Chapter 1

Everyone knew I was Grandpa Davies’ personal choice for an arranged marriage, a union that would determine the sole heir to the entire Davies empire.

At the engagement party, I was dressed in a custom-tailored suit, ready to announce the Davies-Thorne family alliance.

But my fiancée, Serena Davies, had her fingers laced tightly with her adopted brother, Marcus Thorne, pulling him to the center of the crowd, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

"Marcus and I are deeply in love; he’s the only man I'll ever marry."

"Julian is far too impulsive. He's simply not fit for the position of a Davies son-in-law."

My adopted brother had become Serena's fiancé. Everyone’s eyes, filled with pity or mockery, turned to me.

But what she didn’t know was that the only reason Grandpa Davies had chosen *me* to marry her was because my mother was the heir to the Sterling family – a reclusive, incredibly powerful dynasty. Someday, I would return to the Sterling family and inherit its vast fortune.

Since Serena had already made her choice, it was time for the Davies heir to change.