บททั้งหมดของ TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE; My Brother's Best Friend : บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

Ethan's POVI glared up at the ceiling as soon as I walked into the bedroom, letting my body fall onto the bed like dead weight. The ceiling fan whirred lazily above me, but it did nothing to quiet the din of thoughts in my head.Everything today had been a blur of frustration and unasked questions. Benson's condescending statements, Aaron sitting there, acting like none of it mattered, the way he told me to leave it.Leave it.I could still hear him speaking — cool, calm, detached — slicing into my head like a blade. I had been in a bad mood ever since that accursed meeting, and it had not dissipated, not even when we'd departed the office, not even now that the day was done.I scratched a hand down over my face, snarling. "What the devil is the matter with me?"The penthouse was too quiet. The kind of silence that made every thought echo louder than it did.I got up, tossing my jacket across the bed, my shoes clanking somewhere close to the door. I did not enjoy being so wound up,

Ethan's POVMorning arrived too early. I dried my lips and steeled myself for the worst — a conversation with Aaron.He hadn't come back again last night, which had given me too much time to think. Whatever urgent business he had to transact, I'd resolved to insist on this morning. He was maybe coming to call off the deal. Since my tantrum yesterday, after all the ado over Benson, it wouldn't be a surprise.Fine. Let him. I told myself that I didn't mind.I fiddled with my hair, staring at myself. The black blouse caressed my biceps, and the white trousers radiated a sharp contrast — a proper nine-to-five look. It made me look like Aaron — clean-cut, corporate, detached. Only I only dressed up for obligations.With an hour left before work, I headed downstairs, hoping to get some coffee and recharge before addressing whatever conversation lay ahead.But God had other plans.Aaron was sitting there. At the dining table, with his coffee cup, staring at his phone."Good morning," I said

Ethan's POVAll the ideas swimming around me were good—well, almost good. Good enough to awe, but they all had a problem that might haunt me if I couldn't find a solution.I sat there staring at the jumble of drawings, papers, and charts, the weight of the impending AW Group competition bearing down on me like a mountain. Every idea read so well on paper until I started to think about how it was really going to function.And that was my issue.Every single one of them had a hole in it, and if I couldn't fill those holes by Monday, I was going to fail—publicly.Amanda Sterling would finally have the last laugh.Not on my watch.There was no chance that I was going to let her. Not after the way she'd stared at me all week, as if I were just a pretty face who somehow happened to find myself in the company by accident.This was my moment. To show everyone that I wasn't just some pity applicant or some guy who had stumbled into his position through friends. I was going to win this competi

Ethan's POVI hadn't said more than three words to Aaron since we'd gotten into the car.He tried, once or twice, to make small talk, but I murdered it with half-answers and a constant stare out the dark window. I had no clue what the hell was wrong with me.What was that just now?That ridiculous daydream, that fake-real kiss that had felt too real to be just imagination. It had unsettled me more than I cared to admit.I ran a hand through my hair, sighing quietly. Maybe it was the sleepless nights—the long hours on the project, tonight's stress, the endless cycle of coffee and nerves. Maybe I was just exhausted.Yeah, that was probably it.Still, I kept a cautious inch of space between us in the vehicle, as though proximity itself would be a betrayal of what had transpired in my head.By the time we reached the gala, I'd all but managed to shove the entire mental debacle aside. Almost.The door was opened, and light attacked me like a spotlight. I blinked, momentarily blinded.The

Aaron's POVIt was ironic that silence could be deafening.The hum of the city filtered in through large windows, lights blinking over the marble floor, and there was Ethan — slumped over his computer, covered in papers, his brows drawn in concentration. The faint glow from the screen kissed his skin, outlining the same boy I’d fallen for years ago — the one who used to sit at the dorm room desk, tapping a pen against his lip while sketching impossible ideas on crumpled paper.He hadn’t changed much.Still stubborn. Still tireless. Still beautiful when he was focused.Then he would glare at me when I attempted to help, telling me I distracted him. And I always did, because I couldn't take my eyes away. There was something compulsive in his silent persistence, the way he continued even when the odds were against him.Now, years later, that same look was on his face again. But this time, he wasn't that foolish boy with careless dreams — he was a man who knew how to build walls tall eno