All Chapters of One Heart, Which Brother?: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

The bar was almost empty, save for the faint hum of jazz leaking from an old speaker and the bartender cleaning glasses without paying attention. Smoke curled in lazy swirls above half-drained bottles and ashtrays, a haze that blurred sharp edges.Ruben sat in the corner booth, coat draped across the seat beside him, a glass of bourbon untouched in front of him. His eyes were fixed on the door, sharp and calculating, though his chest was tight. He hadn’t agreed to this meeting out of peace. He agreed because some wars had too many graves already and Julian’s was still fresh enough to sting like salt on open skin.When the door creaked, Ken walked in. He looked nothing like the man who once carried himself like a king. His shoulders were heavy, his knuckles still bruised from a fight that never ended, and his eyes bloodshot, hollow dragged across the room until they locked with Ruben’s.Neither spoke at first. Ken slid into the opposite seat, ordered nothing, and sat with his hands cla

The Delwunco estate had been heavy for weeks, its air drenched with silence that pressed down like a suffocating shroud. Ruben had grown used to Lia’s cold, unshaken mask the way she spoke without trembling, moved without faltering, endured without shedding a single tear. Her grief was locked tight behind steel walls, and though he had carried his own pain, what destroyed him most was watching her refuse to break.But that morning, something shifted.He found her in Julian’s room. The door was ajar, and through the crack, Ruben saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching a small sweater in her hands. Julian’s sweater. The one he’d worn on rainy days, too big for him, sleeves swallowing his tiny arms.Lia’s head was bowed, her shoulders trembling. At first, Ruben thought it was another silent prayer, another moment of quiet resolve but then he heard it.The sound that gutted him.A sob. Raw. Broken. Torn from the depths of her chest.Her fingers dug into the fabric as if she coul

Chapter 176 The master bedroom smelled of sweat, sex, and tears. Moonlight cut across the room, silvery beams sliding over the discarded trail of clothing, the crumpled sheets, the wall of Julian’s photographs watching like silent witnesses.For once, the Delwunco estate was quiet not the kind of quiet that threatened, but the kind that came after a storm had ripped through and left everything trembling.Lia lay draped across Ruben’s chest, her ear pressed to the steady thrum of his heartbeat. It was a rhythm she had learned long ago, one she used to find comfort in. Tonight, it was different. Tonight, she could feel the cracks in it, the falters he had always hidden from her.His arm was still locked around her waist, his grip so tight it was as if letting go meant losing her forever. His thumb brushed absently along her spine, a restless movement that betrayed a man who was still bleeding inside.“You were right,” Ruben said at last, his voice low, hoarse, raw from shouting and fro

Chapter 178 The chandeliers of the Royale Grand shimmered like frozen constellations, dripping gold and crystal light onto the marble floor below. Music floated through the vast ballroom, violins swelling with elegance, laughter echoing beneath their high arches. The Delwunco name had returned to society’s stage, and tonight, every pair of eyes turned to them.Ruben’s arm was steady at Lia’s waist as they descended the sweeping staircase, and though the night belonged to donors, politicians, and magnates, it was Lia who owned the room. Not in the ruthless way she had been moving in recent months not as the widow reborn in black silk with fire in her eyes but as the wife.Her gown, midnight velvet, shimmered subtly under the light, its neckline bold yet dignified, the cut tailored to perfection. Diamonds, delicate and deliberate, traced her collarbone and caught the gleam of chandeliers. Tonight, Lia did not enter as the storm; she entered as Ruben’s partner refined, poised, and untou

Chapter 180 The night reeked of blood and smoke.The Delwunco estate had turned into a battlefield gunfire echoing through marble halls, bodies slumped against broken pillars, crimson smeared across the floors that once gleamed. The war Ruben swore he could contain had erupted in full, and the price was higher than anyone could have imagined.Lia stumbled through the wreckage, her black dress torn at the hem, her hands slick with blood none of it hers. Her chest heaved, her eyes wide as she searched the chaos for only one thing.“Ruben!”Her voice was raw, cracking.And then she saw him.Ruben lay crumpled near the staircase, his shirt soaked dark with blood, his body frighteningly still. His gun had slipped from his hand, lying useless by his side. For a terrifying moment, she thought he was already gone.“No… no, no, no,” she whispered, falling to her knees beside him. Her hands pressed against his chest, desperate to stop the bleeding. “Don’t you dare leave me. Don’t you dare leav