Ashes of the Past Chapter 2

A month later, Chloe officially joined our family's corporation and became my brother's personal secretary.

I warned my brother that Chloe had ulterior motives and was intentionally targeting him.

"Mia, not everyone's brain is completely consumed by childish romance like yours."

Yet, within a year, he moved Chloe directly into his private apartment.

I drove like a maniac the entire way. Chloe gripped the "oh shit" handle with a death grip.

"Mia, I know you're upset, but please consider our physical safety!"

When Chloe rushed into the villa, I didn't follow her. Instead, I just sat in the car, zoning out completely.

I knew exactly what was about to happen between my brother and Chloe better than anyone.

I wasn't jealous.

My horrific, agonizing death in my past life—and the fact that my parents were dragged down to a miserable end because of me—made me realize with absolute clarity that my love for my brother was nothing but lethal poison to him.

And the comment Chloe made in the car just now completely validated that brutal truth.

"Mia, he's your brother. Your twisted, disgusting obsession with him is what drove him to flee the country to study in the first place. Now that he has me, you need to give up."

So Arthur had known for a very long time that I was in love with him. He went abroad to study entirely to escape me.

If I had known that sooner, in my past life, when I handed him that glass of water and saw him suffering so agonizingly, I never would have unbuttoned my own shirt.

Before getting out of the car, Chloe threw one last sentence at me.

"You're a grown woman now. It's time you found someone appropriate to date and marry."

She was probably terrified I would keep obsessing over Arthur. Don't worry. I have absolutely zero lingering fantasies about Arthur Sterling.

I sat in the car for the entire night. It wasn't until dawn broke that I finally opened the front door and went upstairs.

Arthur, wearing a bathrobe, was walking out of his bedroom.

"Where the hell were you last night?"

His neck was covered in undeniable, dark hickeys, and his voice was thick, raspy, and languid.

"I went to hang out with Lily."

Lily was my best friend; Arthur had met her before.

The fact that he still possessed the mental bandwidth to casually ask about my whereabouts made me feel a surge of relief. Maybe he had finally let go of his resentment, and we could cleanly revert back to a normal sibling dynamic.

"I know you look down on Chloe's background and think she's poor, but let me make this incredibly clear: she is the woman I am absolutely going to marry. Show her some respect from now on."

When did I ever look down on her background? I couldn't stop a genuinely confused frown from crossing my face.

"Wipe that arrogant, superior look off your face. She literally sacrificed herself to clean up the catastrophic mess you caused."

I was even more confused now.

"What are you talking about?"

Arthur's patience evaporated.

"Are you honestly going to stand there and deny you spiked my drink last night?! Do you have any idea how pure and innocent Chloe is?! She wanted to wait until our wedding night to give herself to me, and you ruined everything!"

"I didn't do it!"

I yelled back defensively.

Yes, I had been in love with Arthur for years, but I would never, ever resort to such cheap, disgusting, underhanded tactics.

"Chloe and I went out for dinner, came straight home, and the only thing I drank was the glass of milk you left on my nightstand! If it wasn't you, who the hell was it?!"

In my past life, I always wondered why my brother never investigated who drugged him. I always assumed he fell for a trap at some business dinner and was too ashamed to bring it up.

It turned out he believed I was the one who drugged him. No wonder he hated me so intensely. Hated me so much that he dragged the very parents who gave us their blessing down to hell with him.

Hated me so much that he refused to even let the six-month-old child growing inside me take a single breath in this world.

My heart tasted like bitter ash, and my eyes burned.

"Believe whatever you want, but I am telling you, it absolutely was not me."

Right at that moment, Arthur's bedroom door cracked open. Chloe, wearing one of Arthur's oversized dress shirts, peeked out like a terrified, fragile little rabbit.

"Arthur, is Mia mad at me?"

Arthur shot me a look loaded with intense warning.

"Mia would never be mad at you. She's going to offer us her full blessing."

"You're absolutely right, brother. Sister-in-law." I forced a bright smile onto my face. "You saved him. I'll advocate for you both and convince Mom and Dad to agree to the wedding."

A flash of barely concealed triumph crossed Chloe's face, while Arthur looked at me with intense, analytical suspicion.

What was there to be suspicious about? He was literally willing to die for her. Even if I knew she was a manipulative snake, I absolutely refused to let my parents risk even a single hair on their heads.

"Please don't put Uncle and Auntie in a difficult position. I know I'm not worthy of Arthur. I just want to stay by his side."

Ah, so Arthur has a fetish for manipulative 'green tea' victims. No wonder he never loved me.