< Eve's POV >

Why?

Why was he holding me so tightly?

He told me he had abandoned me.

So why were his eyes so moist?

My agent had said he had blocked all contacts with us and fled the state.

So why was he looking like he was afraid I would be the one to disappear?

––––––––

Three years ago I made the worst decision of my life.

I left my brother, my beloved Adam, and became a model.

I signed the contract on my own. 

We didn't have money for legal fees and Adam had told me to make a decision since he had to go to work.

While he was gone I tried reading it over but there were so many words that confused me and I had asked the agent to explain some of the terms.

Of course he lied to me.

I had a feeling something was off about this contract but I was too excited at the prospect of getting a job.

I saw how tired Adam was and wanted to help him in any way I could.

I tried to get a job at his construction company but he had adamantly refused.

I knew I was being a burden but he would always smile at me and tell me not to worry.

My chest would always tighten every time he opened the door to our tiny apartment holding our dinner in one of his calloused hands.

He was as dependable and protective as always.

I would have surely died alone on the streets if it hadn't been for Adam. 

I always loved him but I'm not sure when it turned from that of siblings to that between a woman and a man. 

And I wasn't sure he felt the same way.

That's why I so easily left him for a job that I knew would make me spend even less time with him.

I had an assumption that maybe Adam didn't see me as a woman.

I had a vague understanding that models were pretty women so maybe he'd see me that day once I became pretty?

This job was practically offering me a chance to get my Adam to fall in love with me AND pay money! 

So I ignored that feeling and left, leaving behind a note.

––––––––

At first, everything was fine.

They took me to a large building and gave me a small tour of the place.

This would be my living quarters as I was given a schedule for lessons, trial photoshoots, appointments with dieticians and fitness trainers. 

The studio I was staying at wasn't too terrible.

It was actually quite spacious for someone who had shared a tiny space with her brother for over a decade.

Not that I minded.

The strict diet they gave me wasn't too bad.

I was fairly used to the feeling of hunger and had long since conditioned it.

Workouts and lessons were a little harder.

After finding out that I wasn't formally educated, they began giving me lessons in subjects like math and science, as well as modeling. 

The classes hurt my brain but they were doable.

Same with the workouts.

I wasn't the strongest because of my history of malnutrition but I had incredible stamina and high metabolism.

Upon the tour's conclusion, I requested some stationery and utensils. 

Thankfully, they pointed me to a store that would give me some.

I didn't have money but the clerk told me I could just take it.

I brought it back to my room and began writing Adam a letter, telling him sorry again for leaving so soon but that not to worry as I'd be back to see him whenever I had a break. 

I sent off the letter with Finley Nathair, the agent that had scouted me.

He was apparently one of the bigshots in this agency.

That made me a little happy, to be personally attended to by such an experienced agent! 

I handed the letter to Finley and he looked a little surprised but still gave me a toothy grin. He promised to send it first thing in the morning.

The next day, I ran to Finley after finishing my lessons for the day. I asked him if Adam had sent anything back.

"I'm sorry, I checked earlier this afternoon and there was no reply."

I was a little discouraged. I was really looking forward to his letter but I reasoned that he was probably just too tired from work to check the mail. 

Even though I was also super busy, I still really missed him.

Back at my studio, I wrote another letter for him and gave it to Finley again. 

Another day of lessons passed and I went up to Finley. 

He saw me approaching and only gave me a small smile while shaking his head.

Maybe the post office lost the mail? 

It was okay! I'd just write my letters over again!

––––––––

This went on for a week. 

After a week, I realized something was wrong. 

So I found Finley.

"Hey Finley, has my brother written back yet?"

He was fidgeting, taking care not to look me in the eye.

"Uhm the thing is Eve, we noticed that he wasn't sending anything back and had someone check on him. He handed us this letter and slammed the door on the messenger."

He held out a small letter and I snatched it from his hands.

If I was thinking straight, I would've noticed that the letter wasn't in his handwriting. 

Nor were they words he'd use. 

But no.

I was too hungry for his response to care.

I tore open the letter and read the first sentence.

And my heart broke. 

'Dear Eve,' it said. 

'I wasn't planning on responding but it's been getting rather annoying receiving a letter from you every day. I was on planning on spending this break having some fun instead of having to deal with my bratty sister. Now that there's one less mouth to feed I've freed up a lot of my schedule. I must say. It's been a big pain in the ass to take care of you for the past eleven years and I'm glad you've finally grown up. But this is where our paths should separate. We both have jobs and you should focus on yourself rather than worrying about me. That's why I'll be moving from this address immediately and blocking off all contact with you. Please don't contact me again and don't bother trying to find me."

Sincerely, Adam.

P.S. Don't worry, I haven't cashed in the checks I've received. Consider it my last gift."

(A.N. guys idk how tf to write letters like these sounds way too forced but fuck it. I've been editing it for some time and i'm too braindead to make it better)

My brother only saw me as a burden?

I fell to the floor, still in shock.

I began to silently weep. 

'I know I'm useless!' I wanted to scream.

'I know you could've lived a better life without me!'

'I can change. Just please! Please don't abandon me.'

Was my existence really that much of a pain for Adam?

I didn't know what to do.

Emotions flooded me.

Pain. Depression. Anger at the unfairness of it all. 

I didn't know what to do. 

A life without Adam? Please, I'd rather die.

I wanted to die. 

I couldn't take this. 

I needed him so badly in my life.

I loved him too much for him to be gone just like that.

I was about to run from the compound when Finley came over with some men wearing expensive suits.

If my eyes weren't so blurred with my tears I would've seen the slight smirk on his face and the predatory gazes of the others. 

I sniffled and glanced at the hand he was holding out.

I didn't bother taking it.

"Please. Can I leave?"

I heard a slight chuckle from one of the men. 

Finley gave them a knowing look and opened his mouth.

"I'm afraid that won't do. Your contract clearly states that you agreed to be charged with your training fees. You signed a waiver agreeing to send all the money to your brother right?"

"Y-yes but he said he hadn't cashed it in yet!"

"That's strange. According to our accounts, that money's been used already. The past week you've been greedily guzzling our resources. You have an outstanding debt of $8723. Surely you're not trying to just waste our time and money? If you are we'll have to go after your brother to clear the debt. I'm not sure how he'd react if he suddenly had to pay almost ten grand on fees that could've been so easily avoided had he been born a single child..."

I shouted no.

I didn't care that he had abandoned me.

I couldn't hurt him anymore than I already had. 

With tears in my eyes, I shouted. "I'LL DO IT. I'LL STAY HERE JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING TO MY BROTHER PLEASE."

"Very well. We have a secondary contract prepared. By signing, you're agreeing to work exclusively with Ford until your debt has been paid off. You won't be brokering through other agencies, only us. We'll get you the photoshoots and manage your social media presence. Here's a phone. We'll be uploading a full-time schedule for you. Capiche?"

I could only nod numbly. 

He walked away with his entourage after handing me a phone. 

I stumbled my way back into my room and threw myself on the tiny bed.

I screamed myself hoarse into the pillow and wept until the phone dinged with a new message.

I almost fell over in despair when I saw the schedule.

Six photoshoots a day?

I had been given some demos on shoots through my lessons and each one took approximately two hours.

I had practically just signed a slave contract.

––––––––

As time went on, I became more and more famous.

I was regularly modeling for several relatively famous clothing companies.

However, I was turning down lingerie requests.

Finley had gotten frustrated at my refusals and was trying to entice me by saying that it would boost my popularity even more. 

He was even showing me an article that had called me one of the rising stars in the modeling industry.

But I didn't care.

The only tinge of happiness I felt came from a question I had asked myself. If I was famous enough would Adam consider taking me back?

Surely he's seen my progress?

But that thought disappeared just as quickly as it had come. 

I wanted to at least wait until I had become an adult.

So for the next six months, I worked 84 hours a week. Many nights I would collapse just inside my studio, sleeping on the floor in my sweaty clothes. 

And I wasn't making any progress on my debt. 

With all the stipulations and clauses, as well as the interest slapped on, my debt was actually increasing.

At one point, around a month in the contract, when I was close to breaking, I saw Finley's true nature with my own eyes when he tried to take advantage of the situation and said he would personally reduce the debt by half if I slept with him. 

He had tried to hold me affectionately but I slammed a stiletto into his groin.

The thought of a man other than my brother touching me with such filthy intentions almost made me vomit.

Finley yelped from the pain and passed out. 

When he woke up he demanded that the executives add a hospital payment fee to my debt.

They agreed and an additional $10,000 was added. 

I should've been outraged but I wasn't. 

I was slowly getting more and more used to my life. 

And that scared me. 

––––––––

After the one-year debut of my career, I finally got some hope back in my life. 

As I walked to the location of my next shoot, I came across a girl in the lobby of one of the big highrises.

She was a blonde beauty and looked around the same age as me. 

We had passed each other by when I heard her gasp and turn around loudly.

She had inspected me closely and was frankly a little too close for my comfort. 

I heard her mutter.

"No way...why does she look so similar to that bastard?"

My eyes widened when I heard that.

I grabbed onto her shoulders and she looked up at me, slightly scared. 

"W-w-w-what is it!"

I had a crazed look on my face.

"Whose the 'bastard' you're talking about?"

"Haah? I don't know! Just some guy I slept with! I just thought you looked similar to him that's all!"

I wanted to get more information out of her but I realized now wasn't the best time.

I could see several black-suited men headed our way.

They looked like bodyguards and were cracking their knuckles menacingly.

I handed her my contact information and begged for her to discuss something with me on the next weekend. 

I didn't care if skipping a day would cost me a couple thousand dollars.

I didn't care that Adam had broken all ties with me and left me to face such a large debt on my own.

I was desperate to learn more about him.

I just wanted to know anything about him. What he was doing. What he was like. 

Ah fuck.

I missed him so goddamn much. 

Before I knew it I was crying and the girl seemed quite flustered.

She reluctantly agreed to the meeting.

I thanked her repeatedly before running off.

I was late for my next photo shoot.

––––––––

That girl didn't have much information about who he was.

The only thing she said was that he was incredible in bed, which I didn't really care for.

When I was about to leave, she had asked me if I wanted to meet again.

She said something about friends and how I seemed like a "cool girl" to hang around with.

"You remind me a lot of this one girl that keeps showing up on Seventeen," she said.

I somewhat reluctantly agreed to a second meeting.

We ended up adding each other on the phone. 

Before I knew it, we became close friends.

That's how I found out she was the daughter of the top executive at my agency. 

The girl, her name was Christina Caplan, was disgusted at my treatment and had her father personally erase my debt. 

Though they were really hesitant, Christina had threatened her father with a USB drive that she had somehow managed to get ahold of. Apparently, the contents in it were damning so they quickly agreed.

However, they didn't agree to completely let me go.

We eventually came to a compromise where I would work one more year with them.

Christina wanted it to be effective immediately but I stopped her.

This was already better than I could hope for. 

At the end of the year, I asked for another favor from Christina. 

By now, I had a massive presence in the modeling world.

I had over a hundred thousand followers on several of my social media platforms that I gained the rights to. 

There were talks of putting me in one of the top fashion shows and now that I was free of Ford, I was able to get offers from other brokers. 

Despite Ford trying to give me a bad reputation, my work was just too good for the other agencies to care about any rumors that they spread. 

At this point, I was seriously in need of Adam. 

At the mere thought of Adam, I was reduced to a depressed shell.

I wasn't thinking straight and became a little too desperate. 

I came up with a plan that would let me at least see Adam. 

I basically asked her to find out where he lived. Christina readily agreed without any questions. She knew enough about Adam and my rather unnatural feelings for him. She just immediately got to work and had one of her people find him. The day hadn't even finished and she was already handing me the address with even the room number written on it.

As I expected, it was different from our old address.

I didn't know what he'd think when he found me in his home.

Would he call the police? Kick me out? 

I decided I'd get around to those questions later. 

Right now I was only focused on finishing my last job with Ford. 

I left the studio with a small bag holding all my belongings. 

I hailed a cab and gave him the address I had memorized. 

It took me to a fairly modern apartment building.

I approached the door guard and asked him to let me in. I gave him a wink and blew him a kiss, telling him I was the girlfriend of one of the residents. He had a blush on his cheeks and stammered a greeting while buzzing me in.

When I asked him to help me into one of the rooms, I slightly stretched showing off my legs. He didn't even consider the absurdity of the request and immediately escorted me to the room and unlocked the door with his masterkey.

He seemed a little disappointed when I shut the door in his face.

I stepped inside with a deep breath.

It really smelled like him. 

Oh how I had missed this smell for so long.

I put away my stuff and hung a little nameplate that Christina had gotten me over a door. 

I set down my stuff and poured myself a glass of water.

Surely he wouldn't blow his fuse right? 

I sat down on the couch and decided to wait for him to come home.

I was texting Christina when I heard the door open.

And there he was. 

Looking as handsome as ever.

My beloved.

Adam.

My heart cried out but I held myself back.

What had caused him to abandon me in the first place was my clinginess and reliance on him. 

So I decided that I'd just pretend not to exist. 

I pointed at the note that I had made and put my glass in the sink and walked to my room.

Minimal presence I was saying to myself.

I knew he was about to open his mouth and I was too scared to stick around to hear it.

I dreaded the worst case scenarios and decided it'd be better if he couldn't even say it to me.

I sat with my back against the door while my heart was thumping furiously.

Just in the other room was Adam! 

I heard the sounds of his footsteps nearing the bathroom and the shower being turned on.

I had an impulse and snuck out of the room and to the laundry. 

There was my prey, his used boxers.

I held it in my hands and started rubbing it. 

I even took a deep breath out of his other clothes.

Sure enough, they had his manly scent and sweat lingering. 

Ahh. This was getting me all hot.

I slightly blushed while thinking of how his privates had literally been touching that area only minutes ago. 

I was originally planning on just holding it for a bit when I heard the water stop.

I panicked and accidentally brought the boxers to my room.

I laid down on the bed awaiting the inevitable knock.

But it never came.

After an hour or so, I got curious and slightly opened the door. 

The whole house was quiet and dark.

I tiptoed to his room with his boxers in my hand. I was going to return them when I saw him sleeping on the bed.

As I watched him rhythmically breathe, I felt myself burn up.

Unconsciously I took out my phone. 

I went to the camera app and took a picture. 

The whole room suddenly burst into white light and it scared the living daylights out of me.

I jumped and immediately checked Adam.

He was still somehow sleeping.

I took a deep breath and turned off the flash on my camera.

Then I took several more pictures.

Well, several hundred actually.

––––––––

I was ten years old when I realized I was in love with my brother.

Every girl has their own dreams of a knight in shining armor coming to sweep them away from all the dangers of this world.

For me, that knight was my own brother.

–––––––

A.N.

sheesh long chapter. i could've probably split it up into two but ahhh fuck it.

next chapter will be a little conversation and clearing-up-misunderstandings between the siblings. we're getting ever closer to the inevitable chapter of *ahem* keeping the royal bloodline pure...

side note: to be honest i wasn't planning on using Christina for a bit but this was a good opportunity.

thanks for reading