His Brother’s Bride

~Emily's POV~I closed my eyes instinctively, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst through my chest.Then something soft brushed against my cheek.By the time I opened my eyes, he had already pulled away.Applause erupted behind us, and the cameramen were already clicking away, immortalizing the biggest lie of my life. But all I could hear was the silence between us.He didn’t look at me. Not once.Not when we signed the documents.Not when Richard clapped him on the back and muttered something about "salvaging the family."And definitely not when I tripped slightly on the steps outside the cathedral and he didn’t bother to catch me.My cheeks ached from fake smiles. My heart felt like it had been sold to the highest bidder.The car ride home was silent.Home. The word settled in my chest like poison.I stared blankly out the window, watching the world blur past like I was trapped in someone else’s story.When we arrived, his mansion rose in front of us like something

~Emily POV~The silence in the car was deafening.After I emptied my stomach and Alexender panic subsided, neither of us spoke.I folded into myself, cheeks burning with embarrassment. The bitter taste still lingered on my tongue and so did the memory of his face… unguarded, stricken with something that looked dangerously like worry.For the first time, he didn’t look like the cold, untouchable billionaire.He looked like a man.The car slowed, pulling into a secluded lot. My brows pinched as I stared through the windshield.A restaurant. Secluded. Elegant. Hidden behind hedges and a wrought iron gate. The kind of place where whispers replaced conversation, and power dined quietly in dark corners.“Why are we here?” I asked.“You haven’t eaten.”“That didn’t seem to bother you when I nearly threw up on your dashboard.”His jaw tensed. “That was my fault.”My heart stuttered.He cut the engine and stepped out without another word. I followed, more out of confusion than willingness.In

“Ma’am”…… The taxi driver voice jolted me back to life.“We are here ma’am”.“Oh… sorry I was a bit….”, my voice trailed off as I felt embarrassed and twitchy as the driver who would be in his 50’s looked at me with pity.“Thank you Sir”, I muttered as I made payments and stepped out of the car. I stood in front of the high and tall skyscraper of the hotel that Ethan sent the location to me, a mixed feeling of anger and nervousness, I shrugged it off and stepped into the lobby. The blonde haired receptionist looked up with a smile.“Good afternoon, how can I help you ?”, she said with a formal smile up.I looked up the address and suite number from the text I received earlier again then I replied “ I’m actually here to see someone … “Would you be so kind to direct me to Suit 312 ?”.“Ohk, you’d are going to the third floor, the suite is on the extreme end of the floor. There are numbers on the doors that indicates room’s number”. She replied with a half smile. “Thanks….”, I muttered

~Emily's POV~As he drove on, I opened my mouth to speak — to ask something, anything — but his voice cut through the air before I could.“Don’t,” he said.Just that. One word. Ice-cold.My jaw snapped shut. I turned my gaze to the window, watched the lights blur past as the car picked up speed again.And for the rest of the ride, I said nothing.But in my mind, one name repeated like a curse I couldn’t shake:Lisa.Whoever she was…She mattered.And I was starting to realize just how distant the man sitting next to me is.The silence stretched so long I could almost hear it breathing. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, even though I tried to hide it in my lap. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.“How did you even find me?”, The words slipped out, cracked and uneven. I hated how small my voice sounded.He didn’t look at me. His jaw was tight, his fingers locked around the steering wheel like he was holding on to something that might break if he let go.“I put a tracker on your phone,”

~Emily's POV~When the call with Mum ended, I just sat there staring at my phone for a long minute. Her voice still echoed in my head — soft, worried, and tired. I hated lying to her. But what was I supposed to say? Hey Mum, I married the wrong man? No, there was never a right time for that conversation.I sighed, tossed the phone aside, and went straight to the bathroom. Maybe a bath would wash the guilt off.The warm water was comforting at first, then not. My mind refused to stay still — drifting between Mum’s questions, Alex’s silence, and Ethan’s ghost that still lingered somewhere inside me. By the time I was done, I’d convinced myself that I looked calm enough to pretend everything was fine.When I got to the dining room, Alex was already there.He was sitting at the far end of the table, legs crossed, reading an actual newspaper. A newspaper. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little. Who even did that anymore? The faint rustle of the pages was the only sound in the room, unti