Chapter 1

Wade's POV

At dinner, I brought out the last dish, set it down, and dropped into my seat beside my wife, Vanessa Sutton.

Before I even touched my fork, her brother Darren jumped in. "A couple days ago at a reunion, I heard this guy say his brother-in-law bought him a luxury condo when he got engaged—downtown, huge place, fully paid, fully furnished, just move in.

"And another dude? Dirt poor family, but his sister married some rich heir. Right after graduation, boom—a supercar. He totaled it in two days, and the guy didn't even care. Just bought him another."

Darren laid it on thick, eyes sliding to me the whole time.

Yeah. This was aimed straight at me.

He'd been spoiled his whole life. Dropped out of middle school, stayed home gaming, living off his parents. Now he was thirty—never worked a day, never dated. No one even bothered setting him up.

Until two months ago. He met some girl in a game and went all in on a long-distance thing. Sending her food, cash, everything. Already talking about meeting up and getting married.

I warned him about online scams. At two-fifty, he took it as me saying no attractive girl would ever want him. We blew up, and he hadn't spoken to me since.

So yeah, this whole act? Meant to get under my skin.

I ignored him and focused on Vanessa, placing food on her plate.

"Honey, don't you love roasted branzino? Try this."

Vanessa—who usually loved roasted branzino—picked up her fork, then paused when her mom, Jennifer, coughed beside her.

She set it back down. "Not in the mood. I'm not really hungry."

Something felt off. I paused mid-bite. "Jennifer, is something wrong with the food?"

We'd been married five years. Every holiday, I handled the groceries and cooking. I knew their tastes and restrictions by heart.

There shouldn't've been any mistakes.

Jennifer shot me a sideways look, a faint, mocking smile playing on her lips.

"Wade, I married my daughter to you to gain a son-in-law, not some clueless cook. Darren just went on and on—didn't you hear a word?"

Yeah, she was coming at me, but I kept it steady. "Since Vanessa and I got married, I've treated you like my own mom and Darren like my own brother.

"I've helped whenever I could. I even lined up over a dozen job opportunities for him.

"And three years ago, when he got hooked on online gambling, I paid off the twenty grand he owed—"

I didn't get to finish.

Darren chucked a wineglass at me, eyes twisted with a sneer. "Other guys hook their wife's brother up with houses and cars. Mine won't shut up about covering a lousy twenty grand.

"Wade Watson, transfer your house to me today, or I swear, I'll make my sister divorce you."

Ignoring the cut on the back of my hand, I froze.

"Darren... what kind of joke is this? You want my house?"