The One I Never Really Knew

Brielle 

A familiar child. 

The house. 

The companies that were no longer in my name…

An incoming car…

And then!

I woke up gasping for my breath. The soft sheets around me just followed my skin with every movement and it was starting to feel suffocating. 

My hands went to my throat for air as I kept gasping and gasping, trying to fill my lungs with as much air as I could.

The sound of plates dropping sounded nearby but I couldn't think of that. I was too heartbroken to care anymore. 

The next thing I felt were hands on my back and mumbling besides my ears.

Strong, steady hands on my back. Not holding me down—just there. Like a weight to anchor me.

“Brielle,” a low voice whispered near my ear, calm and firm. It was more clear this time.“You’re safe. I need you to listen to me, okay?”

I couldn’t answer. My throat burned. All I could do was slowly blink in response.

“Let’s do this together. It’s called grounding. Just follow my voice. Can you do that?”

I blinked again. Barely nodded.

“Good,” he breathed. “Tell me five things you can see.”

My gaze darted around. Blurry shapes, light, shadow.

“The lamp... the curtains... a glass... your shirt... the painting.”

“Perfect. Now four things you can touch.”

My fingers trembled as they brushed the sheets. “Sheets... pillow... my leg... your arm.”

“Three things you can hear.”

“The fan... your voice... and... the traffic outside.”

“Two things you can smell.”

I inhaled shakily. “The candle… and cinnamon?”

He chuckled softly. “Cinnamon tea. One thing you can taste?”

“My tongue's dry... but… I think toothpaste.”

“Good girl,” he whispered. “You’re doing amazing. Just keep breathing. In through your nose… slow… now out.”

My lungs started working again. The spinning in my head slowed. The world wasn’t spinning off its axis anymore.

I blinked, finally seeing his face clearly. Axel. Jason’s older brother.

That was right. He was the one who was driving the car that I thought would send me to heaven. He had been the one to......save me. 

★

He carried me to the bathroom after that and honestly I was too tired to complain. 

But when he offered to give me a bath?

Yeah, no. Absolutely not.

Even if my husband turned out to be a good-for-nothing, cheating, lying douchebag—I still had standards. I wasn’t about to stoop to his level. Especially not with his brother.

He nodded when I refused and quietly left me alone in the bathroom. I appreciated that.

The bathroom was beautiful, though—clean marble countertops, folded towels, and dim lights that didn’t make me want to scream. But it was one little detail that made me freeze for a second.

The shampoo and conditioner in his bathroom was definitely for females.

For a second, I thought—girlfriend? live-in lover? fiancée? My messy brain went down that spiral until I spotted the plastic seal still intact.

New. Just bought.

For me? I questioned myself. 

Weird. But okay.

I kept poking around and found some bath bubbles tucked neatly under the sink.

Perfect!

There’s nothing a good bubble bath can’t fix.

Well....except betrayal. And heartbreak. And the fact that I didn’t really know the man I married.

But still, I soaked until my fingers turned into raisins. The water had gone cold by the time I finally stepped out, but I didn't care. I wrapped myself in the fluffiest robe I’d ever touched, went back out to the room and crashed on the soft bed. 

Sleep came fast.

★

Morning light filtered through the sheer curtains, brushing soft gold across my skin. I didn’t wake up gasping or sweating or crying. Just… blinking. Groggy. Confused.

Then, the door creaked open.

I tensed ever so slightly but didn’t move. 

“Hey,” Axel’s voice came softly, followed by the scent of—was that pancakes?

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. And there he was. Tall, dressed in a plain black shirt and sweatpants, holding a tray of food above me. 

“I figured you’d be hungry.”

I blinked at the tray—stacked pancakes, berries, syrup, even a glass of orange juice and a steaming mug of coffee.

My stomach growled before I could fake any indifference and tell him I didn't want to eat. The tips of my ears turned red. 

He set it on the nightstand and stepped back, giving me space. “There’s more downstairs. But I thought maybe… this would be easier for you to eat right now."

I nodded slowly. “Thanks.”

I hated how grateful I was.

I hated how my throat thickened just because someone remembered breakfast.

Jason used to bring me breakfast in bed. Till after our first year and then before I woke up he had left for work. 

I shook the thoughts out of my head. And thanked Axel for the breakfast as he departed, his eyes slowly shifting to mine like he just missed a chance to say something. 

★

Finally, I finished the food in record time. The last time I had something to eat was the afternoon. Or was it morning? I couldn't remember. 

I found my clothes folded neatly in the vanity drawer and slipped them on before heading downstairs. 

His penthouse—I assumed it was one— was beautiful. 

Spacious, clean lines, sunlight spilling across wooden floors, and glass walls that gave a full view of the city skyline. It was the kind of space you saw in magazines, but never imagined real people actually lived in.

It wasn’t overly decorated either. No pretentious artwork or flashy gold furniture. Just… quiet. A lived-in sort of expensive.

Which somehow felt exactly like him.

“Morning,” Axel said from the kitchen island as I stepped down. He was sipping from a dark mug, sleeves rolled up, brows slightly raised like he wasn’t sure if I’d show.

“Hey,” I murmured, feeling awkward.

He gestured toward the other stool. “Coffee’s still hot. If you want more.”

I nodded, sitting down. “Thanks. For everything.”

He shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“I do,” I said firmly, surprising both of us. “You didn’t have to pick me up yesterday. Or bring me here. Or do any of this.”

Axel leaned against the counter. “You needed help. That’s enough reason.”

I looked away, biting the inside of my cheek. 

I don’t know how long we sat there—me sipping slowly from a second cup of coffee, Axel pretending not to watch me carefully over the rim of his mug.

The silence between us wasn't awkward, not exactly. It just felt... loaded.

It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

And finally—it did.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, voice soft.

I didn’t answer immediately. My fingers tightened around the warm ceramic cup, knuckles paling. My throat burned with things I didn’t even know how to say.

"I just found out that my husband, my soulmate for the past eight years, isn't really the sweet loving man he portrayed himself to be." I started. 

“You know what’s funny?” I asked, my voice cracking. “It wasn’t just cheating. It was the child. They had a child, Axel. A five-year-old girl. Jason has a whole other life I never knew about.”

I saw Axel’s jaw tightened.

I stared at him then. Other people would react differently. Sure he had sympathy in his eyes but there was something.........“You’re not surprised.”

He didn’t answer.

“You’re not surprised,” I repeated, louder this time. 

"Wgy don't you seem surprised about this?" I asked. 

His silence said everything.

Rage snapped through my veins like electricity. I stood so fast the stool scraped against the floor.

“You knew?” My voice trembled. “You knew about this and said nothing?”

“Brielle—”

“For how long? Who else in your bloody family knew? Are you the only one? Ohh my days. You all have been playing me like a fool.”

He exhaled slowly. “Calm down Brielle. I promise it's not what you think. But it's true that I've known for almost four years now.”

My chest caved. “Four years?” I whispered.

“I didn’t want to hurt you and be—"

I slapped him.

Hard.

The sound of skin against skin echoed in the space like a gunshot.

Axel didn’t move. He didn’t raise a hand or look away. He just stood there, jaw clenched, red mark blooming across his cheek.

“You don’t get to decide that,” I hissed. “You don’t get to stand there and play hero now when you had the truth this whole time.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice rough.

“You should have told me regardless. Or at least......i don't know. But I didn't deserve to be kept in the dark like this.”

He nodded slowly… then dropped to his knees.

Literally.

On. His Knees.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I thought I was protecting you. I thought if I said something, it would break you. I just decided in my heart to let it go since you were in love with him and I didn't think you would believe me if I'd told you. But I see now… he was already doing that. I just let it happen in silence.”

I stared at him. I hated him at that moment. And I didn’t.

Because he didn’t lie. He was telling the truth. 

At least he didn’t defend Jason.

Right now, he just looked like a man who regretted not doing better.

I turned away, pacing toward the window to keep myself from falling apart again. My hands were shaking. My eyes stung. But my voice was steady when I finally spoke.

“I’ll forgive you,” I said slowly. 

Axel rose slowly to his feet, silent.

“But only on one condition.” He paused. 

“I’m staying here,” I said. “Until I figure out what the hell I’m going to do next. Until I know who I can trust. Until I figure my life out. Because someone in my family helped cover this up too I'm sure of that. And until I know who... I’m not going anywhere.”

Axel’s gaze didn’t waver. “Stay as long as you need.”

I breathed a sigh of relief at that. At least I got one part of my situation settled. 

Now. 

A hundred more to go.