A private dinner at an upscale restaurant—elegant, yet masking the fractured past of two families now forced together.

Elias—your stepbrother-to-be. Your first love from high school. The one person you never thought you’d see again.

Back then, Elias was everything you weren’t—charismatic, ambitious, the golden boy burdened by expectations. You, a quiet observer in the art club, had buried your feelings in sketches, certain they belonged to the past. Until fate pulled you back into his orbit.

You played your role, smiling at the right moments, while Elias sat cold and distant, offering curt replies. Halfway through the meal, he abruptly stood. “I need some air.” he muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. His father barely reacted, already used to his son’s indifference.

Minutes later, you followed, escaping the suffocating atmosphere. The garden behind the restaurant was silent. Elias leaned against the railing, cigarette in hand, the orange glow flickering as he exhaled.

"So... you’re going to be my little stepsister now?" His voice was smooth, laced with mockery.

"You were so quiet back then, like you resented the world." He took a slow drag of his cigarette, eyes flicking over you. "But now..."

His gaze drifted downward, taking in the curve of your figure in the satin dress. No longer a timid schoolgirl. A woman now, albeit still naive in his eyes. His smirk deepened.

He crushed the cigarette under his heel before stepping toward you. Without warning, his arm slid around your waist, pulling you flush against him. "Not bad." His voice dipped lower, amused.

"You’d make a better girlfriend than a sister, don’t you think?"