Chapter 1.

Lets go on with the introductions.

The world never creates monsters on its own.

It creates boys who grow up unloved,

boys who grow up unprotected,

boys who grow up angry,

boys who grow up soft,

and eventually—

boys who collide so violently that fate rearranges itself.

This is the story of two families, two broken boys…

who do not know yet that they will destroy and heal each other.

BRYAN —

The mansion Bryan lived in was so large that footsteps echoed like ghosts.

Marble floors polished to a mirror shine.

Crystal chandeliers that sparkled like frozen stars.

Everything expensive.

Everything cold.

He was born into a world where money solved everything—except loneliness.

Bryan was five when he first realized his parents didn’t love him the way other parents loved their children.

His mother kissed him goodbye before another one of her “business trips.”

His father ruffled his hair, said, “Be good,” and left the mansion with his briefcase.

He waited.

A day.

A week.

Two weeks.

They didn’t come back.

Instead—

Bernard did.

Bernard, twelve years older, who carried a briefcase bigger than his arm, studying late nights, trying to finish school early so he could take care of Bryan.

Bernard became, Brother,Parent,Protector,Provider,Everything

And Bryan…

Bryan became a child who mistook material comfort for affection.

Bernard gave him whatever he asked for—

because he was trying to fill the void their parents left.

But the void only grew.

By fourteen, Bryan had a temper sharper than knives.

By sixteen, he knew how to get what he wanted by simply glaring.

By eighteen, he was the king of his world without ever learning how to love anyone.

Girls adored him.

Boys envied him.

Teachers feared him.

And his parents?

They visited only on holidays, with gifts that smelled like guilt.

Bryan smiled through it all—

the spoiled prince everyone loved on the surface—

But on the inside,

he was a lonely child still waiting for someone to choose him without being paid to.

His only real friends came much later:

Denzel and Lorcan, at university.

And even they knew—

Bryan could be dangerous when angry.

On the other side of the city, Donovan’s childhood was the opposite— gentle before it shattered.

He remembered his mother’s arms, warm and soft..

She used to hum lullabies until he fell asleep clutching her fingers.

He was five when she died.

He waited for her too—

but she never came back.

His father remarried a year later.

Serene arrived at the house with a smile so sweet it felt artificial.

She brought her daughter, Sara, and everyone said,

“A bigger family is a happier one.”

It wasn’t.

Serene never touched Donovan with affection.

Mike barely looked at him.

Sara pinched him, called him weak, mocked his tears.

Donovan learned early that crying only made the cruelty worse.

He stopped crying.

He became soft, quiet, gentle—

the kind of child who lowers his eyes, who moves aside, who apologizes even when hurt.

But Aaron…, his step brother,

Aaron was different.

Aaron wasn’t blood-related to Donovan, but he took one look at the pretty, fragile boy hiding behind a doorway and decided—

“He’s mine to protect.” " and if you hate me for that, go for it ".

Aaron loved him like a real brother.

He shielded him from Sara.

He argued with Mike.

He ignored Serene’s disgusted looks.

But even Aaron never knew the full truth.

Donovan hid everything.

The insults.

The bruises.

The loneliness.

The nightly crying into a pillow.

He smiled at Aaron because Aaron deserved a happy version of him.

By seventeen, Donovan had become the kind of beauty people wanted to hurt—

not because of anything he did,

but because he was too pretty, too gentle, too easy to break.

The bullies at college noticed.

And Donovan never told Aaron a single word.

With the other characters who play a crucial part in this story.

BERNARD — A MAN MADE OF DUTY

Bernard never wanted to become an adult so quickly.

But he had no choice.

He became CEO at twenty-three, trained under their father, taking every burden so Bryan wouldn’t have to.

When Bernard turned thirty, his parents arranged a marriage:

Kylen.

Cold.

Quiet.

Beautiful in a sharp, distant way.

A man who didn’t believe in love or warmth or softness.

They married for the families, not for themselves.

Kylen slept on the right side of the bed.

Bernard slept on the left.

They barely spoke in the first month.

But Kylen…

Kylen eventually found warmth in places he didn’t expect.

He  got along with Bryan.

Because Bryan—despite everything—had a soft heart hidden deep beneath arrogance, and Kylen could see it in the way the younger boy talked, laughed, or simply existed.

The mansion became complicated after that.

But that story would unfold later.

AARON — FIRE IN HUMAN FORM

Aaron might have been seventeen, but he had a temper that could burn cities.

If he loved someone, he loved violently.

And once he decided to protect Dovanon, that was it.

He despised Serene.

He hated Sara.

He tolerated Mike only because a child must tolerate something.

He would fight anyone—

teacher, bully, stranger—

if Donovan’s name came up in the wrong tone.

He promised himself:

“One day, I will take Donovan out of this house.”

THEIR LIVES, SEPARATE… FOR NOW

Bryan lived in a mansion full of money and silence.

Donovan lived in a house full of people and cruelty.

Bernard lived in a marriage full of cold distance.

Kylen lived in a life without purpose or affection.

Aaron lived with fists curled and jaw clenched, always ready to protect.

And fate was watching closely.

Because soon—

The spoiled prince

and

the gentle broken boy

would collide in a way that would scar both of them forever.

A collision that would begin with a mistake.

A mistake that would haunt Bryan.

A mistake that would terrify Donovan.

A mistake that would start the entire story.

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