Lahat ng Kabanata ng TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE; My Brother's Best Friend : Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

Aaron's POVEthan’s voice used to calm me.Now it scraped down my spine like broken glass.“He saved you?”The question wasn’t just a question — it was an accusation, a demand, a wound ripped open. His eyes were hard, bright, shaking. I did that. I put that pain there.And it killed me.“What do you mean he saved you? Saved you from what? What the hell did you get yourself into that you needed saving?”I swallowed.God, of all the things I’d ever wanted, telling him this was last on the list. But lying?No. I couldn’t lie anymore. Not to him. Not when he was staring at me like I was a stranger wearing someone he used to love.“I need you to listen E—”“Don’t call me that.”The words came out sharp, cutting right through me.“You don’t deserve to say my name.”I felt that.Right in my ribs.He had every right to say it. And still — it crushed me.I stepped closer before I could stop myself, hands trembling because I wanted to reach for him but I knew he’d move away.“I didn’t just disa

Aaron’s POVI ran.I ran so fast my lungs burned and my legs felt like wet sand. The cold slapped my face as I bolted away from the lake, my heart thundering so loudly it drowned out the world. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. The image of Paul slipping under the dark water was already tattooed behind my eyelids.I ran until my house came into view.My hands were trembling so hard I missed the doorknob twice before finally getting it open. The warm air of the living room hit me and for a second I thought I might pass out.I had done it.I had actually done it.He was gone, in the lake, not coming back.The nausea came instantly.Mum would be home in less than an hour.I dropped to my knees, my breath coming in short, sharp bursts as the weight of everything slammed into me. I didn’t have the luxury to break down right now. I didn’t have time.The kitchen.I forced myself to stand and move toward it. The sight hit me like a punch: the dark stains on the floor, the smears on the cabinet,

Aaron’s POVI don’t remember how long I sat on the cold floor after Ethan ran out minutes, maybe hours—but the moment the front door slammed shut, something inside me collapsed with it. The house went unbearably still. A quiet so sharp it carved through my ribs and left everything raw, exposed, bleeding.He was gone.And this time, I knew he wasn’t coming back.My throat tightened, burning. I forced in a breath. A man’s breath. Controlled. Steady. But the tears betrayed me anyway, gathering hot at the corners of my eyes, slipping down before I could blink them away.I dragged a shaking hand over my face.“Get it together,” I whispered to the empty room. No one heard. No one needed to. I sounded pathetic enough without an audience.The guilt tasted metallic on my tongue. Ethan deserved better. He always had. From the moment I dragged him into this mess, I knew I wasn’t good enough for him. I knew someone like me—someone stitched together with lies and old sins—should have let him go be

Ethan’s POVThe lights of the airport seemed harsher than usual: too bright, too white, seeming to point out every crack in me. I kept my head down and moved through the crowd, hands buried deep in my pockets to stop them from shaking. My flight wasn't for another hour, but I couldn't sit. Couldn't breathe right. Couldn't think beyond the throbbing behind my ribs.TexasHome.I really was going back.I shouldn't have been nervous, but I was. My chest was tight the whole time I waited to board, and when the line finally started to move, my legs almost buckled. I clutched my backpack like it was the only solid thing left in my life.The plane was cold. Too cold. I pressed my forehead to the window as the city lights shrank beneath me. New York, the place that was to be my new beginning, had swallowed me whole instead.Hours had passed, yet I barely felt them. I dozed off and on, awakening with a jerk each time flashes of the last forty-eight hours attacked my mind: Aaron's confession, t

Ethan’s povLight streamed in from the curtains, warm and too bright. I blinked up at the ceiling, confused for a moment. I hadn’t planned on sleeping this long—heck, I hadn’t planned on sleeping, period. But my body must have known it was in for a long day of being wrung out from yesterday’s emotional overload. Honestly? I’d earned it. I’d cried, I’d ranted, I’d lost it in front of people who cared for me. That in itself would take a toll on anyone.I let out a long breath, running a hand over my face.I felt I had to tell them.Today."Get it over with."Another sigh, this time a bit heavier, left my body. I felt a little strange as I stood up from my bed, as if my legs were bearing all of the weight I still felt I had to say.So when I went downstairs, it was a loud house, a lively and chaotic house, in the very way I remembered. There was laughter, dishes, the television that someone hadn’t turned off in the living room. And then—“THERE he is!”Before I could react, I found myse