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

She walked into campus hand in hand with Zane, hair up in a lazy bun, wearing his hoodie that hung way too big on her. Zane was sipping boba like he hadn't just caused a viral meltdown.

People stared. Whispered. Stopped walking.

Zane? Winked at the nearest phone camera.

They made it ten steps into the quad before it happened.

She didn't need to look up to recognize that voice.

She sighed. Turned. "Let me guess. You've come to threaten Zane?"

Max was beside him, half-grinning like this was a prank. Ethan, calm as ever, stood behind them, arms crossed. And Darian — silent, sharp-eyed, visibly tense — looked ready to break something.

Zane raised a brow. "Wow. Full squad."

Ryder stepped forward. "We need to talk."

"No," Nova said. "I don't need to do anything."

Ethan cleared his throat. "Are you actually… with him?"

Nova laced her fingers with Zane's just to watch them twitch. "Obviously."

Max blinked. "Like… kissing? Dating? Zane?"

"Then calm down," Nova snapped. "You ignored me when I needed a family. You don't get to question who makes me happy."

Ryder's fists clenched. "He's not good enough."

Nova tilted her head. "Oh? And you are?"

Darian stepped forward at that — but Zane gently tugged Nova behind him.

"Back off," he said, not smiling anymore. "You had your chance to protect her. You didn't."

Nova's chest ached with something wild and warm.

"I don't need your approval," she said, voice steady. "And if I want to date the boy who saw me when you didn't? I will."

Zane followed, tossing over his shoulder, "Have fun with your outrage, boys."

And for the first time since she moved in—

They felt what it was like to lose her.

Chapter Thirty: Don’t Touch Our Sister