All Chapters of Brother-in-Law, I’m Your Dirty Secret: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Marcus's POVI stood up from the bench and buttoned my suit jacket. My mind was already running through every possible scenario. Every angle. Every move Liam could make. Every word I would need to say to keep Jia safe without revealing the truth."Stay here," I told Jia without looking at her. "Do not come near Liam's office tonight. No matter what you hear.""Marcus, wait." She grabbed my wrist. Her fingers were cold and trembling. "What if he knows? What if Mia told him everything?""Then I will handle it." I gently removed her hand from my wrist. The loss of her touch left a cold spot on my skin that I felt all the way down the hallway. "Trust me."I walked through the mansion toward Liam's office on the second floor. Every step was measured. Every breath was controlled. I had spent my entire adult life walking into rooms where powerful men tried to corner me. Boardrooms, courtrooms, backroom deals with people who would sell their own mothers for a percentage point. None of them ev

MARCUS'S POV"I am so tired of being careful, Marcus." Her voice cracked slightly. She pressed her forehead against her knees. "Every day I wake up scared that today is the day everything falls apart. And the worst part is not what happens to me. The worst part is what happens to you."My chest tightened painfully. This woman, who had been beaten, humiliated, and broken by my own brother, was sitting here worrying about me. About what would happen to me if our secret came out. The selflessness of it nearly destroyed my composure."If the secret comes out, I will deal with every consequence," I told her, leaning forward in my chair. "But I will not let you be harmed because of my feelings for you. You have already paid too high a price for being part of this family."She lifted her head. Her eyes were red but the tears had not fallen yet. "And if the only way to protect me is to leave me? Would you do it? Would you walk away from me if it meant keeping me safe?"The question cut throug

"Yes." I smiled softly. "But you should also know that you have become the first person I want to tell whenever anything happens in my life. Good or bad. You are the first face I look for when I walk into a room. That is not something I chose. It just happened."Marcus was quiet for a few seconds. His jaw flexed once. Then he looked at me with an expression so open and raw that it took my breath away."You have become just as important to me," he admitted. His voice was rough and low. "More important than I planned. More important than I am comfortable with.""Good." I leaned closer to him. "Being comfortable is boring.""There are things I need to handle before you can leave Liam safely." His voice shifted into that protective, commanding tone that made my blood run warm. "Your sister's scholarship. The financial separation. The legal protection. I will take care of all of it. Do not worry about any of it.""You do not have to do that.""I want to." His eyes locked onto mine. "Let me

Mia's POVI held the photograph between my fingers like it was made of solid gold. Because to me, it was worth more than gold. It was worth more than every diamond necklace Liam ever bought me. More than every designer bag sitting in my closet. This single piece of glossy paper was the key to everything I wanted.I sat on the edge of my bed and studied it carefully. Marcus and Jia. Standing together in what looked like a hospital corridor. His hand was on her waist. Not hovering. Not accidentally brushing past. Placed. Deliberately, intentionally placed on her body with the kind of familiarity that only comes from touching someone many, many times before.Jia's face was tilted up toward his. Her expression was soft and open and completely unguarded. The expression of a woman looking at a man she trusted with her entire soul.It was not a kiss. It was not them naked in bed together. It was not the kind of smoking gun that would hold up in a divorce court. But it was enough. It was more

Liam's POVI could not stop looking at the photograph.I sat on the edge of my bed at two in the morning, holding my phone six inches from my face, zooming in and out on the same image until my eyes burned. Marcus's hand on Jia's waist. Her face tilted up toward him. The hospital corridor I recognized because I had walked through it myself just three weeks ago when I went to spy on my own wife.Third floor. East wing. Administrative corridor. The hallway with the grey walls and the polished floor near the supply rooms. The same hallway where nobody goes unless they have a reason to be alone.My brother told me he was never in that corridor. He told me he had no business near that part of the hospital. He looked me straight in the eyes and lied to my face with the same cold, controlled expression he used to close billion dollar deals.Marcus never lied to me. Not once in my entire life. That was the thing that kept gnawing at my brain like a rat chewing through a wire. Marcus was bruta