TOP UP

Reading History

Sign out

Get the APP

Mated To My Ex's Ruthless Brother

Chapter 3 3

Word Count: 1047 | Released on: 06/01/2026

Zoe like a ph

d a curtain of aggressive, swirling ice. The wind howled down 57th Street, tunnel

, soaked from Jade's "accident," began to freeze almost instantly. The wet cashmere turned into a

fingers were red and stiff, b

cars av

t time 55

d by, their "Off Duty" lights glowing like mocking eyes in the gloom. They d

ered, the wind snat

or better luck on Park Avenue. A gust of wi

ch of black ice hidden b

nt dow

d. Pain exploded in her right ankle-a sharp, wh

ed out, clutc

to bear even an ounce of weight. She collapsed back into the s

ichest streets in the world, and felt utterly, comple

was going to be a headline in tomorrow's Po

headlights cut throu

leek black beast. It wasn't a taxi. It was a Maybach, enti

oe shrank back, fear spiking. She

of her. The back window rolled

peared in

pped br

. Dark hair, eyes that looked like shattered obsidian

n Ste

egitimate son. The "Black Sh

s about Julian for years-how he was twisted, jealous

ing over her wet coat, her twisted ankle, her tear-streaked face.

as deep, resonant, barely rais

chattering so hard she could

supreme arrogance. "You're sitting in a slus

a cab," she lied,

clared a state of emergency. Roads are closing. You want to

a handful of ice pellets into Zoe's face. She gasped,

m interior of the car. Then

uxury she cou

she wh

oor opened. A large man in a suit stepped out, marched over, and offered

d onto the l

d shut, sealing

instantly replaced by the smell of expensive leather and a f

sing a button to roll the window back up. He d

coat touch the pristine upholstery. She was shiveri

eached to his side. He grabbed a folded cas

squarely i

at him. "Thank you,"

didn't

ped it around herself, burying her face in the fabric. It

n to move. S

" Zoe asked, her voice raspy.

k pools, unreadable. "Not happening. The West S

n wh

said. "It's thr

oe's chest. "I ca

a happy sound. "Liam left you on the sidewalk

er harder than the cold. She sa

nd garage. The massive steel gate rattled upward, then clanged

with the one person she

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

Mated To My Ex's Ruthless Brother

Xiao Hong Mao Modern

“At 3:12 AM, a call from the NYPD shattered the silence of my dorm. My childhood sweetheart and the city's golden heir, Liam Sterling, was in custody and needed me to bail him out. I rushed to the precinct, trembling as I swiped my father's emergency credit card for five thousand dollars, only to watch Liam walk out and head straight for another woman. He had landed in a cell because he'd started a brawl to protect Jade-a girl with pink hair and a jagged attitude-while I was just the "best friend" he called to clean up his mess. In the backseat of the cab I paid for, I watched the man I loved pull her into his lap, treating me like an invisible chauffeur. When I finally demanded the truth, he didn't apologize; he reminded me that our families were tied by a multi-million dollar merger and that I was "like a sister" to him. My own mother echoed his coldness, telling me to stop being dramatic because our family was secretly bankrupt and we needed the Sterling money to survive. I spent years being his "good girl," even recording a fake video for the press claiming he was a hero who fought to defend my honor. But the illusion shattered when I saw the photos of him with Jade on my birthday-the same night he told me he was working late to secure our future. "I love you, Zoe. Like I love my dog. You're loyal, but you're boring." I realized then that I wasn't his partner; I was his shield. He used the trauma of the day he "saved" my life to keep me in his debt, never realizing that the chains of gratitude had finally snapped. As the Sterling empire began to crumble under a sudden leak of scandals, I didn't run back to Liam. Instead, I looked at the encrypted message from his dangerous, outcast brother, Julian, who had been waiting in the shadows. He didn't just offer me a way out; he offered to buy my family's debt and claim me as the collateral.”