Chapter 1
- Prologue
- I was living well; I wouldn't say I was out partying all the time or had thousands of friends, but my life was fairly normal. During high school, I was the top of my class, though studying was more challenging for me than others. That's true, but I spent my days and nights buried in books. I didn't have many friends, but it didn't bother me; I didn't have time for them anyway. Fortunately, I had a perfect boyfriend and a "loving" family.
- But when I turned eighteen, someone entered my life and changed it completely. When I arrived in London, I was still the girl solely focused on her education, living up to her mother's expectations. However, with each passing day, everything seemed different. I was different. What I once thought was important no longer bothered me. I stopped caring about my studies and what others expected from me.
- My life in Portland was good. Back then, I thought I didn't need anyone or anything; everything seemed so perfectly planned that one could envy it. But today, I know I was utterly wrong. I used to believe that the butterflies in your stomach everyone talked about were just trivialities, that there was no one who could make your heart race so fast you feared the whole world could hear it.
- I couldn't believe that a touch could lift me up, animate me, and set my skin on fire. I never believed that one person could make you feel so weak, strong, and foolish all at the same time. But, perhaps, yes.
- I needed Nick.
- I needed this boy who drives me crazy in every possible way. I needed to feel the danger, the bad, and the forbidden.
- If I had known that knowing him would lead to feeling the greatest pain coursing through my body, I probably wouldn't have taken the risk.
- He stole every thought, every glance, every feeling. But I could live with that if he hadn't also stolen my heart. He took everything from me. Like I said, my life was perfect until Nick appeared. He has altered every aspect of my life, and me along with it.
- I still don't know if that change was good or not, but I couldn't think of undoing everything that happened between us. I couldn't trade those moments for anything in the world.
- Pain was just one part of it. Madness, love, and passion seized my life at every moment, and those instants will never be replaced.