Julian Thorne is the crown prince of Manhattan, and he is a certified psycho. He is also obsessively in love with me. On our wedding day, my sister, Chloe, showed up in her own wedding gown to crash it. She screamed that she was a "Protagonist" and that if she didn't marry my fiancé, she would die. Julian, without blinking, just said, "Then die." His security team dragged her to the rooftop of the hotel. She looked down once and fainted clean away. 1 Julian Thorne is New York royalty—reckless, ruthless, and completely ungovernable. And for one year, he was my quiet, secret boyfriend. The "secret" part was my idea. Julian hated it, but I always managed to put him off, saying the relationship was "too new" or "not stable enough." On our first anniversary, I came home from a shoot, and Julian suddenly presented me with a stack of binders. "Elara," he said, "these are my companies, my properties, my cars, my private equity holdings..." He had so many assets it was absurd. He even owned a few small islands. It took him over thirty minutes to list everything. Goddamn capital. My eyes were burning with the sheer, blinding injustice of it all. "Julian, what is this?" "Elara, we've been dating for a year. We're stable. Marry me. When you do, I'm transferring everything into your name." With that, he got on one knee and produced a ring. I finally understood. This was a proposal. The theme of this proposal, to summarize, was: "What's mine is yours, and what's yours is still yours." This kind of deal doesn't just happen. I didn't trust it. "You're just saying that." "No," he said, his face dead serious. "You won't go public because you don't feel secure. They say men turn bad when they get rich. If I give you all my money, you won't have to worry about me turning bad." "That's not a guarantee." My sister, Chloe, has a thing for taking what's mine. In high school, in college... anytime a guy showed interest in me, Chloe would appear. And just like that, those guys would only have eyes for her. It proved that a man's loyalty has nothing to do with his bank account. This was the real reason I’d kept Julian a secret. I was terrified that if I brought him to a family dinner, he’d be instantly, magically charmed by Chloe. I'd finally found someone who chose me. I wanted it to last. "If I ever cheat on you," Julian said, his voice flat, "you have my full permission to confiscate my... assets." "Confiscate your... assets?" He coughed. "Castrate me." I was drinking water. I choked, sputtering and coughing. He rubbed my back, all concern. "Slow down." His deep-set eyes were full of genuine worry. I ended up saying yes. A man who was willing to bet his family jewels on his own fidelity... how could I not trust him? I mean, it definitely wasn't about the billions of dollars. Absolutely not. Ugh, this box of deeds is surprisingly heavy. 2 The first thing Julian did after I said yes was post on Instagram. A picture of the ring. The caption: Mine. I thought that would be the end of it. I was wrong. He started posting three times a day, more reliably than he ate. 【Wife is at work. Miss her.】 【Three days until I see my wife.】 【Woke up to this. #blessed #nofilter】 The captions were so sappy I couldn't even read them. He's Julian Thorne. The comments section was just a sea of fawning "omg goals." I was embarrassed. He was defensive. "I'm making up for a year of lost time." I texted back: 【Whatever makes you happy.】 Because of Julian’s reputation, everyone in his circle knows not to leak his personal life to the press. So, despite his non-stop posting, not a word of it hit Page Six. He didn't stop at Instagram. He gave his entire company a three-day paid holiday. His employees were ecstatic. The company-wide Slack channel blew up. "Thank you, Julian's girlfriend!" "Julian's girlfriend is a national hero." "May Julian and his girlfriend live long and prosper." "A happy CEO is a blessing upon us all." When I still hadn't told my family, Julian cornered me. "Elara. Is it me? Am I not handsome enough? Not rich enough? Or... am I not good enough?" As the heir to the Thorne empire, his status was untouchable. His face was better than 90% of the actors I worked with. As for "not good enough"... I shot him a look and rubbed my lower back. He had the nerve to ask. "I just want to tell my family in person," I said. "Before we make a public announcement." "In person?" He blinked, and then a slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "You're taking me home? I didn't realize you were this serious about me." He'd misunderstood. I wasn't taking him home to introduce him. I was taking him home to test him. If he, like all the others, took one look at Chloe and was instantly bewitched, then this relationship didn't need to be announced. It needed to be terminated. But if he passed... if he could withstand her... then it was real. The monthly family dinner was on the 15th. 3 We'd just stepped inside the front door when I heard voices from the living room. "Chloe, honey, you're saying your sister slept with an investor? And then she had the nerve to steal your role?" It was my mother. Chloe's voice was a pathetic little sob. "Yes. The director promised me the part. He said it was mine. Then, right before signing, he said a new, massive investor came on board... and that he and Elara were... involved. The investor made him give her the part." That was not what happened. The director and writer had approached me from the beginning. They said they'd written the script with me in mind. The day before I was supposed to sign, my sister heard about the film, met with the director, and suddenly, he changed his mind. He told me Chloe just "had the right energy." If she was right for the role, I wouldn't have cared. But the character was a cold, cynical detective. My sister has the face of a cartoon chipmunk. Chloe just has this... magic. She makes people adore her, makes them want to give her whatever she wants. And the thing she wants most... is whatever I have. I should have been used to it. But it still hurt. I'd been in a funk for days. Julian, seeing me upset, found out why. To "cheer me up," he invested an obscene amount of money in the film on the non-negotiable condition that I was cast. I learned that day that my sister's magic charm was no match for a nine-figure check. She was furious. So she ran straight to our parents. My mother's voice was sharp. "How did I raise such a shameless, disgusting thing? We gave her everything, and she repays us by becoming some investor's whore? And to do it to her own sister!" "Mom, Dad, don't be mad at her," Chloe said, her voice dripping with fake concern. "She's just... lost. This industry is so toxic. If you just talk to her, I'm sure she'll see the error of her ways." My father sighed. "Chloe, if only your sister were half as decent as you." My mother snarled. "I regret the day she was born." Julian's face went dark. His entire posture shifted, radiating a cold fury. I was... calm. I'd seen this show a hundred times. It was always my fault. I was always the one who had to apologize, to give my things to Chloe. I'd stopped being sad about it years ago. I'd given up on them. Julian started to step forward, and I squeezed his hand. Wait. I needed him to see this. To see my sister for what she really was. Maybe then, he wouldn't fall for her. A moment later, the housekeeper saw us. "Oh, Ms. Elara, you're here!" My parents hadn't seen Julian, who was slightly hidden by a large plant. My mother stormed over. "Elara! You have the nerve to show your face? We don't have a daughter who sells her body! Get out!" She pointed a finger at me. "But before you go, you will call that director, give the role back to your sister, and apologize." I kept my voice level. "I'm not sleeping with anyone. That investor is my boyfriend. And the movie was written for me." "Sister, I heard you've been 'dating' for over a year," Chloe said sweetly. "If he's really your boyfriend, why haven't you ever brought him home? The director was clearly just making an excuse for you." My mother was even angrier. "You ungrateful brat! Chloe is defending you, and you're still lying! You break up with that sugar daddy now, or you are no daughter of mine!" Julian had heard enough. He stepped out from behind the plant, his voice like ice. "Who, exactly, are you telling her to break up with? She doesn't have a sugar daddy. I'm her boyfriend." "Sister... this is your... boyfriend?" Chloe's eyes locked onto Julian. I saw a flicker in them. A bright, hungry spark. She was interested. 4 Julian Thorne is a big deal. Even my social-climbing parents knew who he was. "You're... Julian Thorne?" my father stammered. Julian gave a curt, cold nod. My parents' entire world revolved around climbing a ladder that Julian's family had built. They looked from me to Julian, and their faces instantly melted into grotesque, fawning smiles. My mother grabbed my arm, her grip suddenly affectionate. "Elara, darling! Why didn't you tell us you were dating someone so... wonderful?" Chloe composed herself and glided over to Julian, tilting her head to show off the line of her neck. "Mr. Thorne, hello. I'm Chloe, Elara's sister." Her voice was soft, harmless, and impossibly sweet. Julian said nothing. He just... stared at her. For a solid ten seconds. Chloe's lips curved in a tiny, satisfied smile. Here it is, I thought. She was thinking, Elara, you lose again. I glanced at Julian. I was strangely calm. I'd prepared for this. I'd brought him here for this. If he was this easy to steal, he wasn't really mine. Better to know now. I have my career. I don't need a man. Still... it stung. I thought he was different. I started to pull my hand from his, but he gripped it tighter. What happened next, I was not prepared for. "Mr. Thorne?" Julian sneered. "Is 'brother-in-law' too complicated for you? Don't be so familiar. We're not friends." Chloe's smile froze. In her entire life, I don't think a single male had ever spoken to her like that. My heart, which had been sinking, slowly started to rise. He... he was different. Chloe tried to pivot, her voice turning wounded, flirty. "Julian... brother-in-law... I just thought it was friendlier. Why are you being so mean?" Julian laughed, a cold, sharp sound. "And how should I be? 'Oh, Chloe, thank you so much for slandering my fiancée, you must be exhausted, please have a seat'?" Chloe's face went from white to red. She'd never been humiliated like this. She immediately went to her signature move: she looked down, her eyes filling with tears, her shoulders trembling. The "I'm just a poor, fragile girl" routine. "I... I'm so sorry, sister. The director... he implied... I just misunderstood..." I sighed. Even now, she was trying to throw the director under the bus. Julian had already told the director exactly who he was. The director wouldn't dare slander me. Chloe knew my parents would believe any lie she told. Julian watched her "fragile" act, and his eyes just got colder. Chloe was stunned. This wasn't working. Why wasn't it working? The air was thick. My mother finally jumped in. "It's Chloe's fault, yes, but she didn't mean any harm! Elara, don't be mad at her. She was just worried about you!" "Sister, please forgive me?" Chloe looked at me, her eyes brimming, as if I'd be a monster to say no. Oh, she wants to play. I put on my best "heartbroken" expression. "It's okay, Chloe. I'm... I'm used to it." Julian's aura turned arctic. "A hell of a way to show 'concern'," he snapped. "You hear a rumor from a stranger and you immediately, viciously, attack your own daughter? Do you even see Elara as family?" He had shattered the thin veneer of our "happy family." My parents looked horrified. My father, especially, had been dreaming of an alliance with the Thornes. Finally, my grandmother, the only person in this house who ever loved me, came down the stairs. "Elara, you're here! And this must be your young man! My, what a handsome couple. Why are you all standing at the door? Come in, come in!" Julian, seeing the genuine love in her eyes, relaxed. I nodded at him. "Let's go in." "Okay." He held my hand and led me inside. I could feel Chloe's jealous, hateful glare burning into my back. This was not over.
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