Papillon

Chapter 1: A Ryder

Francis

Butterflies are low on the food chain. Some use camouflage to render themselves invisible against predators and keep themselves safe.

Some, on the other hand, are bright and lively. Predators know to stay away because the glimmer is just a facade to hide their toxicity, their danger. There was no turning back after a single taste.

Truthfully, I didn't give a fuck about butterflies. But that was because I didn't know just how enticing category number two could be.

I didn't know, until I met Isabella Marie Ryder.

Bella

"Stop fidgeting."

"I'm not," I scoffed, staring at the crimson banners hung around the hall.

"Yes, you are," Christian said calmly, eyes on his phone as he pressed a finger down on my knee to keep it from bouncing. "You will be fine."

"I know I'll be fine. I'm just nervous."

"Bella," he said sternly. "You're a Ryder."

As if that should explain everything.

It didn't.

High school was daunting, and I didn't want to start. It was a new place with new people and new faces that I didn't know. I didn't like change and I certainly didn't like being alone.

It was easy for Christian to say—he already had a prestigious job lined up for him. Pretty much every day of my life, I wished I could be like him. Seven years older than me and the best big brother I could ever ask for. Cunning and ruthless with a magnetic presence–he was the gold standard. Everything I wanted to be. He was getting his Bachelors from Stanford University, all the way across the country. A fabulous education but at a terrible cost. He wasn't the same after he left us all–he was colder, stricter, more held back. I didn't like it.

Why? Because he was next in line to the throne.

Not like British royalty or some shit. This wasn't Downton Abbey.

Dad owned the third largest holding company in the world–Ryder Incorporated. In five years, after Christian got his Masters, he would take over. My big sister, Ariadne, was a senior at my high school and incredibly smart. She wanted to be a doctor, like her mother. Dad didn't like it. But then again, Ariadne did what Ariadne wanted.

But me? I wanted to be a part of the company. A big fucking part. I wanted to be at the top, the girl on the cover of Forbes. Bella Ryder–the one who you didn't want to fuck with. The woman little girls looked up to and said I want to be like her when I grow up. I wanted to be a girl boss–scratch that, a boss. Just a boss. 

That was exactly what I was going to do.

When I wanted things, I got them. That was how my entire life went. A position at the top of the company hierarchy was just another thing I wanted.

I would get it. But I'd make damn sure I earned it.

"Thank you for coming with me." I rested my head on my brother's shoulder. Christian flew back home for summer vacation and stayed an extra couple days for my first day of high school.

He kissed the crown of my head. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

A administrative assistant stepped up to me and handed me a set of keys for my locker. Christian and I spent the next twenty minutes moving everything into the tiny space. Well, I decorated it with pink lace, champagne lights, and spare makeup while he stood around begrudgingly, checking his phone. It was only when I added all my Polaroid pictures to the side of the door that I look a deep breath.