Then it begins.

“Checkmate,” Arthur announces.

Suddenly, Evan jumps from the table and flips the chessboard over. He lunges at Arthur, and Mrs. Higgs lets out a scream as she watches her sons topple to the floor. She drops her teacup, spraying steaming tea and porcelain over the woolen carpet.

“Evan! Evan, stop this at once!” She shrieks.

Evan ignores his mother, his fists flying as he pummels Arthur’s face. Arthur cries out, his scrawny arms shielding his head in a feeble attempt to block Evan’s punches, but to no avail. Evan grips Arthur’s tux coat by the hem and lifts his brother onto his feet before dragging him to the wall.

Pattering over in her high heels, Mrs. Higgs reaches out a gloved hand towards Evan, only to pinwheel backward as Evan throws back his elbow to rid himself of his mother. “Let me finish this!” Evan barks, his knuckles turning white around the hem of Arthur’s coat.

Arthur could only whimper, blood dribbling down his chin and seeping onto his white collar. His once pale, narrow face is now angry red, with his left eye swelling shut in a tint of brooding purple.

As the fireplace casts sinister shadows over Evan’s face, he raises his fist, about to deliver another punch, when Mrs. Higgs screams: “There’s a lady present! Miss Mariano is here! Please, stop the madness this instant!”

Evan immediately releases his brother’s tux and lets out an obscenity under his breath before turning around to find the teenage daughter of Sir Philip Mariano—Miss Camila Mariano—standing in the doorway; her big, brown eyes stretched wide in disbelief.

Despite being in pain, Arthur finds the strength to sneer at Evan. Embarrassment heats Evan’s cheeks, and he wants nothing more than to disappear from the room. He caused a scene in front of Miss Camila Mariano—one of the most beautiful creatures to ever step through the doors of the Higgs residence.

A moment of shocked silence suffocates the room, then Evan forces a lopsided smile and clasps his bloodied hands together. “So. Would anyone like some tea?”