Chapter 1

Today was my eighteenth birthday, the day I was supposed to become a man in the eyes of my family and inherit everything.

But all I wanted was to become a woman in the eyes of the one person who mattered.

I stood in my room, the door locked, staring at the reflection in the full-length mirror. The person looking back was Alex Miller, heir to the Miller fortune, a young man with short-cropped hair, a sharp jawline, and a bespoke suit that felt like a cage.

But underneath the tailored fabric, my chest was tightly bound, a constant, dull ache that had been my companion for as long as I could remember. My real name isn't Alex. It's Alexandra. And nobody in the world knew that except for my parents.

Tonight, that was supposed to change. Tonight, I was going to tell Chris.

Chris Reynolds. My best friend since we were five. The only person who saw past the Miller name and just saw... me. Or the me I presented to the world.

I had it all planned. After the big family dinner, after my grandfather officially named me the successor, I would pull Chris aside and tell him everything. I had a simple dress, the first one I' d ever bought with my own money, hidden in the back of my closet. I' d show it to him. I' d tell him the truth.

My heart hammered against my ribs just thinking about it.

A sharp knock on my door made me jump.

"Alex? Are you ready? Grandpa is getting impatient."

It was my father. His voice was strained, just like it always was when the family gathered.

"Almost ready," I called out, my voice practiced and low.

I took one last look at the stranger in the mirror and forced a confident smile. It didn' t reach my eyes.

The party was in full swing downstairs. The Miller mansion was overflowing with business partners, distant relatives, and the city' s elite, all here to witness the transfer of power. I moved through the crowd, nodding and shaking hands, the perfect son.

But my eyes were only searching for one person.

I found him near the grand staircase, trapped in a conversation with his fiancée, Lisa Thompson.

Lisa was beautiful, polished, and came from a family almost as powerful as Chris' s. Their engagement was an arrangement, a business merger disguised as a love story. I hated her. Not just because she was with Chris, but because of the way she looked at him, like he was a prize she had won.

As I got closer, I could hear their raised voices.

"I don't understand why you're being so difficult, Chris," Lisa said, her voice a sharp whisper. "It' s a party. You' re supposed to be by my side."

"I don't want to be by your side," Chris shot back, his jaw tight. "I want to find Alex. It's his birthday."

"Alex, Alex, Alex! It's always Alex!" Lisa' s voice dripped with venom. "What is it with you and him? It' s not normal, the way you are with him. People are talking. They think you' re... you know."

She was accusing him of being gay. Right here, in the middle of my party. A cold fury washed over me.

Chris just stared at her, his face a mask of disgust. "I don't care what people think."

"You should! Your family should! This engagement is important," she hissed.

It was then that it happened. As I stood frozen a few feet away, another voice echoed in my head. It wasn't mine. It was clear and sharp, filled with a desperate pain that mirrored my own.

God, I wish she would just shut up. I can' t stand her. All I want is to be with Alex. Why can' t she understand that he' s the only one who matters?

I physically recoiled, my hand flying to my head. The voice was Chris' s. It was his thoughts. I was hearing his thoughts.

My mind reeled. This wasn't possible. I must be losing my mind, the stress of the night finally breaking me.

But then it came again, as clear as if he'd spoken it aloud.

I love him. I love Alex. I don't care that he's a guy. I love him more than anything. Why is that so wrong?

The world tilted on its axis. Every sound in the crowded room faded into a dull roar. The air left my lungs.

He loves me.

Chris Reynolds, my best friend, the boy I have been secretly in love with for years, loves me back.

But he loves Alex. He thinks he' s in love with a man.

The shock was a physical blow, followed by a wave of something so intensely overwhelming it almost brought me to my knees. It was joy, pure and absolute, but it was tangled with a new, terrifying complication.

My plan to confess, to show him the dress, to tell him my real name... it all felt foolish and small now. How could I tell him the truth? He had just accepted this impossible, socially forbidden love for his male best friend. If I told him I was a girl, would he feel betrayed? Would he think the Alex he loved never really existed?

My carefully constructed plan shattered into a million pieces.

I looked at Chris, who was now just staring blankly past Lisa, his face a portrait of misery. And I knew. I couldn't tell him. Not tonight. Not like this.

My secret was no longer just about me and my freedom. It was about him, too.