Library
Maghanap
Home / When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal / Chapter 1

Share

When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal
When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal
Author: Fortune Kitty

Chapter 1

Author: Fortune Kitty
My sister, Layla Biggs, saw the deadness in my eyes and tried every gentle argument she could think of.

"Edwin, we're not young anymore, and you have Casey to think about now," she said. "Take my advice. Turn a blind eye to things and just get through the days."

Layla was my blood sister. And she had been helping someone else lie to me.

Her husband, Toby Banks, stood beside her, one hand resting on my shoulder, playing peacemaker with just a little too much effort.

"Layla's right, Edwin. You've got a kid to raise. Do you really have what it takes to start all over?" he said. "Vince couldn't help it either. Years ago, his family went bankrupt, and they were buried in debt. With nowhere left to turn, his last assets were about to be auctioned off. Ariel was the one who saved him. He had no way to repay her, so he could only..."

Something in my chest twisted with pain.

Toby and I, along with Vince Weaver, had been inseparable since middle school. We'd sworn to be brothers for life.

And now, even though Toby knew perfectly well that Vince was the one in the wrong, he still wanted me to forgive him.

People's hearts always tilt toward someone.

It hadn't mattered that I once got into a fight defending Toby and ended up with eight stitches in my scalp. None of that counted for anything now.

I shook his hand off my shoulder and said coldly, "Toby, from today on, we're done."

He froze. At that exact moment, the office door was shoved open.

Ariel Winters's face was clouded over. She stared straight at me.

The other two took the hint and slipped out, leaving just the two of us in the office.

Ariel walked up to me and demanded, "Edwin, what the hell are you trying to do, making a scene in here?"

In all the years I'd known her, this was the first time she'd ever been this cold toward me.

I choked back the lump in my throat and shot back, "Ariel, tell me exactly what I ever did to wrong you. Why did you have to tangle yourself up with my best friend, to the point of having his child?"

Ariel caught the sorrow in my eyes and let out a soft sigh. She leaned her head against my chest and softened her voice.

"Edwin, don't worry. He'll never take your place."

My eyes stung. I stubbornly pushed her away.

I wasn't willing to share a wife with another man.

Ariel's brow furrowed slightly, and she spoke again. "Edwin, if this goes to court, I will fight for full custody of our daughter with everything I have. You already know how that would end. Do you really want Casey to suffer through that with you?"

I stared at her, a little dazed.

We'd fallen in love so young, and now, somehow, it had come down to fighting over our child.

Seeing the conflict on my face, Ariel's tone gentled further. "Just settle down and live your life. You and Casey will never want for anything, and out in the world you'll still be part of the Biggs family, still cutting the same fine figure you always have."

I buried the decision I'd already made deep inside and gave a small nod.

From that day on, I put on the mask of my old self again. I kept taking Casey to and from school like nothing had changed.

I stopped questioning Ariel on the nights she didn't come home.

I stopped leaving a light on for her.

I just quietly hired someone to gather evidence.

Then, one day, a familiar figure showed up at our door.

It was Vince Weaver, who I hadn't seen in a long time.

There was a certain awkwardness written across his face.

I used to think Vince had it rough. A few years back, he'd suddenly had a child in his life, one he was raising somewhere outside our circle. I'd sympathized with how hard things must have been for him, and I'd gone out of my way to help.

Nearly all of that child's daily necessities, I was the one who'd bought them.

I'd even brought up Vince's struggles to Ariel more than once, asking her to help him out.

Looking back now, I hadn't needed to say a word. The two of them had already been carrying on behind my back more times than I could count.

Vince stepped closer and said quietly, "Edwin, can we talk?"

I stopped walking and looked at him, my face blank.

"Whatever you have to say, just say it."

He glanced around at the people passing by, then lowered his voice. "Things didn't have to come to this. It was never my intention. Ariel and I... we've been together for years now, and our child is growing up fast. I just want everyone to be able to move on in peace.

"I never meant to wreck your life. It's just that when it comes to feelings, you can't always help yourself."

Listening to his hollow excuses, I sneered. "You don't have to pretend you couldn't help it."

I fixed my eyes on him, and something suddenly occurred to me. "Did you sleep with Ariel the night of my birthday?"

Patuloy na basahin ang aklat na ito nang libre
I-scan ang code upang i-download ang App
Nakaraang Kabanata Susunod na kabanata

Pinakabagong kabanata

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 8

    The days rolled on, and everyone found themselves trapped in the wreckage they'd made for themselves.Ariel had completely lost the will to run her company, and every part of the business ground to a halt.She moved into a cramped, run-down rental apartment and drank herself into oblivion, day and night. In her sober moments, she'd go through mine and Casey's belongings, poring over old photos of the three of us together. Every single picture was enough to break her down into tears.She made trip after trip out to the cemetery, rain or shine, kneeling there for a full day at a time.After Layla went completely bankrupt, she let every employee go and was left with nothing but one small, run-down apartment.Whenever she and Toby were in the same room, it was nothing but endless fighting.Toby kept bringing up the three of us as boys, confessing again and again that his own jealousy was what had gotten his best friend killed.Layla, for her part, blamed herself over and over, certa

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 7

    The chaos at the wake was over. The police had taken Vince into custody, and a long trial awaited him.The huge hall stood empty now, nothing left but wreckage scattered across the floor.Ariel sat slumped on a cushion, drained of all strength, staring at the two black-and-white memorial photos side by side. She stayed there the entire night.Just before dawn, she drove alone out to the cemetery.Ariel dropped to her knees in front of the headstone, the cold seeping instantly through her clothes. She laid the white roses gently at the base of the stone, her fingers tracing over and over the eyes and brows in my photograph.All those memories from the past came rushing back at once, like a tide.She remembered how, when we were young, I'd stood by her against my family's objections, sharing a cramped rented room barely bigger than a closet, splitting a cheap bowl of soup between us. Those had been hard times, but happy ones too.Maybe some people are only built to share hardship,

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 6

    Three days later, Casey and I shared a funeral together. The whole room was filled with the kind of white roses we'd both loved.Only a handful of friends and family showed up to pay their respects.Layla kept vigil at the left side of the wake for three days straight without sleeping, dark circles heavy under her eyes, the mark of a slap still visible on her cheek.She burned a stack of letters she'd written to me, apologizing under her breath, and in just a few days she'd aged what looked like a decade.Toby stood quietly to one side. The two of them didn't exchange a single word the entire time.They both knew it. Together, they'd gotten me killed.Nothing was left between them now but a gap neither of them could cross.Ariel knelt before the memorial photo, tears falling silently, murmuring "I'm sorry" over and over.As mournful music played low and the whole room stood in a moment of silence, the heavy doors of the wake were suddenly slammed open.Vince burst in, his hair

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 5

    I floated up above and watched Ariel, who looked like she'd lost her mind, rush toward the car like a woman gone mad.She was shaking all over as she stared at the two bodies, one large and one small, lying in a pool of blood, not knowing which of us to hold first. "Edwin, Casey, wake up, look at me. Please, I'm begging you..."Only silence answered her.I found myself wondering what she had to be so heartbroken about. Wasn't this exactly what she'd wanted? Now she could spend the rest of her life with Vince, without Casey and me standing in her way.A few minutes later, a stumbling figure broke through the crowd. It was Layla.She'd been at the cemetery handling the last of the digging when the call came, and she'd driven over recklessly fast, throwing caution to the wind.The moment she saw everything, her legs gave out from under her and she dropped straight to her knees in the rain-soaked mud.She threw herself onto the pavement, slick with blood and rain, and wailed at th

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 4

    There was no guardrail up here worth mentioning, and the wind this high up was fierce.Two small figures stood right at the edge of the roof. One wrong step and either of them could fall.One was my daughter, Casey, her small face flushed red. The girl standing across from her was Trinity Weaver, Vince and Ariel's daughter.I forced down the panic rising in my chest and stepped onto the roof slowly, keeping my voice as gentle as I could as I tried to calm the two of them down."Casey, Trinity, come over here first, all right? It's too dangerous up here. Whatever the problem is, we can talk it through."The moment Casey saw me, tears spilled from her eyes and she cried out, choking, "Daddy!"But Trinity stayed right where she was, at the edge of the roof, not backing down an inch.She turned to face me, dropping the polite mask completely, and shouted in front of everyone, "Don't act like you're so kind! You're the homewrecker! You're the one who stole my mommy!"The words lande

  • When Brotherhood Becomes Betrayal   Chapter 3

    Ariel's tone was perfectly calm, without a trace of guilt or hesitation."Get it arranged as soon as possible. Stop dragging things out and making Vince's condition worse."That single sentence hit me so hard I couldn't breathe.Back in middle school, Vince used to come over to my house all the time with Toby. My mother remembered that Vince loved steak, and every time he visited, she'd make it especially for him. Later, when his own mother fell gravely ill and passed away, the Weaver family was already bankrupt and drowning in debt, with nothing left in the house and not even enough to afford a coffin.It was my savings that gave his mother a proper burial.My mother and I had never once wronged him.And now he wasn't willing to let me be, not even while I was still alive, and he wouldn't leave the dead alone either.I bit down hard on my lip and said, my voice shaking, "Absolutely not. My mother has rested in peace for years. I won't move her grave."My refusal only enraged

Higit pang Kabanata

Maaari mong magustuhan

Galugarin at basahin ang magagandang nobela
Libreng basahin ang magagandang nobela sa GoodNovel app. I-download ang mga librong gusto mo at basahin kahit saan at anumang oras.
Libreng basahin ang mga aklat sa app
I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App
DMCA.com Protection Status