The Better Brother novel Chapter 4

"Sarah, I'm so sorry. If you still love Jared, I'll step aside. I'll give him back to you," Samantha sobbed.

The fury Nina had just swallowed erupted all over again.-

"Drop the act! You slept with your sister's boyfriend, do you have no shame at all? Are you even human?"

"Are you done?!" Jared roared at Nina. "Say one more word about Samantha, and I won't care that you're a woman."

Nina took a step forward, ready to go to war, but Sarah reached out and grabbed her arm.

Sarah's fingers were cool against Nina's wrist.

Her grip wasn't tight, but it carried an undeniable anchor of calm that forced Nina to swallow her explosive rage.

Every eye in the room was fixed on Sarah. Some stared with curiosity, others with pity, while Samantha failed to hide the triumphant gleam in her tears.

They were all waiting for her to break down, to cry, to lose her mind.

But she didn't.

Sarah slowly released Nina's arm and took two steps forward, her gaze cutting right past Jared to lock onto Samantha's pathetic, tear-stained face.

A faint, chilling smile touched her lips. "Give him back?"

Her voice was terrifyingly calm, completely devoid of the hysteria they expected.

"Samantha, the fact that you can even say that out loud is pathetic. If you actually wanted to step aside, you wouldn't have climbed into his bed in the first place."

Samantha's crying hitched, a flash of genuine panic crossing her face.

Jared's expression darkened. He opened his mouth to defend her, but Sarah cut him off.

"Jared, you think I bullied her?"

Sarah gave him no room to breathe. She turned her cold stare back to Samantha.

"You said I hate seeing you? You're right. I do. Not because I care about Jared, but because looking at you reminds me of how incredibly stupid I was to treat a snake like family."

Tears streamed down Samantha's face as she perfected her wounded victim routine.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah. Please don't blame Jared. It's all my fault."

The momentary guilt on Jared's face evaporated, replaced by aggressive protectiveness.

He glared at Sarah as if he wanted to rip her apart.

"Even if I made a mistake, you're no saint either! You claim you were this perfect sister, but look at how vicious you're being right now. No real sister would act like this."

He tightened his arm around Samantha. "We're leaving."