All Chapters of My Brother’s Brother : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The door opened onto a space that felt nothing like a professor’s office should. Too spare. Too intentional. Books stacked neatly instead of scattered. A faint, clean scent, soap, maybe, or something sharper, that didn’t belong to chalk or dust. Adrian looked up from his desk. “Yes?” he said, then paused. “Elara.” Not a question. She stepped inside, suddenly aware of how close the room felt. Of how little space there was to retreat without it being obvious. “I just had a question about the reading list,” she said. It came out rehearsed, almost boring. He leaned back slightly, studying her, not her body, not her face exactly, but the way she held herself. Like he was trying to understand a pattern. “You can sit,” he said, gesturing to the chair across from him. She didn’t. “I’ll be quick.” Something like amusement flickered across his face. “Of course.” She asked her question. He answered it clearly, efficiently. No lingering. No flirtation. Nothing she could p

“I’ll need those essays by Friday,” Adrian reminded casually, glancing between them as if this were no different from any other interaction he’d had that day as he stood up to leave. “No extensions.”Nyra groaned, muttering something under her breath, already reaching for her bag. Elara smiled faintly, more out of habit than response, but her attention had already drifted elsewhere.She was watching his hands.They moved easily as he adjusted the papers he was holding, fingers long and sure, nails trimmed short. There was something absentminded about the way he did it, like he didn’t need to think about where they went or how they moved.Her stomach tightened before she could stop it, and she frowned slightly, annoyed at herself. It was strange how people could resemble each other so closely, how features repeated themselves in ways that felt almost intentional. His hands reminded her of her brother’s, not identical, but close enough to make her chest feel oddly tight, like a memory

~brrrrr~ ~brrrrrr~ The loud vibration of a phone ringing roused Ruth Vale from her deep sleep. It had been hard to fall asleep and she only just found thus evading slumber at the wee hours of the morning so she was reluctant to open her eyes and break the magic, but the phone was relentless. ~brrrr~ ~brrrr~ The vibration continued, clothing at her brain as frustration built up within her. Who could be calling this early in the morning! She rolled over and took deep breaths, willing herself to wake up when the vibration stopped. Thank God! She snuggled back into her pillow and tried to find sleep again, and as she felt its fingers reaching out to snatching her into dream laned, the phone started to vibrate again. Faster that it had arrived, the wisps of sleep disappeared all together and groaned loudly, sitting up mechanically like a zombie, without opening her eyes.To think that last night, when she had changed the phones settings to ‘vibrate’, she had thought it unlikely that anyo

Adrian Moore closed the door to his office and leaned his forehead briefly against the cool wood. The sight of Elara made his stomach flip, which was so odd considering no woman had ever made him feel his way. He squeezed his eyelids shut, willing the thought of her to leave his head, but her confused face swam into view instead.He straightened almost immediately, smoothing his jacket, trying to regain control. The office was quiet, the late afternoon sun filtering in through the blinds and casting neat lines across his desk. Everything was in its place. Books aligned, papers stacked, no speck of dust in sight, evidence of the life he was building carefully, deliberately.And yet his mind kept circling back to the hallway, the collision, and a pair of eyes he had refused to meet.Avoiding her had been intentional. Necessary. For his mental health, his job. He knew he couldn’t risk getting involved with a student, not when he was her lecturer, and she obviously felt something for him

It takes less than a milisecond for the brain to make a connection, and in that tiny time frame, Elara realised she had just about ruined her life.Her eyes widened. She slapped a hand over her mouth, horror flooding her expression. “Oh my God,” she whispered. I just confessed to my professor!She turned toward the door, stumbling, her feet refusing to obey her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. Please just forget it. Please-”Before she could reach the handle, she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist, and before she could react, Adrian pulled her back in one swift, decisive motion, her momentum carrying her straight into him. She felt her body pressed flush against his chest. He was solid and warm and far too real, and the sudden proximity stole the air from her lungs.She froze completely. Slowly, he reached for her chin and gently lifted her gaze to his face. His expression was rigid, eyes dark and intent, something fierce and final burning behind them. Whatever int