Chapter 1 ❄️
The wind had been warning her for the last ten minutes.
Eve Carter should have listened.
The snow wasn’t falling anymore—it was attacking. Thick, violent walls of white slammed against her windshield, as if trying to erase the road entirely.
Eve gripped the steering wheel so tightly her fingers had started to go numb. The windshield wipers looked like they’d already given up. No matter how hard they worked, they couldn’t push back the endless white.
“Come on… just a little farther,” she whispered. But the road seemed to mock her.
In the backseat, a carefully arranged flower box slid slightly with every sharp turn. Red roses, white lilies, pine branches—everything prepared for some luxurious Christmas event at a mountain hotel.
Rich people and their last-minute flower emergencies.
Eve rolled her eyes as the roses bumped against each other. “Of course,” she muttered. “Right before Christmas.”
The car suddenly skidded.
Just a little.
Then a little more.
“No, no, no—come on—”
The vehicle lurched forward, swerved sideways— And stopped. The engine died completely. Silence swallowed everything.
Eve stared at the dashboard. “…You have got to be kidding me.”
She turned the key again.
Nothing.
Just a painful clicking sound.
For a second, she didn’t move. As if staying perfectly still might somehow reverse reality itself…
Outside, the world had disappeared beneath white. On the other side of the mountain, however, time moved to a different rhythm.
A few miles farther up the same road, Adrian Kingsley stood behind tinted glass, staring into the white void outside without feeling much of anything.
It wasn’t that he lacked emotions. What defined him was the flawless control he had over them.
To Adrian, snow wasn’t poetic. It was a system failure. And failures could always be fixed.
Except blizzards didn’t negotiate.
He’d been forced to leave his black luxury SUV on the side of the road. Looking outside, he said calmly, “This road should’ve been cleared.”
Even through the storm, his voice carried quiet authority—completely beyond argument.
No one answered. Mostly because his driver had already learned that blaming nature was useless and had gone searching for help.
Adrian stepped out of the vehicle. Even when the cold hit his face, his expression didn’t change. Only his eyes sharpened slightly, as though he wasn’t staring at the storm itself—but at the audacity of it. The wind tugged at his coat. Snow immediately settled across his shoulders.
But he barely shivered. “Get me another car,” he said.
“Sir, there’s no signal out here—”
“Then create one.”
Meanwhile, Eve’s situation had evolved from “annoying” to “life-ruining.” Naturally, her phone battery was at one percent.
She opened the map again.
“No service.”
She leaned back in frustration— Then saw headlights in the distance. A shape emerging through the snow. A black vehicle came to a stop nearby.
Eve narrowed her eyes. “…Please don’t be a serial killer,” she muttered.
The driver’s door opened, and somehow the balance of the storm shifted with it.
The man stepping out was tall, calm, and painfully controlled. So controlled that the blizzard itself seemed hesitant to touch him.
Eve sighed internally. “…Of course he’s hot.”
The man looked directly at her. His gaze wasn’t rushed. Or curious. It was assessing. As he walked toward her, the knee-deep snow didn’t seem to slow him down at all. The world itself appeared to move aside for him.
“Move your car,” he said. His voice wasn’t loud. It simply sounded used to being obeyed.
Eve stared at him for a moment before laughing.
“Excuse me? My car is dead. But sure, let me just pick it up and move it.”
His expression didn’t change. “You’re blocking the road.”
“Yeah,” Eve replied. “I noticed. Congratulations.”
A cold silence settled between them as the snow fell even harder. Without blinking, he added, “If you stay here, you’ll freeze.”
Eve shrugged. “Saying it like a Hollywood heartthrob doesn’t actually make it less cold.”
For the first time, something shifted near his jaw. Almost like he was suppressing a smile. But his composure remained intact.
“There’s a cabin farther up the trail,” he said, motioning toward the woods. “We’ll walk.”
Eve tilted her head slightly. “We?”
“You,” he corrected. “Unless you’d rather stay here and freeze with your car.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
Adrian looked at her then—one long, superior glance. Then he checked his expensive watch and said simply, “Then stay.”
And with that, he turned around and started walking through the snow with effortless precision. Eve stayed rooted in place as snowflakes stung her face.
Five seconds. Ten.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath. “Giving orders and walking away… the confidence is honestly insane.”
Then she hurried after him.
As they walked, the distance between them never changed—not too close, not too far. As if they respected each other’s space, yet refused to lose sight of one another in the storm.
Eve broke the silence first. “So what exactly is a man like you doing alone on a mountain? Are you some mysterious billionaire hiding from humanity?”
“No.”
“A Christmas-hating Grinch arranging corporate marriages?”
Adrian didn’t even look at her, but there was the faintest trace of arrogance in his voice when he answered. “I just hate unnecessary conversation.”
Eve laughed. “So you hate me.”
This time, there was a brief but noticeable pause. Without slowing his pace, Adrian replied, “I haven’t decided yet.”
A real laugh escaped Eve then—bright and alive against the empty, snow-covered mountain.
When they finally reached the property line and the cabin came into view, Eve slowed for a moment.
From the outside, it looked less like a cabin and more like a luxurious mountain estate built from stone and dark wood. Warm golden light spilled from the windows, promising that the fireplace inside was already burning.
At the very least, it looked survivable.
The moment they reached the door, Eve rushed ahead.
“I’m going in first.”
Adrian stopped and looked down at her with quiet superiority. “In my home, the host always enters first,” he said smoothly. “But I’m willing to make an exception this once.”
The second they stepped inside, warmth wrapped around them. The air smelled like cinnamon, cedarwood, and fresh coffee. In the corner stood a massive Christmas tree decorated with the kind of perfection only found in luxury hotels.
Clearly, Adrian’s staff had prepared everything to his standards long before he arrived.
Eve looked around with wide eyes. “Okay… so this isn’t a horror movie after all. It’s just an aggressively rich Christmas.”
The door closed softly behind them.
Adrian Kingsley removed his coat with slow precision and hung it by the entrance. Even in a warm room, the elegant sweater and expensive watch made him look like a man built entirely out of rules.
Eve turned toward him with a faint smile. “So, do you like cheesy Christmas romance movies?”
Adrian walked toward the bar beside the fireplace and poured two drinks into crystal glasses. A dangerously charming smirk appeared on his lips.
“Romantic movies aren’t real.”
Eve stepped closer to the fire, giving him a challenging look. “You sound like someone who watches a lot of them.”
Adrian approached her, holding out one of the glasses. Their fingers brushed against the crystal stem. Something dark and warm flickered in his eyes.
“I never watch them,” he said softly, his voice smooth as silk. “I don’t trust anything written by someone else.”
The space between them narrowed to a single breath. His gaze lingered on her face. As though he’d noticed the way her heartbeat had quickened, the corner of his mouth curved slightly. Then he leaned closer and whispered, never breaking eye contact.
“Because instead of wasting time on fake happy endings… I prefer a real challenge.”
Adrian didn’t pull away. And Eve couldn’t understand why she didn’t either. The space between them had become dangerously small now. The fire warmed her skin, but Adrian’s gaze burned hotter.
Just as Eve was about to say something, small footsteps echoed from upstairs. Both of them looked up at the same time.
A little girl appeared at the top of the staircase. She had messy brown curls, sleepy eyes, and a stuffed rabbit tucked beneath one arm.
She looked directly at Adrian. “Are you sulking again?” she mumbled sleepily.
Eve blinked.
For the first time, Adrian Kingsley looked like a man who had completely lost control.
The little girl stepped down another stair before finally noticing Eve. Her eyes widened with excitement. “Ooooh,” she grinned. “Is this your new Christmas girlfriend?”
Silence.
Eve nearly choked on air. And seeing Adrian Kingsley genuinely speechless for the first time... Was far more satisfying than Eve expected.
