While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Among Wolves

His fingers were still on her chin.

Veyra sat frozen in the leather chair, her heart slamming against her ribs, her breath caught somewhere in her throat. Dorian’s thumb moved slowly across her jaw, and she realized he was not being tender. He was examining her. Looking at the bruises. The split lip. The healing cuts on her cheekbone.

"You look like you lost a fight with a truck," he said.

She blinked. The spell broke. "I feel like I did."

His hand dropped. He stepped back and shoved his hands in his pockets. The moment was gone. She was not sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

"The bruises will heal in about a week," he said. "Maybe less. I’ll have Solene bring you some arnica cream."

"Solene?"

"The housekeeper Lin Solene. You’ve met her."

Veyra nodded. She had met her. The woman in the gray dress who did not ask questions.

"When they heal," Dorian said, "you’re coming with me to the old house. To meet my grandmother."

Veyra’s stomach dropped. "Your grandmother? The one in the hospital?"

"She’s out now. She’s staying at the family estate. She wants to meet you." He said it flatly, like he was reading a grocery list. "She doesn’t know about the contract. She thinks this is a real marriage. You need to act like it."

"Act like what, exactly?"

"Act like you love me." His gray eyes met hers. "Can you do that?"

She wanted to say yes. She wanted to be confident and capable and sure of herself. But the truth was, she had spent seven years loving a man who did not deserve it, and she was not sure she remembered how to pretend.

"I’ll try," she said.

He handed her a tablet. It was thin and looked expensive,

"The Thorne family," he said. "Everyone you need to know. Names, faces, positions, weaknesses. Memorize it by tomorrow."

She looked at the screen. There were dozens of names. Photographs. Family trees. Notes in small, precise text.

"Your family is huge," she said.

"My father’s family." His voice was cold. "I don’t claim most of them. But you need to know who they are so you know who to avoid."

She scrolled through the profiles. Caspian was there. His photo was smaller than the others, tucked in a corner of the family tree. Illegitimate son. Not in succession.

"Your half-brother," she said.

Dorian’s jaw tightened. "Yes."

"He never mentioned you. In seven years of marriage, he never once told me he had a brother."

"Because he hates me. And I hate him." Dorian turned toward the fire. The flames reflected in his eyes. "My father had an affair with his mother while my mother was still alive. Caspian was born when I was two. I didn’t find out until I was fourteen. My mother found out when she was dying."

Veyra said nothing. There was nothing to say.

"Memorize the tablet," Dorian said. "Solene will come for you at eight tomorrow morning. She’ll help you get ready."

He walked out of the library without looking back.

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