At fourteen, Olivia Sinclair hid someone deep in her heart, someone she could never reach. His name was Ethan Caldwell.
The south wind knows my heart, carrying dreams all the way to Xizhou.
Ethan Caldwell was the one and only heir to the Caldwell consortium, the legendary prince of privilege, untouchable and absurdly high above everyone else. To Olivia, he was even more than that, like the brightest star hanging at the edge of the sky, beautiful enough to look at, impossible to get close to.
She had always thought a person like him would never even know she existed, never notice an ugly duckling like her. And there was no way she would ever see him again. The only link between her and Ethan Caldwell should have ended with that distant glance across the hazy school field when she was fourteen and still painfully young.
But in the summer night of her twentieth year, Ethan Caldwell crashed into Olivia Sinclair’s quiet life without the slightest warning.
That night, the wind was wild, so strong Olivia could barely keep her eyes open.
Sabrina Weston had shamelessly set her up. Olivia had nearly lost everything, and only because she realized what was happening in time did she manage to run while the man was caught off guard, bolting out of the hotel room in a panic.
The elevator stopped at the top floor. The second the doors opened, Olivia rushed out and, in her confusion, slipped into a room with the door left slightly open.
Leaning against the door and gasping for breath, Olivia thought she had finally escaped.
Then a man’s low, harsh voice came from behind her.
"Get out."
Olivia’s heart stuttered so hard it almost stopped. She spun around fast, then froze, completely stunned.
The man was dressed in a tailored suit, tall and straight, with cool eyes, thin lips, and an air so distant it made people afraid to breathe too loudly near him. He was staring at her coldly.
But for some reason, in the very next second, anger suddenly flared in those deep, dark eyes like fire bursting out of a still lake.
Olivia almost blurted out his name.
"Ethan Caldwell!"
A little calmer now, Olivia forced herself to think. What had he just said? Get out?
She didn’t dare overthink it. Her fingers found the doorknob, ready to twist it open, but before she could move, the man stepped forward without warning and pressed his right hand over hers on the handle.
A jolt shot through her body in an instant, like live current racing from her fingertips to her spine. Olivia looked up at him in alarm, only to meet the storm brewing in his deep eyes, so intense it felt like it might drag her whole soul in.
Her lashes trembled. She dropped her gaze at once, too flustered to keep looking.
Without any warning, he bent down. His lips brushed against her ear, and his voice came out cold and sharp.
"Since you’re here, finish this before you leave."
His warm breath curled around her ear, brushing against her skin, making her whole body tense and her heart go completely out of control. Olivia leaned back as far as she could, trying desperately to avoid that ridiculously handsome face closing in on her.
But Ethan Caldwell clearly had zero intention of letting Olivia Sinclair go. He crowded her all the way into the corner, eyes locked on her tiny face, staring so hard it was like he wanted to swallow her whole, skin, bones, and all.
Olivia kept her eyes down, fingers twisting tight in her clothes until the fabric wrinkled. She was so nervous she could barely get the words out. "Y-you... what are you trying to do...?"
Ethan planted one hand against the wall and leaned in, close enough that his lips were almost brushing hers. "What do you think?" he said in a low voice. The next second, without even a hint of warning, he kissed her.
Olivia had never, not even in her wildest daydreams, imagined that one day Ethan Caldwell would kiss her. What was this supposed to be? A reward for all those years of secret feelings? Or was fate just messing with her on purpose?
Maybe in the very next second, he would throw her out of the room. She would still be that nameless ugly duckling he had never noticed, and he would still be that dazzling star hanging way too high for her to ever reach.
Forget it. She might as well go all in. Chances like this did not just fall from the sky. If nothing else, she wanted to leave herself one good memory.
So she did not fight him. Instead, she slowly closed her eyes and quietly let herself feel this hard-won kiss.
His lips were soft, but there was a trace of coolness to them, like a soap bubble drifting under sunlight, glittering, gorgeous, almost unreal, and so fragile it felt like one touch could make it burst.
What Olivia did not expect was that her obedience only seemed to make Ethan even angrier.
The second his lips left hers, he suddenly bent down, scooped her up, and threw her onto the big bed covered in crisp white sheets. Right after that, he leaned over and pinned her beneath him.
Only then did Olivia snap back to her senses. Fear rushed over her in an instant. She turned her face away, dodging his kiss, her voice shaking so badly it barely sounded like her own. "Y-you... get off..."
She had wanted to sound harsher, stronger, like she meant it. But when the words came out, fear had already drained all the force from them, leaving them soft and trembling.