Loving The Better Brother novel Chapter 1

WILLOW

My husband married me when I was at my lowest.

That sentence always sounded like a blessing when people said it out loud. In their words, Marcus Hale had plucked me from misery out of kindness. As though love had been the reason he chose me when I had nothing to offer.

It was true.

Back then, I didn’t have money. I didn’t have a name that could hold a candle to his. I didn’t even have parents to introduce at their family dinner. I was an orphan with a polite smile and a clean background. Although, that didn’t really matter because he never bothered showing me off to the public. Only his family and his closest subordinates knew who I truly was.

That was more than enough.

At least, it had been.

Recently, everything I thought I knew about myself had cracked open.

My father found me.

Or rather, he claimed me.

Florence.

The name meant nothing to me when he first said it, spoken softly in a private hospital room. I thought it was just another lie adults told to make tragedy feel meaningful. But then lawyers appeared with a lineage written in ink older than my marriage.

In an instant, I was no longer just Willow Hale, the wife of Marcus Hale. I was Willow Florence. Sole heir. The only surviving child of a man who had built an empire quietly and far away from cameras.

However, we had been reunited too late.

He was already sick when he found me. An illness he hid behind gentle laughter. I learned how to love a parent I’d only just been allowed to have.

And then I learned how to lose him.

He died on a Tuesday.

I didn’t tell Marcus right away because I wanted to tell him properly. I wanted to sit beside him, to be held, to be allowed to fall apart for once. I wanted to tell my husband that I had found my father, and he owned one of the biggest enterprises in the entire country. I wanted to tell him I was arranging a funeral alone because I was the only one left.

The only heir.

The only daughter.

The only Florence.

But Marcus was busy.

He was always busy.

That morning, I packed his lunch myself the way I always did, even though he rarely noticed. I stood in front of the mirror longer than usual, smoothing my dress, practicing how to say the words without crying.

I found my father. He died. I need you.

However, I never got the chance… until now.

The Hale Group tower rose above the street like it always did. I walked through the revolving doors with the lunch bag held carefully in both hands.

The front desk assistant looked up and then looked down again.

She had never been fond of me.

“Miss… Willow?” she said.

“My husband,” I said quietly. “Marcus. I—” My voice faltered. I cleared my throat. “I brought him lunch.”

Her lips curved, slow and knowing.

“He’s busy.”

“His board meeting,” I said, forcing the words out gently. “Right?”

She tilted her head, studying me.

“Board meeting, you said?”

The way she repeated it made my stomach tighten.

I nodded, clutching the handle of the lunch bag. “I won’t interrupt. I just wanted to leave this for him.”

She looked at her screen, then back at me. Then she smirked.

“Well,” she said lightly, pressing a button to release the elevator gates, “go ahead and proceed upstairs, then, Miss Willow.”

The elevator chimed softly behind me.

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