Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Many Shades Of My Brother-in-law : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 5

It was already past six by the time I stepped out of the hospital. The nurses had bandaged my feet again; the swelling was down, and the pain was a little more manageable.They’d slipped a comfortable pair of flip-flops on me, and a driver was waiting outside. I got in and left.Missed calls from Mum lit up my phone, along with voice notes lecturing me to act like a proper wife and “have a son.” I half expected her to have trailed me here, to the hospital, but no.She avoided this place, just like everyone else avoided Elliot, my little brother, like he was some kind of plague.Same with Tad. My husband.He’d only shown his face twice at Elliot’s bedside, played the perfect brother-in-law for a minute, then vanished.I’d gotten a text from him earlier saying he was “out of town for business” and wouldn’t be back for the next three days.But what I didn’t expect was another notification from that same unknown number, the same one that had been texting me for days now. A single image.T

I had woken up still feeling warm from my conversation with Timothy last night, but the moment I grabbed my phone, every feeling flew out the window.It was a chat from the same unknown number. I tapped the chat open, and before the screen fully loaded, ten new messages slid in.A raw gasp tore from my throat and I felt the blood drain from my face as the images struck clearly.“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered, scrolling on my phone with a shaky thumb just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks.But no. There it was. Again. And again.Tad. Shirtless, on a balcony. Arms wrapped around some woman. His mouth on hers. Her linen nightwear barely covers anything. None of the pictures showed her face.It had to be from his Italy trip, the same trip he’d come back from last week, smelling like a different cologne and lying straight to my face about “business meetings.”He was laughing in the shots, too. Actually laughing. When was the last time Tad smiled anywhere near me? Hell

I limped barefoot, pain screaming through my feet, crawling up my legs, fogging my senses, but I didn’t slow down. I just needed to get out. Now.I reached the roadside and waved frantically. A black taxi pulled over.The driver’s eyes dropped to my bare feet, then the white bandage wrapped tight around my ankle. He hesitated but i didn’t.I slid into the back seat.“Ashbourne Medical Facility,” I rushed out, already tapping my screen, redialing the nurse. No answer.Instead, my phone buzzed. Unknown number. I ignored it. It rang again. And again.I hissed under my breath, ended the call, then blocked the number without a second thought. Whoever it was could wait. I wasn’t in the mood to explain anything to anyone.Thirty minutes later, the car rolled to a stop outside my father’s private medical facility.I paid, shoved the door open, and limped inside, refusing to look back.“Mrs. Davenhall,” voices followed me the moment I stepped in, heads turning, eyes immediately dropping to my