All Chapters of Rejected By My Brother’s Alpha Best Friends : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

BRIELLE’S POV FLASHBACK: HER EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAYThe main party had wound down and most people had already gone. While the staff still cleaned in the other rooms, but in the private lounge it was just me, Tristan, Axel, Hunter and Darius.And all night the three of them had been acting different.Axel kept refilling my drink. “Your glass is empty again. Can’t have the birthday girl thirsty.”Hunter actually pulled me into the conversation. “No, seriously, what do you think? Don’t just let Tristan talk over you.”Darius sat closer than usual. “That dress looks good on you, but turning eighteen looks better on you.”I kept telling myself it was just the occasion of the night. Maybe birthday politeness. Still, every time one of them looked at me like that my stomach flipped and I let myself enjoy it.Tristan’s phone rang. He checked it and stood to leave. “I’ve gotta take this. Enjoy yourself Bri, don't let these idiots bore the life out of you.”He smirked and left.The second the d

BRIELLE’S POVFour years and seven months later I was in my Lisbon studio.I stood in front of the large worktable with a fabric sample in one hand and a finished sketch in the other, talking a client in New York through the final embroidery details on a limited-edition evening cape. She wanted the neckline adjusted twice before agreeing, and I held the line on the third change, telling her the silhouette would lose everything that made it worth the price tag. The call ended with a confirmed order and a transfer that made my assistant raise both eyebrows from across the room.“That’s the third one this month,” she said.“Good. Keep the waitlist closed.”"People are getting annoyed about that waitlist.""They can stay annoyed."I set the sample down and walked into the next room where the noise level immediately skyrocketed.Three little girls occupied the play corner I had built against the far wall. Maya, the oldest by eleven minutes, was carefully arranging wooden blocks into a v

BRIELLE'S POV"Ms. Prescott." Alexander's voice cut through the room before the silence could stretch any longer. "Please, take a seat. We have a lot to cover."I moved to the chair Claire pulled out for me, directly across from the three of them, and set my tablet down without letting my hand shake.Axel recovered first. He straightened in his chair, jaw working, eyes still locked on my face like he was waiting for me to disappear again.Hunter hadn't recovered at all. His mouth opened, then closed. He looked at Darius like he needed someone to confirm what he was seeing.But Darius just watched me. The same way he used to watch me from across a room years ago, except now there was something heavier behind it."Let's begin," Alexander said, and the room obeyed him the way rooms always had.I opened my presentation and let the numbers carry me. Square footage. Material sourcing. Brand positioning for the hospitality wing. My voice came out level, unhurried, the voice I used with clien

BRIELLE'S POVAxel didn't move. Didn't blink. His eyes stayed fixed on the spot where Claire had been standing, like the words were still hanging there in the air."Say it," I pressed.His head turned toward me slowly. "The timing.""What about it?""Whoever's asking about your girls." His voice had gone quiet, stripped of the easy confidence from a minute ago. "They'd need to know when to start looking. Where to look. That's not a stranger pulling a name out of a hat, Brielle.”My stomach turned to ice. "Meaning what.""Meaning I don't think this is random." He dragged a hand through his hair, something close to panic breaking through the calm he usually wore like armor. "Meaning someone else already knows what I only started guessing an hour ago, and they got there faster than I did.""Bri!"Tristan's voice hit the design floor before he did, cutting through the quiet hum of the room like a blade.I was already moving toward him. "The school, they're still at the school, Claire's on

BRIELLE'S POV"You can't seriously be siding with him on this." I dropped the contract draft on my desk hard enough that Claire jumped in her chair across from me."I'm not siding with anyone." She held up both hands. "I'm telling you what the Fletcher legal team sent over. The clause protects their liability, not yours.""It protects their liability at the expense of my design team's autonomy." I rubbed my temple. "If a contractor botches the marble install, I don't want to be the one explaining to a client why the finish doesn't match the sample."A knock cut through the argument before it could go further. Axel let himself in without waiting for an answer, a folder tucked under one arm."I heard you two yelling down the hall." He set the folder down without being asked. "Figured I'd save you the trouble of reading the fine print yourself.""I don't need saving.""No, but you do need this.” He nudged the folder closer anyway. “I had our legal team rewrite the liability clause last n