Prologue - The Stuart Legacy
My father has always been just a blurred memory in old photographs —
a man with an easy smile, trophies on his shelf, and dreams that died with him on a rainy road before I could even call him Dad.
Jacob Stuart was the kind of man who believed in destiny. A rocket-ball champion, adored by everyone in the upper class — until he fell in love with Eleonora Reis, a woman who had nothing but courage and a beautiful smile.
My mother.
For love, he defied his family and lost everything — his fortune, his title, his place among the elite.
All he gained was us.
And then, fate took even that away.
I grew up hearing stories about him — how he rocked my crib, how he promised that one day I would study at his old school, North Valley Academy, the pride of the social elite.
I always thought it was just a fairy tale… until the day reality knocked on our door.
At seventeen, a graceful woman with cold eyes and a guilty past appeared at our humble home.
My grandmother, Margareth Stuart.
She wanted to meet me. To say she was sorry.
And as a peace offering, she enrolled me at North Valley Academy.
That was how it all began — my first step into the world my father once left behind.
And it was there that I met Erick Roosevelt.
Rich. Arrogant. Impossible.
The one person who would ruin my peace, and steal my heart.
