The Forbidden Throb (Emma and Daniel) novel Chapter 177

Chapter 177

Nicholas’s POV:

The words hung in the air between us-“You’ve known me your entire life.”

I stood Th

somew

my thoughts a chaotic mess of denial and dawning horror. Every muscle in my body had locked up, my breath caught y lungs and throat.

one. He turned back toward me, his hand still intertwined with Emma’s, and his expression shifted into something almost

crawl.

You’re my brother, Nicholas,” he said, his voice taking on that warm, measured tone he used when delivering good news to anxious I don’t mind sharing some good news and let you enjoy the happy.”

used, and in that brief silence, I watched his thumb trace a slow, possessive circle against the back of Emma’s hand.

ma and I are married.”

ach word landed with perfect clarity, crisp and deliberate. Mar-ried. Two syllables that rewrote my entire reality.

The hallway seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

Daniel’s gaze held mine, steady and unwavering. “You’re a grown man now. I trust you understand how to treat your sister-in-law appropriately.”

Sister-in-law.

The words detonated in my brain like a flashbang grenade.

Sister-in-law. Sister-in-law. Sister-in-law.

They echoed through my skull, each repetition driving the reality deeper. Emma-the girl I’d dated for two years, the girl I’d been desperately trying to figure out how to win back, the girl who’d occupied every waking thought for the past months-was now legally, irrevocably, permanently my brother’s wife.

My sister-in-law.

I stared at him, my shoulders sagging under the weight of comprehension I couldn’t fully process. My mind had gone completely blank, all the

antor evaporating like smoke. angry words I’d been ready to hurl at Emma

How long? I wanted to scream

But my throat had closed

3

72 as Pppp

Chapter 177

The silence stretched fourly a full minute of me standing there like an idiot, my brain desperately trying to reject what my mars had just

Finally, I managed to lift my gaze to meet Daniels. My eyes felt hot, gritty, like i hadn’t slept in days.

Why, Daniel?

My voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. The words scraped against my throat like broken glass.

Why do you always take what’s mine?

The question hung between us, raw and desperate and pathetic.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed slightly, the only crack in his composed facade.

“She was never your possession, Nicholas,” he said quietly,

He took a step toward me, releasing Emma’s hand but keeping himself positioned between us-protective, territorial.

“Emma is a grown woman, an independent individual with her own agency. She has every right to choose her own path, her own life, her own partner.”

His voice dropped lower, taking on an edge I rarely heard from him.

“The fact that you still think of her as something that can be ‘taken’ or ‘stolen’ shows exactly how little you respected her autonomy in the first place.”

He paused, and something shifted in his expression.

“And you had your chance, Nicholas. You had every opportunity to appreciate what you had, to treat her the way she deserved to be treated.”

His thumb continued its slow, deliberate circle against Emma’s hand.

“But you didn’t. You took her for granted, assumed she’d always be there waiting, no matter how you behaved or who you chose to spend your

time with.”

The words were delivered calmly, almost gently, but they cut deeper than any shout could have.

“No one waits forever, Nicholas.”

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The Forbidden Throb