Chapter 1<\/p>\n
For three years, I\u2019d been secretly dating my brother\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
I always thought he was just naturally distant\u2014cold, reserved, uncomfortable with affection.<\/p>\n
Until one night, I came home early from a business trip\u2026<\/p>\n
and caught him pleasuring himself to a photo of his little foster sister.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it hit me\u2014our \u201csecret relationship\u201d wasn\u2019t about privacy.<\/p>\n
I was just his cover.<\/p>\n
A few days later, I saw her post on Instagram:<\/p>\n
\u201cLanding back home tomorrow\u2014come pick me up, loves!\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I decided to end it all.<\/p>\n
I accepted the engagement my family had arranged for me and kept it quiet\u2014invite-only.<\/p>\n
But right in the middle of the engagement ceremony, my brother\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
He laughed and said, \u201cCome on, Bainbridge\u2014Gigi\u2019s been your girl since forever. How are you skipping her engagement party?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cWait\u2026 who did you say is getting engaged?\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you finally broke up with that mysterious boyfriend of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
My brother, Aelfric Ortiz, spoke with a tone that was mocking and triumphant.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t blame him. For three years of dating, I had never once made our relationship public.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d warned me long ago. \u201cAny man who won\u2019t show his face to your family isn\u2019t a man who takes responsibility. It\u2019s going to end in tears, Gigi. Mark my words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back then, I didn\u2019t believe him. I truly believed love could conquer anything.<\/p>\n
Now, reality had proven me wrong.<\/p>\n
I answered softly, \u201cYeah. We broke up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went quiet for a long moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he hurt you?\u201d Aelfric asked at last.<\/p>\n
The ache I thought I had suppressed surged back, sharp and sudden.<\/p>\n
I took a breath and shook my head, even though he couldn\u2019t see me. \u201cNo. It was mutual. We ended things peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Otherwise, I\u2019d go beat the hell out of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, Gigi\u2014men are unreliable. If you\u2019re going to get married, you might as well go for an arranged match. Tangible interests are the only things that don\u2019t lie to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFine,\u201d I said. \u201cYou handle it. I\u2019ll be home the day after tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second I hung up, Bainbridge pushed open the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho were you talking to?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Afraid he\u2019d notice my red eyes, I kept my back to him. \u201cJust a classmate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm.\u201d<\/p>\n
He brushed past me and went into his study.<\/p>\n
In the three years we\u2019d been together, Bainbridge had always been distant.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d told myself it was simply his nature\u2014aloof, restrained, not someone who liked physical or emotional closeness.<\/p>\n
But last night, when I came home early from a business trip, I learned the truth.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d planned to slip home quietly and surprise him.<\/p>\n
His study door was usually locked, but that night it stood slightly ajar.<\/p>\n
Warm amber light spilled through the crack.<\/p>\n
I crept closer, ready to knock\u2014then froze.<\/p>\n
Inside, Bainbridge\u2019s expression was tight with barely restrained desire, eyes locked on his phone screen. One hand slid beneath his waistband.<\/p>\n
I went completely still.<\/p>\n
On the glowing display was a photo of Evelynn Wilde\u2014the woman raised alongside him since childhood, his so-called adopted sister.<\/p>\n
He was so absorbed that he didn\u2019t even hear me leave.<\/p>\n
I checked into a hotel and sat alone for hours.<\/p>\n
Only then did I finally understand that for all this time, his coldness toward me hadn\u2019t been his nature.<\/p>\n
His refusal to go public with our relationship hadn\u2019t been about fearing Aelfric\u2019s temper.<\/p>\n
It was because he didn\u2019t love me.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d only needed someone\u2014anyone\u2014to hide his forbidden feelings for the woman he called sister.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019d chased him so boldly years ago, he\u2019d simply gone along with it, letting me slip neatly into the role of his \u201cmysterious girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, Evelynn\u2019s Instagram updated: \u201cLanding back home tomorrow\u2014come pick me up, loves!\u201d<\/p>\n
After hanging up with Aelfric, I took a cab back to the villa I shared with Bainbridge.<\/p>\n
There were things I needed to take with me.<\/p>\n
When I arrived, Bainbridge was eating breakfast. He glanced up as I walked in, then calmly told the maid to prepare another serving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know you\u2019d be back at this hour, so I didn\u2019t have them make breakfast for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that he didn\u2019t know. He just didn\u2019t care enough to ask.<\/p>\n
At my quiet reply, his fork paused mid-air.<\/p>\n
He lifted his gaze from the news on his phone, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes.<\/p>\n
Yes\u2014if it were the old me, I would have pouted, sat down beside him, and stolen food straight from his plate.<\/p>\n
I would have whined playfully, \u201cSince you forgot about me, I\u2019m just gonna eat yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Royal Furline Betrayed BY Mark Twain 1 Chapter 1 For three years, I\u2019d been secretly dating my brother\u2019s best friend. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-let-the-game-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}