Lucia had always kept quiet about her background. With her adoptive parents tied to serious power in Italvia—and whispered mafia rumors—she stayed lowkey. Even the Lynch family barely knew the full story.
So the crowd just assumed she was some bumpkin who lucked into wealth.
Jared’s guys started whistling, loud and gross.
“No stress if you can’t ride, Lucia. I’ll take you. Front or back?”
“Back, obviously. Those two big ones bouncing against me? Man, that’d wake ANYONE up.”
The group roared with laughter, eyes crawling all over her like they had zero shame.
Jared’s fists clenched. His jaw tightened, gaze turning ice-cold.
Then Alice stepped in, soft and sweet.
“Alright, don’t say that about my sister.”
The fake little defense only made it worse.
One of the girls scoffed, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Well, no wonder people talk, Alice. Your sister’s got the face of a total seductress.”
Another jumped in, smirking.
“Yeah, twins? Please. Lucia looks nothing like you. She just screams cheap.”
When the Lynch family found Lucia, her real parents—Michael and Joanne—couldn’t bring themselves to let go of Alice. So they spun the perfect story—both girls were their biological daughters, separated at birth in a hospital mix-up.
Everyone bought it. Lucia and Alice—’twins.’
Alice shot a nervous glance at Lucia, afraid she’d finally spill the truth.
But Lucia didn’t say a word.
She just turned and walked into the hunting grounds without looking back.
Only then did Alice exhale and quickly shift gears.
“Anyway, enough about that. Let’s go hunting! I heard there’s a white fox out here,” she said, voice light and sweet. “Legend says if you catch one and gift it to your beloved, you’ll never be apart.”
She looked at Jared, all shy smiles.
The group geared up and headed into the mountains.
Lucia took a separate trail, wanting nothing to do with them. But the skies turned fast—rain started falling hard.
The mountain was risky in weather like this. Landslides weren’t rare.
Lucia turned back fast.
When she got to the lodge, chaos had already broken out.
Alice and the others were in full panic mode.
No sign of Jared.
Lucia walked over, brows tight. “What’s going on?”
“It’s bad, Lucia!” Alice sobbed. “Jared’s trapped in the mountain!”
