Ew... I Slept With My 'Bro' For 3 Years?! Well, GO HELL, F*ckboy novel Chapter 15

Chapter 6

I covered the cracked walls with fresh newspaper.

Sewed a patchwork curtain from old floral fabric.

Bought new pots and pans from the flea market for thirty bucks total.

I made that little space into a home.

When Benjamin came back from work, dinner was always hot on the table.

His dirty clothes were washed and hanging out to dry before he even thought to ask.

He was still quiet, but I could see the change.

He started helping more-splitting firewood, changing the gas tank, fixing the leaky faucet.

One night, when he saw me squinting while I sewed, he quietly replaced the lightbulb with a brighter one.

No sweet talk. No promises.

Just small, steady things that said I’m here.

And somehow, that was more comforting than a thousand love songs.

Of course, not everyone liked our little peace.

Especially Chadwick.

The news of my marriage hit him harder than any breakup could’ve.

To him, it wasn’t just rejection—it was humiliation.

The woman he’d dumped had gone and married the one man he thought was beneath everyone.

His ego couldn’t take it.

So he started buzzing around like a damn mosquito.

One afternoon, I was at the washroom, scrubbing clothes in the sink, when he swaggered in, leaning on the doorframe with that smug grin.

“Well, look at you, Ellie. Moving up in the world, huh?”

“Got yourself a real catch there. What’s next, pushing his wheelchair to work?”

I didn’t even look up.

“Regret? Yeah-I regret not seeing what kind of trash you were sooner.”

“My life’s just fine, thanks. Don’t worry your nosy little head about it.”

His face went red, then pale, then red again.

Chapter 6

“Fine? With a cripple? You really think that’s fine?”

I slammed the wet laundry down and stood up, water dripping from my hands.

My glare could’ve cut glass.

“Listen, Chadwick,” I said, voice sharp as a knife.

“Who I live with, how I live-it’s none of your damn business. Ben’s worth a hundred of you.”

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, pointing at me, sputtering, before snapping, “We’ll see how long you can play happy!” and storming

off.

His pride was bleeding, and a man like him-wounded and petty-was bound to make trouble.

I just didn’t yet know how much.

Chadwick’s harassment was like mud stuck to the bottom of my shoe-annoying as hell, but not enough to kill me.

So I made up my mind: ignore him.

Don’t give him a look, a word, not even a reaction. Let him punch into a pillow and tire himself out.

Life had to go on-and not just go on, but get better.

That’d be the sweetest revenge.

I poured myself into my job and our little home.

Those early days were rough.

The apartment was a cramped, run-down unit in a converted old complex-shared bathrooms and laundry rooms, and heat that barely worked

in the winter.

Cooking meant setting up a rickety kerosene burner in the hallway, choking on smoke that stung my eyes.

But none of that scared me.

After everything I’d endured in Chadwick’s family, this kind of hardship was nothing.

It was cold, cramped, and tight-but I finally felt free.

Benjamin wasn’t a talker. But he was solid.

He didn’t say sweet things, but he showed up.

He took care of every dirty, heavy chore-chopping wood, unclogging the drain, fixing leaks-without a single complaint.

When I sat sewing at night, he’d quietly twist the lamp so it shone a little brighter on my side.

When he saw my hands chapped raw from washing clothes in freezing water, he scavenged old metal pipes and scrap parts and somehow welded together a crooked little water heater.

It barely worked, but it gave us warm water-and that felt like luxury.

Once, I mentioned offhand that I missed the cinnamon donuts from this bakery across town.

The next evening, he came home, grease-stained from work, holding a warm paper bag-the donuts still hot.

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Ew… I Slept With My ‘Bro’ For 3 Years?! Well, GO HELL. F*ckboy!

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Chapter 6

Little things. Small, clumsy gestures.

But they melted me.

Like holding a roasted sweet potato on a snowy night-simple, imperfect, but so full of warmth that it soothed every scar on my heart.

At work, I pushed myself even harder.

Losing that “Employee of the Month” title stung, and I was damn well going to earn it back.

I already had strong technical skills, but now I spent every spare moment figuring out better ways to do things-how to save effort, improve efficiency, cut waste.

When management announced a program to reward technical innovations, I submitted a proposal to redesign the way our press molds were aligned.

Didn’t expect much. But the engineering department called me in, had me run a few trials-and it worked.

The machines ran faster, smoother, and the output was cleaner.

Right there, the head engineer decided to adopt my method across the entire shop floor.

A female worker coming up with a technical breakthrough? That stirred up the whole plant.

Even my supervisor, who used to give me grief for breaking off my engagement, started looking at me with something like respect.

At the end of the year, when they handed out awards, my name was first on the list.

And I even got a $200 innovation bonus.

Two hundred bucks! That was nearly three weeks of pay for us.

When I held those crisp bills, my hands trembled. My chest burned with pride.

That was me-Ellie-earning it with my own damn hands.

First thing I did?

Ran to the general store, bought the best blue work fabric they had, and tailored Benjamin a new set of coveralls.

Then I splurged-two pounds of beef, a bag of flour-and made mashed potatoes with gravy and meat for dinner.

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When Benjamin saw the new clothes and the steaming food, his usual stoic face softened into this awkward, childlike smile-like he didn’t quite know how to handle joy.

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