All Chapters of Rival's Marriage Agreement : Chapter 41 - Chapter 49

Cameron’s POVBy the time the sun dipped outside Brandon’s window, we had gone through the flash drive three times. Every file. Every screenshot. Every stupid audio clip that made me want to throw the laptop out the window. My head felt full — like someone had poured boiling water into my skull and expected me to smile about it.Brandon sat cross-legged beside me on the bed, tapping his fingers against his knee in that restless way he gets when he’s thinking too fast.“So,” he said finally, “we’ve got a hundred receipts and a stepbrother with the emotional maturity of a mango. What’s our next move?”I groaned. “We confront him.”Brandon blinked like I’d just suggested wrestling a bear. “Cam—”“No. We need answers. Real ones.” I rubbed my face. “I’m done letting him play games while we just sit here freaking out.”Brandon looked unconvinced. “Your brother is literally sabotaging your life from the shadows like a budget Batman villain. Confronting him sounds like chapter one of a true c

Cameron’s POV I woke up before my alarm.Which is weird, because normally I’d need like three alarms and a threat from God himself to drag me out of bed. But something about today felt different. Lighter. Calmer. Maybe it was because Brandon fell asleep on my shoulder last night after “helping me study”—which was really just him telling me I was smart every five minutes—but still.I hadn’t meant for him to stay the night. He didn’t mean to either. We were supposed to study. That was the plan. But then we kissed and talked and kissed again and the next thing I knew, he was out cold, half on my pillow, half on my chest, breathing like someone who trusted me.I didn’t want to move him.So I didn’t.Now he was lying beside me, stretched out like he owned the entire bed. His curls were squished to one side, his mouth slightly open, and his hand was still loosely holding mine.I stared at him for way too long.Don’t judge me.It’s his fault for looking peaceful and stupidly attractive at t

Cameron’s POV If someone had told me this morning that my night would end with Brandon holding my hand and willingly walking into my room again, I would’ve laughed. Or panicked. Or both. But right now?Right now the world felt quiet.Too quiet.We stepped inside, and the door clicked shut behind us. My room looked the same—notes everywhere, hoodie on the chair, blankets half-folded—but something in the air felt… off. Like the universe was holding its breath.Brandon didn’t seem to notice. He walked to my bed, sat down, and smiled at me. “You okay?”“I think so.”“You think so?” he teased gently.I sat beside him. “I didn’t expect today to do… all that.”“Me neither,” he laughed softly. “But I’m not complaining.”He leaned forward like he wanted to kiss me again—then my phone buzzed.Once.Twice.Then again, buzzing so aggressively it shook the entire desk.I frowned. “Who the hell—”Brandon’s expression changed instantly. “Cameron. Don’t check it.”“Why?”“Just—” he reached for my ha

Cameron’s POVI don’t know why my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.Like, genuinely shaking.I thought seeing Brandon on those bleachers after school would calm me down, help me breathe, maybe even give me back a piece of the sanity I’d lost overnight. But instead… it felt like staring straight into a storm and realizing it was my own feelings tearing me apart.And now I was in my room, pacing like a crazy person, dragging my fingers through my hair until it hurt.Everything felt loud.My heartbeat.My thoughts.The stupid echo of his voice saying, “I won’t stop fighting for you.”God. Why did that make my chest hurt even more?My phone buzzed on the table. I froze. I didn’t move for a whole five seconds before I finally reached for it, half-expecting Brandon, half-hoping it wasn’t, because I honestly didn’t know if my heart could take more.But it wasn’t him.It was Drake.Drake: “We’re still talking tonight, right?”My stomach twisted.Talking? No. Arguing? More accurate. Because I wasn’

By the time lunch rolled around, my brain felt like it had been wrung out, hung up, and put through emotional laundry three times. Talking to Brandon that morning helped—a lot. It felt like we’d finally stepped out of the fog. But the fog didn’t lift entirely.Not when the blackmail was still unsolved.Not when Peter still walked these halls like a ghost with secrets.And definitely not when Drake kept hovering like a storm cloud I wasn’t ready to deal with again.So when Brandon found me near my locker and said, “I think I know what we need to do,” my stomach clenched—not from fear but from that weird thrill I only get when he’s about to say something totally reckless.“What?” I asked.He looked around the hallway once, lowered his voice, and said,“We’re checking Peter’s room again.”My heart practically yeeted itself out of my chest. “Are you insane? We already checked it.”“Yeah, when we were panicked and rushed,” he countered. “But now we know more. We know someone helped Drake.