Brother's Darling - Chapter 3

After a while, I calmed down. A servant brought in some food. I ate a little, then got out of bed and went to the window.

Below was a backyard filled with greenery. I’d seen the original plans for this house. Back then, Siyan had said he’d keep a room for me, and I was welcome to stay whenever I liked.

Then his business expanded overseas. I’d never even set foot here.

Now I finally had. Only what I was to him had changed.

I pressed a hand to my faintly aching stomach, and the turmoil in my head suddenly settled.

Too much had happened lately. My identity. My illness.

Intermediate-stage stomach cancer. I needed surgery.

It had made me oversensitive, prone to extremes.

Ever since Boyu had taken the Xie surname and come back, he’d been openly hostile. He thought I’d stolen his life of wealth and privilege—those wonderful years he kept talking about.

Given a choice, though, I wouldn’t have stayed in the Xie family.

They’d always been a prominent family, but our father had gradually run the business into the ground. Only when Siyan grew up and took over had it prospered again and started expanding.

That father I’d been saddled with wasn’t much of a businessman. Breeding, on the other hand, was his specialty.

Like a stud pig, he had children everywhere, then brought them home to be raised. After that, he couldn’t be bothered.

My stomach trouble had started years ago. With him neglecting us, the nanny hadn’t paid much attention either. Some days I went hungry; others I ate my fill. My routine became erratic, and the problem only got worse.

There were so many children in the family that very little money found its way to me. Growing up, the only person I could rely on was Siyan. He looked after me and shared what he had.

After he graduated and left home, we saw each other less and grew more distant. But my feelings for him never went away.

Maybe that was why, with both blows landing at once, I’d felt so hurt in front of him. I’d wanted him to understand. To comfort me.

Except now I wasn’t even his pretend little brother anymore.

When he’d learned I wasn’t a Xie, he hadn’t shown much emotion. Instead, he’d taught me to secure as much for myself as I could.

And I’d promptly handed him a glass of drugged milk.

The coincidences felt like a trap heaven had laid especially for me.

I stared at the trees below. Siyan appeared, speaking to someone on the phone.

Looking at his back, I whispered, “I didn’t put the drug in it. I was a victim too.”

Then I smiled to myself.

What was I being so dramatic about? Why did I insist on fighting him?

I didn’t drug you.

I’m sick. I need an operation.

Ge, could you help me?

Siyan would help. Of course he would. To him, it would be a small thing.

So why couldn’t I say it?

Because I didn’t want to see pity in his eyes. Because I was angry that he’d misunderstood me, doubted me.

Because… I liked him.

The only good thing about the truth coming out was that it gave those twisted feelings of mine somewhere to belong.

The instant he turned and looked up, I stepped back from the window and sat on the bed.

My phone rang. Boyu.

The abuse started the moment I answered.

“Xie Li, do you have any shame? Can’t be his brother, so you’re going to be his lover? You’re disgusting!

“You stole my parents and my brothers, and now you’re trying to keep my eldest brother all to yourself?”

I laughed, sharp and incredulous.

“Xie Boyu, your parents probably put a lot of thought into your name, didn’t they? Do you know how I got mine?

“Your biological father thought he had enough children already. One more was a nuisance. So he picked ‘Li’ off the top of his head. It means ‘leave.’ He hoped I’d leave sooner.

“I read your file before they brought you back. Your family wasn’t as rich as the Xies, but your allowance was no smaller than mine.

“I haven’t blamed you for taking over twenty years of my parents’ love. What gives you the right to blame me?”

His breathing grew fast over the phone. “That’s impossible! I don’t believe you!”

I scoffed. “Believe what you like. I’ve met that couple. They seem gentle and kind. How did they raise a vicious idiot like you?”

I hung up and sighed.

I’d met my biological parents. They’d been good to me. But we’d spent more than twenty years apart. Shared blood wasn’t enough to make three adults feel close.

In the end, I’d fled the stiff, awkward politeness.

A few years earlier, I could have used school as an excuse to stay in my new home and let them support me, giving us time to build a bond whether we liked it or not.

But I was twenty-three now.

I had nothing left.

Still, being twenty-three had its advantages. I could earn my own money. Live on my own.

Xie Li, stop feeling sorry for yourself.

…