All Chapters of 12 Days of Christmas with My Brother’s Rival: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

49 Chapters

21 — OF BIG BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE

ANAHERA Fuck. Dominik was going to wring me like a rag doll, toss me to mars and then kill — no, pummel Noel into a bloody pulp before killing him and burying him in my front yard.Putting myself together, I got out of the car, jittery nerves and jelly legs, to meet my brother whose face would not stop contorting into various shades of anger.Before I got to him, he was marching to meet Noel who had also gotten down from his car. Wise fricking decision by the way.I tried to stop him. “Dom, it’s not what you think. He only–”The rest of my words got swallowed up in the loud crunch that came as a result of Dom’s heavy punch. His hands always seemed to fly before his brain thought.Noel crumpled against his car’s hood with his hand over his mouth.“What are you doing with my sister? I thought I told you to stay away from her but you never listen,” my brother thundered despite the silence in the neighborhood.Noel looked at him, then at me. “I just had to help her get home safely. Woul

22 — OF OVERSIGHTS AND PAST MEMORIES

ANAHERABy the time the sun came up, I’d tried to call Bella more than a dozen times using my landline. For the first time, I think my brother invested in something of worth. It was the same thing; sending me off to voice mail every time.I was beginning to worry for her safety. Noel had assured me that she was fine and probably at her own house, so I decided I’d go over to hers before heading off to work — if I still had a job. Her garage was locked, and her cars were nowhere in sight. Maybe this meant she was out?You don’t leave with two cars at the same time. My bet was probably indoors. I could not really tell. So I tried her door, only to find it locked. I knocked a few times, praying she would answer. Nothing. In the middle of contemplating whether to kick the door down or go over to her neighbor’s, a click echoed from behind me. I turned to see the door was open. “Bella, God, you had me worried!” I grabbed her shoulders, looking her over if she was hurt but she shrugged

23 — OF GRANDSONS AND THEIR NOONAS

ANAHERA It wasn’t until the car parked in the driving lot that I realized where we were. Imagine my happiness when I learned that the place had changed from what I used to know. Managing a sideways glance at Noel, I noticed how the shadow of anger on his face while we drove here was nowhere to be seen and what remained was sadness. I quickly looked away before he turned and said, “Come on. Or do you need me to come carry you, princess?” Jerk. Ignoring him, I climbed out of the car at the same time he did. Together, we went down a familiar road that led to a small apartment. “This place…” I couldn’t help myself. “Isn’t this where you lived before you and your mom moved out?” A tick in his jaw before he answered, “Yeah. Funny how you remember these things but don’t recall those that matter.” Again, I ignored that jab as I focused on the apartment in front of me. It used to be a rundown two bedroom apartment and when they moved out, no one else took the place. There

24 — OF LIES AND PREGNANCIES

ANAHERAHours later, I was done with Noel’s therapy and packed my duffel bag to leave, more than willing to put distance between us before my poor heart spiralled out of control.Nearly two weeks and you’d think I had already learned how to be in Noel’s presence without sweating a river.As I walked out to the foyer, I overheard Noona saying to Noel, “She’s grown up nicely. Why don’t you go out on a date with her?”“Whatever, ma. Take your vitamins and don’t skip your morning strolls. Love you.”I hurried my steps to wait for him by the car, straightening my posture as though I wasn’t just eavesdropping. He opened the car.“I’ll come over to yours tomorrow morning to pick you up. No excuses,” he stated in a no-nonsense tone. That was impossible. “You know you cannot come to my house, my brother will kill you if he sees–”With an exasperated sigh, he turned to me. “I’m not going to put my life and career on hold because you and your brother have refused to have the hard conversation

25 — OF DISTANCE AND SECRETS BETWEEN US

ANAHERAMy brother’s car backed out of the driveway as I waved at him. “Thank you for dinner. Make sure you take care of Eleanor. Goodnight, love you.”I stood there, watching his taillights blink at me and fade out in the distance, then I continued inside. My phone lit up with a message from Noel: where are you?A snarky response would be fitting. So I typed in: Anywhere you’re not.Three things lingered in my mind as I dropped my purse on the couch. An update in my patient note with which I kept record of Noel’s therapy, Bella’s vague message and Eleanor’s pregnancy.Scratch that–four. The last one being that my brother did not know Eleanor was carrying his baby.She asked me to keep it a secret from him. I hoped she’d say it on time before I got too excited and blurted it out.And speaking of patients, when I went to my room, my duffel bag was nowhere to be seen.In the middle of tearing my room apart for it, my phone lit up again with Noel’s text. Sometimes I liked to think of

26 — OF LINGERIES AND PARTY INVITES

ANAHERANobody warned me that the drive to the spa resort was going to be a three-hour drive. We went in one of Bella’s cars that she forced me to take, alongside her driver. And she didn’t want to hear nothing of me turning down her offer. Seated right next to me, yapping away about some boy band from South Korea was Eleanor. I should have known taking her along was a bad idea. Well, maybe not entirely bad. Who else would keep me company with such bubble personality? “…and people don’t notice because they’re always quick to judge before they try to listen to them. I call them the Seven Kings of Korea.” I was paying attention to her, noticing a lot of things I hadn’t about her. Probably because she was often too closed off around my brother. That made her come off as bashful. Or maybe it was the pregnancy doing its thing. Whatever the reason, this side of her was something I wanted to keep seeing. Perhaps some day, my brother would too. “Here,” she passed me a small note wit

27 — OF TIGHT SPACES AND PANICKED KISSES

ANAHERAEleanor made me try on a dozen dresses before her eyes lit up at a maroon colored dress with a single strap and little frills at the end. Boy was it short, and when I looked at the price tag, I nearly fainted at what I found.“I can’t afford this. It is beyond my budget.”“That’s the one. Add it to my bill,” she instructed to the attendant, then looked at me again. “Consider it an apology for wasting your time and a gift for letting me come with.”“I cannot get my way with you, huh?” I smiled, heading back into the dressing room to change.She giggled. “Maybe never.”It was a little work pulling the dress over my head because of the size. Then I heard a collective gasp…and several high screams. I paused to ask, “Is everyone okay? Should we be running for our lives too?”“It’s just fangirls chasing after a celeb. Honestly, I don’t get the hype.” Eleanor replied. “I’m going to pay for the dresses and grab a bag for yours.”“Got it.” I folded the dress neatly and was going to

28 — OF OVER-CONTROLLING BIG BROTHERS

ANAHERAIf there was anything I learned from being with Eleanor, she was persistent. Too ashamed to reply to her, I hurried back to the elevators, leaving her to trail after me with questions I had no balls for.“You cannot deny kissing him, Anahera.” She jumped into the elevators and closed the doors before anyone else could follow. “I thought you were all about being meek and docile. I didn’t know you had it in you.”“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I threw over my shoulders. She whirled me around to give me a strange look. “You don’t know our brothers are friends? Best friends even, and from what mine said, you’re a lot more obedient than I am.”A self-mocking laugh fell out of my lips. Obedient indeed. I was dead meat if Dom as much as caught wind of my careless promiscuity. As soon as we were back in our room, I held her shoulders in a tight grip. “Nobody has to know what happened out there, okay? Not even my brother or yours.”“Chill.” She raised her hands in mock

29 — OF LOYALTY AND ELEVATORS

ANAHERA Dominik looked like he’d rather bash Jax’s head in. “Know her? My sister works too hard to be seen by the likes of you. Take your eyes somewhere else.”I let out a small breath of relief, even though I knew it was not over yet. Not with the way Jax’s insistent eyes remained on me. After a while, he turned his focus to Eleanor. “What are you doing here?” Dominik inquired again, pulling me to a corner. “I know I should have told you but I was swarmed up in work—”“That was not my question, butterfly,” he admonished gently in a tone he knew I could not ignore. “You know you’re not supposed to be at a place like this.”With a sigh, I confessed. “My client had to travel and gave me a few days off. Before then, Bella and I had planned a spa getaway here but she ditched me last minute. So I came with Eleanor.”For a second, he said nothing. Just gauging my expression for any crack in the armor. My mind chose the last minute to conjure up the image of me losing my mind over Noel’

30 — OF REVEALS AND ANGRY CONFESSIONS

ANAHERABack at the party, it was even worse off than when I left it. Everyone here was either drunk or high, or biting someone’s mouth off in a corner of the place. I dragged in a shaky inhale. “Avoid Dominik, get Eleanor, return her phone, walk back to my room.” In that order. That was easy. If only I could find a certain blonde head, it’d be over soon.“I thought you were back in your room,” someone spoke up from behind me. I whirled around to look into Jax’s face. “You’re back here to enjoy the party?”“N-no. I came here to look for Eleanor. Have you seen her?”The way he kept looking into my face unnerved me. I could read a million things he wanted to say from that look. “You do look very familiar. Apart from being Dominik’s sister, I’m certain I have seen you somewhere else before. You know that too, don’t ya?”I shook my head rapidly. “I don’t think so.” I swallowed. “Excuse me.” He smirked but I didn’t wait to see what waited at the end of that expression. Pushing past t

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