บททั้งหมดของ TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE; My Brother's Best Friend : บทที่ 211 - บทที่ 220

Aaron’s POVTwo weeks passed slower than any punishment I had ever lived through.Now it was the night before my official court case—the one that decided everything—and I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff with my hands tied behind my back, staring into a bottomless drop.The burner phone felt too small in my hands, like it couldn’t possibly carry the weight of what I needed to say. I dialed Cheryl anyway. She picked up on the second ring.“Hello?” she whispered, voice soft. Probably hiding in a different room again.“It’s me,” I muttered. “Aaron.”“Oh—hey.” She exhaled, the kind of breath that sounded like it was held too long.“How are you holding up? It’s tomorrow…”I ran my hand down my face. “I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know what to expect. I just… I just want it to be over, Cheryl. My whole life has been one long panic attack for the last month. I just need tomorrow to come so I can finally breathe.”“Aaron…” she said softly.“I’m scared,” I admit

Aaron’s POVI expected worse.That was the first thought that crossed my mind when the judge struck the gavel and the words two years imprisonment settled into the air like dust after an explosion.Two years.Not life.Not the grave I had already dug for myself in my head.One of the perks of having one of the best lawyers defend you I guess.Two years… I could do two years.Right?I didn’t know.My mind felt like a shattered mirror—pieces reflecting different emotions, none of them whole, none of them making any sense. Shock, relief, dread, disbelief… all swirling together in a storm that made it impossible for me to think straight.Before I had fully processed it, the bailiff had already stepped forward.“Warner, let’s move.”His voice was firm, emotionless. He gestured for me to stand.I did.Everything felt distant. Muffled. Like someone had stuffed cotton into my ears.The courtroom around me was dissolving—the whispers, the murmurs, the collective inhale of people trying to und

Connor's POVI laid on my bed in my parents’ house, massaging my hand through my hair over and over, trying to shake off some of the tension that had been crawling through my muscles for what felt like days.My head rang in a hundred different ways. I really wish I could pretend I didn’t give a damn about Aaron, that I didn't give a damn sentencing about his life.but clearly, that wasn’t even close to happening. He deserved it.I thought it to myself, quiet and heavy. Then I said it out loud, my voice softer.“He deserved it.”But saying it out loud didn’t make it easier. It didn’t stop the knot in my chest from tightening or my heart from clenching. There was something about watching people you thought you knew, watching them change into something else entirely. Something darker. Something… unrecognizable.Everything was just fucked up.And then there was Mandy.I nearly groaned at the image of her crossing my mind, how soft she felt underneath me, how perfect she was.I couldn’

Sandra’s POVI watched his smile grow wider at my remark…Foolish boy. He couldn’t help it if he tried.“It’s just—” Connor rubbed his hands over his face, clearly frustrated. “I wanted to give her a job. Stability. A place to stay by my side. I don’t get why she’s upset.”I nearly rolled my eyes. The nerve of this boy. Instead, I offered him a gentle smile.“Oh, Connor… when will you change?”His head snapped toward me, confused.“Change? What do you mean change, Mom?”“You take just after your father.”“In what ways?” His eyebrows knitted together. “I’m confused.”I let out a small sigh. “How do you not see it? You met a woman who was independent, with her own job and her own life, and you think you can just waltz in—like the man that you are—and fix everything for her.”He opened his mouth to argue.I raised a hand. “Let me finish.”He slumped back against the pillows.“When I was pregnant with you,” I began, “your father wouldn’t even let me take a shower on my own.”Connor scrunc

AARON’S POVThey said prison gets easier with time.That after a few months, the routines stop feeling like punishment; they become survival.That familiarity breeds comfort.That you adapt.They all fucking lied.Every single one of them.I’ve been here for a year now, and every day is a new punishment wrapped in the same grey walls.“ROLL CALL!”The metal door slid open, scraping the concrete like it hated us as much as the guards did. I dragged myself out of the bunk. The air smelled like sweat, steel, and that thick disinfectant they pretend makes this place clean.Mark was already standing outside his cell, rubbing a hand over his face.Mark—the closest thing I had to a friend in this place. He was in for financial fraud. Two hundred thousand dollars stolen from the government because he was desperate to feed a daughter and a pregnant wife.He hadn’t seen them in two years. And I couldn't imagine how hard that must have been for him.He carried that guilt like a chain around his