Widowed by Betrayal: My Brother, My Wife, Their Lie のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

By the time I'd collected myself and returned home, the living room was packed with people.Even after five years, seeing those two familiar faces again still caught me off guard for a moment.Mom nervously tugged at my sleeve. "Benjamin, are you having trouble with your memory again? I told you Cedric and Helena were coming home today. I wanted you to meet them."I nodded and looked away, ready to return to my room, but someone suddenly grabbed my arm.Cedric Horton cleared his throat and raised his other hand, showing me how his fingers were intertwined with Helena Grant's."Benjamin, it's me, Cedric. I'm your brother, remember?" he asked gently. "And this is Helena, your sister-in-law. Come say hello."He looked so calm and confident now, nothing like the man who'd desperately begged me for mercy five years ago.Even when he was deliberately trying to provoke me, he knew how to make it look like an innocent gesture.After a long silence, I nodded slightly and greeted Helena

I stared at the photographs scattered across the floor, unsure of what to say.Cedric, however, seemed delighted. He bent down, picked up a random photograph, and gave me a malicious smile."How about this one?"It was Astrid Hayes, the daughter of the Hayes family. She'd dated countless men over the years and had one of the worst reputations in our social circle.I glanced at her photograph before nodding. "Okay."Helena stared at me in disbelief as she stood there.Meanwhile, Cedric looked even more pleased. "Well, since you're okay with it, why don't we make it a double wedding? You can get married in three days, just like us. We'll arrange everything for you. It'll be a double celebration!"I smiled. "Sounds good."Without bothering to look at Helena's furious expression, I took Noelle back to our room.She gripped my hand tightly and looked up at me. "Dad, are you really going to find me a new mom?"I didn't answer. Instead, I pulled her into my arms.Astrid might have

Astrid broke into a radiant smile when she saw me and hurried over to take my hand.But just as I reached for her, someone grabbed my arm from behind.Helena looked deathly pale. "Benjamin, where are you going?"The room fell silent. Everyone stared at her in confusion, clearly wondering why she was making such a scene.I replied calmly, "I'm getting married today, so I'm going to my wedding. The ceremony's upstairs. We'll leave you to yours."With every word, Helena's grip tightened until I felt like she'd crush my arm.I frowned and pried her fingers off me one by one. "What are you doing? You're my sister-in-law now, remember?"At those words, Helena went even paler. She let go immediately, looking as though I'd slapped her.She turned to Noelle with a pleading expression."Noelle, your dad isn't serious, is he? You two are just trying to mess with me, right? Is he still mad about what happened before? Because I can apologize."Noelle immediately hid behind me. "Aunt Helen

Helena returned the next morning, and the morning after that. For an entire month, I saw her waiting downstairs every time I left the apartment.She was always hunched over, looking utterly miserable. Sometimes, as Noelle and I passed, I'd hear her crying softly."I'm sorry, Benjamin. I'm sorry, Noelle. I made a mistake…"I'd gently cover Noelle's eyes and hurry past.Eventually, I'd had enough. I contacted the management office and asked them to stop letting her onto the property.I thought that would finally put an end to it, but Helena simply started kneeling outside the entrance to our residential complex instead.Residents and visitors came and went, openly staring at her as they passed. She didn't seem to care. She just kneeled there, watching the direction we usually left in.Eventually, the property manager came to see me, looking troubled."Mr. Horton, she's not actually breaking any laws by kneeling outside. We can't force her to leave, and we don't want to get too ag

Whenever I visited Astrid's office, I could hear employees whispering about me. Even our neighbors had started avoiding me whenever they saw me coming home.Eventually, I overheard a conversation in a stairwell that explained everything."Don't let Benjamin Horton's innocent act fool you. He's not the victim he's pretending to be. I heard Helena was actually in love with Cedric first, but Benjamin threw a fit and forced them apart."Of course, they couldn't stay away from each other forever. They eventually got back together, but they had to leave the country because they were afraid Benjamin would do something crazy. "Now that he knows Helena's never coming back to him, he's gone after Ms. Hayes instead. He's just using her.""And here I thought he was some quiet, respectable guy. Turns out he's a manipulative little snake."I pushed open the stairwell door.The people gathered there went pale immediately. Within seconds, they'd scattered, leaving me alone in the silence.The