"Ugh... Where the hell am I?"

Isabella's voice came out dry and hoarse. The moment she opened her eyes, bright sunlight stabbed through the curtains and sent a sharp pain through her head. She squeezed her eyes shut again, trying to remember what had happened.

This wasn't her room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across one wall, covered by white linen curtains. The furniture was expensive but unfamiliar, and on the carpet beside the bed lay her bra, tangled with a navy silk tie.

She stared at the tie, and a strange uneasiness tightened in her chest.

Last night had been her eighteenth birthday. Olivia had thrown her a small party, and just before midnight, she had handed Isabella a glass of champagne with a sweet smile.

"Happy birthday, Izzy. This one's on me. Drink up."

Isabella hadn't thought twice before drinking it.

After that, her memories came in pieces. The room had started spinning. Her body had grown strangely warm and weak, and when she could barely stand, Olivia had taken her arm and told her she needed to lie down.

There had been a hallway, the soft beep of a keycard, and then darkness.

The rest was a blur.

She remembered the warmth of a man's body, the sound of his voice, and the faint, expensive scent of Gucci Guilty Elixir. She remembered being confused and overwhelmed, yet when he touched her, she hadn't pushed him away. Instead, to her own surprise, she had reached for him.

Isabella covered her face with one hand.

She had never been with a man before. She had always imagined her first time would happen with someone she knew, someone she trusted, when she was ready.

Instead, she had woken up in a stranger's bed without even knowing his name.

Her cheeks burned.

She lowered her hand and glanced toward the other side of the bed.

A man was still asleep there, his back turned toward her. Broad shoulders, dark hair, and a few faint scratches across his skin—marks she recognized as her own.

He looked young.

Much younger than the disgusting old man Olivia would later claim he was.

Isabella looked away almost immediately. Whatever had happened last night, she didn't want to think about it now. She grabbed her clothes, hurried into the bathroom, got dressed, and slipped out before the man woke up.

She didn't know who he was.

She only knew she needed to get home.

*****

The moment Isabella opened the front door of the Bailey family estate, she knew something was wrong.

Her father, Richard Bailey, and her stepmother, Cara, were sitting on the couch. Neither looked surprised to see her. They looked as though they had been waiting for her.

"Dad. Cara."

Her voice sounded small in the large room.

Richard looked up. "Where were you last night?"

"I... I was at a friend's. We watched movies, and it got late, so I stayed there."

She heard the lie tremble in her own voice.

Richard said nothing. Instead, he picked up a stack of photographs from the coffee table and threw them in front of her.

Isabella bent down and picked one up.

Her face went pale.

The pictures showed her leaving a hotel with a man, his arm around her as he guided her through the lobby. There were several shots from different angles, making it painfully clear that someone had been watching her.

"Where did you get these?"

"Does it matter?" Richard asked coldly.

Cara immediately placed a hand on his shoulder. "Darling, don't get so angry. She's young. Let's hear what she has to say."

Then Olivia came down the stairs.

She took one look at the photographs and gave Isabella a sympathetic smile.

"Oh, Izzy. If you'd told us you had someone, we wouldn't have stopped you."

Isabella looked straight at her.

"Really? As thoughtful as you were last night?"

Olivia blinked innocently. "What did I do?"

"You know exactly what you did."

"I really don't."

"The drink you gave me."

Olivia's expression changed at once. "What about it?"

"You drugged it."

Olivia pressed a hand to her chest as if Isabella had deeply wounded her. "How can you accuse me of that? I threw you a birthday party because I wanted to make you happy."

She turned toward Richard, her voice becoming soft and hurt.

"Dad, maybe I shouldn't have done anything for her at all."

"Enough!" Richard snapped.

His eyes turned on Isabella.

"Every time you get yourself into trouble, you blame Olivia."

"Because she did it!"

Isabella could feel tears burning behind her eyes. She had spent the entire night confused and frightened, and now the people who should have protected her were standing there judging her.

"Dad, Mom hasn't even been gone for a year," she said, her voice shaking. "You moved Cara and Olivia into this house, and I never complained. I tried to accept them because they were your family."

Richard's face darkened.

"What does your mother have to do with this?"

"I lost my mother, and before I even had time to grieve, I was expected to treat a stranger like my sister." Isabella looked at Olivia. "I tried to make this family work. But now I know I was the only one trying."

"Isabella!" Richard shouted.

The room fell silent.

He looked at her with a disappointment that hurt more than his anger.

"I was going to give you the company when you came of age. You were supposed to inherit the family business and everything that came with it. But after seeing what you've done, I've changed my mind."

Isabella stared at him.

For years, she had believed that the company and her inheritance were the one thing her father would never take away from her. It had been the future her mother had left behind, the future Richard had promised her.

Now he was taking it away because of one night.

"You can't do this."

"I can."

"Dad, please. You know me."

"I thought I did."

His voice turned cold.

"You don't deserve the company. You don't deserve the inheritance. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Bailey family. Get out."

For a moment, Isabella could hardly breathe.

She had lost her mother less than a year ago. Now she was losing her father, her home, her inheritance, and the future she had spent her whole life believing was hers.

"Dad..." Her voice broke. "Are you really throwing me out?"

Richard looked away.

"I don't want to see your face again."

Cara turned to the housekeeper. "June, bring Isabella's suitcase down."

Isabella's eyes snapped toward her.

A suitcase was already waiting by the stairs.

She hadn't even realized it had been packed.

They had prepared for this before she came home.

That was when the last bit of hope inside her disappeared.

Richard kicked the suitcase toward her. It stopped at her feet.

Isabella stared at it, then slowly bent down and picked it up. Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she refused to beg.

She walked out of the house with her head held high.

She didn't look back.

She knew that if she did, she might lose the little strength she had left.

*****

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll talk to her."

Olivia followed Isabella outside.

The moment the door closed behind them, the sweetness vanished from her face.

"So," she said softly, "how does it feel to lose everything?"

Isabella stopped walking.

Olivia stepped closer and pulled out her phone. A video was already open on the screen.

"If you want me to keep this private, stay away from the Bailey family."

Isabella looked at the phone, then at Olivia.

"The company, the inheritance... You really think all of it belongs to you now?"

Olivia smiled.

"It will."

For a second, Isabella felt the humiliation rise in her throat again. But beneath it was something stronger.

Anger.

Not the helpless anger she'd felt inside the house, but something cold and steady.

She wiped the tears from her face.

"Enjoy it while you can."

Olivia's smile faded slightly.

Isabella picked up her suitcase.

"One day, I'll take back everything you stole from me."

She walked away before Olivia could answer.

Olivia watched her go with a satisfied smile.

She didn't believe Isabella could ever come back.

The company was hers now.

Soon, the house and the rest of the Bailey fortune would be hers too.

Then several black cars pulled up outside the estate.

Olivia turned toward them.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom stopped at the front of the driveway, and a tall man stepped out in a perfectly tailored black suit.

Olivia recognized him immediately.

Ethan Reeds.

The president of TG Group.

A man so private that most people had never even seen him in person.

He walked toward her, his expression calm and unreadable.

"Hello. Ethan Reeds."

Olivia's heart began to race.

Why was he here?

Ethan stopped in front of her.

"Last night. The hotel room."

His eyes settled on her.

"That was you?"

Olivia's mind went blank.

The room had been arranged for Isabella.

The man who had spent the night with her sister was Ethan Reeds.

And now Ethan believed Olivia was the woman he'd been with.

For a moment, Olivia couldn't believe her luck.

Then she realized what this meant.

This man was exactly the kind of opportunity she had been waiting for.

She lowered her eyes and gave him a shy smile.

"Yes."

Ethan said nothing.

Olivia curled her fingers nervously around the edge of her dress.

"That was me."

She had no idea that this single lie would change all of their lives.

And she certainly didn't know that the sister she had just driven out of the Bailey family would one day return to take everything back.