Page 56 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

My hands began trembling so hard that my phone fell to the bed.

"Selene?" Aiden looked at me, concern etched on his face. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I snapped. He raised his hands immediately, surprised by the defensive edge to my tone. But I couldn't stop. I needed them out of the penthouse right now.

Otherwise, there would be more videos. And they would target my privacy, my sanity...my son.

"Guys," I said quickly. "You have to go."

"What?" Dom and Niall exchanged glances. "Selene, what is it? Why are you acting so—"

"I don't have time to explain," I replied stiffly. "Please leave. And can you take the back exit from the kitchen? I'll have your car sent there."

Aiden continued looking at me. There was a shadow on his face. It hurt me to see it because it seemed to stem from an idea—maybe he had felt a genuine connection somewhere.

But this wasn't my fault, and I never told him this would be anything more than what it just had been.

He hadn't wanted anything more, either. Nothing was more important than getting around this situation right now.

"It's after three a.m."

Niall checked his slim Cartier watch.

"Selene, you can tell us if something is wrong. Who knows, we may even be of some help."

Oh, I wanted to. I wanted to spill everything and depend on them, but being vulnerable in front of men had never taken me anywhere good unless the men were singular, and the singular meant Reynolds.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, guys. I just need time to myself, and I have a lot of work in the morning. I'd really appreciate it if I could get some rest now."

"Are you sure?" Aiden asked, his tone quiet as the night. My heart screamedno, but I met his eyes and said "yes" as convincingly as I could.

"Very well, then. There's nothing more for us to say or do here."

As always, Aiden was blunt regardless of the circumstances. I couldn't fault him for it, though.

"Aiden..." Dom tried to say something, but Aiden turned and gave him a look.

I didn't know what it meant, or the content of the silent conversation that transpired between them. But after a minute, the men got up.

"We'll show ourselves out. Have a good night, Selene."

I watched them leave. Aiden was the last out the door, and he shut it behind him. I waited to hear the soft click of the door latching before falling back on the bed.

I wanted to cry, scream, rage, call Reynolds, and ask him to book tickets for Ollie and me so we could spend a year somewhere else.

Who was doing this to me, and what did they stand to gain from it? From force of habit, I flicked my Instagram open again.

On the News Feed page, I found three or four pictures, all of them bearing the same curried captions with different flavors.

Selene's Ex is back in town to whip up some trouble!

Our Kitchen Goddess's First Husband was just spotted leaving the chic restaurant Harvest and Hearth! Sources tell us Selene was there too—could love be on the menu once again?

Dave Baxter, the bad boy of the culinary world, is back to win Selene's heart!

Then there were some AI-generated images showing the two of us back together. These were the worst of all.

The grotesque closeness, the way he had his arm warped to fit over my shoulders or around my waist—it showed the extent people would go to build the reality they wanted, regardless of how it impacted others.

---