Her casket sat at the front, and I was the only one there because Mama didn’t have friends in our small town near the Virginia border. She just had me, the farmers she bought vegetables from, and old Mrs. Liza from the corner store who’d sent a small bouquet.
I sat in the first row, hands folded in my lap, staring at nothing.
The accident had happened so fast. One moment, we were driving home from the market, Mama singing along to the radio. The next, there was the screech of tires, the sickening crunch of metal, and then…silence.
I’d woken up in the hospital with a broken arm. Mama never woke up atall.
“Isabella?”
I looked up to find a man standing beside me. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with kind brown eyes and black hair that was starting to gray at the temples. He wore a simple black suit and held a folded piece of paper in his hands.
“I’m Asher,” he said gently. “Your mother…she asked me to give this to you a long time ago, in case anything ever happened to her.”
My hands trembled as I took the letter, recognizing Mama’s handwriting immediately. I started reading.
My darling Isa,
If you’re reading this, I’m gone. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer. I’m sorry I can’t be there to watch you grow up.
The man who gave you this letter is Asher Ravencrest. I trust him with my life, and more importantly, with yours. He’s been watching over us from afar for years—protecting us in ways you don’t understand yet. He’s the only person in this world I know who will keep you safe.
I know this is frightening. But trust him, Isa. Trust him the way I did.
I love you. Always.
Mama.
I readit twice before looking up at this stranger who was apparently supposed to replace my mother.
“I know this is frightening,” he said, kneeling so we were eye level. “But I made your mother a promise years ago. I will keep you safe. Always.”
I didn’t understand any of it. Why had Mama known this man? Why had he been watching over us? Who was he really?
But something about him had felt…right. Safe.
So, I nodded and let him take my hand, let him care for me.
But barely three months later, his sickness began, and now it had gotten to a terrible stage where even the doctors couldn’t do anything about it.
That was why he had brought me here. To Ravencrest mansion.
Because soon, he was going to die, and I was going to be all alone in the world. Uncle Asher wasn’t my real father. My real father was probably out there somewhere—who knows? Mama had never bothered to reach out or look for him. When I asked, she said he was a deadbeat, someone she’d been with for just one night. “It wasn’t supposed to lead to anything,” she always said, “but it brought you into this world, and I’ll never regret that.”
“Isabella?” Uncle Asher called, pulling me out of my thoughts.
He’d come out of the living room and was standing beside me. The dark-haired boy was beside him, his expression carved from stone. Our eyes met as he walked out. The noise of the house—the shuffling feet, the whispering staff—faded into nothing. I couldn’t read his expression, but one thing was certain: his gaze held me there, caught between wanting to look away and not being able to.
“This is Dimitri. My son,” Uncle Asher said. “You’re going to stay here with Dimitri and Maia.”
“What?” Panic clawed up my throat as I stood. “No. No, I want to stay with you—”
“I can’t, Isa. I’m sick. Too sick to take care of you the way you deserve.”
“I don’t care!” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I’ll take care of you—”
“Isabella.” His voice broke on my name, and suddenly, there were tears in his eyes, too. “I’m dying.”
The world stopped spinning.