My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 03

My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 03

Just as I turned to leave, Ryker and Logan blocked my way, one in front of me and one behind.

Ryker’s face was hard and cold.

“Wren, you don’t have a shred of compassion. Your indifference triggered Sadie’s depression, and even after three years of correction, you’re still this stubborn.”

Logan opened his mouth and gripped my shoulder with icy force.

“I fell in love with Sadie a long time ago,” he said. “I only agreed to mark you because it made it easier to get close to her.”

“If she hadn’t rejected me, I never would’ve needed to use you.”

One detail after another flashed through my mind.

Every time Logan took me out, he insisted on bringing Sadie along.

Whenever Sadie got sick, the pain in his eyes was real.

They wore matching custom bracelets.

Even when my leg was injured, every time Logan showed up with Sadie, his gaze always stayed on her.

So that was it.

I had been a complete fool from the very beginning.

I lowered my eyes, not a trace of emotion left in them.

I had no use for fake love.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll leave.”

With every step I took, the memories in my mind slowly blurred.

Behind me, Sadie kept calling my name, her sobs tangled with Ryker and Logan’s gentle voices as they comforted her.

I walked alone through the streets as pain and hunger crashed over me.

Rain poured from the sky, and I didn’t even have a place to hide.

Everyone was afraid I would dirty their floors.

So I curled up under an overpass, soaked to the bone and cold all over.

I dug through my bag and pulled out an old coat.

It was the first gift Ryker had bought me after closing his very first business deal.

After that, he made a spectacle of my birthday every year.

He set off fireworks for me on a yacht, gave me diamond necklaces, and spoiled me like I was the happiest princess alive.

He had promised me the grandest coming-of-age ceremony in the entire territory.

But on what should have been the happiest day of my life, he pushed me straight into hell.

And Logan.

Logan had never been a man of many words, but when people at school accused me of being some rich man’s kept girl, he was the first to stand up for me.

“I know Wren,” he said. “And if you keep talking about her like that, we’re going to have a problem.”

Now that I thought about it, he had protected me, but he had never actually defended me.

Yet whenever anyone said a single bad thing about Sadie, he charged forward without hesitation and beat them bloody.

His words had leaned toward me.

But his heart had tipped toward Sadie a long time ago.

Actions never lied.

By the time I woke without realizing I had fallen asleep, rainwater had already risen over my feet.

A few rogues were staring at me with ugly intentions.

Then they snatched my bag—the only thing I had left.

At the lowest, most helpless moment of my life, Ryker and Logan appeared at the same time.

“Wren, why can’t you ever fix that temper of yours?” Logan said. “I told you I’d still form the mate bond with you.”

Ryker looked down at me with impatience in his eyes.

“As long as you behave and stop hurting Sadie, you’re still my sister. Wren, don’t make things hard for me.”

Logan softened his tone, but every word still cut.

“Come home, Wren. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Sadie’s been crying all night because she thinks this is her fault.”

They wanted me to go back.

The condition was that I could never be any kind of threat to Sadie.

Now Sadie was the person who mattered most to them. They cared about every shift in her mood, every tear, every smile.

They didn’t care whether I wanted to go back or not.

I forced my breathing to steady and looked at the two most important men in my life.

“Ryker. Logan,” I said softly. “Even if I leave, you’ll both live just fine, won’t you?”

They glanced at each other, stunned for half a second.

Then the moment passed, and impatience returned to their faces.

“Is there any point in saying things like that all the time?” Ryker said. “Wren, we’ll treat you the same as before, as long as you stop making things hard for Sadie.”

Logan frowned.

“All you have to do is stop going after Sadie. Do that, and we can all move on.”

They ignored every ounce of hurt and pain inside me and casually reduced it all to a childish tantrum.

There was nothing left to say.

Ignoring my struggle, they forced me into the car.

“Apologize to Sadie,” Ryker said coldly. “Don’t make her cry over you again.”