Jason Schwartz had been a close friend of my father's, despite the age gap.

The year I met him, I was fearless, the kind of girl who thought nothing could touch her.

I bit down hard on the hand he offered me.

Jason just laughed.

"You're adorable," he said. "Like a little wolf."

On my 18th birthday, he shoved me onto the bed, his eyes red, as if he had been holding back for years.

"Diana, I've finally waited long enough for you to grow up."

He was the one who pulled me into that first flutter of desire, the one who led me across every line I wasn't supposed to cross.

I grew into exactly the kind of girl he wanted.

The day my father was hacked to death by his enemies, Jason took my hand and stepped into his place without hesitation.

When I was pregnant, he brought home a girl covered in blood.

"Diana, she's not like you. She's like wild grass, tough and stubborn."

He said he admired wild grass.

But he forgot something.

He was the one who raised me into a rose that only knew the shelter of a greenhouse.

Good thing I didn't need him anymore.

I ran into the room barefoot.

The girl was straddling Jason Schwartz's waist. They were whispering to each other, bodies pressed close.

"Uncle Jason, I'm cold."

Even after all this time, that was still what I called him.

Jason's hand tightened around her waist before he lifted her off him and set her aside.

"Maddy's hurt. This room's warm. Let her stay here for now."

I had always hated the cold. Every inch of the house was lined with soft carpeting just so I wouldn't have to step on bare tile.

My room, most of all. Jason had even altered the villa's original design so the first light of winter mornings would fall straight into my windows.

Maddy Goodwin leaned against his shoulder, raising a brow. "Told you your little sweetheart would come make a scene. You didn't believe me."

Jason spread his hands, smiling like he was helpless. "Diana, when are you gonna grow up, huh?"

They had bet on me again.

It wasn't the first time.

It wasn't the first time he had brought her home, and not the first time they had wagered on whether I would get upset.

At the beginning, I cried and fought. But all it got me was the two of them sharing a knowing smile. Then Jason would sigh like it was such a burden, hand over expensive jewelry to Maddy, and complain that my childish temper had cost him the bet.

"Alright, Diana. I already stood up for Maddy today. I'm tired. Don't push it."

"Hey, I never asked you to do that," Maddy chimed in. "I'm not like certain people."

Maddy's gaze flickered, her smile faint and proud.

"Diana, I'm not the kind of woman you think I am. Keep your dirty assumptions to yourself. What Jason and I have is purely spiritual."

Spiritual?

They kissed when they were happy. They blamed alcohol when they crossed the line.

From the beginning, it was hotel rooms littered with used protection.

Now it was this bed, sheets marked with unmistakable traces.

"You said this room was designed just for me." My voice cracked the second I opened my mouth.

Jason sighed and got up from the bed. He brushed a strand of hair back from my temple.

"Why are your eyes red again?" His voice softened. "Diana, be good. Maddy's not like you. You have been spoiled by me since you were little. She had no one. She clawed her way through life on her own. Of course, she's got a temper."

In the 12 years I had been by his side, the words I heard most were always the same.

"Be good. That's my girl."

He filed down my claws, pulled every thorn from me.

It took 12 years to turn me from a wolf into a greenhouse rose.

And then he told me he loved women like Maddy, tough and unbreakable.

I looked up at him. His smile never reached his eyes.

"Uncle Jason…" My throat tightened. "Let's get a divorce. I don't want you anymore."

His expression didn't change.

I had said it too many times.

When he held some so-called lucky girl in a casino, I demanded a divorce. He bought the entire place and gave it to me.

When he gave away the horse my father left me to a girl he had just met, I made a scene again. He bought every stable in Gunnerson and told me to pick whichever horse I liked.

No matter how hard I pushed, all it took was a little coaxing, and I would curl back into him like a cat that forgot it ever had claws.

I couldn't even remember how many times I had asked for a divorce anymore.

Jason just shrugged, smiling like it was nothing.

"Diana, with where I stand now, no one in Gunnerson would dare take you in. Be good. You're about to be a mother. I'll take you for your checkup in a few days."

He reached out and ruffled my hair. The scar on his wrist hadn't fully faded.

It was from the bite I left behind the year we met.

Back then, my mouth had been full of blood, and he still laughed like it didn't matter. He'd rubbed my head and said he would spoil me for the rest of my life.

I used to fight stray dogs for scraps. I used to dig food out from piles of the dead just to survive.

Jason took that feral, snarling little wolf and turned her into someone who never even let her feet touch the ground in winter, because he would always carry her.

I craved his warmth. I was addicted to the way he treated me like I was everything.

Then my father died, cut down by his enemies, and Jason stepped up, holding my hand as he took control.

What Jason never knew was that my father had already arranged a marriage for me.

I threatened my own life before my father agreed to pass everything to Jason. And it was only because I married him that my father's old allies stayed loyal.

At my father's bedside, Jason swore, "I promise I'll love Diana for the rest of my life. I'll treat her like a rose. I won't let her suffer even the slightest harm."

He broke that promise.

So I was done with him.

I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years.

"I've thought it through," I said quietly. "I'll marry you."

If Jason didn't want to keep this delicate rose anymore, then I would let someone else treasure me.

The man I called controlled the entire economic lifeline of Gunnerson. He was also the husband my father had chosen for me.

Back then, my father treated Jason like a close friend despite the age gap, but he never approved of us.

"Diana, you're soft, just like your mother. Jason isn't a man you can trust your whole life to. He's insecure and arrogant at the same time. He likes the chase, but he'll never be satisfied. One day, he'll grow tired of you."

At the time, I thought love was everything. I didn't take a single word to heart.

I even defied his final wishes as he lay dying.

"Diana, you're still my daughter. I've left you one last way out. When you regret this, go find this man. He'll protect you."

Even with his last breath, my father was still planning for my future.

I told the staff to start packing my clothes. I was moving back to the old house, the one where my father and I used to live.

"I told you she was just putting on a show. And you were worried she'd actually leave," Maddy said as she walked out with Jason, her arm looped through his, looking pleased with herself.

Jason gave a quiet hum. He glanced at the busy staff and said, "Move Diana's things to the guest room for now."

"Keep packing. I'm moving back to the old house," I cut in.

"The old place is cold. You hate the cold," Jason said without thinking.

Neither of us backed down.

The staff froze, too afraid to move.

I picked out a few changes of clothes myself and stuffed them into a suitcase. Anything I couldn't take, I left behind.

Jason's gaze darkened.

"Diana, don't push me."

Maddy let out a soft laugh.

"Jason, can you not be so dense? She's just playing hard to get. So what if she's pregnant? Like she's the only one who's expecting." Her hand brushed over her flat stomach as she looked at me, eyes full of provocation. "Jason, are you still planning to keep this from your precious little wife?"

I had already decided to walk away from him. But the bitterness still rose up, sharp and sudden.

I grabbed the vase beside me and hurled it straight at Maddy.

Jason kicked it aside and pulled her into his arms. "Diana, that's enough."

A shard of the shattered vase sliced across my calf. I sucked in a breath from the pain.

For a split second, panic flashed in Jason's eyes. He stepped forward, but Maddy grabbed him.

"It's just a scratch. Does she really need to make such a big deal out of it?" Maddy leaned into him, her body brushing against his. "Jason, my shoulder still hurts. If you hadn't shown up late, that old man wouldn't have gotten me like that."

Jason's gaze moved away from my wound. He turned to the staff.

"Get the first aid kit. Take care of Diana's injury."

As the staff wrapped my leg, a memory hit me out of nowhere.

Once, I had cut my hand. I cried from the pain, and his eyes went red as he pulled me into his arms, promising over and over that he would never let me get hurt again.

But this time, the one who hurt me was him.

"Uncle Jason, I've already contacted a lawyer. The divorce is in motion."

Before he could respond, Maddy laughed.

"Putting on that innocent act again?

"I remember the night Jason spent my birthday with me. You called in the middle of the night, crying about a blackout, saying you were scared.

"Drop the act, Diana. It's embarrassing! Jason doesn't need someone like you. He needs a woman who can stand beside him and handle things on her own, not some clingy vine that can't survive without a man."

When Maddy first met Jason, she had offended the wrong people and was about to have both her hands cut off.

Jason stepped in and saved her without breaking a sweat.

"So what if they cut off my hands? I'd still survive," she had said back then.

Jason always said Maddy wasn't like the rest of us.

After that, it was one coincidence after another.

At a gala, Maddy showed up as a server and spilled wine all over a guest. When she was being blamed, she still held her head high, stubborn as ever.

Every time she caused trouble, Jason appeared like some kind of savior.

She never bowed her head.

That pride in her only grew stronger under Jason's attention.

This time, she crippled the young heir of the Chambers just because he didn't step aside for her.

The Chambers weren't people you could mess with. Jason had taken a whole crew to pull her out. He lost a lot of men. He even gave up several territories and business lines to smooth things over.

The people under him were already unhappy. Now, the resentment ran even deeper.

"Maddy, who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?" I snapped.

Maddy raised her hand, furious.

I caught her wrist and slapped her across the face.

I hissed, "I've held back before. That doesn't mean I'm afraid of you."

Before, my whole world revolved around Jason. I just wanted to win him back, so I lowered myself, tried to please him.

In Maddy's eyes, that made me look like someone anyone could step on.

But I grew up digging through corpses just to survive. Even a rose like me still had thorns.

Maddy shrank back against Jason, clutching his shirt as she stomped her foot. "Jason, are you just going to let her treat me like this?"

Jason rubbed his temple. "Diana, your family doesn't run things in Gunnerson anymore. Drop the princess attitude."

That was all the encouragement Maddy needed. She straightened up again.

"Exactly! Everyone in Gunnerson answers to Jason now. If you behave and stop showing up in front of us, I might even let you carry that baby to term in peace."

Maddy's words reminded me of something.

A man like Jason didn't deserve to have a child.

If I was marrying that other man, then I should get rid of everything that shouldn't remain, including this child.

When I set a date with Terence Howe for the procedure, I didn't expect to run into Jason and Maddy at the hospital.

"I thought your checkup was tomorrow." Jason frowned slightly.

Maddy was practically melting into his arms.

"She's been following you. She got caught, so she's pretending it's a coincidence." She then turned to me. "Diana, can you stop being so paranoid? You shouldn't make men the center of your universe."

I didn't bother responding. I turned to head into the department, but Jason grabbed my wrist.

"Are you feeling sick? Is something wrong with the baby?"

This pregnancy hadn't come easily.

When he found out, Jason had been terrified we would lose it like before. He stayed in church long after the lights dimmed, lighting candles, bowing his head in quiet prayer, asking God to watch over us both.

I pulled my hand free. "It's just a routine check."

Terence was my father's trusted doctor. He had been taking care of me for years.

"Ms. Hart, because of your previous injuries and the miscarriage you had before, if you terminate this pregnancy, it may be very difficult for you to conceive again in the future."

I didn't hesitate. "I've made up my mind."

Keeping this child would mean reliving the past over and over again.

This time, I couldn't afford to be soft.

When I walked out of the hospital, Jason was leaning against his car. The ground around him was littered with cigarette butts.

When he saw me, he instinctively put out the cigarette.

"Come home with me. We're married. It doesn't have to be like this."

I looked at him. "We're married? Then what about you and Maddy? And all those other women? Are they your wives, too? Jason, bigamy is illegal."

A flicker of impatience crossed his face. "I told you, don't push me."

Maddy stepped out of the car then, draping herself over him.

"Are we going or not? The baby's hungry." Her eyes slid toward me as her tone shifted. "The doctor said our baby's perfectly healthy. I guess women like us, who fight our way through life, are just built differently. We're not like some delicate wives who can't even hold onto a pregnancy."

I raised my hand, but Jason caught my wrist midair. "Diana, that's enough. Maddy's not wrong."

Cold spread through me, inch by inch.

The calm I had been holding onto these past few days shattered. I turned back into that woman who used to grab his collar and lose control.

"Jason, she might not know how we lost our child, but you do, don't you?"

He just looked at me coldly as I unraveled in front of him. When I finally burned through all my anger, he calmly opened the back door of the car.

"If you're done, come home."

Ever since Maddy showed up, the front passenger seat had become hers. Every time I protested, Jason would coax me like I was a child.

"Maddy gets carsick. Be good. Don't make a fuss."

But he forgot that I would sometimes get carsick, too.

"I've got plans tonight. I'm not going back."

Jason paused, one hand still on the car door, then let out a low laugh. "Diana, this kind of playing hard to get doesn't suit you."

I smiled. "This time, I mean it. I don't want you anymore."

The man I was supposed to marry was back. I wasn't going to be Jason's delicate rose anymore.

-

After Diana left, Jason couldn't stop thinking about the way she smiled when she walked away, especially when she didn't reply to a single message for days.

The unease in his chest kept growing.

Then his phone rang, sharp and sudden, cutting through his thoughts.

"Check the news. Now."

He opened the video.

"Gunnerson Elite Ryan Morton to Marry the Harts' Heiress."

In all of Gunnerson, there was only one Hart heiress.

Diana.