Legally Off Limits
Amara Castillo never imagined her first big break as a wedding coordinator would turn into the cruelest twist of fate. Her best friend had sworn it was her cousin’s wedding — a glittering, high-profile event that would cement Amara’s place among the elite. But she lied. The groom wasn’t her cousin. He was her brother. Trey Alvarez.
Amara grew up in the shadows of the Alvarez mansion — the maid’s daughter tucked away in the servants’ wing while chandeliers glittered above. Trey had been the heir: ten years older, raised on privilege and legacy, while she learned how to disappear.
But for years, Amara loved him in secret — the boy with storm-dark eyes, a jaw carved from stone, and the quiet power of someone destined for more. By twenty-five he had become CEO of his father’s empire, a man forged from control and expectation.
On her fifteenth birthday, trembling in the rose garden, she confessed her feelings. For a heartbeat she thought she saw something forbidden flicker in his eyes — then his expression hardened:
“You’re just a little girl. The maid’s daughter. Stop believing in fairy tales.”
He walked back into the party, leaving her alone with her confession and a broken heart. That night, the girl she had been — hopeful, foolish — cracked apart.
Ten years later, Amara is no longer a shadow. She’s one of the city’s most sought-after wedding coordinators. This job should have been her breakthrough. Instead, it’s her undoing — because the groom is the man who taught her about heartbreak.
When they finally meet again, Trey doesn’t bother with pleasantries.
“So they’ve trusted you with my wedding?” he drawls. “You’re not what I was looking for. I don’t need someone young and inexperienced running my wedding.”
Ten years ago those words would have destroyed her. This time, something inside her snaps. Her heels click against the marble like a gauntlet as she fires back, “You’re judging my age, not my skill — and that’s not just arrogant. That’s prejudice.”
Trey hadn’t been prepared for Amara Castillo to look like this. The shy maid’s daughter he’d brushed aside had become a poised, unapologetic woman who commanded rooms and stared down power. Every glance slices through the armor he’d spent years perfecting.
She’s supposed to be off-limits. She always was. Back then it was easy to tell himself she was too young, that their worlds were too far apart. But now those excuses feel thin. His eyes keep tracking her without permission.
Amara is forced to choreograph every detail of Trey Alvarez’s wedding to someone else, surrounded by luxury and memories she can’t escape. Yet every room hums with his presence — a gravity like a storm building over the ocean.
The longer she stays, the more glances turn into stares, stares into questions neither can voice. And then one incident — one moment neither planned — shatters every line they thought they wouldn’t cross.
Everything Amara has built, every boundary she’s drawn, is about to be tested. Because you can’t plan someone else’s wedding when your own heart is on the line.