They saw me for the girl I am and the person I yearn to become one day—a woman who thrives in her freedom and dances away in her rightfully earned independence.They saw all the strong, unafraid parts of me, and coaxed each one of them out, daring me to dream bigger, climb higher.They never once saw the girl I had been groomed to see in the mirror.The abandoned daughter of a dead man.The unwanted child of a woman who despised her.The broken body formed wrong and built on a shaky foundation, threatening to fall apart and shatter.They made all the ugliness disappear and left only wonder and promise. The love we shared for each other was probably the only miracle I would be granted in this life, and I knew they felt the same. Or so I thought. Everything I held dear has been robbed from me, and I’ve been a victim of theft too many times to mention.I will not have them steal my pride.They can keep my heart, for all I care. The day they became my stepbrothers, it stopped working anyway. Heartless is the first book in The Privileged of Pembroke High trilogy which ends in a cliffhanger. This is a bully/enemy-to-lovers, #whychoose, new adult contemporary romance, full-length novel. *Recommended 18+ due to mature language, adult situations, and sensitive content.