Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1 — The Ambush at Sunset Lavender Co.
They marched toward me with the unearned confidence of royalty.
Garrett was in the lead, tossing a ring of keys in his hand.
He didn't even look at the blooming lavender fields that surrounded us.
To him, this was just an ATM waiting to be smashed open.
My father, Douglas, walked a few paces behind.
His tailored suit looked ridiculously out of place against the backdrop of my rustic farmhouse.
He checked his Rolex, sighing loudly as if my very existence was delaying his golf game.
Vivien, my mother, didn't even try to hide her disdain.
She pulled a designer silk scarf over her nose.
"God, Sienna," she muttered, stopping a few feet away. "The smell is overpowering. It gives me a migraine."
"It's called nature, Mother," I replied, crossing my arms.
"Don't take that tone with us," Douglas snapped.
He stepped forward, pointing a manicured finger at my chest.
"We are here to fix your brother's situation. You’ve had your fun playing farmer."
"Playing?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm. "I built a multi-million-dollar business out of the barren dirt you discarded me on."
"Oh, please," Garrett scoffed, dropping the cardboard boxes onto the gravel.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded stack of legal papers.
"It's a viral fluke, Sienna. Instagram hype. It won't last."
"But the land value skyrocketed, and that's all that matters right now."
Garrett shoved the papers toward me.
"Sign it," he demanded.
I didn't take the papers. I just stared at him.
"What is this, Garrett?"
"It’s a quitclaim deed," Douglas answered for him, stepping closer.
"It transfers the property back into the family trust. Where it belongs."
"Where it belongs?" I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound.
"You gave me this land as a joke, Dad. You literally told me I couldn't ruin anything important here."
"I was protecting our assets!" Douglas barked. "And now the family needs it back."
"Garrett made a bad investment. We are liquidating this farm to cover his margin calls."
"A bad investment?" I stared at my brother.
"He gambled nearly a million dollars on crypto day-trading and borrowed from loan sharks."
"That's not a bad investment. That's a catastrophic display of stupidity."
Garrett's face flushed crimson.
His smug grin vanished, replaced by a twisted mask of sheer panic and rage.
He stepped into my personal space, towering over me.
"Shut your mouth, Sienna," he hissed.
"You don't know the people I'm dealing with. They are going to ruin me."
"Then you should have thought of that before you borrowed money you didn't have," I replied coldly.
"Sign the damn paper!" Garrett yelled, spit flying from his lips.
He grabbed my wrist, his fingers digging into my skin like steel claws.
"Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to pull away.
But Garrett was desperate. And desperate men are dangerous.
He twisted my arm and shoved me violently backward.
My spine collided with the cold, hard metal of the moving truck he had parked in my driveway.
The impact knocked the breath out of my lungs.
"Sign the deed or I’ll snap your arm right here!" my brother screamed.
He slammed me against the truck again, his eyes wild, feral.
I looked past him, gasping for air.
I looked at my parents.
Douglas just stood there, adjusting his tie.
Vivien looked at her phone, entirely unbothered by her son physically attacking her daughter.
They watched without emotion.
They didn't care if I was hurt. They only cared about the money.
"You're crazy," I choked out, glaring up at Garrett.
"I'm surviving!" he roared. "You owe me this! I'm the firstborn!"
He raised his free hand, holding a pen, ready to force it into my palm.
But he never got the chance.
Because just beyond the tree line, the waiting trap finally sprung.
The sound of heavy tires crunching on gravel echoed like thunder.
Garrett froze.
My parents turned around, their expressions morphing from boredom to absolute confusion.
Four matte-black Cadillac Escalades tore down my dirt road in perfect formation.
They didn't slow down.
They accelerated, kicking up a massive cloud of dust, and swerved aggressively into the driveway.
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The lead SUV slammed on its brakes, skidding to a halt mere inches from Garrett's moving truck.
The ambush had arrived.
