My Sister's Betrayal, My New Life

gether. He was my rock, my partner in life and business, the

th another, sickeningly familiar voice-my little

plotted to steal my restaurant, my

ays dismissed with me. Holly was pregnant with his child, and they

my future; they were erasing my past. They saw me as

they expected. I made a call to a controversial neuroscientist, ready to undergo an experimental

pte

stinct, had sliced through the heavy silence of the n

of the bed was cool, a stark cont

staurant, he'd said. Pouring over finances, planning expan

of paper on my pillow, telling me he loved me, pr

nfamiliar feeling, sharp and unwelcome. My intuition,

w, familiar laugh. Brayden's laugh. And then

ribs. Each beat a frantic dru

e-night work call. Maybe a video

e plush carpet, silent as a ghost. I didn't turn on the light

fort to make no sound. Past the living room, the dining room,

ached the closed door. Not a work

eper tone. Brayden.

reathless. And sickeningly familiar. It w

s," Holly giggled. "Always talking abou

air felt thin, suddenly

ice laced with a possessive pride that made

as much. It felt like my very bones

ontinued, her tone dismissive. "All those sacri

about me. My res

d. "We'll just... rebrand it. With you

ster. The one I had painstakingly traine

bsent. Brayden had been my only anchor. The one person who unders

e inheritance, every waking moment, into it. I had brought Holly in, taught her

int of greed in her voice. "Will th

use they'll be ours. We'll call i

ed hot. My ha

murmured, her voice dropping. "Her

passion' and 'loyalty,' she won't see it coming until

tinct, undeniable sound. The creak of the o

ust an affair. It was a conspiracy. A calculated, brutal betrayal from the two people I loved and tr

shard in my chest. I fought to keep the raging stor

ery touch. Every word. I wanted to be

at the photo on my nightstand. Brayden

s only one person. One name etched in the deepest recesses of my

my estranged father had once mentioned. He'd jokingly calle

as my onl

ghtly, scrolled through m

p, professional voice answered. "D

whispered, my voice raw. "It

n, "One mome

line. "Clare? To what do

allow me. "I need the procedure. The one you were working on.