She Has Never Been Afraid

Swallowing her triumphant giggles behind a carefully constructed mask of hurt, Evangeline shrank back into the luxurious leather seat. The heavy silence that followed Finley's outburst lasted until the Maybach finally glided to a halt outside the sprawling main estate. She obediently followed the disgruntled Vane siblings into the grand mansion, keeping her head bowed to hide her scheming eyes.

A uniformed servant promptly escorted her up the sweeping staircase to a bedroom meticulously prepared by Jeremiah Vane, the siblings' grandfather. The space was a lavish, girlish blue sanctuary. It was painfully obvious that immense care and a ridiculous amount of money had gone into the decor. The massive walk-in closet overflowed with rows of pristine designer clothes, limited-edition purses, and trays of exquisite jewelry.

Wasting no time, Evangeline immediately set to work on escalating her grating act. She stepped back toward the open doorway, deliberately raising her voice to an obnoxious, piercing pitch so the brothers downstairs could hear her every word.

"Oh my goodness! Wow!" she gasped wildly, clapping her hands. "This room is huge and so beautiful! Are these expensive clothes, purses, and shiny jewelry all for me?!"

Downstairs in the expansive living room, the four brothers slumped onto the custom sofas, looking utterly devastated by her profound lack of refinement. Caspian dragged a hand down his face, letting out a dramatic groan of despair.

"Tell me she won't set her sights on me," Caspian complained, his voice laced with genuine panic. "I am the most handsome among us. She is bound to target me first. For the first time in my life, I feel it is wrong to be this handsome."

Raphael shot him a withering glare. "You are the most handsome one? Have you no sense of shame?"

Later, the grand dining room felt suffocatingly tense. Only Evangeline and the four brothers sat around the massive mahogany table. The family elders were currently vacationing abroad, and the eldest brother, Dominic—the formidable Vane family patriarch and company president—was still occupied at work. The four younger siblings deeply resented the fact that they had been forced to move out of their private luxury apartments and back into the main manor solely for her arrival.

Their sour moods plummeted further when Evangeline appeared for dinner. She had not bothered to change. She still wore her gaudy, flower-embroidered red clothes, paired with the hideous charcoal foundation and blinding pink lipstick.

Raphael, a world-renowned fashion designer, physically could not hide his dismay. His eye twitched as he took in the clashing colors and lumpy fabric of her outfit. He politely but firmly addressed her. "Miss Ashford, there are plenty of designer clothes provided for you upstairs. Can't you change into one of them?"

Evangeline paused holding her fork, blinking at him with feigned innocence. "But I look pretty in this. My grandma made it for me by hand."

The four men were rendered speechless. Who in this modern era still made clothes by hand?

This pushed Finley to his breaking point. Possessing the sharpest tongue of the lot, he slammed his glass down. "That is enough, you bumpkin!" he snapped aggressively. "Let me make this crystal clear. None of the four of us would ever get engaged to you, nor would Dominic ever look your way! Be sensible and get out of here on your own."

Biting her lip in mock sorrow, Evangeline shrank back, clutching her tacky red sleeves. "But... I would have trouble explaining my sudden departure to Grandpa."

"Save the innocent act," Finley scoffed, his gaze dripping with disdain. "You are simply lusting after the Vane family wealth. I am telling you, you are going to be very sorry for dragging out your stay in our home."

Playing the aggrieved victim flawlessly, Evangeline kept her head down. She hunched over her plate, deliberately showcasing atrocious table manners. She chewed loudly, smacked her lips, and let her intentionally ugly makeup smear. The sight successfully killed the brothers' appetites. Disgusted, they shoved their plates away and stormed off one by one.

Left alone in the echoing dining room, Evangeline’s pitiful posture vanished. She straightened her spine, picked up a clean fork, and happily devoured her meal with elegant, practiced grace. The chef's cooking was exceptional. She felt immensely satisfied that her plan was working perfectly. With the entire family despising her right out of the gate, securing her freedom and breaking the engagement in a year would be effortless.

Retiring to her blue bedroom, she sprawled across the massive bed. Her phone suddenly buzzed against the silk sheets. A subordinate texted her.

*Boss, have you arrived in Veridale? How is everything? Did the Vanes bully you?*

Smirking, her fingers flew across the screen. *The Vanes have got nothing on me.*

The reply came instantly. *You are awesome, Boss! But the Vanes aren't to be trifled with. Be especially careful of Dominic Vane. That man is a deep one. You should watch out for him.*

Evangeline stared at the screen for a second. Dominic? The eldest brother who was at the company meeting all day. Fearless as always, she brushed off the stern warning, tossing the phone aside. She had never been afraid of anything since the day she was born.

Around 4:00 AM, the manor was dead silent. Evangeline stirred, her throat parched. She had fully removed her hideous makeup hours ago, washing away the charcoal foundation and fake moles to reveal her flawless, striking true face. Slipping out of bed in her thin nightgown, she wandered downstairs in the pitch dark for a glass of water.

Her mind remained in a sleepy daze as she drank. Padding back upstairs in the dark, she did not bother feeling for the light switches. She stumbled into a bedroom, pushing the heavy door open, and tumbled straight into bed. She pulled the covers up, only briefly noting that the mattress felt unusually comfortable and much firmer than she remembered. Exhaustion pulled her under before she could question it.

Sometime later, the quiet click of the bedroom door opening cut through the silence. Slow, deliberate footsteps approached the bed.

The quilt was suddenly lifted, letting in a rush of cool air. Evangeline, a notoriously light sleeper, jolted awake.

Before she could process the shadow looming over her, a deep, magnetic, and dangerously cold male voice demanded in the pitch dark. "Who's there?"

Furious that one of the arrogant Vane brothers would dare trespass into her designated room, she sat up. She aggressively shot back, her voice sharp. "That is my question! Who are you? Don't you know the basic manners of not breaking into someone else's room in the middle of the night?"

The heavy darkness of the room seemed to swallow her words. A tense, suffocating silence stretched between them.

Then, a cold, chilling sneer echoed back at her.

"You're Evangeline Ashford?"