My Empire, My Love, And No Regrets

My father raised seven brilliant orphans to be my potential husbands. For years, I only had eyes for one of them, the cold and distant Damien Paul, believing his distance was a wall I just had to break through.

That belief shattered last night when I found him in the garden, kissing his foster sister, Eve—the fragile girl my family took in at his request, the one I had treated like my own sister.

But the true horror came when I overheard the other six Fellows talking in the library.

They weren't competing for me. They were working together, orchestrating "accidents" and mocking my "stupid, blind" devotion to keep me away from Damien.

Their loyalty wasn't to me, the heiress who held their futures in her hands. It was to Eve.

I wasn't a woman to be won. I was a foolish burden to be managed. The seven men I grew up with, the men who owed my family everything, were a cult, and she was their queen.

This morning, I walked into my father's study to make a decision that would burn their world to the ground. He smiled, asking if I'd finally won Damien over.

"No, Dad," I said, my voice firm. "I'm marrying Hunter Beach."

Chapter 1

My name is Elena Barron, and I am the sole heiress to a global logistics empire. For as long as I can remember, my world has revolved around seven young men my father took in. They are the Barron Fellows, underprivileged prodigies my father is grooming. One of them is meant to be my husband and his successor.

For years, my heart only beat for one of them: Damien Paul.

He was the most brilliant, the most talented, and the most distant. I spent my youth chasing after him, a shadow clinging to his light. I baked him cookies he never ate. I waited for him after his classes, but he always walked past me without a word. I told myself his coldness was just his nature, a wall he built because of a dark past.

I believed that if I just tried hard enough, I could break through it.

Last night, that belief shattered.

I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk in the moonlit garden. That's when I saw them, hidden in the shadows of the old oak tree. Damien had Eve McClain, his foster sister, pressed against the trunk. He was kissing her like his life depended on it, a passion I had only ever dreamed of receiving.

Eve, the girl my family had also taken in at Damien's request. The girl everyone saw as sweet and fragile. The girl I had treated like my own sister.

That single moment destroyed everything.

This morning, I walked into my father' s study and made a decision that would change the course of my life.

"Dad, I've decided who I'm going to marry."

My father, Mr. Barron, looked up from his papers, a warm smile on his face.