All Chapters of The Wrong Brother, The Right Mistake: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Lake Como had its own way of making a person feel beautiful and like they were about to be punished at the same time.Maybe it was because the water was too calm. Maybe it was because the Bandini family estate stood at the edge of the lake in pale stone, with tall windows, black iron balconies, and gardens trimmed so precisely that the hedges looked more ready to get married than I did.Or maybe it was because I’d been smiling for two hours and forty minutes, and my face was starting to lose its connection to my soul.“Aubrey,” Mama hissed beside me, though she didn’t really hiss because Catalina Moguel never did anything halfway. “Your back.”I immediately straightened my shoulders.“Not like that, either. Now you look like you’re about to sue someone.”“I do want to sue these shoes,” I muttered.She looked me over from the top of my head to the hem of my ivory-white dress. Her black hair was swept into a low bun, her diamond earrings shifting as she drew a long breath, the breath of

My stomach felt like it was being pulled from the inside.Because once, a few hours ago, maybe even a few minutes ago, I would have defended that. I would have stood in front of anyone and said, yes, I love him, of course I do, I’m marrying him, I chose him.Now....“She’s still young,” Lorenzo continued. “She has a big family, a big ego, and an even bigger mouth, but when she’s truly afraid? She comes back to me.”“Don’t say that,” Camilla whispered.“Why? It’s true.” Lorenzo’s voice softened in a way that made me sick. “You know about the man who used to follow her around campus?”I froze.“The stalker?” Camilla asked.“Yeah. After that, I became... her center. Her little safe place.” He said it with amusement, like I were a kitten he had once found in the rain and who could no longer survive without a bowl of milk from his hand. “She always feels safe when I’m with her. It’s sad, really.”Sad.That one word went deeper than his lips on Camilla’s mouth. Deeper than the lie in his me

The night became careful hands, a mouth that wasn’t, broken breaths in embarrassing places, and my name leaving Zach’s mouth in a way that was deeply disrespectful to common sense. At first, he went slowly because he knew it was my first time. Infuriatingly slowly. He gave me time to pull away, to get angry, to curse, to bite his shoulder when my body didn’t know where to put that much feeling.“Easy,” he murmured once when I sucked in a breath at the sting spreading through my thighs.All that came out of me was a broken breath.Then... once I had gotten used to it... the night turned into something hot, messy, and completely without manners. A pillow fell. The whiskey glass got knocked onto the carpet. The Barolo stayed intact on the table like an aristocratic witness choosing not to interfere. Zach kissed me until Lorenzo became a name I only noticed because I had stopped remembering it. Disgusting, really... the fact that my body could betray the entire drama of my life that quick

Two hours later, I walked into the office in black heels, sunglasses perched on my head, and a second coffee that should’ve had a medical license. Madison Avenue was sunny in the way that made everyone look more successful than their mental health.The limestone facade of our building reflected the sunlight, the small brass letters spelling MOGUEL ATELIER gleaming beside the door, not loud, just expensive enough to make people feel guilty touching the handle.The moment the elevator opened on the second floor, I was greeted by the pop of a cork.“I’m not dead yet,” I said.“Not yet,” Danielle replied from the middle of the workspace, holding a bottle of champagne. “But if you pass out, we already have drinks.”My entire team was gathered around the long table. Carla from florals had an iPad in her hand. Miles from logistics already had three spreadsheets open and looked happy in a deeply concerning way. Nora from client relations was smiling too widely, a clear sign she had already st