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Mated To My Ex's Ruthless Brother

Chapter 5 5

Word Count: 1007 | Released on: 06/01/2026

eather was cool against her skin, slippery. She tucked o

blue-and-purple lump that loo

anti-inflammatory gel from t

round the coffee table and drop

mposing man lowering himself at her fe

g," he comm

encircled

cold skin sent a jolt of electricity straight up her spine. His finger

ently, testin

this

e," she

a dollop onto his fingers and b

tongue and cold demeanor, his hands were careful, almost reverent

e had an insane urge to reach out and touch it. She watched his

eet," he murmure

sues," she whis

n her ankle. The intensity of his gaze pinned her to the sofa. There was someth

in an ACE bandage, his movement

breaking the spell.

lize she'd been holding. Her heart was racing, a frantic drumbeat ag

ew minutes later ho

on the coaster

stantly. Sharp, spic

he mug. "Is thi

It'll war

bling. "This is... this is what I drink when

He didn't look at her. "My housekeeper swears by it for shock

t. The burn of the ginger set

you," s

oom and opening his laptop. The blue light illuminated his face, t

om. She crawled into the bed, p

the wind

es, and exhaustio

terling estate garden. It

anding behind a hedge, clu

r boy into the mud. The boy on the ground was J

el. "Look at the bastard," Liam jeered. "Mom says

them, his eyes burning with a hatred

to help. She had the band-aids. She

, that dazzling, charming smile.

l life, Zoe froze. She turned her

't looking at the boys beating him. He was looking at her. And the

up with

ding. Her sheets w

ough the cracks in the bli

he guilt from the dream lingere

as th

r ankle felt stiff, but better. S

ee and bacon assa

as in th

black t-shirt that clung to his back muscle

as jarring. This dark, dangero

sensing her presence witho

o the island

and slid a plate toward her. There was toast

he or

barstool. She p

s amazing,

bite. It wa

are was fading in the light of this strange, quiet mo

s ph

ed at th

Ste

shed like a

hovering near her mouth. The peace

Chapter End

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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.”