We could've had it all

Chapter 1

Daniella

It was Christmas Eve. I woke up early that day and put on my 'Grinch' costume because I wanted to play a prank on my family. I was about to go to Lily's bedroom, which was located downstairs, but the doorbell rang repeatedly. I got annoyed and felt like I wanted to slap whoever was at the main door. How was I supposed to answer the door while dressed as the 'Grinch'?

Without changing out of my costume, I went to the door. There was a flash that almost blinded me; at first, I thought lightning had struck the door, but it wasn't. The person had taken a picture the moment I opened the door.

"Surprise!" I heard a man's voice and then a long silence. I thought he was the one who was surprised because he was greeted by the 'Grinch.'

I rubbed my eyes, still adjusting my sight because of the blindingly camera flash before. As my eyes focused, I saw Alexander Marshall. He was a member of the nobility in the country, but I didn't know much about his family's business, except that his grandfather was a Duke. I had seen this guy on the news quite often, and it was said that he would be the successor to his family's business, one of the biggest in here, but I didn't know what their business was about.

Him being at our house was confusing. I was about to say, "You've got the wrong house," and close the door, when my brother, Ian, came down. They greeted each other like best friends, which was even more confusing. Ian brought him inside, and they walked past me as if I wasn't there.

"Dang, Ella! What's up with that?" Ian was surprised to see me. He hadn't noticed me earlier since he was excited to greet Alexander, and I was pretty sure he thought I was a Christmas tree. I saw Alexander holding back a laugh, and his face was red. What a great day.

Without saying anything, I ran upstairs. It was so embarrassing. How in the world was he in our house? He saw me in one of my ugliest states, and I just wanted to bury myself. Then I heard noises downstairs, signing that my parents were already awake and, of course, surprised by the guest. Meanwhile, I was removing that costume from my body. I didn't get to prank my family; what a waste of my time and energy. All I got was embarrassment. I came out with the thought that he was charming. He had light brown hair, blue eyes, and was tall with broad shoulders. The most noticeable thing was his smile; he had a pretty smile, and his eyes sparkled.

As I got lost in my thoughts, my mom called me to come downstairs. With heavy steps, I went down. I told myself not to trip while walking down the stairs to avoid secondhand embarrassment in front of the guest. I rushed to my mom's side because she sat farthest from Alexander.

"This is our middle child, Daniella," my mom introduced.

"Hi, Daniella. You're the one I met earlier, right? The Grinch," he said, friendly. I nodded and felt my cheeks heating up.

"She's cute," he said, laughing, and everyone joined in, making the situation even more awkward for me. Gosh.

"Ella was trying to prank us, but not today," my brother said with a laugh to let me know how satisfied he was with the embarrassment I got. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Kids!" my mom sternly called.

"Oh, Alex, make yourself comfortable. Don't mind these kids; they're always like this," my mom told him, and he laughed again.

"It's okay, ma'am; my siblings and I are like that too. I don't mind at all," he said.

"By the way, before you leave, please have some biscuits and hot chocolate. We didn't prepare anything for you; if we knew you were coming, you would have received a better welcome," my dad said.

"It's okay; I just came by to see Ian. It's been so long since I saw him. Next time, I'll inform you when I want to stop by," he told my dad. He was polite, despite being a noble.

"I told you all he's my friend, but you all thought I was crazy," my brother bitterly told us. My brother had mentioned this, but we didn't pay much attention because he didn't sound serious when he told us.

Then they chatted for a while, and I allowed myself to go upstairs since I didn't have much business there. They were adults and too mature for me, who was childish.

I was still a baby, okay? I was seventeen. I thought Alexander was about the same age as my brother. My brother was 21, so we might have about a 4-year age gap. That was perfect! Perfect for what? Well, a perfect age gap for me and my future husband, perhaps.