All Chapters of In the Arms of the Enemy’s Brother : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Liam’s POV The city lights blurred past the windshield, smeared by the rain sliding down the glass. I sat in the driver’s seat of the Maybach, engine off, my hands gripping the wheel as if letting go would mean losing control of everything that mattered. My chest still burned from the tension of the last few hours. Chloe. The hotel. The bridal shower. Everything had escalated too quickly. But so what? She would understand. She always did. I inhaled, slow, deep, letting the air fill my lungs. The street outside was empty. Quiet. The perfect setting for thinking. For planning. For waiting. She would come back. She always came back. That thought alone was enough to steady me. I didn’t regret what happened. Not really. It was one mistake, and she would see it that way too. I let my hand rest on the gear shift, fingers tapping lightly. My mind replayed her face, shocked and wide-eyed, when she walked into the hotel room. That look would fade. It had to. It was temporary. Temporary emot

Serena’s POV By the fourth day, I stopped counting the hours. Time in the penthouse didn’t move the way it used to. There were no alarms, no schedules, no reminders telling me where to be or who I needed to become for the day. Morning slipped into afternoon without warning. Night came quietly, like it didn’t want to disturb me. I slept when my body gave up. Not because I was tired because staying awake hurt too much. Sleep came in pieces. I would drift off on the couch with a movie playing, then wake up hours later with my neck stiff and my mouth dry. Sometimes I made it to the bed. Sometimes I didn’t. The floor-to-ceiling windows showed a city that never rested, lights blinking and fading like distant stars. I felt like I was watching life from behind glass. I hadn’t stepped outside since I arrived. Not once. The idea of opening the door made my chest tighten. Outside meant people. Noise. Questions. Eyes that might look at me too closely and see that something was broken. So

Serena’s POV Morning came softly this time. Not like the first days, when I woke up choking on memories and panic, my chest tight before my eyes even opened. Not like the nights when sleep felt like falling off a cliff and waking felt like hitting the ground all over again. This morning was… quieter. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the pale light slipping through the tall windows of my dad’s penthouse. The city below hummed in the distance cars, horns, voices blending into one steady sound. Life continuing, whether I was ready for it or not. I lay there for a moment, still, listening to my own breathing. It was steady. That surprised me. It’s been a week since I ran out of that hotel room with my heart in pieces and my dignity stripped bare. One week since I shut the world out and crawled into this quiet, expensive place like a wounded animal. The first few mornings had been unbearable. I’d wake up already exhausted, like I’d spent the whole night fighting somethin

Liam’s POV I stayed in the car long after the engine went silent. The building loomed ahead of me, tall and quiet, its glass face reflecting the pale morning sky. It looked calm. Untouched. Like nothing ugly had ever happened inside it. I rested my forehead briefly against the steering wheel, eyes closed, not because I was tired, but because my thoughts were loud. Too loud. They circled back to the same place again and again, like a needle stuck on a record. She’d been gone for a week now. Seven days since she walked out of that hotel room without saying a word. Seven days since she decided silence was an acceptable punishment. I exhaled slowly and straightened, opening my eyes. The street was already awake. Cars passed. People walked their dogs. A woman laughed into her phone as she crossed the road. Life moved on. I checked my watch. Just past eight. Serena should be awake by now. She hated sleeping late. Said it made her feel like she was wasting time. I coul

Chloe’s POV It’s been weeks since the bridal shower exploded. Weeks since Serena walked into that master suite, saw everything, and ran like her entire world had just shattered in front of her eyes. I woke up at exactly 9:17 a.m., tangled in my sheets as sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the room in gold. The apartment smelled faintly of last night’s takeout garlic, soy, and a hint of sesame oil that hadn’t yet faded. I stretched lazily, muscles humming, my thighs still sore from yesterday’s Pilates class. I thought about Serena for maybe three seconds. Poor thing. Probably still curled up in her dad’s penthouse crying, wondering how she missed all the signs. And why the man who said he loved her forever had been fucking her stepsister for months. Then I rolled over, smiled into my pillow, and let the thought drift away like smoke. I didn’t care one bit. She’d had him for five years. Five long, predictable years of playing the perfect girlf