All Chapters of FALLING FOR MY BROTHER'S RIVAL: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Noah’s PovEthan met me at a coffee shop two blocks from the hospital the following morning, sliding into the booth across from me with the same guarded expression he’d worn ever since I called him at six a.m. demanding a favor that had nothing to do with hockey and everything to do with protecting the people I loved most.“You look like you haven’t slept,” he said, studying my face with obvious concern.“I haven’t. Not really.”“Tell me exactly what you need, and I’ll tell you if it’s actually possible.”I explained everything as clearly as I could manage, the anonymous message referencing Sophia’s exact appointment details, the break-in at her apartment, the unsettling precision of information that should have been protected by strict medical confidentiality, and by the time I finished, Ethan’s expression had shifted from cautious concern into something far more serious.“You’re talking about a hospital employee leaking private records,” he said slowly. “That’s not just invasive. Th

Noah’s PovSophia’s voice had been trembling so badly over the phone that I nearly dropped my keys twice trying to get out the door, and by the time I arrived at her apartment, she was sitting on the floor of her living room surrounded by old letters and faded photographs, her eyes red-rimmed, her hands still shaking as she looked up at me with an expression I had never seen on her before, something between devastation and disbelief.“Noah,” she whispered before I had even fully crossed the threshold, “Tyler was my brother.”For a moment, I genuinely thought I had misheard her.“What did you say?”She repeated herself slowly, carefully, as though saying the words a second time might somehow make them easier to process, and as she explained everything, the letters, the adoption, the article confirming Tyler had left behind an infant sister, I felt the ground shift beneath me in a way that had nothing to do with anything physical.I sat down beside her on the floor, picking up one of th

Sophia’s PovNoah returned from meeting his mother looking like an entirely different person, exhaustion etched deeply into every line of his face, though something else burned steadily beneath that exhaustion, a determination I had never quite seen from him before, sharp and unwavering in a way that told me whatever he’d learned had changed something fundamental within him.He explained everything carefully once we settled onto my couch, his mother’s confession, the years spent in witness protection, the evidence she had finally agreed to share after fifteen years of forced silence, and by the time he finished, I found myself gripping his hand so tightly my knuckles had turned pale.“She has actual proof connecting Victor to my father’s disappearance,” Noah said, pulling a small flash drive from his jacket pocket and setting it carefully on the coffee table between us as though it might somehow shatter if handled too roughly. “Financial records, recorded conversations, documentation

Sophia’s PovI woke to find Noah standing at the window, phone still clutched in his hand, his shoulders rigid with a tension that immediately told me something had happened while I slept, and by the time I crossed the room to stand beside him, the careful composure he usually wore had completely dissolved into something closer to barely restrained fear.“Noah, what’s wrong?”He turned to face me slowly, and the expression on his face made my stomach drop before he even said a single word.“Victor called me directly,” he said finally. “A few minutes ago.”My blood ran cold. “What did he say?”Noah hesitated, and that hesitation alone told me whatever came next wasn’t something he wanted to repeat. “He threatened us. Threatened you specifically, though he was careful enough with his wording that nothing he said could easily be used against him legally.”“What else?”“He mentioned the house fire. The one your parents always claimed destroyed your baby photographs before you turned two.”

Sophia’s PovVictor’s call to Noah after the game left all three of us shaken in ways that made even the championship victory feel distant and hollow by the time we regrouped at Mason’s apartment the following morning, spreading fresh security reports and updated evidence across the same table that had become the unofficial command center of our entire investigation.“He’s escalating,” Renee said grimly, sliding a folder across the table toward us. “The threat pattern matches what we’d expect from someone who feels genuinely cornered rather than confident. That’s actually useful information, though it also means he’s more dangerous now than ever.”“Useful how?” Mason asked, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.“Desperate men make mistakes. Victor’s spent decades operating with careful, calculated precision, always maintaining plausible deniability. But these direct calls to Noah, personal threats delivered without any real attempt at concealment, that’s a significant departure fro