Chapter 5

"Because brothers don't let each other wander in the dark alone."

-Jolene Perry-

***

“Congratulations, your discovery really helped the tech industry to improve. Your speech at the tech gala last night was also quite profound. I am sure this project would be a massive success in the future.” The old man who played golf with him just thirty minutes ago and also happened to be one of his company’s shareholder congratulated the younger man.

“Please, don’t mention it. I’m doing it for the betterment of humanity, it’s what I live for.” He replied back. Soon after, he arrived at the front of his car.

“I have to leave now, but I appreciate your kind words.” He excused himself and got in the car. He headed back to his modern penthouse and as soon as he stepped in, he went to check his mailbox to see if there were any packages for him.

Among all the stuff in his mailbox, there was a piece of paper that caught his attention the most. It was a wedding invitation. He wondered who could be getting married at that time of the year?

He picked it up and decided to wait until he was inside to check whose it was. Once he settled comfortably in his living room, he picked up the invitation and read it. Then he realized the invitation came from his brother, Eden.

“What the hell is this?” He was shocked. He did not even know Eden had a girlfriend, he never mentioned anything about a woman before, the brothers were close. If one of them had a partner, the other one would know about it, so how was it possible for Eden to get married without introducing the bride to him before.

Declan Black couldn’t take it. The news was too much for him. He decided to pick up his phone and called his brother.

“Eden, we need to talk, can we meet?” He asked.

“Ah, Declan, I’m surprised you called me first. It’s rare for my brother to ask us to meet up so how could I refuse? Meet me at the usual restaurant this afternoon.” With that, the call was ended. Declan sighed and leaned back on the couch.

He always knew his brother was the crazier among the two of them but he did not think he was that crazy. Who could his bride be? As his only biological brother, Declan always thought he knew everything about his brother and vice versa. At least that’s until the news broke.

He got ready to meet his brother in the restaurant and at around one pm, Declan headed over to the restaurant mentioned earlier and found his older brother waiting there with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“I see you are still a coffee addict, you know too much caffeine isn’t good for you, right?” Declan spoke as he took a seat.

“Nice to meet you too, brother.” Eden smiled.

“You’re still as petty as ever.” Declan replied with a smile.

“You know, Declan, at this point my body is immune to caffeine, I always feel like I need to drink more just to get the effect of it.” He admitted.

“You can’t always rely on coffee to carry your body through you know, you’ll eventually have a physical breakdown if this continues on.” He advised.

“Well, thanks for your concern, but I have been getting healthier lately thanks to a certain someone. I’ll be fine.” He defended himself.

When the two of them sat across each other like that, it was quite obvious that they were siblings. Both had dark hair, around level two, almond eyes with fierce gaze and long lashes. Both shared similar features, they had the same nose and cheekbone, heck, they might even pass as twins in some scenario.

However, Eden had always had a bit of stubble and beard while Declan preferred to keep himself clean shaven, it made him appear younger. Both were handsome and had decent body. Eden had a bit broader shoulder while Declan was a bit more on the slender part, but not too much.

They were blessed genetically with similar traits, but when it came to personality, they were completely different.

While Eden was a total extrovert who made an amazing leader and was always the more hot-tempered and stubborn among the two, Declan was always the rational, he was born a genius and had always been the quiet one.

Growing up, he was extremely introverted and nearly had no friends because he was always so busy experimenting the shack behind their house but as he grew older, he learnt to socialize in order to share his discovery to the world. He was also more even tempered.

When Eden loved business and the entire money making aspect of it, Declan had always preferred the problem-solving part of science and technology. Eventually it brought him money as well, but for him, money was the reward, not the objective.

While they received their parents’ love back then equally, they definitely considered Declan the golden child but Eden was always more capable to handle the company. They had good relationship with each other and remained very close until adulthood.

“By the way, why did you call me? It’s extremely rare for my dear brother to call me first, so there has to be something special, no?” Eden asked

“Okay, let me just get straight to the point.”

“Do you mind explaining what the hell is going on? What is this?” He placed the invitation on the table and Eden did not seem surprised at all by this reaction from his brother.

“You are getting married? To whom? You’ve never introduced a woman to me before and now suddenly you are getting married and in a week too? Have you lost your mind?” Eden replied calmly to Declan’s question.

“Probably yes, I have lost my mind. It’s okay though. You will meet her soon enough. I will invite you over to my place after the wedding and introduce you to my wife.” The two of them ordered their food and continued the talk.

“It doesn’t seem like you at all, Eden. You’ve always calculated everything. This entire wedding, it just seems a little too impulsive. Something doesn’t seem right here.” Declan could sense right away that something was wrong with his brother’s wedding.

“You’re right but also wrong. I have calculated and prepared for this for a long time. Only problem is, my bride is a difficult woman. It might take a while for her to fall in love with me after the wedding, but I know that day will eventually come.” He admitted casually as he took another sip of his coffee.

“What do you mean you have to make her fall in love with you after the marriage? Isn’t she supposed to be in love with you in order for her to marry you?” Declan reasoned.

“Well, you can say that our relationship is quite complicated. But you don’t have to worry about it. Just come to my wedding later, okay?” He assured. Declan still thought that Eden was hiding something.

He knew his brother, even though their entire family business was legal and everything, Eden had a taste for some more extreme methods to get what he wanted, he was afraid this time it was somewhat the same.

“Okay, then I will come to your wedding later.” Declan eventually stated as soon as they finished their meal and he stood up to pay the bills.

“Since I invited you out, I’ll pay for it this time and I’ll quickly take my leave after this.” Declan did not exactly have the answer he was looking for, but it was fine, he did not need to know every little detail about his brother’s life despite having his own concern.

All he knew was that his life would change a lot after his brother’s wedding.