1 Prologue

  Nervously tapping on my black Adidas shoes, I block my hearing with extremely loud Bruno Mars playing through my white earbuds, ignoring the kids pestering behind me. The boarding finally calls on the public announcements system asking travellers to proceed to the departure gate and board the aeroplane. I quickly send a text message to mom, letting her know I'm about to board. With quite an energy, I hung my backpack over my shoulder and stood up—heading to the location.

It's my first time flying by myself, and it's so unlike mom to allow me to travel fourteen hours across the country, the continent. But yes, she's getting married to some stranger I've never meet apart from the photo of him she once sent to me the first day she arrived in America. So I suppose her protective behaviour has subdued, which is a good thing, but why do I feel bad about it? I'm afraid she's changing, and I will mean a little to her, she's soon going to have two stepchildren, that is—I won't be her only child anymore, I will have to share her with another man, her fiancé—soon my stepdad. I think I can taste jealousy in the back of my throat as I situated myself in first-class. And yes, my stepdad is wealthy, which still surprise me how my mother from London, with an average life, found someone like Mr Boyce: a successful Las Vegas resident.

The beginning of the ride was joyful; I felt free from the life I left in London, the 'all-girls boarding school' I will no longer attend anymore because I will be joining a new school this September with my practical step-siblings, which I have no idea how old they are or how they look or how they must behave. Still, I definitely know rich American kids will not be accessible for an 'all-girls catholic school' girl, step-sister or not. That feeling drowns the excitement of seeing America for the first time in my life and replaces it with a rush of nervousness. At the same time, I spend the rest of the hours blaming mom for making a choice like that and technically praying to find my step-siblings significantly younger than I am.

Landing in McCarran International Airport, it's busy just as promised by Google. When I was researching my new environment, I learned that it's the fifth busiest airport in the nation. I can feel my pulse racing as I grab my purple suitcase and yank it off, strolling it while I shove my way through many bodies and head to the exact location as the people I landed with.

I should be looking for my stepdad since my mom believes Boyce and I need some bonding time driving to his home, where we now live.

I pause, lingering after the woman I've been following disappeared into the crowd, leaving me stranded in the middle of the arrivals section until my eyes study familiar words on a placard, Ava Lancelot—my name is written clearly bold. I thought I would feel relieved, but no, I think I feel more nervous than ever.

With slow steps and a thumping heart, I approach a familiar blonde man who seems to be in his late forties. I bite down a smile at mom choice again and wave to the man in brown dress trousers and white short sleeve polo shirt. Sharp sky blue eyes darted over to my direction, while his lips widened into a huge grin.

He pulled me into an unexpected hug that took me by surprise.

"Ava, you're finally here. Everyone is so excited to see you." He says when he pulls away and grabs my suitcase.

Speechless to find my soon-to-be stepdad so cordial and generous, I only smile and quietly follow behind him until he halts by a grey Audi convertible and opens the boot, which happens to be in the front of the flashy car. He turns to me with a neutral face.

"I hope you are okay with low cars?" He asks.

"I think yes." I slowly respond for the first time.

"Good because Lilith isn't, and I suddenly thought you won't." He says when he gets into the car.  "Put on your seatbelt. Your mom reminds me to make sure you did."' He adds.

Good to know, mom is still her overprotective self. Ever since our teenage neighbours back in London had an accident and died due to reckless driving and forgetting to put on their seatbelts, mom doesn't take a chance. "Who's Lilith?" I ask after I'm all ready.

He pulls into the motorway, both hands on wheels. "My little one." He smiles, and I also smile, Granted. My soon-to-be step-siblings are little. "So, how was your flight."

I'm not the type to get into a conversation with people I just meet, but this man happens to be someone I will be stuck with my whole life, so I shrug and melt into his soft leather seat and tell him everything about my flight to Las Vegas until the city appears in front of me.

"This is..." I couldn't find a fitting word for the view, so I pour my eyes out with jaw-dropping while I watch in awe. . . blessing the city of Las Vegas.

"Astounding." I could sense the smirk in the word, but I nodded anyway without looking over to him.

We ride in silence as I continue to look around the city. It's so beautiful, just like I imagined. "How long have you been leaving here," I ask Boyce after we left the main roads and cut through residential areas.

"Eight years now, but I can tell you I'm still not over this state. It's a fascinating place to be if you're smart and cautious." He halted when he pulled into a driveway in front of a massive story building, next to an Audi SUV.

"This is your house?" Quite taken aback, I ask the man beside me.

"Our house." He corrects me with a small smile playing on his lips. "Now come get used to your new home." He tilts his head, motioning for me to get out.

I stand in front of a house I see only on the telly screen; with a slightly open mouth, I breathe while I take in the facade, this is my new home. I turn side by side to the neat and organised environment, every house was massive, So beautiful I'd say like Neal's yard, hill gate street or other beautiful streets in London but this is different, the buildings are different, the house has garages or gates, lawns and patios, everything was just opposite of my familiar environment.

"Come, let's go in. Your mom is waiting," Boyce says, still smiling at me.

Following behind him, as he reaches for the mahogany doorknob and twist it open. "Honey, we are home." He calls from a fascinating entranceway with a long staircase facing us. The house smells like heaven. God. My mom and her courage.

I stand still by the door as I wait for my mom, who decided to bring my life here to come to support me because it's hard to inhale and exhale in a space where you find utterly foreign. My eyes wandered around the spacious building that I couldn't understand. The only thing that was clear to me is that my soon to be stepfather is definitely rich.

"Dear Lord, my baby is home." Mom scurrying from an unknown corner and pulled me into her warm, familiar safety. The scent immediately invaded my surrounding as I melted in her arms. Yes, I am home.

She pulls away with her hands on my shoulders while she looks at me with joy all over her face before she kisses my cheeks and hugs me again. "I've missed you." She whispered and tightened her embrace until I began to cough.

"Okay, mom, I can not breath," I murmur, and I hear Boyce laugh a little.

She loosened her clasp but didn't free me from her hug. "Sorry, baby." She says again, and I find myself smiling at her demeanour.

After a long while, she finally got satisfied and pulled back, still smiling at me. "How was your flight here." She asks.

"Oh, I already told Boyce," I tell her.

While grinning, her brows lift, she shares glances between Boyce and me. "That's good to hear. And baby, Boyce is the family name. His name is Christian. Sorry I didn't tell you."

Narrowing my eyes at her, I feel slightly embarrassed for not knowing my mom fiancé's name, thanks to less communication we had with mom this year, rules from my boarding school. "Luckily, she didn't call me that until now." He winks in my direction, and I only feel more embarrassed as I feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. "Where's Lilith and Leigh." He asks mom.

"Lilith's in the backyard, and Leigh went out with Tyron and Arlen." She states slightly weak.

"I told him to stay home and welcome Ava. You shouldn't be so kind to them, honey." He huffs in annoyance. Mom didn't reply. She only smiles small in my direction and calls on Lilith. Well, I guess Christian kids must be stubborn. One doesn't ride in low cars. One follows his friends for possibly a bicycle ride around this smooth neighbourhood which will be great for an evening ride.

"Lilith," Christian calls much louder than mom's tiny voice.

Within ten seconds, to my surprise, a brunette girl taller than me appeared with a plastered smile on her face, her limpid eyes were hues of the forest, and her teeth were as shiny as crystal.

"Hey Ava, welcome home." She didn't stop walking until I was in her arms. I guess I will be receiving hugs often because the generosity of these people around me is getting higher and higher.

So Lilith isn't a kid. She's a teenager just like me, and she sure is Christian's youngest one, which confirms my terror. My soon step-siblings are grown-ups. "Ava, you're officially the youngest," Christian says with a wink that reminds me of his words from earlier on our way back here. Staring at him, that's when I realised Lilith and Christian looks completely opposite while I, on the other hand, absolutely is mom's photocopy, the same hazel eyes, thick fuller light brown hair and heart-shaped chin, only our lips were different my aunt used to say for mine is plump and mom's smaller.

"Were you adopted?" It slipped out, and I pressed my eyes shut, mentally hitting my head on the wall. Why did I blurt it out? I didn't intend to say it out loud.

Surprisingly, everyone burst into laughter, and I stood glaring at the three people, making me feel like an idiot. "No, she looks like her mother, Ava," Mom explained. "Told you, Christian, you're so different from the kids" mom's hand slowly caressing Christian chest above his white polo shirt.

"Now, I believe." He chuckles and kisses her forehead.

Lilith was still smiling when she explained. "Leigh and I look nothing like dad. We get that lot. People mistook us as adopted. Honestly, I don't know how my hair is brown." She flips the strands of her hair with her fingers.

"I'm sorry," I mutter. "I didn't mean it anyway."

"Don't apologise. I enjoy confusing people." She assures me with a giggle, confirming we're good.

"Lilith will show you your room while Christian and I will start dinner. It's past five," Mom announces before the two of them disappear through the straight path ahead of me.

"You're gonna love your room. Leigh and I helped your mom settled on colours and decorations. Your mom also says you're into wallpaper, so maybe you can get it for yourself when you settle in. Honestly, I chose most of the decorations when I heard I'm eight months older than you." Lilith rushes her words as I follow her through the grand staircase. She was pulling my suitcase while my backpack rested over my shoulder.

"Thank you," I tell her.

She glances at me over her shoulder and shakes her head. "I'm so happy I have a sister. It's so boring when your sibling is a male and completely boyish or manly." She laughs.

I was smiling at her statement after we made it to the hall. "It's completely devastating when you're the only child," I tell her.

"Oh, I rest my case." She raises her free hand In surrender, and I smile at her humour. Maybe having grown-up step-siblings won't be hard.

When she opens a door next to the bedroom, she claims to be hers. I gasp at the view. "Don't blame me if you don't like the colour, but Leigh insisted you'd prefer white with the touch of opera mauve." She quickly defends herself.

Silently scanning double size of my London bedroom space, queen size bed with adorable net canopy and a storage bench at the end of the bed, quite a number of fascinating frames and a book shelve filled with books, everything looks so beautiful and girlish. dressing mirror corner and a walk-in closet.  "Actually, shades of purple are my favourites," I murmur. "Thank you."

Lilith gave me a hand arranging my outfits in the closet and helped me with a new toothbrush, razor and hairdryer from her bedroom. To my surprise, mom has managed to bring some of my stuff from London with her, my books and certain unnecessary things that I find essential and attached to. "So what is fun about Las Vegas," I ask when we both are sitting on a single sofa.

"It's Las Vegas. I can't even make a list." She laughs at my question. "Don't worry. I will show you around soon." She added.

"That will be great," I tell her.

"I love your voice and your accent. That was what drew me to your mom easily." She laughs

"My mom accent?" I surprisedly ask.

Still laughing, she nods. "Yes, I wanted to learn, but I realize it's not like alphabets." She says. "Yours is even better than your mom's, sorry."'she grimaces playfully, and I laugh.

"Thank you," I say.

"Do you always appreciate everything with 'thank you?" She asks suspiciously. "Because you've thanked me in the little time we met more than anyone did my whole life."

"You thank people when they did or say something nice to you." I shake my head slowly at her, and she scrunches her nose.

"Yes, but don't mind, people in Vegas ain't worth it." She says as she stands up the same time I heard mom calling us.

"I think dinner is ready." Lilith cheers and pulls me up.

The table was neatly arranged, and everything looked delicious already, even before tasting. We ate dinner discussing London and my old school while I constantly stole glances at mom colossal diamond ring. As dinner went by, I listened to Christian complaining how soft mom was for letting Leigh escape the house without welcoming me.

***

The sound of my mobile phone woke me up, I don't remember setting the alarm last night, so I slapped the phone with my palm and nuzzled back into my comforter because the air conditioner had turned the room into a freezer. After another second, my mobile phone went off again, and with a flared up nose, I faced it. And sawyer face appears on the screen. She literally woke me up at six. I angrily slide the accept button and meet my cousin with my morning face.

"Hello, Ava. I wanted to know whether you landed smoothly since you didn't care to call, though your mom told me you did land safely." Sawyer smiled.

"Do you realise it's six in the morning?" I stare at her, unbelievable.

"Oh, I have forgotten to check the time difference." She scratches her neck and shoots me an apologetic smile. "I'm already missing you, that's why."

I spend my break with Sawyer at aunty Catherine house that we become almost inseparable. Luckily soon, she will be joining me here for her six-month cooking competition in Las Vegas, sawyer is two years older, but I feel like we're twins because of our strong connection.

"Forgiven, but please don't wake me up next time." I groan. We talk for a while longer until I decide to go downstairs and make tea.

The kitchen was interestingly big and satisfying that I surprisedly spotted everything I needed without a problem. I steeped the tea and stood by the worktop, waiting for a particular time to add milk and sugar when the front door opened and close. I didn't bother to check, for I predicted it was Christian until someone walked into the kitchen moments later. I promptly swerve to my side with a squeaking gasp, and my eyes landed on a tall young man with messy chestnut hair, glistening green eyes. He was wearing grey joggers and a black t-shirt as his chest rose and fell. He must be Leigh.

Suddenly I take back my yesterday's prediction, no bicycle ride for a guy as huge as Leigh. He is holding headphones that seem to be the only supply of sound in the quiet space. He looks utterly oblivious as he stares at me in his track for over a minute.

"Hey." I finally end the awkward silence.

It took him almost five seconds to say the same.

"I'm Ava. I guess you're Leigh," I mutter, feeling weird standing across the kitchen with some boy who's going to be my stepbrother.

"Yeah." His voice was deep and husky and American.

I didn't move from my spot, and I didn't try bringing up any conversation. "Won't your tea get cold?" He beams at the cup. Glad to know not everyone in the family is a hugger, but I felt a little disappointed about it.

I turn to my tea and add milk and sugar while I feel his eyes on me, but when I open my mouth and turn to ask him why he didn't come home for dinner last night, which wasn't my place, I find that I was alone once again in the kitchen. With a sigh, I enjoy my favourite thing in the world. Tea.