Chapter one
Evangeline
I always knew this day would come. The day when I had to do my duty towards my family. I’ve known it from a young age and hated it even more. This world, my world was complicated, even more so now that I was to catapult my family into an even higher stratosphere. I am a Rose. The youngest child of Nasim Rose and Sofia Solandre-Rose. I am the daughter of the third most powerful and wealthiest family in this city. Heiress to an oil, gas, and real estate and finance empire. The Rose bloodline alone would be enough to keep a small country afloat. Paired with the Solandre dynasty, we had the closest thing to blue blood. Five families ruled this city. The Grayson family was our foundation. They built this city, literally. They were founding fathers rich but not ambitious enough to climb any higher. Generally, they were nice, honest people. They came from good stock. The Bogdan family was the fourth most influential family and close personal friends of my family. Alina and Marius Bogdan, the Romanian twins, were more like my own sister and brother. Their wealth was old-world money. They were the true blue blood. The sires of Barons and Baronesses. Their parents, Gabriel and Maria were from the old country. Fierce and cold and deathly shrewd at business. Their empire includes stakes in just about every major conglomerate as well as owning several financial firms as well as being the owners of a major international bank. Most people feared their demeanor but to me, they were a genuinely loving family. The Masterson Empire was something to rival even my family. Their business was money and tons of it. The stock market in this city was practically owned by them. Their firms handled more money annually than most people can fathom. Their heir, Jackson was the childhood best friend and second in command to Andrew Wolfe, the most powerful and wealthiest man in the city and my soon-to-be husband.
The Wolfe family was unlike the rest of the top five. There was an air of mystery around them. Most of their lifestyle was shrouded in secrecy, apart from the few societal obligations each year; they were rarely covered in the media and kept their impossibly impeccable name pristinely clear of scandal. I always believed that their power resided largely in this way of living. No one knew much other than their social and business standing and that meant no one knew much else about them or what they were capable of. I knew, based on my family’s dealings with them that they were a lot more powerful than people realized. They were the ones who maintained the top five families. We were all interconnected in some way and the Wolfe family were our rulers. If we were blue blood, they were Godly anointed kings.
I knew very little about Andrew. I never liked going to social events. It made me anxious to have so many people watching me, criticizing me, and eyeing me as a potential match for their socially inept sons. I hated the way they would leer at me and even worse how some would openly discuss how they would break in the Rose bitch. By the time I was eighteen, I had kicked up enough of a fuss that I was dismissed from social events. I knew what was coming though. I knew that I was quickly approaching twenty-one and I knew I had very little time left to set my plan into motion. My parents cared very little for me. My father had his son, my older brother, Bastian, who was every bit the man my father had trained him to be. Bastian was the CEO of an oil and gas company under the yurt of the Rose Empire. He had founded it himself and was now a Millionaire in his own right as well as the heir to our fortunes. At twenty-five, Bastian’s arranged marriage to Lily Kraven thrust her into our world. Beautiful red-haired Lily was the daughter of influential scientists and Medical technologists. Though not wealthy enough to break into our circle, their sway in their industry merged with ours and added another portfolio to our books. Lily was the head of her own Medical Research and Science facility. They were at the forefront of combining science and technology with the medical field. They were giants among their kind and now they had the power of the Rose family and we had our hand firmly in their world too. Bastian was as handsome as my dad. Dark hair and Dark features with alabaster skin gifted from my mother. Many of the girls at my boarding school were hopelessly in love with him but Bastian, after being introduced to Lily at eighteen, only had eyes for her. Their marriage was the happiest of its kind that I had ever seen. It gave me hope that I would too find someone who wanted our match as much as I did.
I was not as lucky. I was born in an attempt to sire another son. My mother had failed to produce another boy and when I was born, her failure stained everything I did. My father loved me as much as you would anything born of you but he didn’t have much use for me. He was still painfully traditional. My mother was a shrewd social beast. She was the queen bee in every group. She was always immaculately dressed and her blonde hair was so perfectly styled that it didn’t seem real. She was beautiful, severely so. Her jawline was squared and razor sharp and her green eyes were that of a fox, keen and aware. She was slender and walked with the gait of a lioness. Most mothers wish for a little girl but my mother was at a loss as to what to do with me. I wasn’t like her at all. She was cool ice and I, warm fire. I was never interested in being popular or being a queen bee like her. I instead spent most of my time alone or being doted on by my brother. My father interacted with me just enough so that I would have some sort of relationship with him but for the most part, I spent most of my childhood, roaming around our estate alone with my doll, humming the tune of my music box. Whatever au pair was assigned to me at the time always looked at me the same way, a lonely rose in a garden full of thorns. When the Bogdan family started doing business with us, the twins, Alina and Marius became my first-ever friends. Everyone else was never allowed near me because of security reasons. The three of us were in the same boat. We were isolated from the world because of who we were and finally, we had someone to care about. We were inseparable from the moment we met. At my thirteenth birthday party, I overheard my mother trying to persuade my father to arrange a match between myself and Marius. When I told Marius about this, he jumped up on a table and declared to the room that he was in fact gay. I remember his parents struggling to contain their pride at their son’s bravery but more than that I remember my mother mouthing to my father “now what do we do with her?”
“Evangeline? Are you listening?” Mother stood at the foot of my bed, hands on her hips, a deep scowl on her face as she took me in, still in bed, with a bottle of chilled Belvedere Vodka, and a metal straw in my mouth.
“Huh? What was that?” I sat up, a hiccup slipping out as she snatched the bottle out of my hands.
“It is 10 am and you are wasted. Do you not realize how important today is? Or is this just your attempts at typical self-pity.” Mother tossed the bottle in the bin and threw a thick white envelope toward me.
“Who did you decide on?” I tossed the contract aside and tried to get out of bed without toppling over. It would seem I was trashed.
“Wolfe. Now get into the shower and try and sober up. You have the rest of today to get your shit together. If you fuck this up, you are on your own. You have declined the past six suitors. All of whom were a good match. You know, you are incredibly selfish. Have you ever considered the damage control we have had to do because of your rejections? Your father has been working on this match for years and you will not fuck this up for us all because of your ego.” Mother chastised me as I wobbled towards the bathroom.
“God forbid I want to marry a man who actually likes me.” I hiccup as I collapse on the bathroom floor.
“Look at you. Who could like this?” mother waves a hand over me and my current state.
“Darius did. And he was rich too.” I spat, hating the sound of my ex’s name as it spilled out of my mouth.
“Darius used you. He fucked you like some common whore and tossed you aside when he realized he would never become a part of this family, as if we would ever align ourselves with those criminals.” Mother picked at a piece of invisible dust on her dress.
“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t whore myself to the right person.” I slammed the door in her now reddening face.
Darius Carter was from one of the newly rich families. He was well below the circle and most people at his level were known for their more unethical rises into wealth. He was impossibly sexy and dangerous and he wasn’t afraid to approach me. My parents hated him and their frustration stoked the spitefulness in my heart. I knew Darius was only using me but I didn’t care. I used him too. He was the one thing I could hurt my parents with. Unfortunately, Darius wasn’t a good guy and the four years I spent with him were hell. Darius was even more of an emotional abuser than my mother was and took particular pride in using my insecurities to keep me in check. My mother showed no sympathy and my father blamed my mother for not preparing me better. When I had had enough, Bastian and the twins were the ones who got me out from under Darius’s grip but by then, the damage had been done. I was never whole, to begin with, but after Darius, I was even less than that. After months of trying to unravel the mess Darius had left behind, I took a hard look in the mirror. I wasn’t a child anymore and if I meant to survive my parents and this world, I needed a plan.
I had never shown interest in the family business and even if I did, that was my brother’s territory. I would need to carve my own path. I was determined to not waste my days away by shopping and spending my nights partying. I did, however, realize that I had two important things, a powerful name and an unlimited amount of money. After much protesting from my parents, I was finally given access to the family vault. The first business I bought was an upscale coffee shop I used to frequent. The owner was happy to sell and retire with a rather handsome amount. I kept a low profile at first. Trusting my business managers to protect my assets and trusting that they knew the consequences of betraying a Rose if they failed. I was tough but I was fair. I had to be. I was inexperienced and a woman. I was afforded the benefit of the doubt the same way men were. By the time I was twenty-five, I owned a total of four high-end restaurants, and three exclusive clothing boutiques and I had newly acquired my fifth club. I had focused all my energy on creating my own net worth, all while keeping a low profile. I wanted to prove to my parents that I could make my own way. I needed to prove it to myself. I knew the day would come when I would be expected to be nothing more than the wife of some cocky asshole who will no doubt have to dedicate her time towards creating offspring but until then, I was determined to live as I wanted.
I sat on my balcony, downing water to try and sober up when I heard them echoing loudly down the hallway before storming into my bedroom.
“Frumoasa, we brought champagne but also vodka” Marius rushed to my side, a bottle of each in his hands. He still called me by the nickname his mother had given me as a child. She had always held my face and earnestly told me that I was beautiful. She was the first person to say it to me.
“Why the hell is this contract so thick?” Alina was already on my bed, opening the sealed contract, “So who is the lucky bas...Holy Fuck!”
“What? Who is it?” Marius looked at me as I looked off to the sunset.
“Andrew Fucking Wolfe! I don’t know whether I should congratulate you or...” Alina’s voice faltered a bit before Marius wrapped his arms around me.
“This is a good thing, Eva. He is the very best match.” Marius kissed my forehead.
“We know nothing about him. I don’t like this.” Alina joined us, leaning against the balcony railing as she poured over the contract. I knew she was zeroing in on every minute detail.
“It’s out of my control in any case. We go to the courthouse day after tomorrow.” I finished my third bottle of water.
“So soon?”
“Courthouse?”
The twins stared at me, mouths agape. Shrugging, I went back inside to get dressed. I had to meet with a few of my business managers to discuss what my pending nuptials would mean for business. I fully intended on keeping my businesses as my own, besides, I doubt the high and mighty Andrew Wolfe would care about my millions worth of assets. There was a soft knock on the door when Catalina, my favorite housekeeper brought in a black garment bag and box. My wedding dress. A lump formed in my throat.
“It’s easier this way.” I reached out to unzip the garment bag. Inside was a beautiful white dress. Sleeveless with a straight neckline and calf length with the smallest slit in the back. The fabric felt impossibly luxurious. I opened the accompanying box and found a smaller box that held a delicate diamond choker, a matching tennis bracelet, and the faintest of diamond earrings. The satin heels matched the dress perfectly.
“You’re going to make a beautiful bride, Eva,” Alina said softly as she slid her hand into mine.
“Yeah, Andrew is a lucky man.” Marius joined us, clasping my other hand. The twins would never know the storm raging inside me. Their parents had decided that they would not be made to marry for position and power. They would know true happiness. True love.
“I have a meeting to get to. The wedding...the signing, I mean, is at noon.” I said curtly and left them, their heads grabbed my binder and left.
This was the part where I would shut off my heart. Shut off my mind. Lock up the last frayed pieces of who I was. Soon I would become the very thing I wanted to run from.
