Chapter I

"Haha, all those expensive outfits and I heard she stepped out of a taxi."

"Who does she think she is, wearing the latest clothes when her credit cards were all blocked?"

"I'm surprised she's even able to buy those brands. Wasn't she blacklisted by her mother from a few designer stores?"

"Hmph, she probably had to ask someone to buy it for her. How shameful!"

If she heard any of the gossips about her, Ariana didn't show any signs of it having an effect on her. She kept her eyes focused on the screen of her phone, scrolling through the list of 'What's New' on Fashion Nova with an indifferent expression. If it had been anyone else, they would've cracked severely while facing the endless pressure and criticism she had to endure, but something inside her fought to hold on.

The crown might have fallen, she hadn't.

Besides, she didn't have time to engage in their mindless chatter and gossip. If she wanted to, she could instantly snap back and put all of them to shame, but she was too hungry and tired to do so. A year had passed since the blow up at the charity ball. To Ariana, it felt like it had all happened yesterday, and no matter how much she tried, the past still hauntingly clung to her, dragging her under and into the depths of the unforgiving abyss every night she laid in bed and closed her eyes.

In the cold, dark and lonely room of her apartment in Melbourne, Australia her heart would be torn open and an unexplained ache would fill her chest as she relived the painful memories. Surrounded by the top socialites, she was utterly humiliated and embarrassed to the fullest, her heart torn apart ruthlessly before being thrown into the ocean like disposable trash.

The pain, the betrayal, the biting cold she felt as her dress was ripped and she was tossed out onto the streets half naked and clothed in rags like Cinderella. Her heart still throbbed and twisted in pain like someone took a knife and stabbed her with it as she watched the love of her life choose the woman he knew for less than a year over her. Stephan had taunted and berated her like she was the dirt below his shoe and the worst criminal to ever walk the face of the earth.

She had stood by his side for nineteen years and he didn't hesitate to throw her away like she meant nothing to him. She did everything she could to support him, willing to sacrifice her limbs, health and time for him, but he would sacrifice everything for someone else.

Before the fall of the legendary Ariana Montmorency, she was known to be the most famous British Heiress. The women always crowded around her in hopes of currying up with the heiress and future 'Mrs. Harper'. Whatever she did, everyone would copy after her. She was the trendsetter, the single woman that every socialite aspired to be. That all ended when Stephan blacklisted and tossed her aside. But after 365 long and life-changing days, Ariana realized she couldn't blame them, she understood how much of a horrible woman she was.

She used her power to create discord, using her friends as though they were pawns in her games. She insulted them to tears and didn't hesitate to stomp her authority. She didn't hesitate to make her status known and woe be unto anyone who rubbed her the wrong way. Most would say she finally got what she deserved, but that was because no one ever saw behind the façade of the prideful heiress.

Ever since she became the laughing-stock of the Montmorency family, her confidence had taken a nose dive. The haughty look she would sport on her face and in her emerald green eyes had long shattered and vanished. From losing everything in just the single span of one night, her diva attitude, prideful smirks and confident struts were all gone.

At lunch time that day, Ariana found herself seated at a window table at Per Se. Per Se was a famous A-list restaurant in the heart of Melbourne. It was very popular and posh and after being open for four months, the restaurant was rated five stars. The restaurant's fame mainly revolved around the fact that it was frequented by socialites and members of the upper class and despite that, there was never any favoritism shown.

It didn't matter if one was an A-List celebrity, a powerful politician or wealthy socialite, no matter who it was, if their bookings were full one had to wait until there was open space. Their service was good and their food was prepared by some of the world's most famous chefs so nobody bothered to complain about the tedious waitlist.

Because Per Se was the frequent stop of many Australian socialites, the twenty-year old socialite decided to dress the part.

Her thin and slender 5'10 figure looked taller than usual in her Chanel blouse, custom made skirt and designer heels. Usually Ariana would dye her mixed chocolate brown curls almost every two months in the most absurd and obnoxious hair colors but today she sported her natural color. Her makeup was done flawlessly to bring out her emerald green eyes and to hide the fact that heavy bags from sleepless nights haunted the skin under her eyes. Her naturally tanned skin still had its glow but it was paler than usual with the restless nights and small appetite she had.

"Is there anything else you would like Miss?" Ariana looked up from her phone to the waiter who was standing at her table with a professional smile.

Ever since he was assigned as her server for the evening, he had been nothing more than professional in a room full of judgmental eyes and gossiping socialites. A true gentleman.

"No, just the bill please." She politely requested.

The waiter nodded his head and left. A minute or two later he came back with the bill. Ariana paid for her order and left a hefty tip for the waiter before grabbing her Birkin handbag and leaving the restaurant, not bothering to spare a second glance in the direction of the gossiping crowd. She stepped outside into the crowded Melbourne pavement and hailed a cab.

She got into the back seat and told the driver her address. For the past year, after leaving London, she had settled Australia and under the radar. Her social media platforms had gone ghost and the only evidence of her existence were the occasional sightings of her whenever she decided to treat herself to an expensive meal instead of ordering Chinese and takeout.

The taxi arrived at her destination and she paid the driver the fee in addition to a fifty dollar bill tip, stepping out at the front entrance of Regal View Apartment Complex. Turning her head up to look at the sky, she noticed that the sky was turning dark. The minute she stepped into the large lobby, the rain poured down.

Unpredictable.

Typical Melbourne weather.

It started as a tiny droplet before it turned into a full blow downpour, sending pedestrians into a frenzy as they tried to hurry and find shelter from the sudden assault.

Stepping into the elevators, Ariana was pleasantly surprised to see the very familiar elevator hostess. In her year of living at Regal View, the hostess couldn't help but admire Ariana. She was young and it was obvious she came from money, but she was always warm and polite. Regal View was an upper class apartment complex so the people who lived in it had a hefty sum in their bank accounts.

While most people ignored the fact that she was a simple elevator hostess, Ariana always seemed to strike up a pleasant conversation whenever she used the lift. But the hostess didn't know much about Ariana's tainted past, and if someone was to tell her, she would laugh and shake her head. There is no way a lady with such polite manners could have done something so horrible.

"Good afternoon, Miss Ariana!" Since the hostess had engaged in numerous conversations with the young heiress, she was fortunate to be able to address her by her first name instead of her last. And Ariana preferred it that way. The less people who knew her family name, the better. "Did you enjoy your lunch today?"

"Good afternoon to you as well." Ariana offered her a warm smile. "Yes, I did?"

"Going up?"

"Yes, please,"

The hostess pressed the button to her floor. Ariana leaned against the small railing and offered small talk while she waited. "How was your day? I hope this job isn't too tiring."

The hostess eagerly replied back. "It was alright, nothing out of the extraordinary. Aside from standing, it's not as bad as my previous job."

Out of all of the wealthy people that walked in and out of the elevator, none of them bothered to smile and talk to her like Ariana. She was really happy to have someone to talk to in such a boring and tiring job. Having to stand nearly all day was extremely tiring.

She had to admit, when she heard the rumors about the former British heiress, she was a bit swayed by the opinions of her coworkers. But after personally encountering the heiress in the elevator one day and having frequent talks with her, it seemed the rumors were nothing but simple gossip. The woman from a year ago and the woman now were two completely different people.

The elevator dinged and signaled the arrival on Ariana's floor and she stepped out after the door had opened.

"Enjoy the remainder of your day, Miss Ariana!" The hostess smiled as she watched the younger woman walk up to one of the two doors on the seventh floor.

"Thank you, you too!" Arianan nodded back.

The door of the elevator closed but Ariana didn't miss the pleasant smile on the hostess' face. She turned to her door and began the tiring process of entering the complicated twenty digit pass code, scanning her finger on the small pad, scanning her eyes and finally swiping her keycard before she was allowed entrance into her spacious condo. Her condo was spacious enough to be considered a small house, so she only had one neighbor, a person she had rarely seen since she moved into the posh complex.

Ariana walked into the condo and shut the door behind her. The living room had a large glass wall which allowed her to look out into the city and she could see the rain perfectly. The grey skies created a sorrowful and depressing atmosphere in the city. But the sound of the rain was quite soothing. Her gaze fell onto the closet at the other side of the living room near the window.

Slowly dropping her bag down on the couch, she made her way over to it with hesitant footsteps. She placed her hand on the small knob and jerked open the door. Buried under a mountain of extra couch cushions was a small device which was secured in a dark blue velvety box to shelter it from the dust which had settle since she hadn't used it in a long time. The rain created such a perfect setting for her and she was itching to do what she once loved doing.

Grabbing the velvet box, she pulled it out of the closet, closing the door before opening the box to look at the mini digital recorder where she had been storing her emotions before the past year. Checking that it had charge, she set it down on the window seat before going over to her bag, pulling out her phone and a pair of earphones. She opened her iTunes and found the instrumental track she had created years ago and pressed the 'play' icon. Ariana took her place on the window seat and with the tempo of the rain and the instrumental in her ear, she started to sing.

'Right now, I'm in a state of mind,

I wanna be in like all the time,

Ain't got no tears left to cry...'

As if in a trance, the lyrics of the song seemed to flow from her head. She didn't know what she was singing but her emotions were flowing. As she sang, her mind wondered.

'Ain't got no tears in my body,

I ran out, but boy, I like it, I like it,

Don't matter how, what, where, who tries it,

We out here vibin', we vibin', we vibin'...'

Once upon a time, she was a musical prodigy, a violinist to be exact.

Ariana was four when her younger sister Seraphina was born, and she was an award winning violinist whose performance could bring a grown person to tears. At a tender age, she was groomed into being the perfect woman. She was expected to excel at academics in addition to being a genius in music. She had barely learned to walk on her own two feet when a violin was shoved into her hand and she was forced to play.

By the time she was six, and Seraphina was two, an endless array of trophies, banners, and awards all dedicated to her lined the glass cabinet which stood at the exit of the foyer and the entrance of the sun room where her mother would entertain the most prestigious socialites. Without a doubt, it was placed there to show off to the guests and give her mother something to brag about. Any competition that Ariana joined, it was guaranteed to be an effortless win.

When Seraphina was discovered to also be a musical prodigy, Ariana was beyond ecstatic. She loved her younger sister dearly since the second she picked her up as a baby, and when the babbling three year old wanted to learn how to play the violin, Ariana didn't hesitate to teach her. To the siblings, it was all fun and games until their parents' marriage fell apart.

After their father left, it started to become clear which of the two sisters was favored more by their mother and thus, before her career could take flight, not wanting to outshine her sister, ten year old Ariana put down her violin, scrapped the lyrics of the songs she had written and had never recorded and stepped into the shadows, allowing her younger sister to fill the limelight. And how was she repaid for her act of selflessness and love? Seraphina showed off and gloated in Ariana's face about their mother's affection.

Not only that, when the drama arose between Ariana, Stephan and Sophia, Seraphina was quick to side with the latter over her own older sister. Images of her sister standing at the side of Sophia when she was belittled by the man she loved flashed through her mind. Her sister's green eyes held nothing but disgust as she looked down at her older sibling. Ariana could clearly remember the look.

A bitter note echoed across the room, putting an end to the song. "Never again..."

Ariana pressed the stop button on the recorder and paused the instrumental. There was no way she was going to suffer the same thing twice. She set the recorder back in the case and but it back into the closet before flopping down onto the window seat and glaring out at the rain, the painful memories adding to her already sour mood. Without realizing it, she was lulled to sleep by the dark grey skies and the pitter-patter of raindrops on the glass as she leaned again the window and watched the city.

RING!

RING!

RING!

The sound of a phone ringing shattered the illusion of the nightmare she was reliving and Ariana opened her eyes, groaning at the soreness of her body. Why did it feel like she her body had been twisted at uncomfortable angles? Straightening up, she realized she was still sitting on the window seat with her head leaning on the glass.

"I slept in such an uncomfortable position, no wonder my body hurts," She grumbled to herself, rolling her neck in an attempt to relieve the stiffness.

RING!

RING!

RING!

Ariana realized her apartment was bathed in darkness and that the city was clothed in night lights. Rubbing her eyes and adjusting to the darkness, she searched for the ringing device which had fallen off her lap and onto the floor.

RING!

RING!

In her groggy, half-awake state, she reached for her annoying iPhone. Without looking at the caller ID, she yawned and tiredly swiped her thumb across her screen to answer the call.

"Hello?" Her voice laced with heavy exhaustion. The minute she picked up, the panicked voice of her best friend came hysterically through the phone.

"Ria, what blood type are you?!" Ariana was a little dumbstruck at the abruptness of the question. She blinked, removing the phone from her ear to look at the caller ID.

Qui-Qui; her bestie.

A sense of panic swelled up in her for some unknown reason. Her Qui-Qui would never skip her usual over exaggerated greetings. Her best friend lived for dramatically answering her phone with voice impressions and hilarious jokes. If she skipped over the greetings it meant that something dire and important had happened.

Quinn Navarro, a young world-renowned actress, was the only friend that stood by her side when Stephan and her mother had practically blacklisted her. Although Quinn wasn't there to personally witness everything that happened the night of the ball, the morning after it all happened Quinn had cancelled all her shoots for the day and flown back to London from Spain to pick up Ariana in the Navarro's family jet, much to her manager's displeasure.

Quinn had arranged for Ariana to stay in the same room of the hotel the company had rented out while the movie was being filmed and after filming was done, Quinn had accompanied Ariana to Australia with an offer of staying in the Navarro mansion but Ariana declined, choosing to find her own space to the avoid the scrutinizing eyes of the media.

Once Ariana's "friends" discovered she had no more power and benefits, they were quick to abandon her. Many of them realized who now held the upper hand and they were quick to change sides, choosing to stand beside Sophia and strengthen her loyal fan base. Ariana wasn't surprised by the shift in power. It was a natural law for people to favor the side of power over the side of struggle; very few remained loyal to the cause.

Ariana didn't deny the fact that before her fall from grace she had abused her power. Born with power wealth and influence, she had grown into a horrible person. She didn't care who or what was in her way, as long as it was an obstacle, she sought to tear it down without mercy.

She had built herself up on a pinnacle and only after falling off did she realize that the horrors of the pinnacle she constructed. She couldn't change the past, but she knew she could change her future. After moving to New York, she made it her duty to work hard to become a better person.

"I have AB negative blood, why? What's wrong?" The sleep disappeared from Ariana the second the question started to register. Why would Quinn need her blood type? What happened? From the other line, Quinn let out a sigh of relief. AB negative, just what she needed!

"Where are you right now? Do you think you can make it to St. Royal's Hospital within the next ten minutes?" Quinn still sounded panicked, but a little bit relieved.

Ariana was taken aback by her words. St. Royal's Hospital? Within ten minutes? Was there an emergency? She didn't need to hear anything else. Ariana grabbed her purse from her bag, yanked a coat from the closet near the door and left the room in a hurry.

"I'll try to rush the cab, but I can't make promises." She pressed for the elevator. "If I don't get there in ten, I'll be there in fifteen tops."

"Okay, please hurry!" Quinn desperately pleaded, her voice becoming more anxious with each passing second.

"What's wrong? Is there an emergency? Are you alright? You're scaring me Qui-Qui," The elevator opened but with a different host this time. Instead of the familiar woman, a middle aged man had taken over the job of transporting guests up and down the building. "Ground floor please."

The man sensed her urgency and quickly pressed for ground floor.

"I-I'm fine!" Quinn could barely form words or sentences as she spoke to her. She seemed to be shaken up and with each passing second, her voice was beginning to quiver. She sounded close to breaking out into an uncontrollable sob and the very thought of it caused Ariana to panic even more. "B-but my brother..."

Her brother?

"Your brother? Which one?" Ariana stared at the numbers on the screen anxiously, wishing the elevator could go a little faster.

Quinn sniffled, her voice breaking. "Eli..."

Ariana opened her mouth to ask another question but was cut off by the sound of frantic voices in the background followed by a commotion before the phone clicked off and the line went dead.

"Qui-Qui? Quinn!" Ariana pulled the phone away from her ear and tried to call back, but Quinn didn't answer.

Her lack of response caused Ariana's anxiety to hit the roof. Quinn was the only girl in three siblings and if her parents didn't already spoil her enough, her older brothers did. All three siblings were very close despite their contrasting personalities. Ariana had never met Quinn's eldest brother, from Quinn's constant complains about their arguments and how much she worried about him when he was overseas, it was obvious both siblings shared a close bond.

The elevator landed on the ground floor and while shrugging on her coat, Ariana rushed out the entrance of the complex. The rain had stopped falling long ago but the pavements were still wet and the air was still cold. Ignoring the water soaking her feet in her open toe heels, Ariana quickly flagged down a taxi.

"Please reach St. Royal's Hospital within ten minutes." Ariana hurriedly dropped two hundred dollar bills into the tip jar.

With such a large amount of money, the taxi driver's eyes widened, the frantic expression on her face breaking him out of his stupor. He nodded his head and immediately stepped down on the gas. He drove as fast as the speed limit would allow him, cutting through the traffic on his way to the desired venue. Ariana couldn't help fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Her naturally arched brows were knitted in anxiousness.

Oh gosh. What could have happened?

Quinn's brothers meant the world to her. She loved both of them very dearly and would risk everything for them, so for something to happen to them, of course, Ariana's first reaction was to panic. Her nerves were hitting the roof, giving the taxi driver a nervous feeling as he did his best to bypass the traffic. Within seven minutes, in what would have been a twenty minute drive, the taxi came to a screeching stop outside of the entrance of St. Royal's hospital.

"Thank you!" Ariana dropped another hundred dollar bill into the tip jar and rushed out of the cab. She pulled out her phone and dialed Quinn's number again. Thankfully Quinn answered this time, on the first ring. "Qui-Qui, I'm here. What room are you in?"

"I'm on the first floor, near the emergency department. Hurry!"

"I'm on my way there."

Following Quinn's direction, Ariana rushed through the hospital and within two minutes she arrived in the emergency department. Quinn was pacing outside of a door with a frightened expression on her face, her eyes puffy and red indicating that she had been crying.

"Quinn!" Ariana came to a skidding halt in front of her best friend.

"Ria!" Quinn instantly pulled Ariana into a bone crushing hug, breaking out into a hysterical sob.

Quinn's bright grey eyes were flooded with tears and her black hair was tied up into a messy bun which was coming apart. Her petite 5'8 figure was fit snugly inside an oversized tracksuit, shaking with her violent sobs. Ariana wrapped her arms around her friend. From Quinn's appearance, it was obvious she rushed from the training set of something and came straight here.

"Qui, what's wrong? Why did you ask for my blood type?" Ariana looked over Quinn's shoulder in confusion. Tall men in suits with guns holstered to their waists were standing in the hallway, their faces covered by the dark tinted sunglasses they wore. Obviously Quinn would need security, but was this much really necessary?

"My brother! Eli!" Quinn sobbed and hugged Ariana tighter. "He's got into a really bad accident and he's lost a lot of blood. He needs blood transfusion ASAP. But there were a lot of emergencies at the hospital and they've ran out of AB negative blood in their storage unit!"