Chapter 4

Aaron Cole

“Brother, welcome back to Ashton City. It’s been far too long.”

Derick’s voice carried a thin layer of warmth as he stood at the edge of the private airstrip, arms open in greeting.

Aaron Cole walked down the steps of his sleek private jet, his tall, powerfully built frame commanding attention...with broad shoulders strained against his tailored black coat, and an unmistakable aura of raw masculinity and authority radiated from him.

He was away for five years...building a tech empire and perfecting his reputation as one of the country’s most formidable lawyers...had only intensified the presence of the eldest Cole brother.

Aaron’s cold blue eyes narrowed the instant he noticed the woman draped possessively on Derick’s arm...Lilly Ford, a curvaceous red head in a revealing red dress, smiling like she belonged there.

She couldn't even hide the shame in her eyes when she nearly drooled over Aaron.

He stared at her as if she were something filthy that had crawled onto his shoe. His gaze then shifted to his younger brother, cold and unblinking.

“Why are you welcoming me with a mistress instead of your wife?” Aaron demanded, his deep voice low and edged with steel. “Where is Laura?”

Derick’s smile faltered for a split second before arrogance took over. He snarled, tightening his grip on Lilly. “Laura? That pathetic woman is rotting in jail for trying to poison me. We divorced years ago. She’s no longer my concern....or yours.”

Aaron’s jaw clenched. Without hesitation, his hand cracked across Derick’s face in a hard, resounding slap that echoed across the tarmac.

Derick staggered back, clutching his stinging cheek, shock flashing in his eyes.

“You embarrassment,” Aaron growled, disgust dripping from every word. “Laura would never hurt a fly. She’s fragile, confined to a wheelchair. What possible harm could she cause? I know you, Derick. This reeks of your cruelty. I knew you never deserved her.”

“How dare he?“ Aaron thought, anger boiling beneath his controlled exterior. “I stayed away too long. I should have checked on her. Laura was always kind, brilliant...far too good for my worthless brother.“

Derick rubbed his cheek, trying to regain his composure. “Aaron, listen. She changed after her family died. She became unstable. I had evidence.....”

“Enough with your lies,” Aaron cut him off sharply, refusing to entertain another word. “I’ve already confirmed it. You’ve been mistreating her....My own sister-in-law....for years. Locking her away, drugging her, stripping her of everything. You disgust me.”

Derick’s face paled as he registered the seriousness in Aaron’s tone. He stepped closer, voice turning pleading. “Aaron, you don’t understand the full story. She was dangerous. I feared for my life....”

“Where is she being held?” Aaron interrupted again, his tone leaving no room for argument.

After several minutes of tense interrogation, Derick finally muttered the name of the prison, his shoulders slumping in reluctant defeat.

Aaron gave him one last cold look before turning on his heel. “Stay out of my way, Derick. If I find out you’ve hurt her any more than you already have, you’ll regret the day you were born.”

As Aaron’s car disappeared into the night, Derick stood frozen on the tarmac, his face twisting with raw fury. Lilly reached for his arm, but he violently shrugged her off.

“That meddling bastard,“ Derick fumed internally, rage boiling in his veins. “He thinks he can swoop in after five years and play hero? No. I won’t let him ruin everything I’ve built on her ruins.“

He yanked out his phone with shaking fingers and dialed a number. “It’s me. Handle it tonight. Blow up Laura’s cell block. Make it look like an accident. Make sure she doesn’t survive.”

A dark, satisfied smirk slowly spread across Derick’s face as he ended the call.

“Let’s see if you manage to save that useless cripple now, Aaron,” he muttered to himself, eyes gleaming with malicious triumph. “She’ll be nothing but ashes.”

*****

Derick Cole

“How dare he slap me because of her?”

Derick’s cheek still burned from Aaron’s slap as he paced inside his luxury car with Lilly sitting silently beside him playing the perfect little comforter.

The sting was nothing compared to the anger raging in his chest. His older brother was so tall, built like a damn Greek god, always acting superior....had returned and immediately started questioning everything.

“Aaron thinks he’s so much better than me,“ Derick thought bitterly, clenching his fists. “Always has. But I’m the one who took everything from Laura. The company, the money, the power. And now he wants to play savior?“

He glanced at Lilly, who was wisely keeping quiet. “Drive faster,” he snapped at the chauffeur.

The image of Aaron’s cold stare and that humiliating slap replayed in his mind.

Derick had tried to explain, had tried to paint Laura as the villain, but his brother hadn’t believed a single word.

“He knows too much already. If Aaron finds Laura and hears her side… everything could crumble.“

Derick’s jaw tightened as fresh anger surged through him.

He refused to let his brother undo years of careful planning. Laura was supposed to stay broken and forgotten in that prison. She was supposed to die slowly from the pills, not be rescued.

Derick was determined to silence Laura and keep her under his control.

He pulled out his phone again, his smirk returning as he replayed the call he had just made.

“Make sure it’s done cleanly,” he had ordered. “No survivors in that block. Burn it down.”

Derick leaned back against the leather seat, a cold chuckle escaping his lips.

“Let’s see how your precious rescue mission goes when there’s nothing left to save,” he whispered to the empty night. “That useless cripple belongs in the ground, not in your arms, Aaron.”