His Betrayal, Her Unbreakable Love Story

e in my hands: a prestigious fellowship to Ca

our adopted sister, Ava. They took every penny I

they called me s

ionate," my brother Dant

ocodile tears over the

romised me, I saw the pictures. Ava, radiant and scar-free, smiling between my t

edical research project. No contact with the outside worl

of Ava's lies on the table for my brot

pte

Sellers sat in the quiet of her room, the acceptanc

tion of years of relentless work, of skippi

, a path paved toward a future she had b

gathered from scholarships and part-t

from downstairs, a bright, tinkli

ged to A

s partner, had lived with them for four years, ever sin

a in out of a sense of duty, a weight of guilt they ca

ad welcomed her. S

lf into the fabric of their family, simultan

stairs, drawn by a

of grim seriousness. He was the CEO of their family's construction

s crossed, his expression a volatile mix of pity and frustratio

ne white sofa, sat Ava, her face buried in

Alicia asked,

her, cold and dismissive. "A

surge of professional concern. "Wh

yes. "Some scarring from an old accident she never told

o feel normal. I see it every time I look in the

never seen any significa

e leaving no room for argument. "Dr. Alistair

r. Alistair was famous, and

" she said, a knot of drea

o warmth in his eyes, only a weary resolve. "It do

tilted o

s a whisper, lost i

ort notice," Julian explained, as if discussing a routin

oking from Julian' s implacable face to Dante' s confli

ce was flushed with anger, but it wasn't

"Look at her! She's suffering. Our father would have wanted us

life?" Alicia's voice cracked, the i

st money. You're smart, you'll figure something

pleading. "Oh, Alicia, I'm so sorry. I didn't want this. P

f manipulation, painting Alicia

to his desk, took out a checkbook, and wrote. The scra

ck to Ava. "Go. W

hat held a flicker of triumph before sh

e left behind

Alicia said, her voice shaking w

" Dante said, his voice low and threatening. "This is our home. We take

her harder than

room, the sound of her own ragge

later, they

the house, but o

s the same trip Alicia had dreamed of her entire life, the one her br

osed between her two handsome, doting "brothers" on a sun-drenche

unadulterat

had been bought w

he day the

earch Institute, a man whose work she had idolized f

ghly classified, completely iso

rm of cancer that had claimed countless li

ion: fift

side world. No phones,

suicide mission for

eir university days before joining the family business, had been on the sho

atched her life burn to th

said, her voice

with the Cambridge letter still on the screen, and

not lo

turned a week later

to a house tha

ipped of all personal ef

annoyed. They assumed s

he mail

pe addressed to them in Alici

as not a

as p

nd, laughing about how she had faked the "psycho

d left by her father, proving she was far

same one who had conveniently provided a

ical report. Ava's "emergency" surg

he dropped the papers. The

he color rising in his cheeks un

his fingers fumbling as h

to voicemail. The

nd again. The res

rew his phone against the wall, whe

irreversible weight of their

just given aw

pushed

ir brilliant, devot

one in their hearts, they received an official, en

med them that Alicia Sellers had been su

records were now sealed unde

ll intents and

fteen

shock, but a slow, creeping cold

remain for the n

st, an empty room, and a