Hard to Endure Chapter 10

Hard to Endure Chapter 10

Oh, right. We were brother and sister. To hell with that. Sooner or later, we wouldn’t be.

But Knox dropped me off at home and left. He said the overseas branch had an emergency meeting that

night. I didn’t buy it. I figured he was avoiding me.

Vanessa still couldn’t let it go. She’d been exposed, and Adrian and his friends wanted nothing to do with her

anymore, so she took all her anger out on me.

That first essay had gotten her a following. Late that night, she posted again, with screenshots and receipts

about me, Adrian, and Knox.

The couples account was already in shreds. People piled on with insults, mockery, and lies, and they made

me sound like an actual pervert.

The pile-on came hard and fast, and then it vanished just as fast. Knox had thrown money at the problem.

In its place, the news broke that Vanessa was a professional gold digger. She’d been working her way

through high society and stringing along several men at once.

Just as he’d promised, Knox made sure she couldn’t stay in the country either. But all of that came later.

As I stared at all that hate, something suddenly clicked for me. Then I threw myself down the stairs on

purpose.

A sharp pain shot up from my calf and spread through my whole body. It hurt so much that my eyes went

red.

I held back my tears, took a picture of the wound, and sent it to Knox with a shaky voice memo. “Knox, it

hurts so bad.”

Then I had Arthur call Knox and make it sound as serious as he possibly could.

Less than ten minutes after my message went through, Knox was home. The car had barely pulled through the gate when the door flew open, and Knox practically ran inside. He was out of breath, and his eyes were

full of panic.

When he saw me curled up on the couch with red eyes, he spoke tightly but gently. “How did you fall? Does it

hurt? Why didn’t you go to the hospital?”

I kept my eyes down and wouldn’t answer. Knox insisted on taking me to the hospital, but every time he

brought it up, I started crying.

Knox gave up arguing. He hurried off for the first-aid kit and carefully cleaned the wound with antiseptic.

The moment he touched it, I flinched a little. Knox’s breath caught, and his hands got even gentler.

Once the wound was taken care of, he scooped me up and carried me to my room.

The second I sank into the soft bed, I hooked my arms around his neck and pulled him down hard. I tipped

my face up and kissed him.

Knox went completely stiff. Struggle, panic, and restraint churned in his eyes. He raised his hand to push me

away, but my legs were already wrapped around his waist.

I pressed my lips to his ear, my voice breaking. “Knox, I don’t want to be your sister. I want you.”

If I pushed hard enough and grabbed for it, I’d get what I wanted. Sure enough, Knox fell apart completely.

He pulled my waist tight against him and bent down to kiss me back, hard. The night deepened, and the

room heated up.

Knox was mine. His heart was mine, and so was the rest of him.

I slept until noon. Someone was leaning on the doorbell.

Arthur came to tell me, “Miss Winslow, a Mr. Shaw is here to see you.”

When I came downstairs, Adrian was already waiting on the couch. The moment he saw me, his eyes went

straight to the hickeys all over my neck and collarbone. Those glaring marks spelled out exactly what had happened the night before.

Adrian went rigid, and his eyes turned bloodshot. He strode up to me and gripped my wrist hard.

He rasped, “Summer, so I was Knox’s stand-in the whole time, wasn’t I?”

I looked at him calmly and was quiet for a moment. “Yes. I was only with you because you look like him.”

Once I said it, I figured I’d finally given Adrian a straight answer.

Adrian swayed on his feet. He let go of me and asked the same question as the other day. “So in more than

two years, you never felt anything for me at all?”

I nodded and answered honestly. “In two years, we never crossed that line either, did we?”

The room went completely silent. Adrian opened his mouth to argue, but he had nothing to say.

In the two-plus years we’d been together, we’d never gone beyond hugging and kissing. Every time we got

close to the last step, we’d both hold back and stop.

After a long time, Adrian gave a low, bitter laugh and turned to leave.

Once he was gone, the living room was completely quiet. I turned around and met Knox’s eyes. He was

standing at the top of the stairs.

I looked away, a little awkward. Knox stood there with his body tense, and there was a heat in his eyes I’d

never seen before.

He walked slowly toward me, his voice low and rough. “Summer, you really…”

He cupped the back of my head and kissed me hard.