Chapter 9
William only got tricked because he didn’t suspect his own cousin, which made me sigh. Life in wealthy families. always seemed so full of drama, unlike my simple family background. We’ve been a single–child family for nine generations. until my parents finally had me.
My brother’s phone started ringing, interrupting my thoughts. I glanced at the screen–it was Ethan calling. My brother was busy with a turn, so he asked me to answer it for him. I hesitated for a moment before putting it on speaker.
Ethan’s voice came through urgently,
barely waiting for the call to connect.
“Adam, has your sister come back?”
My brother grinned, completely unbothered. “Yeah, how‘ d you know?”
“I…” Ethan paused for a moment, then asked, “Could you let your sister answer? I
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need to ask her something.”
My brother‘ s grin turned mischievous. “Go ahead. She’s right here and can hear you.”
There was a long silence from Ethan and then he asked carefully, “Emma, could we talk alone?”
My brother’s expression shifted and he gave me a sidelong glance, his tone now edged with warning.
“What’s so private that I can‘ thear? You‘ re not planning to ask her how to win back that long–lost ‘first love‘ of yours, are you?”
Ethan sighed deeply. “I’m not trying to win Amanda back. That’s all in the past.”
“Emma, could we talk, please? I only need a few minutes.”
At that, my brother stomped on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt by the side of the
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road.
“Ethan, don‘ t push your luck. I know how many years you‘ ve obsessed over Amanda, even going through five or six stand–ins for her. And now you think you can move on to my sister? She’s my sister! I’ve treated you like a brother all these years, so don‘ t make me fly over there and knock some sense into you.”
With that, he hung up and tossed the phone into the console, ignoring its repeated ringing.
He looked at me with a frown. “What‘ s going on between you two? I thought you said you barely knew him.”
Seeing there was no way to avoid it, I told him everything that had happened over the past few years.
When I finished, his face was red with
anger. After a long silence, he wiped a tear from his eye and hugged me.
“It’s not your fault; I just made a poor
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choice in friends. I should’ve told you
about Amanda. Then you wouldn’t have fallen so deep into this.”
I shook my head, feeling a soft warmth in my heart.
“I was the foolish one. After seven years of him hiding me from his life and never coming to meet you, I should‘ ve seen the
signs.
He ruffled my hair gently. “Don’t worry; things will get better now. William is reliable–I’ll stake my life on it.”
Ethan was always a proud man, so I thought that after my brother‘ s tirade, we’d never see each other again. But the next morning, while our family was having breakfast, a servant announced that someone at the door was asking to see me. by name.
When I went out, I saw Ethan standing there, dressed in my favorite suit, holding a bouquet and smiling warmly at me.
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“Emma, I’ve been thinking about things. I shouldn’t have acted like that the other day or hurt you.
“It’s not what you think with Amanda. She’s just a friend to me now. If you‘ re unhappy with it, I won’t see her
anymore.
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