pihusinghrana

They gave her a room, not a place. A roof, not a home.
Now she’s done playing the quiet girl in the corner.

After the tragic death of her parents, Nova Vale is thrown into a world she never chose — taken in by her powerful billionaire uncle, the CEO of a secretive empire built on silence and control. With no one else to turn to, she finds herself living in a mansion with four boys who aren’t her brothers, but feel like obstacles at every turn.

They’re cold. They’re entitled. And they’ve made one thing very clear:
She doesn’t belong.

But Nova has never needed approval to survive.
And when college begins, she’s forced to attend the same elite school as them — where popularity, wealth, and bloodlines rule everything. Her stepbrothers dominate the halls like kings.
But when Nova walks in, the world tilts.

Smart, fierce, and impossible to ignore, she’s not the girl anyone expected.
Not them. Not her enemies. Not even herself.

Now the spotlight is on her.
The whispers follow her.
And so do the secrets that could shatter the family from the inside.

This isn’t a love story.
This is a girl building her own name in a world that only values the ones they own.

They called her nothing.
But she’ll rise as something they never saw coming.
Heir of Nothing — and ruler of everything they fear.

Empire of Nothing

Zane was humming, Sasha was scrolling through photos of their day, and Nova was wearing a hoodie two sizes too big, sipping the last of her bubble tea like the world wasn't waiting outside.

She felt full — not from food, but from existing. Being loud, laughing, annoying, messy… all the things she never got to be in that mansion.

"Round two of board games?" Kieran asked, unbuckling his seatbelt.

Because someone was already standing on the porch.

Leaning against the railing, arms folded, head down like he wasn't sure if he should be there.

His hand went still on the car door. "You want me to tell him to leave?"

"No," she said finally. "It's okay."

She stepped out slowly, the gravel crunching under her sneakers.

Ethan looked up as she approached.

No sharp stare. No cold voice. Just tired eyes and a subtle stiffness, like he didn't know how to be soft.

"I figured you'd be here," he said quietly.

Nova crossed her arms. "So what? You here to drag me back?"

"I'm not here to tell you what to do. I just… wanted to say something."

She raised an eyebrow. "That you were all right to ignore me?"

He shook his head. "That I was wrong to pretend I didn't see you. We all were."

Ethan stared at the gravel. "I'm not Ryder. I don't throw fits. I don't yell. But silence can hurt just as much. And I hurt you."

She looked at him for a long, long time.

"Because when you were gone… the house was quieter. But it didn't feel right." His voice was low. "It felt wrong. Like we lost something we didn't know how to keep."

"I'm not coming back," she whispered.

He pulled something from his jacket — a small envelope — and placed it on the porch railing.

"For when you decide what's next."

Chapter Twenty-Four: When Silence Knocks