When I was eighteen, I became Caspian Beaumont’s bestkept secret. To the world, he was the golden heir to the Beaumont empire, the untouchable prince of the East Coast. To me, he was the man who kept me in a gilded cage for ten years.

By twentyeight, the novelty had worn off. He fell for Sienna Reed, a "cold and defiant" rising star in the indie film scene.

He pursued her with the clumsy, breathless intensity of a teenager experiencing love for the first time, and he had no qualms about describing his obsession to me. "I’ve never met anyone I couldn't have, Evie," he told me once, his eyes distant and glazed with a strange hunger. "Sienna is the only one.

She’s... different." "I really love her, Evie. I think I finally understand what it means to actually love someone." But how can one heart beat for two people? I became the woman I swore I’d never be: the hysterical, vengeful ex.

I leaked their sordid little affair to the tabloids, hoping the scandal would burn them both. But Sienna was smarter. She stood before the cameras, pale and composed, and gave a single quote that trended for weeks: "I am nobody’s trophy.

I don't play the part of a kept woman." That one sentence drove Caspian over the edge. He became obsessed, chasing her through every gala and red carpet, ready to set the world on fire just to warm her hands.

To clear her name, he forced me to go public—to lie and claim that I was the interloper, the one who had been stalking him. On the night of their engagement party, a friend of his laughed over a glass of scotch. "So, what about Evelyn?

Ten years is a long time for it to just... end." Caspian’s smile was lazy, dismissive. "She was a bed warmer. A habit. Nothing more." But I couldn't let it end. I wouldn't.

Because the heart beating inside Caspian Beaumont’s chest was the only thing left of the boy I loved when I was eighteen.

At the engagement gala, Sienna threw a glass of Pinot Noir directly into my face. She gripped the empty glass, her eyes icy as she stared me down. "That’s for the lies you fed the press, Miss Lane.

For the harassment." "Just because you’re a mistress doesn't mean every woman has your lack of dignity," she added, her voice loud enough for the surrounding socialites to hear. "Not all of us throw away our souls for a man’s checkbook." I wiped the wine from my eyes and looked at Caspian.

He stood there, hands in his pockets, his expression neutral. He was letting her humiliate me. It was his silent permission. "Pour Mrs. Beaumonttobe another glass," he said coldly. "And apologize." I didn't argue.

I wiped the red stains from my cheeks, poured a fresh glass, and held it out to Sienna with both hands. The guests stepped back as if my "baseness" were contagious. I didn't care about them.

I walked to Caspian’s side and looked up at him, searching for the rhythm of the heart beneath his tuxedo. "I’ll do whatever you want from now on," I whispered. "Just... don't send me away.

Please." Caspian looked down at me, his gaze flickering with something—pity, or perhaps disgust. "You aren't even angry?" I shook my head. "As long as I can stay." He frowned, genuinely confused.

He couldn't fathom why I was clinging to the wreckage of a man who had just publicly disowned me. "I’m marrying someone else, Evie. You’re really okay with being the shadow in the corner?" "Yes." My answer was instantaneous.

He reached out, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. He probably thought this was devotion.

He probably thought I loved him that much. "Good girl," he murmured. "At least you’re sensible." Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering echoed through the room. Sienna was trembling, tears welling in her eyes. "Caspian, I told you.

I am not like the others. If you can’t offer me total exclusivity, then we have nothing to talk about." She ripped the engagement ring off her finger, threw it on the marble floor, and stormed out. Caspian didn't hesitate.

He shoved me aside, ignoring the stunned guests, and ran after her. "Ten years," someone whispered nearby. "Ten years and he drops her like a used cigarette." "She actually thought she’d be the one," another laughed. "Pathetic." I stood there in the center of the room, the target of a hundred mocking eyes, until the party finally bled out into the night.

On the way home, my phone blew up with notifications. The headlines were already live: Beaumont’s Grand Gesture: The Billionaire Chasing the Starlet Who Said No. People remembered when he pursued me, too.

Back then, they said I was the only one who could tame him. Until Sienna’s Vespa crashed into his RollsRoyce. Her stubborn refusal to be impressed by his wealth had fascinated him.

He’d showered her with luxury contracts and diamond necklaces from Sotheby’s, and she had thrown them back in his face. "Caspian, I’m not interested in your money. Have some selfrespect," she’d told him.

She even came to find me once, warning me to "keep my leash on my sugar daddy." With anyone else, Caspian would have been furious. With her, it only made the hunt more exhilarating.

When I finally pushed open the doors to the villa, Caspian was already there. He didn't wait for a greeting. He grabbed my wrist, yanked me into his arms, and crashed his lips against mine. I instinctively flinched, turning my head away.

His smile vanished instantly. "What the hell is this, Evie?" I looked at him, trying to keep my voice steady. "Our agreement. We said when you got married, I would leave. But... I can't.

I don't want to go." He let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "So you do remember. You’re really that obsessed with me?" I leaned into him, resting my ear against the left side of his chest. The thudthud was steady. Strong.

Familiar. "Yes," I lied. "I’m hopelessly obsessed." He chuckled, the sound thick with arrogance. "Fine. Even after I marry Sienna, as long as you stay in your place, I’ll keep you. I’ll take care of you." I didn't care who he married.

As long as he didn't cast me out. As long as I could stay close to that heartbeat. Because it was never Caspian I couldn't bear to leave.

The next day, he made me go with Sienna for her bridal fitting. The night before, Caspian had held my chin, his tone like someone tossing a scrap to a stray dog. "Go with her. Help her pick the dress. Don't upset her.

If she’s happy, maybe I’ll give you a ceremony of your own one day." He waited for me to look overjoyed.

I just nodded. "That’s it?" he asked, annoyed. "That’s your only reaction?" I forced a smile. "I’m just... overwhelmed with happiness." Anything to stay. Sienna tried on a dozen gowns, each one more extravagant than the last.

She kept asking for my opinion, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. "I know this must be hard for you, Evie. Go ahead and cry if you need to.

Just remember, in a few weeks, you’ll be the one holding my train." She disappeared back into the dressing room. While I waited, my eyes caught a dress in the display window. It was simple—silk and delicate lace, understated and soft.

It was the exact design Elias had sketched for me on the back of a notebook when we were seventeen. I couldn't help myself. I put it on. Standing before the mirror, the ghost of a memory flared so bright it hurt.

For a second, I could almost believe the man who promised to marry me was still alive. "Evie." The voice had that familiar upward lilt.

The eyes, the height, the silhouette—they were so close to the boy who used to lean over my desk and whisper my name.

I gathered the skirts of the dress and ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck. "Does it look good?" I whispered, my heart racing. Caspian looked down at me, his Adam’s apple bobbing. "Beautiful," he murmured.

A second later, I was violently jerked away. A sharp crack echoed through the boutique. My face stung. "Caspian! How could you?" Sienna stood there, trembling. "Right in front of me?

You’re flirting with this woman while I’m trying on my wedding dress? If you can’t let her go, you should never have come for me!" Instead of getting angry, Caspian laughed.

He took Sienna’s hand, gently rubbing her reddened palm. "Did you hurt your hand hitting her?" She tried to pull away, but he pulled her close, his voice a low, indulgent coo. "It’s my fault. I’m sorry.

It won't happen again." I watched them, paralyzed. The look in Caspian’s eyes as he soothed her—that tenderness, that absolute surrender—was something I had never seen in ten years.

The man in my memory would never have looked at a woman like that while another sat bleeding on the floor. I slowly let go of the silk skirts. Sienna’s eyes landed on my dress. "Actually, I love this one.

I want to try it." She grabbed my arm with a fake sisterly affection and led me toward the secondfloor balcony of the shop. But as soon as we were away from the staff, her grip tightened. She gave me a sudden, violent shove.

I tumbled backward down the stairs. My head hit the landing with a sickening thud. Warm blood began to seep into my hair, blurring my vision.

Caspian came running at the sound of the crash. "What happened?" Sienna was already on the floor, sobbing, making it look like she’d tripped too. "If Miss Lane hates me this much, then I’ll just leave!

I won't stay where I'm not wanted!" Caspian grabbed her wrist. "Don't go." "Your precious little pet," Sienna wailed. "I tried to help her up, and she shoved me! She tried to kill us both!" Caspian’s eyes flickered to the blood pooling under my head.

For a heartbeat, I saw a flash of genuine terror in his eyes—but then he looked at Sienna’s weeping face, and he folded. "What do you want me to do?" he asked her. Sienna lifted her chin. "I want her on her knees.

I want an apology." Caspian was silent for a long moment. Then, his voice came out cold and flat. "Evie. Apologize." I gripped the edge of the stairs, fighting the vertigo, and looked up at him. "She pushed me, Caspian. There are cameras.

I didn't touch her." His gaze darkened. "If you can’t do this one thing, you have no place in my life. Choose." I bit my lip until I tasted copper.

Slowly, agonizingly, I crawled to my hands and knees in front of Sienna. "I’m sorry," I whispered. "I can't hear you," Sienna snapped. I dug my nails into my palms. "I’m sorry!" I screamed. "Are you happy now?" Sienna gave a curt nod.

Caspian’s tension bled away as he scooped her up to take her to the hospital for a minor scratch on her leg. I tried to stand, but the world tilted.

Before I hit the floor, a shadow seemed to step out of the light—a boy with a crooked smile reaching out for me. "Elias," I breathed, reaching for him. "Elias Grant." Caspian caught me before I collapsed. His voice was a low, terrifying hiss. "Evelyn?

Who the hell is Elias?"