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2026-03-18 05:05:34
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MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 80
"Please, Rafferty. Stop."Vesper slumped against the mahogany desk, her fingers digging into the ruined grain of the wood. Her company was gone. The ticker on the tablet still glowed with a flat, red zero. She was a ghost in a red dress."I don't like that tone, Vesper." Rafferty walked to the corner of the library. He reached for the brass handle of the vintage record player. "It sounds like a funeral. We should be celebrating. Ignatius, didn't we say we needed a change in atmosphere?"Ignatius stood by the door, his hand still resting on the heavy iron key. He didn't move. He didn't blink. He just watched Rafferty’s finger drop the needle.A sharp, rhythmic waltz filled the room. The music was scratchy. Old. It skipped once, a jarring screech of violin, before settling into a frantic, driving tempo."Stand up," Rafferty said. He didn't look back. He poured two glasses of amber liquid. "Ignatius. Dance with our guest.""Raffy—""Dance. With. Her."Ignatius stepped forward. He grabbed
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 79
"Is that the smell of burning money, or just your dignity?"Vesper froze. She didn't look at Ignatius. She couldn't. He was currently crouched in the corner of the library, staring at a blank space on the velvet wallpaper. His fingers traced invisible lines. His eyes were wide, glassy, reflecting the flickers of the dying fireplace."The board is meeting," Ignatius whispered. He didn't blink. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, cutting a path through the grime on his cheek. "They're waiting for my signature. The merger. It’s the only way to save the steel plant.""Ignatius, there is no steel plant." Vesper moved closer. She kept her back to the mahogany desk. "There is no board. You’re in a house on a rock. Rafferty is outside. You’re breaking, you pathetic bastard.""I told them sixty-forty." Ignatius started to laugh. It was a dry, rattling sound. Like stones shaking in a tin can. "They said I was aggressive. I said I was hungry."Vesper reached for the drawer handle. The safe k
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 78
"Tie the knot tighter, Ignatius."Rafferty leaned against the mahogany doorframe, picking at a hangnail. He tossed a coil of heavy hemp rope at Ignatius’s feet. The dust in the hallway danced in a single, dying shaft of light."Raffy, please—" Ignatius started."Did I ask for a conversation?" Rafferty didn't look up. "Five feet. No more. I want you two to become very well-acquainted with each other’s stench."Ignatius gritted his teeth. He grabbed Vesper’s wrist. His skin was hot, sand-paper rough. He looped the rope around her arm, then his own. He yanked the knot. Vesper’s arm jerked forward. She stumbled, hitting his chest. He smelled like cheap cigarettes and the copper tang of the salt he’d swallowed at dinner."You’re a sick prick, Rafferty," Vesper spat. She tried to pull away, but the rope snapped taut. Her shoulder wrenched. "This is kidnapping. This is torture.""This is housekeeping." Rafferty stepped back into the shadows of the lounge. "The west wing is filthy. Dust the b
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 77
"You want to leave, Vesper?"Rafferty sat on the edge of the porch, swinging his legs over the three-hundred-foot drop. He held the land deeds in his left hand. The wind caught the thick parchment, making it snap like a whip. In his right hand, he held a flare gun."More than anything." Vesper stood five feet back. Her hair was a bird's nest of salt and grease. She hadn't showered in three days. Ignatius stood behind her, a silent, hulking presence. The smell of dried sweat and brine drifted off him."Then let’s play a game. A simple one." Rafferty turned his head. His eyes were bloodshot. "Make Ignatius cry."Vesper blinked. "What?""Real, emotional tears." Rafferty tapped the flare gun against his knee. "If you can break the Saint—if you can squeeze one drop of genuine sorrow out of that scarred face—I’ll hand you these deeds. I’ll even walk you to the boat. You can go back to Apex and tell them you won."Vesper looked at Ignatius. He was a statue. His eyes were fixed on the horizon
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 76
"Pass the salt, Vesper."Rafferty didn't look up from his plate. He sliced into the rare steak, the red juice pooling against the white ceramic. The dining room smelled of expensive wax and the iron tang of the meat. Outside, the wind rattled the windowpanes, but inside, the air was heavy, still, and suffocating.Vesper’s fingers shook as she reached for the silver shaker. She slid it across the mahogany table. It left a faint streak in the dust. "You’re not actually going to eat, are you? Not after everything?""I'm a growing man." Rafferty sprinkled a white layer over his steak. He looked at Ignatius. Ignatius sat rigid. His hands were flat on the table. His knuckles were bone-white. "Isn't that right, Ignatius? We need our strength for the coming days.""Yes, Raffy." Ignatius’s voice was a dry rasp. He didn't have a plate. He only had a glass of water that he hadn't touched."Good." Rafferty chewed slowly. He swallowed. He leaned back, his eyes fixing on Vesper. "So. This is our fi
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN 75
"You’re going to be here for a very long time, Vesper."Rafferty didn't look up from the ledger. He sat at the heavy oak table, the morning sun cutting across his face. He looked pale. Exhausted. Outside, the gulls screamed over the wreckage of the silver yacht, now just a ribcage of metal in the bay."You can't keep me," Vesper rasped. She sat on the edge of the kitchen chair, her wrists raw from the rope. "My firm... they have protocols. If I don't check in, the next boat won't be a rescue team. It’ll be a clean-up crew.""Let them come." Rafferty turned a page. The paper hissed. "I’ve already redirected your transmitter's signal through a relay in the Azores. As far as Apex is concerned, you’re currently sipping gin in a safe house. You’re a permanent resident now. At least until the real land deeds are delivered to this porch.""You're insane. You’re a squatter playing at being a king.""I'm a man who doesn't like being lied to." Rafferty closed the book. The thud echoed in the sm
MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN CHAPTER 8
"What the hell is this, Raffy?"Ignatius slammed the small porcelain tin onto the marble console. The lid rattled. Dried jasmine tea leaves spilled across the polished surface like tiny, shriveled insects. He was breathing hard, the scent of expensive bourbon and stale sweat rolling off him in wave
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-17MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN CHAPTER 10
"What the hell was that, Raffy?"Ignatius stood in the center of the bedroom, his shadow stretching long and jagged across the floorboards. The door was already locked. He had kicked it shut the second he followed me in. His tie was gone, his collar torn open, and the scent of expensive whiskey ble
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-17MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN CHAPTER 9
"Sit down, Ignatius. At the end. Not there."Cane’s voice cut through the rattle of silver on bone china. He didn't even look up from his wine glass. Ignatius froze, his hand already on the back of the chair right next to Rafferty. His knuckles were raw, the scabs from the drywall incident still ja
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-17MY BESTFRIEND’S BROTHER, MY RUIN Chapter 7: The Seat of Honor
"Get up. Now."Ignatius’s voice cracked like a whip across the silent boardroom. His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving under a custom-tailored suit that suddenly looked too tight. He marched toward me, his hand outstretched to drag me from the chair—the Vice President’s chair.I didn't move. I
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-17
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