Hard to Endure Chapter 04

Hard to Endure Chapter 04

When I woke up, Adrian was gone. There was water and aspirin on the nightstand, and the mess in the living room had been cleaned up. I rubbed my throbbing temples and found the messages he’d left on my phone.

Adrian: [I’ve got some things to take care of, so I’ll be gone a few days.]

Adrian: [Take care of yourself.]

I forgot to mention that Adrian wasn’t some unemployed, bleached-blond loser. He was the youngest son of the Shaw family. He didn’t have to take over the family business, because his trust fund could support him for life.

So when I first suggested starting a couples account, he was against it. He only agreed later because of Vanessa.

That was our first month together. Vanessa sent him a message, and I happened to see it. I didn’t remember the exact words, but it went something like this.

Vanessa: [Adrian, I’ve moved on with my life. It’s time you did too.]

Adrian took it hard. Maybe it was his looks or maybe it was mine, but our couples videos kept getting more popular.

I scrolled up through our messages. Since we were together most of the time, Adrian and I barely texted. I’d never seen a single one of the memes he sent Vanessa. Luckily, I didn’t care.

My eyes stopped on the line where he’d promised to explain. He never got the chance. He took Vanessa to the beach instead.

That same afternoon, someone posted a video of them online, and our couples account got flooded all over again. The comment section turned into a toxic mess.

As for me, I was holding my breath. I was staring at the message our butler, Arthur Bennett, had just sent.

Arthur: [Miss Winslow, Mr. Callahan is home.]

“Mr. Callahan” meant Knox. After my parents died, the staff had started calling him by his last name.

And Knox was someone I’d picked up. He was a big brother I’d found for myself.

When I was ten, my parents took me to the countryside to splash around in the creek and plant vegetables. That was the first time I saw Knox.

He was covered in cuts and bruises, running for his life while a group of people chased him all over the place.

I watched with great interest. I figured he was a bad kid who’d done something wrong. Then, that night, he collapsed in a heap outside the little cabin where we were staying.

Knox was good-looking. I snuck out to look at him a few times, and in the end, I pestered my parents until they agreed to take him home.

Knox was an orphan, and his parents had died a long time before. My parents felt sorry for him and wanted to adopt him properly, but he refused.

He was stubborn and a total mess. “People say I’m bad luck. Anybody who takes me in ends up dead.”

My parents traded a look. The next second, I was hugging Knox’s arm with red eyes. “No. I want you to be my big brother.”

Knox stayed with us after all. The staff called him Mr. Callahan, and I called him Knox.

I was a picky eater, so Knox learned to cook from our chef. I was scared of the dark, so every night, Knox waited until I fell asleep before he went back to his own room.

He was my brother, and I’d always thought he’d stay my brother forever.

Then, when I was eighteen, my parents were targeted by a business rival and died in a suspicious car crash.

After they died, Knox changed. He barely spoke. Every time he saw me, he dodged and couldn’t even look me in the eye. No, that wasn’t quite right. I hardly ever saw him at all.

I didn’t understand why. Arthur told me, “Mr. Callahan is busy taking care of the company. Of course he hasn’t forgotten about you, Miss Winslow.”

I was baffled. “Mr. Callahan?”

That was when I found out the Winslow Group had turned into a disaster. It was falling apart from the inside and under attack from the outside, and it was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Knox hadn’t even finished college, but he took on every bit of it. He took over the company and fought his way through the business world. Once the company was finally back on track, he transferred every single share into my name.

I went to his office a few times, but he was always either in a meeting or on his way to one. On the rare occasions I caught him, all he’d say was, “I’m busy. If you need anything, my assistant can help.”

It hurt. I wanted to ask him, “Mom and Dad left me. Are you leaving me too?” But he looked so exhausted. I didn’t dare bother him, so I could only watch him from a distance.

Then I turned twenty-two and graduated from college. I was supposed to go abroad for grad school, but I overheard someone say Knox was meeting potential matches for an arranged marriage.

That day, I could hardly breathe, and my chest ached. I finally realized that what I felt for Knox wasn’t the way a sister loved a brother. Knox’s heart and Knox himself should both belong to me.