“I’m not giving you a choice, Visha.” He exhales, letting the smoke go up in the sky in a thick cloud. “You’ll come back with me if you wish to keep your sweet benefactor’s life peaceful. What was his name again? Aoi, right? Aoi Holden.”
Blood pumps through my veins. “Stay away from him or I’ll fucking kill you!”
“How dangerous,” he mocks, disinterested. “Your manners are lacking. Perhaps, it’s his fault.” Unintending to let me speak, he clears his voice. “He certainly is quite the attractive man, young and gentle. You’ll tell me all about your encounter on our flight home.”
His knowing information about me doesn’t prove anything. He could be a stalker for all I know. “Fuck you and your crap. I’m not going anywhere with you, you psycho.”
I have to call Olivia and tell her where I am, so she can call the cops. I can’t alert Aoi or else he’ll scold the living hell out of me for sneaking out without permission. He’ll be worried sick and I can’t let that happen.
I switch my phone on and start recording the conversation just in case. “I told you I’m not fucking leaving with you. What proves that you’re really my brother and not some stalker?”
“This should do,” he says boredly, as a man in a black suit appears out of nowhere and hands me a bunch of documents.
I hesitate to grab them but when the man shoves them in my hands, I have no choice but to obey. I read through the content, trying to decipher what it’s about, and my heart drops when I see it.
This is impossible. They must be falsified.
DNA compatibility.
There’s no way and yet these papers prove it. Wearerelated.
“How did you do this? Huh? Who did you pay to create this fake DNA compatibility? You can’t possibly think I’m that stupid?”
“How sweet of you, little brother. Do you really think these documents are fabricated?”
I stare at him and the eyes that look back at me are too familiar to ignore. His face is definitely an older version of mine.
“How did you find me here? Whynow?” I urge through gritted teeth.
None of this makes sense. How can I have a brother? I’d remember if that was the case. Also, what kind of brother threatens their sibling into flying to another continent?
“I spent years working my ass off to acquire the fortune I now own. I couldn’t find you because you were somewhere in Seattle while I was in Montpellier. I was barely a teen when it happened.” He holds out his palm, squeezing his fingers shut as if the thought is hurting him. “I thought you weredead. Until I found out that you survived the crash and had been sent to a foster home.”
“You’re lying! You just want to manipulate me into believing this crap!”
He flicks his fingers for another man in a black suit to start the vehicle. “The tricky part was that you hadn’t been found in the car,no,you wandered off in search of help. No papers, injured, no memories of anything other than your name. I couldn’t find you, no matter how hard I searched. But you’rehere now. We can finally be a family how we always should’ve been.”
A family? I already have a family and that’s Aoi. I don’t need a brother when I already own the sun.
“You’re really my brother?” I blurt.
He nods.
“I can’t go with you.”
A sudden ache bolts through my skull, and spots fill my vision. A leaner man than the previous one fists my hair and tugs my head back.
My brother’s arm falls limp to his side, veins bulging on his forearms. “I don’t think you understand. You’re coming home with me, whether you like it or not. I amnotlosing you again.”
He takes a step forward and his lackey’s grip loosens at his boss’s glare.
“No,youdon’t seem to understand,” I raise my voice. “I refuse to leave Aoi.He’smy family. He’s all I have and need; you can’t force me away from him. I’ll never let go of him. You’ll have to drag my dead corpse if you want to have me!”
The man sighs and frustratedly takes another step towards me, looming threateningly over me. “Then let me phrase it differently. If you wish to be obstinate and stay, then I’lldestroyhis life. I’ll make sure he never becomes an author, and I’ll get him fired from his job. I’ll tear aparteverythinghe cares about and make him miserable.”
“You can’t do that. You piece of shit, stay the fuck away from him!” Fury makes my hands shake. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
The lackey removes his hands from my hair, and I stumble forward. Unease creeps into me. What if he’s really capable ofthat? I can’t underestimate him. Aoi’s my world, and I can’t cause his demise.
