Lahat ng Kabanata ng Better Brother, Better Life: Kabanata 431 - Kabanata 440

Phoebe watched as Gideon pulled the camera back. He had broad shoulders—even with the lens zoomed out a bit, they still didn't fully fit in the frame.But she could see the seats behind him. He really was at the airport. Only then did it fully hit her what he'd just said. Her heart gave a sharp thud.Leona was finally coming!Before this, Phoebe had asked Gideon for a photo of Leona, but he didn't have one. Leona had once said she wanted to come to Seavale early, stay with Gideon for a while, and rebuild their mother-son bond.Gideon had shot her down without even thinking and told her he was staying with his girlfriend. In the end, Leona hadn't come. She had only come to Seavale right before Philip's birthday.In hindsight, Phoebe began to piece it together. She figured that Gideon and Leona's relationship was likely no more than passable, but his decision to personally pick her up at the airport showed they weren't entirely estranged. At the very least, he respected her and took

The first time Gideon remembered meeting Leona was when he was three years old.Leona had come to meet him while she'd had some time off from work. Gideon had been told in advance that someone called "Mom" was coming to meet him.After watching the other kids around him, he'd understood that a mom was supposed to be the most important person he could depend on completely, so he'd been both excited and nervous.When he had actually met Leona, the first thing that struck him was how stunningly, almost extravagantly beautiful she was. He had thought to himself that his mom was way prettier and taller than all the other moms. He'd been so intimidated that he couldn't even speak.He had shuffled timidly up to her, stammered for what felt like forever, and finally managed to ask, "Who are you?"Leona had crouched at the time and given him a slow once-over. The way she had looked at him—like she was sizing him up and finding him lacking—had felt terrifying to three-year-old Gideon.He h

Gideon was about to reply that Leona didn't need him to keep her company at all, but he held back. He texted, "She's got stuff to do.""Oh," Phoebe typed. She didn't push the conversation any further. "Then come pick me up at 6:00 pm.""Okay."After just a short exchange with Phoebe, Gideon's mood lifted noticeably. He pulled up the photos they'd taken together at the movies, scrolled through them until he'd looked his fill, then locked his phone.The scenery outside the window wasn't anything worth looking at. It was similar to how none of his memories were particularly good, but he remembered every single one.Gideon remembered the second time he'd seen Leona again, which was the following year. She'd shown her disdain for him more openly than before. He'd only been four then. She'd flipped through his schoolwork, got a few pages in, and decided she couldn't stand to look anymore.After he'd moved back to Jeriton, her standards for him had shot even higher. From then on, her di

Gideon didn't need comforting, just like how he couldn't relate to how Joseph had felt. To him, this whole deal with Leona didn't matter one way or the other.But Phoebe's gesture still got to him. She had sensitively picked up on his mood and made him caramel pudding while he wasn't around. That kind of thoughtfulness made him feel cared about. And it felt good—so good that he almost couldn't keep his feelings for her in check.He already harbored a one-sided love for her, but the more time they spent together, the deeper it got. It was like he was falling harder every day.Right now, all he wanted was to pull her close. Just looking at her, he could already picture it—her waist was tiny enough that one arm was enough to wrap around it and pull her close to him. Then, he could do all the things he'd been thinking about.Meanwhile, Phoebe had no clue how dangerous his thoughts had become, how filthy some of them had turned…And it was all because of one small, sweet thing she'd do

The next day, Phoebe was seated in the CEO's office at Atlas Entertainment. Sunlight poured in through the glass windows, warming her skin just right.She'd spent three years in Spectrum Group's secretariat and had picked up solid management skills. She'd also learned exactly how a massive corporation actually ran on a day-to-day basis.Thanks to that foundation, she stepped into the CEO role with remarkable ease, despite having no prior experience running a company or managing people. Coupled with her natural ability to learn quickly, she soon had the entertainment agency largely under control.So, she built a custom internal app for the company herself. Every employee's tasks, KPIs, and reporting lines were clearly defined. New hires could log in and get up to speed in record time. There wouldn't be any management chaos that would waste resources.Creating apps was her specialty, anyway. Once it was live, anyone could check the company's situation in seconds without needing to be