Chapter 3

I called my landlord and told him I was moving out that day.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You've lived there more than four years.”

Four years.

When Nolan and I first started dating, he had wanted me to move into the Hayes estate—a heavily guarded compound where his most trusted family members lived.

Daphne said I should keep some private space before marriage and suggested I live alone.

So I rented this apartment near the family's downtown headquarters, hoping I would see Nolan more often.

He agreed, and every now and then, he would slip away from his security detail and spend the night.

These rooms had witnessed the sweetness of our early love, then the arguments, the silences, and the countless times he left in a hurry because of family business.

But now I had finally reached the end of my patience.

“Yes,” I said. “I'm moving today.”

The landlord sighed and told me to leave the keys in the mailbox.

Not long after I hung up, the door opened from the outside.

Nolan and Daphne walked in, laughing together.

Daphne glanced back at him with a smile.

“You promised that when my lease ends, I can stay at your estate for a few weeks after the wedding. I want the room with the bay window in the east wing, and I want the curtains changed to pink.”

I stood in the middle of the living room, convinced I had heard her wrong.

She spoke so naturally, as though she had every right to decide how long she would stay and how our future home would be decorated.

Nolan did not object. He smiled indulgently.

“As long as Fiona doesn't mind.”

“Fiona always takes care of me. Of course she won't mind.”

Something loosened inside my throat.

“What if I do mind?”

The room went silent for two seconds.

Daphne stared at me. Perhaps it was the first time I had ever truly refused her. Before she could say anything, her eyes were already turning red.

Nolan's tone sharpened with reproach.

“What's wrong with you, Fiona? You've always given her whatever she wanted. Now you're going to make an issue out of one room?”

“I'm not making an issue out of it.”

“Then what are you saying?” He frowned. “Her lease is ending. She'd only be staying a few weeks. She's your sister, not some outsider we need to guard against. The estate is enormous. What difference would one extra person make for a few weeks?”

“That is supposed to be our home after the wedding. The home of the future lady of the Hayes family.” I looked at him. “Which one of us is marrying you?”

That shut Nolan up.

Daphne spoke softly, eyes red.

“Fiona, I only wanted to be close to you. If you don't want me there, forget it. I won't move in.”

Nolan turned to me with reproach.

“Look what you've done. One sentence, and you've hurt her this badly. She's your sister. Can't you think about her feelings?”

“And who thinks about mine?” I lifted my head. “You personally brought her into a company owned by the Hayes family and approved a salary far above everyone else at her level. She has almost nothing to worry about. What about me? All I have is—”

“Enough.” Nolan's expression changed. “Be reasonable. She's your sister. I only take special care of her because of you. Do you really have to be this petty?”

Petty.

That word again.

I smiled and stopped speaking.

Daphne tugged at his sleeve.

“Nolan, stop. Fiona is probably just in a bad mood.”

He patted her hand, then softened his voice toward me.

“Fiona, I've already made the decision. It will be good for Daphne to stay with us. You two can keep living close to each other.”

I nodded.

Agreed.

It was their home, after all.

I would never live there.

Nolan relaxed. Daphne dabbed at the corners of her dry eyes and smiled again.

I turned back to my packing.

Behind me, Daphne asked, “So I really can change the curtains to pale pink?”

Nolan laughed softly.

“Whatever you like.”