Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Zane grabbed my arm without a word and started pulling me along.

His grip was like a vice, clamping down right on the spot I’d hurt from that fall earlier. I couldn’t hold back a sharp gasp.

Zane didn’t even flinch. Instead, he shot me a cold look over his shoulder. “If it hurts this much when I just touch you, how could you bring yourself to

hurt Max like that?”

For a second, I just stared. “It wasn’t me,” I said, the words coming out on instinct.

“I don’t care. You’re going to apologize to Mia. Now.”

His tone left no room for argument.

I dug my heels in, ignoring the throbbing in my elbow. No matter how hard he pulled, I refused to take another step. “I told you, I didn’t do it. Why should I apologize?”

“Elara.” Zane stilled, looking down at me. “If this were before, I would’ve believed you without question.”

“But now?” He shook his head slowly. “I can’t read you anymore.”

I forced a thin smile and met his eyes, calm settling over me like a shield. “Whether you believe me or not is

Since when was his trust such a prize, anyway?

The police were handling it. Not him.

“What did you say?”

Zane stared, and slowly, his expression shifted into something colder. Something disappointed.

I blinked slowly. “I said–do what you want.”

your choice.”

“Zane.” I held his gaze, voice steady and sharp. “Don’t look at me like that. Like I’ve done something unforgivable.”

His frown deepened. He looked almost… shaken.

His grip on my arm loosened, and in that small space between us, something broke.

“Elara,” he said, his voice strange. Quiet. “When did you become like this?”

I’ve always been like this.”

The obedience, the compliance–that was never the real me.

Maybe it was time he knew.

“Zane, I’m grateful for these past three years. You gave me space to focus on my work. You kept the Windsors off my back.”

“But that doesn’t mean I have to take the blame for something I didn’t do.”

His eyes narrowed. He was sharp–always had been. “Are you saying..” he began, voice dangerously low, “you’ve been using me this whole time? Using the Grayson name?”

The thought hung between us.

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Betrayed 21 Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother

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Chapter 79

That all my gentle words, my quiet smiles, every moment of the last three years…. had been an act.

That even our marriage was just another move in some game I was playing.

And if that was true…

Then every emotion I ever showed him–every laugh, every tear–was that all fake, too?

Something dark flickered in his eyes. Something I’d never seen before.

If I said yes, I think he might’ve strangled me right there.

But I just looked down, my voice soft and steady.

“Aren’t you the same?”

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