All Chapters of One Heart, Which Brother?: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The morning of the wedding arrived like a tidal wave. No gentle breeze, no soft warning.Just a crashing reality.My room was filled with people before the sun had even touched the sky. Stylists, decorators, photographers, designers each one moving with an urgency I couldn’t match. I blinked sleep from my eyes only to be greeted by voices barking orders I didn’t understand and hands pulling me in every direction.“Hair first, please she needs to be in full glam in two hours!” “No, that dress can’t hang like that, it needs to breathe!” “Where’s her tiara box? The real one, not the backup.” “Lia, darling, sit still we need to start your nails.”I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both.Because today wasn’t my day. It was their day. Delwunco day. The press, the spectacle, the royalty. A fairytale, they called it. One where I was the living doll.I sat silently as someone curled my hair, strand by strand. Another person worked on my hands. My eyes were already being shaded with golds and war

Two days after the wedding, the afterglow had barely settled before reality knocked dressed in formalwear and clutching champagne flutes.Ruben and I were hosting an “after party,” or more specifically, a formal welcome dinner in our new home. A soft launch into married life. Small. Elegant. Intimate. Just a few friends, business partners, and family. The calm after the chaos.But the real surprise wasn’t the guest list or the decor.It was the house.I hadn’t seen it before the wedding. Not even in passing. I had assumed like everyone else that we’d be living in the Delwunco estate, maybe in one of the family wings. I had braced myself for that reality. For the shadow of his parents always lingering.But this?This was different.The drive was nearly thirty minutes from the Delwinco estate long enough to feel like freedom, short enough for obligation to still find me.As we approached the gated entrance to a private estate branded with “R. Enterprises”, my brows furrowed. The black i

It had been four nights since the wedding.Four mornings of waking up in silk sheets, wrapped in expensive comfort, yet still carrying a weight I couldn't name.Ruben had been sweet. Gentle. Patient.But none of it erased how it started.He came into the room that evening barefoot, in a black shirt and loose joggers, holding two glasses of wine.He handed me a glass.“You’ve been quiet,” he said softly, brushing his knuckles across my cheek. “Too quiet.”I took the wine but didn’t drink it.He waited.I sat down on the edge of the bed, setting the glass on the nightstand before I looked up at him.“I need to say something.”He frowned slightly. “Okay…”My fingers twisted in my lap. My voice, when it came out, didn’t shake but it didn’t rise either.“You forced me into this, Ruben.”His entire posture stiffened, but I didn’t stop.“You blackmailed me,” I continued, my voice quiet but laced with all the fire I had swallowed for weeks. “You left me with no choice. You knew I loved you ba

The air was thick before I even stepped through the door.The moment I walked into the living room, I saw him Ruben, sitting stiffly on the edge of the couch, jaw ticking, tie undone, eyes sharp.“I told you to call me when you're leaving the house.”I barely paused. “I was doing college documentation, Ruben. Not running a drug ring.”He stood. “You’re not listening to me, Lia.”“No,” I shot back, turning to face him. “You’re not listening to me. You treat me like a damn prisoner every time I breathe without your permission.”“I’m protecting you,” he said, voice low, dangerous.“No,” I snapped, stepping closer. “You’re controlling me. You’ve been controlling me since day one. Since you blackmailed me into this marriage.”His jaw clenched. “Don’t start.”“Why not? Afraid of the truth?” I scoffed. “I never asked for this. You know I didn’t. You made sure I had no other choice. Now every time I try to do something normal anything at all there’s a fleet of guards around me like I’m some c

It was almost noon when I heard the intercom buzz.I was curled up on the living room couch, flipping through a textbook, trying to distract myself from the heavy silence that had settled over the house since Ruben left that morning. We hadn’t spoken since our argument, and while the quiet gave me space to breathe, it also gave my thoughts too much room to spiral.“Ma’am,” the housekeeper called softly, “Mr. Ken is here to see you.”Ken?I blinked, setting the book aside. “Uh yeah. Let him in.”He walked in like he always did, with that casual confidence and slight smirk that made it hard to tell whether he was serious or just mocking the world. Today, he wore black slacks and a crisp white shirt, the sleeves casually rolled to his elbows. He looked nothing like a man who’d just flown halfway across the country for business.“You look like hell,” he said, giving me a once-over before collapsing into the seat across from me.“Thanks, Ken. Always a pleasure.”He grinned. “Just being hon