All Chapters of One Heart, Which Brother?: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I didn’t sleep that night.Even long after I changed out of the dress and washed off the makeup, Daphne’s words clung to my skin like something I couldn’t scrub off. You’re a whore. The way she said it like I wasn’t her best friend, like she didn’t know me sliced deeper than anything Ruben or Ken had ever done.I kept replaying everything. The garden. Her face. Her voice. The storm in her eyes.I didn't even say yes. Not really. I nodded like a coward caught in headlights. But maybe the damage had already been done long before then.I didn’t go to school the next day. My chest felt too tight. My head, too heavy. I stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember who I even was before all this. Before Ruben. Before Ken. Before that dinner table that turned my entire world inside out.By afternoon, my mother knocked gently and peeked in. “You okay, Lia?”I didn’t answer immediately. I just nodded, and that seemed to satisfy her. She didn’t push. She never did.Later, I finally g

Chapter 13 — The Gala NightIt was the night everyone had been waiting for the Delwinco family's gala event.An annual affair of class and spectacle. But this year, it was more than just tradition. This year, it was about me and Ruben.Our engagement was finally going to be announced publicly.The mansion was alive with glowing chandeliers, golden threads of laughter, and the clinking of glasses. The Delwuncos were hosts, yes but more than that, they were thrilled. The engagement meant more than just a celebration. It was a symbol. A merging of two very different worlds: theirs and mine.Even my mum was glowing with silent pride.She never said it directly, but I could feel it in her eyes. She was given the whole day off to prepare her first in months. She practically danced around the house, humming old love songs, fussing over the perfect dress, turning our small space into a fitting room full of scattered shoes and hair pins.“Lia,” she beamed, spinning in her wine-colored gown, “D

I didn’t want to go at first.Not because I didn’t want to try on a wedding dress but because the moment I did, it would start to feel real. Permanent. I wasn’t sure I could handle that. Not when everything inside me still felt like glass hanging on the edge of a table.But Daphne wouldn’t hear it.She stormed into my room just after breakfast, face painted in determination and a fresh coat of lip gloss, waving a schedule in one hand and a cinnamon bun in the other.“Up. Now. It’s your first fitting,” she announced like it was a royal decree.I didn't argue. Truthfully, I was just grateful to have her talking to me again. Having her by my side felt like breathing again after holding my breath for days. I didn't have to pretend as much when she was near at least not until someone said "wedding" or "Ruben."The car that came for us was sleek black luxury, as usual. The bridal atelier was deep in the city, nestled between tall glass buildings and designer showrooms. The kind of place I w

Mum was humming. Again.She’d been doing that a lot lately walking lighter, smiling fuller, floating around the house like someone had peeled a heavy coat of burden off her shoulders.I was at the dining table, nursing a half-eaten piece of toast, when she walked in from the back garden, wiping her hands on her apron.“You won’t believe what happened today,” she said, cheeks glowing like sunrise. She reached for the kettle, poured herself some tea, and sat beside me without waiting for a response.“Mrs. Delwunco called me into the sitting lounge. I thought something was wrong, you know, with the menu or the gala schedule, but” she giggled, actually giggled, “she said it was time I stopped working in the kitchen.”I blinked, slowly setting down my tea. “Wait what?”Mum nodded, eyes shining. “She said I need to rest. Take time to focus on your wedding. That they’ve already started looking for someone else to take over the kitchen team permanently.”My throat tightened.“She said… after

The morning light poured in too early, too eager like it wanted to drag me into another day I hadn’t agreed to.I’d barely opened my eyes when my phone buzzed with a reminder:"10:00 AM - Bridal Magazine Interview (Delwunco PR team arranged) - Dress up!! Now.I wanted to throw the phone across the room.But I didn’t. Because, this was my life now. Press releases. Photoshoots. Carefully staged smiles. Questions I didn’t want to answer about a man I didn’t love, and a wedding I didn’t want.The Delwuncos had arranged a feature in one of the country’s most elite wedding publications. A full-page spread. Ruben and I on the cover. The “golden couple” of the season. A fairytale written in diamond-encrusted lies.And yet—I got up.I showered. Let the glam team in. Let them touch and paint and perfect.Even when my reflection no longer looked like me, I said nothing. Because silence was easier than resistance.Daphne wasn’t around this morning. She had errands, Ruben said. Probably coordinati