Folded with boundaries.

Chapter 1: The Return

The heavy iron gates groaned open, revealing the sprawling Anderson estate shrouded in the cold mist of a late autumn evening. Juan Anderson stepped out of the sleek black car, his coat collar turned up against the biting wind. Years had passed since he last set foot here — years filled with silence, secrets, and the gnawing emptiness of absence.

But tonight, nothing else mattered except the one person who haunted every restless night of his exile.

The grand mansion loomed ahead, a dark silhouette of stone and shadow. Faint lights flickered behind the tall windows, casting eerie patterns on the polished floors. The estate was a labyrinth of memories and secrets — and at its heart was Amethyst.

Juan’s footsteps echoed in the marble foyer as he entered, his eyes adjusting to the dim glow of chandeliers dripping with crystals. A whisper of a scent — lavender and something darker, almost intoxicating — teased his senses. He was closer now.

From the staircase, a soft sound caught his attention. There, standing like a ghost in the candlelight, was Amethyst. Her violet eyes shimmered like distant stars, wide with surprise and something else — a flicker of fear, or was it longing?

"Juan," she breathed, voice barely a whisper, as if saying his name was a forbidden spell.

He took a slow step toward her, every movement deliberate. "I never left, Amethyst," he said, voice low, rough with emotion. "I was always here... in the shadows."

Her gaze flicked away, to the dark hallway beyond, but her hand trembled against the banister. The years apart had done little to cool the fire between them.

"You shouldn’t be here," she said, voice fragile but firm. "You know what this means."

Juan’s heart pounded — not with guilt, but with the fierce pull of obsession. "I don’t care," he said, stepping closer until only the faintest breath separated them. "I can’t stay away from you."

For a moment, the world outside the estate ceased to exist. The flickering candlelight danced on her pale skin, and Juan saw not a sister bound by blood and rules, but a woman he was desperate to possess.

Amethyst’s breath hitched. Her eyes locked with his, vulnerability and defiance warring in their depths. "This... this is madness," she whispered.

"But it’s ours," Juan replied, voice a dangerous promise. "No one else can have you."

The distant chime of a grandfather clock broke the spell, the cold reality of their world creeping back in. Juan’s jaw clenched. There were dangers ahead — family secrets, enemies lurking, a curse that threatened to destroy them all.

Yet in this moment, in the charged silence between them, only one truth remained.

They were bound by something darker and deeper than love — an obsession that neither time nor fear could break.

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