Share

SEVEN EIGHT

Author: Inkbyjane
last update publish date: 2026-06-30 20:49:06

Victoria’s POV

The backstage holding lounge of the Grand Plaza Hotel was a space of red velvet, polished brass, and the distant, thunderous rumble of the New York media press line gathering outside the double doors.

I stood by the full-length mirror, smoothing the lapels of my tailored emerald dress, my eyes drilling into the reflection of the mahogany bar behind me. A heavy crystal tumbler filled with single-malt whiskey sat on the wood. The media schedule was locked, and the anchors were
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY SIX

    BENJAMIN’S POV The electronic chime of the master terminal in my penthouse study severed the remaining silence of the 6:00 AM countdown. On screen, Sarah’s biometric handshake didn't merely default—it hemorrhaged. The synthetic Federal proxy trap I had planted in her routing node had done exactly what a high-velocity asset freeze was engineered to do: it stripped away her corporate composure and left her raw. "She’s moving," Eleanor murmured from the panoramic glass, her crisp slate-grey blouse catching the cold morning light. She didn't look back at the monitors. Her aristocratic posture remained perfectly rigid, her dark eyes tracking the exact moment the data packet routed from our secondary server partition directly to an unlisted outgoing satellite frequency. "She didn't run to Victoria, Benjamin. You calculated her panic precisely." "Victoria would have executed her clearance codes before she reached the lobby," I growled, my long fingers slamming against the glass terminal

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY FIVE

    BENJAMIN’S POV The digital numbers on the corner console of my master terminal bled into a continuous countdown: 02:14:09. Two hours remained before the formal board session, and the air inside my study felt thin, stripped of oxygen by the weight of the lie I was forcing my lungs to filter. I stood by the wet bar, my right hand bracing the heavy medical gauze binding my lower left ribs. Across the polished mahogany wood, my mother stood unblinking, her black floor-length coat unbuttoned just enough to expose the rigid, tailored lines of her blazer. "Sarah is going to panic within thirty minutes, Benjamin," She murmured, her voice a sharp vibration that slipped underneath the room's ambient monitoring network. "She knows my European banking auditors are tracking her wire handshakes. A woman like that doesn't hold her ground when the legal execution of her career is initializing. She will run straight to Victoria to save her skin." "Let her run," I growled softly, my split lower lip

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY FOUR

    BENJAMIN’S POV The clinical draft of the penthouse study didn't clear the scent of expensive citrus perfume, but the presence of my mother completely froze the air inside the corridor. It was 6:00 AM. Victoria was asleep down the hall, believing she had secured her dictatorship over the Williams-Vance matrix. I stood by the grand mahogany desk, my fingers resting flat against the glass terminal interface. My fractured left ribs throbbed beneath my tailored white shirt, a sharp reminder of the brotherly fury Leo had left behind on my jaw line. He had spent a decade building this empire beside me; walking in to see Victoria on my lap made him believe I had traded our brotherhood for a comfortable corporate seat. The heavy double doors of the study clicked open, and my mum stepped inside. She had stripped off her floor-length black armor coat, wearing a crisp, slate-grey executive blouse that fit her rigid posture perfectly. She didn't offer any greeting. She walked straight to the p

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY THREE

    BENJAMIN’S POV The penthouse felt less like a home and more like an observation deck for the end of the world. The double doors clicked shut behind Leo and Jane, the sound of the latch engaging like a tombstone falling into place. I didn't move. No, I couldn't. My legs were too heavy to move. I stood in the center of the parlor, my hands balled into fists at my sides, the blood from my jaw slowly drying into the stiff, white fabric of my shirt. The room was still. The air was heavy with the mechanical hum of the wall sensors. I knew the Syndicate monitors were peaking, analyzing my heart rate, my facial micro-expressions, every spike in my cortisol. "You did it darling," Victoria whispered, stepping out from the shadows of the sofa. She didn't offer a drink. She didn't offer comfort. She walked toward me, her eyes tracking the blood on my lip with a predatory satisfaction. "You finally broke the leverage, Benjamin. You’re back. This is my Benjamin" I didn't turn toward her. I st

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY TWO

    LEO’S POV The vibration of the Greyhound bus’s diesel engine rumbled through the floorboards, a low rattle that felt like a drill grinding straight into my skull. Outside the scratched plexiglass window, the neon exit signs of the New Jersey turnpike blurred into long streaks of bleeding crimson against the midnight sleet. I didn't look at the road. My fingers were frozen over the mechanical casing of my portable monitor, tapping out terminal commands into an encrypted local partition. My knuckles were still raw, the skin split and stained with a thin crust of dried crimson. Every time I looked at the blood on my hand, my chest tightened until my lungs burned. The image of the penthouse suite burned behind my eyelids like a hot iron. Benjamin hadn't looked like a hostage executing a grim sacrifice. He had looked like a king who had happily returned to his throne, his shirt unbuttoned, his frame relaxed while the snake who shattered our lives crawled over his lap. He had lie

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    EIGHTY ONE

    Jane’s POV The freezing Manhattan rain hit my face like shattered glass the moment I burst through the building’s side exit door. I stumbled into the dark alleyway, my wet sneakers skidding against the slick pavement as the door slammed shut behind me, cutting off the golden glare of the penthouse grid. I didn't stop running. I flew down the concrete corridor, the freezing downpour instantly soaking through my oversized sweater, plastering the wet wool against my ribs. The words parasite and cheap slut were screaming through my skull, repeating in Benjamin's cold tone until my ears throbbed with a physical ache. My chest heaved in ragged gasps. The independent runaway who had scrubbed grease traps in North Carolina to buy her freedom was gone. The girl who thought she could survive in the dirt without his ledger was dead. I had let my guard down, and my pride had been slaughtered in front of the woman he called his rightful owner. The embarrassment was evident, I wished I neve

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    THIRTY FOUR

    Jane's POV The silence that followed my screamed revelation was deafening. Benjamin stood frozen in the center of his private study, his chest rising and falling in jagged breaths. The brilliant, infallible corporate titan had been completely blindsided. For months, he had used his sophisticated

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    THIRTY THREE

    Jane's POV The next evening, the estate was dead quiet. The absolute silence of the massive mansion pressed against my eardrums like a weight, thick with an atmosphere that made it hard to breathe. Benjamin had spent the entire day locked in the secure West wing with his high-level security deta

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    THIRTY TWO

    Jane's POV The door click-latched shut, sealing us into a pitch-black room a second before my brother’s heavy boots cleared the top step of the grand gallery staircase. "Ben?" Leo’s voice boomed down the outer corridor, closer now, the floorboards subtly vibrating with his proximity. "Where the

  • SEDUCING MY ELDER BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND    THIRTY ONE

    Jane's POV The suffocating silence that followed his question stretched across the grand foyer like a piano wire pulled to its breaking point. I stood completely paralyzed on the gallery landing, my fingers digging into the polished mahogany railing so hard my nails threatened to snap. Below us,

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status