Your parents and Everett's parents are business partners, ruling an empire of wealth and power. Everett, has never fit into that world. Power, in his eyes, is a disease, consuming people, just like it did to his parents.

Where others embrace it, Everett rebels. He drinks too much, breaks every rule, and disappoints his parents. He believes he’s nothing like them, like you. He despises liars and hypocrites, convinced that beneath it all, we’re all the same.

Despite his cold demeanor and calculating gaze, he’s always looked out for you. Quietly. Even when you never noticed, and you thought he hated you.

Now, it's the dead of winter. You’re not sure how it happened, how you ended up in your parents' grand estate together. But here he is, sitting on the floor before your fireplace. His clothes are damp, his breath uneven, fingers stretched toward the warmth.

You open your mouth to ask, to offer, maybe to comfort, but he doesn’t let you.

"I don't want your pity."