Page 110 of Sweet Wicked Vows

Chapter ThirtyFour

“Excusez-moi mon frère,I must have shit in my ears because I don’t believe I heard you right.”

“You heard me correctly,” I said. “I’m done with all of this. Whatever you think is going to happen by pursuing this any further, you’re wrong.”

My eldest brother’s face turned several shades brighter.

He wasn’t accustomed to being denied. Throughout our lives, whatever Frederic said was gospel. Sure, we all argued between ourselves, but we always knew when not to cross the line with him.

I started working with him because it was what he wanted.

I became CEO and owner ofDade Diamondsbecause Frederic told me to.

I married Evelyn Reynolds because my big brother commanded it.

I was seeking revenge in the wrong place because it was what Frederic desired.

But no more.

Not when moving forward meant that I was going to hurt the one woman I ever truly loved.

“You can leave now.” I pointed to the door. “There’s nothing else here for you, Frederic. Taking this company down—it’s not the answer.”

“You’ve gone soft.”

“That might be so.” I shrugged. “But I know that ruining this place is not going to bring you the peace you think it will.”

“Lexington killed our mother!”

I shook my head. “She killed herself. It’s taken me a long time to realize that, to see clearly, but Lexington is not truly to blame for her death. She wasn’t well, Freddie. She didn’t see any other way out.”

“Because of him,” Frederic spat. “If Reynolds hadn’t crippled the family business, she wouldn’t have gotten depressed.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I rolled my shoulders back. “Maybe if our father fought back or didn’t turn to alcohol to soothe himself and was an attentive husband, then maybe she wouldn’t have gotten so sick.”

“A year ago, you would have shared that file with the world without a second thought. Now? You’re only saying all this because ofher.”

“She’s my wife, and as long as I am married to her, and even after that, I won’t let you do anything else to hurt her.”

Frederic laughed lifelessly. “You’re pathetic. The second she learns the truth, she will leave you, and then you’ll wish you had released the file to the world.”

There was no version where I knew I would be able to walk away still calling Evelyn mine. She deserved to know the truth, and I was planning on telling her everything. I wanted to tell her from the second Reynolds handed me his notebook, but between his illness and his death, I was unable to burden her with the ugly truth.

Something always got in the way.

My own selfishness to be with her was my biggest obstacle.

Tonight.I’d lay it all out on the table for her, tell her every horrifying thing, and more importantly, how I felt about her.

She’d walk away, I knew that for sure, but at least she’d knowthe truth, and maybe, just maybe, she’d find room in her heart to forgive me.

“If she leaves me, then so be it, but I am not giving you the passwords to the file,” I stated. “It’s deeply encrypted. Not even Zhang knows the truth about what’s in it, or half the passwords to access it.”

“One way or another, I’ll get into it, and I’ll be the one to release it into the world. I’ll do what you don’t have the balls to do.”

My jaw flexed. “If you find a way into it and decide to do that, prepare to only have two brothers in your life, Frederic. Because the second you share that with the world, we will no longer be bound by blood. You can run the company by yourself.”

“You’re picking her over your own flesh and blood?”

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