Chapter 3Shattered Hearts And Second Chances

Our relationship was a secret.

He was the heir to the Beaumont empire, still under his father’s thumb, and I was just the girl they’d taken in out of pity. A public scandal would have been disastrous for the firm's upcoming merger.

But I didn't care. Being with him, even in the shadows, was enough. I stayed late at his penthouse while he worked, brought him soup when he was stressed, and loved him in the quiet spaces between his board meetings.

We never talked about marriage or the future. I told myself we were just waiting—waiting for him to take full control, waiting for the right moment to tell the world.

I didn't expect the first person to find out would be Skylar.

I hadn't seen my father in nine years. When I walked into the Beaumont living room during a weekend visit, I barely recognized the man on the sofa. His hair was gray, his face lined with the stress of a life spent treading water.

"Dad?"

He stood up, his eyes welling with tears. "Sienna. Look at you. You’re a beautiful woman."

Then, he pulled a girl forward. She was tall, radiant, and possessed the kind of effortless beauty that only comes from being deeply loved.

"This is your sister, Skylar," he said, beaming. "She’s going to be living here for a while. You’ll look after her, won't you?"

"Hi, Sienna," Skylar said, her smile bright and perfectly friendly.

I stood there, paralyzed. My father, who hadn't called me in years, was suddenly here to drop off his other daughter?

"What’s going on?" I asked, my voice cold.

My father rubbed his neck. "Well, Skylar’s a senior now. The schools back home... they aren't like the ones here in the city. We wanted her to have the best shot at a top-tier college. Since you’ve been here so long, we thought... well, we asked the Beaumonts if she could stay for her final year."

I looked at him, feeling a familiar, icy numbness. "And the Beaumonts just said yes?"

Skylar was the one who answered. "Adrian said yes. He was so sweet about it. He said the house was too big for just two people anyway."

My father patted her shoulder. "Everyone loves Skylar. She’s special."

And so, Skylar moved in. She took a room on the first floor, while Adrian and I were on the second.

She was a whirlwind of energy—studying late, asking for help with her essays, always hovering around Adrian. I was busy with my final year of Veterinary Medicine, spending most of my time at the university clinic.

When I finally came home for winter break, the atmosphere had shifted. The air in the house felt different—charged with something I didn't want to name.