Page 38 of The Sexy Ex's Brother
“Start talking.”
I breathe out once, slow. “The company board. My father’s replacement plan, it wasn’t Derek. It was never supposed to be Derek. It was me. But I turned it down when I found out the condition.”
She leans in slightly. “What condition?”
I stare at the table, then at her. “That I marry into legacy. That I marry you.”
Her face goes still.
“The engagement to Derek,” I say. “It wasn’t his idea. It wasn’t even his decision. It was part of the deal. If I didn’t take the reins, someone else would. So they gave you to him.”
The color drains from her face, and I want to take it back. Not the truth, never the truth, but the way it landed.
“He knew?” she whispers.
“He didn’t just know,” I say quietly. “He agreed.”
Her mouth parts slightly, then closes again. I can see it, the moment something inside her fractures. Not loud. Just a silent, clean break.
“So I was... a business deal…but I thought Derek loved me. I thought at least that part was mine.” she says. Not a question. Just the shape of a truth that’s been stalking her all along.
My heart aches. “You weren’t a business deal. Not to me.”
“But you knew. You let it happen,” she says.
“I fought it. I left. That’s why I gave it all up.”
She pulls her hand away slowly, not in anger but in distance. “You didn’t just break ranks, Jack. You broke something in me.”
21
IVY
The cab ride to Derek’s apartment is almost normal. Almost. Sienna talks about a new client she hates, something to do with an influencer’s skincare line for dogs. I laugh, genuinely, for a moment. It feels absurd enough to be real. Outside the window, the city moves like an indifferent current, storefronts, cyclists, people glued to their phones, doing exactly what I used to think I’d be doing today: moving on with my life.
“I’m just saying,” Sienna continues, “if this dog serum launches before I get hazard pay, I’m calling the ASPCA.”
“You’re not right,” I murmur, shaking my head with a small smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes.
The cab slows.
Derek’s building rises ahead, steel and glass, all symmetry, its mirrored windows catching the afternoon light. My reflection flashes in one of them, fleeting and unfamiliar. For a second, I don’t recognize the woman looking back at me. My laughter fades.
I force myself to keep moving, to stay in the moment and not unravel. I slide my thumb across the smooth edge of thekey tucked in my coat pocket. The elevator ride is short, but it stretches like elastic pulled too far. Sienna is no longer talking. She watches me instead, calculating what I need before I even realize it.
I think about how many times I used to ride this same elevator with Derek. Sometimes in silence after a fight, both of us refusing to bend. Sometimes tangled in his arms, pretending we were in love. Always with that same artificial floral scent trailing in behind us from the lobby, too sweet and too fake.
My stomach twists. I shift the tote on my shoulder and curl my fingers into the strap like it’s a lifeline. Sienna touches my elbow, just a light press but it steadies me more than I want to admit.
The hallway feels narrower than I remember, like the walls have leaned in, curious to witness what’s about to happen. The carpet muffles our footsteps, and the overhead lights cast long, twitchy shadows on the floor. Every step toward his door feels heavier than the last. But I keep walking. Because I have to. Because I’m not the girl who backed down anymore.
I slip the key into the lock and turn it without hesitation. The door opens with a soft groan of resistance, like even the apartment doesn’t want to let me back in. And for a moment, just a moment, it really looks like he isn’t home. But dread has a way of warning you. Of crawling into your bones before your brain catches up. Something is wrong. And it’s only just beginning.
Sienna exhales, just slightly. “Bedroom?”
I nod once. “I’ll take the shelves.”
She disappears down the hall.
