. A distraction. Something other than my own thoughts.
Davis had always been more than just a driver. He had worked for my father for years, long before I was old enough to understand what loyalty meant. To me, he was family in the quietest way possible, strict sometimes, protective always.
We walked side by side through the narrow streets of Lushbrook toward the local market.
The town was nothing like the cities I was used to. No noise. No rushing crowds. Just small colorful shops, flower pots outside windows, and people who smiled too easily.
It was peaceful.
Annoyingly peaceful.
While Davis stopped at a grocery stall, I wandered away, glancing around curiously.
That’s when it happened.
A sudden splash of icy water hit me from the side.
I gasped softly as cold water soaked through my white shirt instantly, the fabric sticking uncomfortably to my skin.
“Hey, are you okay?” a voice called out behind me.
Already embarrassed and irritated, I turned around without thinking and slapped the person standing there.
“Can’t you watch what you’re doing?” I snapped.
Before he could answer, an elderly woman rushed toward us in panic.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry!” she said quickly. “I was pouring water on the vegetables. It splashed by accident.”
My anger disappeared immediately.
Slowly, I looked back at the person I had just slapped.
Ethan.
Again.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
He looked more confused than angry this time, one hand resting against his cheek while he stared at me like he genuinely couldn’t believe this kept happening.
And somehow… that made it worse.
I should’ve apologized.
But apologizing had never come naturally to me.
Finally, he sighed. “Do you have some personal problem with me?”
I looked away awkwardly. “Why do you keep appearing everywhere?”
He scoffed. “Me? You’re the one creating disasters everywhere you go.”
Then his eyes shifted downward for half a second before he immediately looked away again.
His expression changed.
Without saying anything else, he pulled a folded shirt from the shopping bag in his hand and held it out toward me.
I frowned. “What?”
“Just wear it,” he muttered.
I stared at him in confusion until I accidentally caught my reflection in the glass window beside us.
My wet white shirt had turned almost transparent.
My eyes widened.
Without another word, I quickly grabbed his shirt and slipped it on.
It smelled faintly like soap and fresh air.
Ethan had already walked a few steps away when I suddenly called after him.
“Hey!”
He turned lazily. “What now?”
I walked closer, lowering my voice immediately. “Did you… see anything?”
“What?” he asked, leaning slightly closer with obvious amusement.
Heat rushed to my face.
“Did you see through the shirt?” I asked again quietly.
For a second, he just stared at me.
Then a slow smirk appeared on his face.
“Of course I did,” he said casually. “Otherwise why would I give you my brand-new shirt?”
My eyes widened in horror.
Then he added innocently, “I mean… it’s a wet white shirt. What did you expect?”
“Ethan!”
He actually laughed this time.
“You’re unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head before turning away again.
And somehow, that annoyed me even more.
I stood there frozen, clutching the sleeves of his oversized shirt.
I didn’t understand what was happening to me.
Every time I met him, something embarrassing happened. My words came out wrong, my reactions became impulsive, and somehow he always managed to leave me flustered without even trying.
I came to Lushbrook looking for peace.
Instead, within two days, I had found humiliation.
Repeatedly.
And somehow, every single time… it involved Ethan.
Which is exactly why I made a decision right then.
but then i decide to avoid him.
The human heart is strange. The more we try not to feel something, the deeper it grows.
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