Chapter 2

KIMBERLY'S POV Xavier Ravenwood. My sister's fiancé, to be exact, my adopted sister. There are three famous families in the city, Ravenwood, Reynolds and Harrington. Ravenwood is the most powerful family in the country, and Xavier is the head of Ravenwood. Some people say that he was so powerful and fierce that no one dared to mess with him. He was famously unattainable in the circle. Once a man wanted to put a woman in Xavier's bed, and the next day, his company went bankrupt. A few years ago, my grandfather, William Harrington, saved Xavier Ravenwood's grandfather during a near-fatal accident. The type of incident which one would read from a movie script: two aged men isolated on a mountain, with one saving the other's life. This bond extended beyond a mere friendship; they decided to tie their families together in marriage. That's how Xavier Ravenwood became my fiancé. More precisely, he became the fiancé of the "real" daughter of Harrington family I wasn't that daughter-not at the beginning, anyway. For sixteen years I'd been Kimberly Rivers, a nobody fending for her on the streets while Madison Harrington had lived my life. By the time the truth finally showed its shiny face and brought me home, Madison had already been center stage for a very long time. They didn't send her away. Why would they? Mom, Dad, and my brothers just love her. Who they didn't love was me. They'd convinced me to tell the Ravenwoods I didn't want the engagement, that Madison was better suited for Xavier. At the time, I'd believed them. Xavier didn't want the marriage either and Madison, with her perfect smile and sugary words, seemed like the logical choice. And I did. I swallowed my pride, trudged over to the Ravenwood estate, and declared I didn't want to marry Xavier; Madison was a better fit. Xavier hadn't said much, as per usual, but his distaste toward my family was crystal clear. Now，He held me as if this was nothing out of the ordinary. His dark suit perfect, his face expressionless. Sharp features hewn into impossible perfection: a chiseled jawline, a gaze of hazel fire which pierced my very soul. My body immediately felt the burn and I quickly pulled my hand back. His lips tugged upward in a slight smirk. "Kimberly." The soft way he said my name, the syllable just sliding smooth and easy over his lips and off, started the autopilot warmth coursing through me that I clamped down hard on. This was a man of trouble, powerful, untouchable, hazardous on so many levels. "Thanks for catching me, sir." I said, pulling myself stiffly from his grasp. A moment before falling, I was off balance and his hand had steadied me. He cocked a brow, the tone silky smooth and underlying with mockery. "Sir? Am I old enough to deserve such politeness from you?" I stared, taken aback by the question. "What?” "You called me “Sir” as if I'm some sort of doddering old man. Do I appear decrepit to you?” His voice was light, but the keen eyes pinned me on the spot. I scrambled for an answer. "No," I mumbled, my cheeks heating. "Of course not. You're only a year older than me." He smiled in that way that made you revisit everything about yourself. I hated how he did that with me. "Better," he said with a tint of sarcasm. I felt a bit uneasy, trying to get my response. I couldn't back off now as he asked, "Did you break up with Daniel Reynolds?" My stomach churned. How did he know this? And that was precisely what replayed in my mind: Daniel's raised voice, my shaking attempt to end things, the twist of his face in anger. It had been messy, to say the least. I hadn't realized the door to the VIP room had been ajar. I nodded. "Yeah, we broke up." Xavier's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes-something unreadable. "Good," he said simply. "Men like Daniel lack character.” I blinked. "Pardon? "They don't follow the ethics of being a man," he shrugged, like he might be speaking about the weather. I glared at him, at war with myself as incredulity struggled to mastery over curiosity. "Male ethics? That's quite an observation." He shrugged. "It is. Daniel's one of those guys who on one day will whisper all manner of sweet nothings in your ear and on another day, charming another woman. And that's not someone to keep, especially for someone like you. Anyways, it's a good thing for me." he returned, smiling, but this time, beneath the curl of his lip there was something that hadn't been there before. Something…terminal. Good thing?" I returned with narrowed eyes. "Why should you care?" The lines around Xavier's mouth and eyes loosened but his expression never wavered. Another step closer to me and it felt as if my lungs had been deflated of air. "Because," he whispered, "now, at last, I'll do what my grandfather had intended all along. I stared at him, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?" A smile arced up one side of Xavier's lips, but somehow it didn't reach his eyes. "Kimberly Harrington.” He paused, letting the silence stretch just long enough to set my nerves on edge. "Marry me." My breath hitched. I stared at him, certain I'd misheard. "What?" Xavier didn't blink. "You heard me." He reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear in a gesture so gentle it sent a shiver down my spine. "Marry me, Kimberly." The world seemed to tilt on its axis.