The night was quiet, but the air was thick with an unsettling tension. Little Ava Williams, just 6 years old, stood by the large oak tree in the mansion's backyard, playing with her favorite doll. The moonlight painted her surroundings in a soft, silver glow, and the scent of fresh grass filled her lungs. Her home stood tall and proud in the distance, with the warm glow of light spilling from the windows.
She had been playing in the garden, lost in her innocent world of make-believe, her little heart unaware of the storm that was about to hit her family. Ava's mother had told her to stay close, but she was too busy having fun, too young to understand the danger.
The sudden sound of footsteps made Ava pause. Her small hands trembled as she turned around to find nothing but darkness, but she heard something faint—the unmistakable sound of a door creaking open. She frowned, trying to ignore the discomfort gnawing at her stomach.
Where are Mommy and Daddy? she wondered.
The wind picked up, rustling the leaves of the oak tree, and just as Ava turned to go back inside, she felt strong hands cover her mouth. Panic surged through her, but she was too small to fight back. She was pulled away from the tree, and in a flash, a cloth was pressed to her face. The world blurred around her as the smell of chemicals filled her nose.
She tried to scream, but her vision swam and her body felt heavier by the second. Mommy! Daddy! she thought desperately, but everything went black.
When Ava awoke, she was no longer in the comfort of her home. The world around her was cold, dark, and unfamiliar. She was lying on a hard, rough surface, her small body trembling. The air smelled stale, and the sound of distant murmurs filled her ears.
She tried to sit up but immediately felt sharp pain in her arms. Looking down, she realized her hands were bound. The panic rose again, but it was all too much for her tiny frame to handle. She tried to call out for her parents, but her voice was weak, almost a whisper.
A voice cut through the haze of her confusion. A woman, her voice calm and chilling, spoke with an air of cruel amusement.
"Your family... doesn't even know you're alive. They've abandoned you," the woman said, her words sharp and mocking.
Ava blinked, trying to understand. No... she thought. They wouldn't...
But the woman's voice continued, and with each word, the truth began to settle in, heavy and suffocating. "You belong to us now," she said, her smile cruel and cold. "Your family is never coming to find you."
The words hit Ava like a slap to the face. She was too young to fully understand the concept of betrayal, but her innocent heart knew something was terribly wrong. Her family... her parents... had abandoned her?
Her small hands trembled as the truth crept into her soul, shattering the safety of her childhood. She couldn't understand it—couldn't process it. All she knew was that she was alone.
The weeks that followed felt like an endless nightmare. Ava was placed in the cold, unforgiving care of the Ramirez family. The house was dark and gloomy, filled with a suffocating silence that pressed in on her fragile heart. She was no longer surrounded by the lush gardens, the laughter of her real family, or the warmth of her home. The Ramirez mansion was cold, filled with shadows. The once-gleaming walls were now stained with years of neglect, a place where happiness didn't exist.
Her adopted mother, Claudia Ramirez, had a sharp, calculating beauty, but her eyes were as cold as ice. She had no patience for Ava's tears or fears. Her stepbrother, Alejandro Ramirez, was the worst—cruel, mocking, and always reminding Ava that she was nothing more than an unwanted orphan.
Every day, they made her feel the weight of her place in this family—treating her like an outsider, a burden. Every glance from Claudia and every sneer from Alejandro told Ava she didn't belong. She was an intruder, someone they were forced to take in by circumstance, not love.
There were no family dinners filled with laughter, no moments of warmth or affection. Ava spent most of her time alone in her room, curled up on the floor with her thoughts. The house felt like a prison, and she felt trapped in it—no escape, no way out.
Her adopted family never spoke of why they took her in. Claudia and her husband, Samuel Ramirez, had always been a power-hungry couple, and they did what they needed to climb the social ladder. Perhaps Ava's adoption was simply part of their plans—an arrangement with no love or care involved.
What hurt the most was that the Ramirez family were not just strangers to Ava; they were her enemies now. They were the ones who had turned her life into a living nightmare. The Ramirez family was one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the country, involved in shady deals, illegal businesses, and ruthless manipulation. They were the ones who had targeted her real family, the ones who had taken her away from her parents.
As the years passed, Ava's memories of her real family—her loving, rich parents—began to blur. Her mother's face, her father's warm embrace, the sound of her brothers laughing… all of it faded into distant, broken fragments. But there was one thing she knew for certain: her real family, the Williams family, had loved her. She had been their princess. They had raised her in luxury, with love, before everything fell apart.
Ava had no way of knowing that her real family was desperately searching for her, unaware that the Ramirez family had stolen her away. Her five older brothers, all powerful and fiercely protective of her, had sworn to bring her home. But to Ava, that was just a dream. Her heart felt hollow, unable to remember the faces of the people who had once adored her.
As time went on, Ava became a shell of the innocent little girl she had been. The years of abuse and isolation hardened her heart. She grew colder, more withdrawn. She stopped trusting people. She stopped hoping for kindness. The darkness around her became her reality.
By the time Ava turned 22, she had become a woman shaped by her past. The memories of her childhood were little more than ghosts that haunted her. She was no longer the sweet, hopeful girl she had once been. She had learned to be strong, to survive—but at a cost.
And through all of this, there was one constant in her life—her deep, unyielding hatred for Ryan Cross.
Ryan had once been a rival, a competitor in the business world. He was the son of a family that hated hers. For years, their families had clashed, each trying to outdo the other. And Ryan? He had never cared for Ava. In fact, he had been part of the ruthless game that kept her trapped in this hell. He had betrayed her, just like everyone else.
Yet, despite her hatred, there was something about him that always lingered in her mind—an odd sense of connection, a strange pull she couldn't explain. Even when she despised him, something about Ryan seemed to reach out to her from the darkness.
But Ava wouldn't let him in. She couldn't trust anyone—not after everything that had happened.