“Clara!” I called out for my secretary’s attention. “Cancel everything for today.”
Knowing better than to ask questions, Clara confirmed with a curt nod as I continued toward the elevator.
It was the first time since I took over as CEO of the corporation that I could not focus on my job.
After hours of pointless effort, I realized I needed to unwind. Ignoring the pent-up rage would wreck me from the inside, and I couldn’t afford that.
Leaving the King Enterprises building in the rearview mirror, I got lost in replaying all the wrong moves I’d made and how they led to where I was now.
The place where the relationship with my only brother was hanging on a thin thread.
Touching the phone screen in the holder, I dialed Philip’s number. As the ringing resonated through the car cabin, nervousness from my stomach rose to my throat, pushing my self-control to its limits.
“Hello,” Philip grunted from the other side.
“Can you come by my place?” I still hoped I could convince him to change his mind.
A long pause followed my request, bringing fret it might be denied.
“Fine.” Philip cut off the call abruptly, but I sighed in relief.
If anyone had ever told me that the little brother would renounce me because of a girl, I would have laughed. No! I would have punched them in the face.
Yet, here I was, about to lose the person I cared about the most to a little leech whose only target was the King’s family fortune.
I arrived at my house with one goal in mind: the punching bag hanging in the gym. It was the only thing capable of absorbing some of the tension before I exploded.
Skipping bandaging my wrists, I let it all out. With every punch I threw, a chunk of my frustration seemed to dissipate while the pain in my knuckles increased.
I didn’t mind it, though. What’s more, I welcomed it. Each bead of sweat that coated my skin was proof of the relief I felt.
We were close, Philip and I. We had confided in each other since we were kids, so when he first told me about this new girl he was seeing, I took it for granted. I’d brushed it off, thinking of it as a phase or a pastime, but when I’d realized all Philip could speak of was ‘his angel,’ it was too late to do anything; he was already too far gone.
When he admitted they were getting serious and he wanted to propose, I lost it.
Actually, I had nothing against my brother settling down. What’s more, I looked forward to the day he would start his own family with some decent girl.
But he could not marry a little witch with a questionable background!
All he could get from that relationship was a broken heart, and I could never let my little brother experience the pain I knew so well. I had to protect him.
By the time Philip came, I was relieved of the negativity and armored with faith that some reason could be knocked into Philip’s head about his “girlfriend.’
But all of that dissipated as soon as I laid my eyes on him.
“Brother,” Philip greeted me curtly, his gaze not wavering from mine.
Pure resolution that shone from the gray irises we shared gave me a bad vibe.
“How are you feeling? You’re a little pale.” My worry about his health was genuine.
Ever since Philip went to see a pulmonologist last week, I have been beyond distressed about what was happening to him.
“Tired.” The distancing tone in his voice chilled me to the bone.
“I’ve changed my mind, brother.” There. The words I dreaded to hear. “I cannot give Ellie up, and I’m sorry I ever let you persuade me that leaving her was the best for us.”
I inhaled sharply in a desperate attempt to control the fury building up inside me, a rage that threatened to swallow me whole.
“I’m sorry I listened to you. If I had explained it to Ellie, she would have understood. She would have stood by my side.”
“Be reasonable, Philip!” I snapped, barely containing my fists from soothing the itch on the nearby wall. “That girl can never-”
“I don’t care what you think, Kieran! Not about Ellie. If you cannot accept that I am happy with her, that’s your problem.”
A bitter expression of disgust overtook his facial features. “I don’t even recognize you anymore, Kieran. This is not you. This is not my brother.”
Every word he spoke felt like a knife to my stomach. Philip turned around, heading toward the door.
“You don’t understand!” I roared, following him outside. I had to make him see what I saw.
“No!” he yelled back at me, taking me completely by surprise. “You are the one that doesn’t understand, Kieran. Ellie is not Nora!”
The mere mention of her name threatened to send me down the memory lane I fought hard against every day, and Philip knew it.
Yet he used her as a weapon against me. But wasn’t playing dirty something I did first?
“You would have realized that if you only gave her a chance! But you just have to be too stubborn to even consider being wrong.”
He marched relentlessly until he reached his car. Only then did he stop and turn to me.
“Meet her, Kieran. Give her a chance to prove she’s not what you think.”
He served me with the last opportunity to cross the drift between us. There wouldn’t be another one.
I stared at him without blinking, my mouth dry from the bitter taste of defeat.
“Fine!” I huffed in anger, raising my arms in surrender. “Let’s have dinner. The three of us.”
Philip eyed me suspiciously, trying to determine whether I was sincere.
“I’ll text you the details.” Hope lit up in his eyes, and just for a second, I wondered if I might be wrong. “If she returns my calls…”
I wasn’t sure if Philip intended for me to hear his mumbling before he got into his car and drove off, but I did.
It took a moment for what was said to settle down, for my aching brain to process the words spoken and realize the ultimatum hidden between them.
The resentment directed toward that girl I had never met and whose name I hadn’t bothered to remember built up in me, ready to explode. I wanted to break something! I wanted to destroy something!
The realization that I was the only one to blame for this outcome settled into my every pore, igniting every fiber of my being with the eternal fire of hell.
I’d miscalculated, jumping on the first boat that came my way, and I sank like a Titanic with a bang while the orchestra still played its melody in the background.
A loud roar of helplessness escaped me again as I punched the massive door, but the pain that shot through my fist brought no relief.
I’d never fallen so hard in my life. No other battle seemed to be lost at a higher cost than this one.
Overwhelmed by everything that had happened, I continued to vent my anger on every object I passed, whether it was an antique mirror on the wall that I smashed into a million pieces or an Art Deco figurine that flew across the living room and landed in the middle of my flat-screen TV.
None of those objects meant a thing, and instead of quelling my rage, they only pushed me further over the edge.
I found myself back at the gym, punching the bag repeatedly until my knuckles bled, and I was out of breath.
I failed. I fucking failed.
Losing track of time, I had no idea how long had passed since the sand-filled bag started taking the hits I so generously kept throwing at it.
But it was worth it.
The pain I inflicted on myself relieved my aching brain of pressure, making it easier to think rationally.
It was a mistake trying to coax him into breaking things off on his own.
It was a mistake trying to use his illness to persuade him that leaving her was the best for both of them.
The same day Philip told me he wasn’t feeling well and had seen the doctor, I contacted him.
The preliminary tests showed there was nothing to worry about. But thanks to the generous donation I made to his department, the doctor agreed to withhold the results for a few days. Just until I could manipulate my brother into doing what I wanted.
I hated myself for what I’d done. I prayed Philip would never find out because if he did, he would never forgive me.
Too late did I realize I should’ve gone directly to the source instead of playing on my brother’s emotions. If I wasn’t wrong, a nice sum of money would do the trick.
Would that break Philip’s heart? Probably. But it would pass. He would heal quicker than knowing he spent years sharing a bed with a liar.
Because she had to be a liar! All women were liars.
My lead-heavy feet took me upstairs to the bathroom, where I hoped a shower would wash away the evidence of my outburst; sweat and blood from my body, and worry and angst from my mind.
Indeed, the hot water relaxed my muscles and my soul, and with the plan cooking in my head, I wanted nothing more than to take a break and forget everything until tomorrow.
The doorbell disturbed my newfound peace as I was drying my skin with the towel. Had Philip changed his mind?
I strolled naked across the bedroom toward the window that overlooked the front yard, but I saw no car parked outside.
Great! I’d begun imagining things.
The bell rang again.
By the time I got down to the front door, the annoying sound repeated what seemed like a dozen times.
Angry at the disturber of my peace, I threw the door open, but the person standing there was not who I expected to see.
Actually, I’d never seen the blonde angel that stood in front of me…
The blonde angel with the entrancing blue eyes quickly transformed into the devil—the devil who provoked me, the devil who brought the worst out of me on the surface.
The devil whose brave, taunting eyes would haunt me for the rest of eternity.
The devil whose words kept me awake all night - Philip’s stupid girlfriend was pregnant.
That changed everything.
New rules now applied.
New plans had to be made.
No King offspring could be neglected or unacknowledged.
The morning found me in bed, fully awake.
Tortured by the knowledge that presented itself to me, becoming an uncle didn’t let me close my eyes, not even for a second.
What gave me more trouble throughout the night were those fiery blue eyes that wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried.
They trapped me in their ocean depths, not letting me escape their imprisonment.
Too late did I realize it was the feisty blonde who had done what I had been struggling with for almost a year—erased every memory of Nora from my mind.
As soon as the decent hours announced themselves, I emailed my secretary to cancel all my meetings. I had more important things to take care of.
The next person on my list was Philip.
“Hey, brother,” I greeted him. My voice didn’t sound as stern as it usually did. “How are you?”
“Ellie is not picking up my calls,” he grunted desperately. I was sure he blamed me for it.
“About that…”
