Chapter 6 His Brother,My Past
I couldn’t breathe.
Magnus stood across the room, staring directly at me.
He looked older than the man I remembered, harder somehow. But those eyes were the same.
The same eyes I had once trusted.
The same eyes I had once loved.
“Laurel?”
Xavier’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him, but I couldn’t find the words.
His eyes moved from me to Magnus.
Then back to me.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
“You two know each other.”
It wasn’t a question.
I swallowed.
Before I could answer, Magnus stepped forward.
“We’ve met.”
My heart stopped.
Xavier’s expression hardened.
“Where?”
Magnus looked at me.
For a second, I thought he would tell him everything.
Instead, he smiled.
“Years ago.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Magnus shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Xavier’s jaw tightened.
“Sit down.”
Everyone slowly returned to their seats.
I sat beside Xavier, trying to keep my hands from trembling.
Magnus sat across from us.
I could feel his eyes on me.
I refused to look at him.
Dinner continued, but the atmosphere had completely changed.
Xavier barely touched his food.
Finally, he turned toward me.
“Laurel, how do you know my brother?”
I opened my mouth.
Magnus answered first.
“She knew me before she knew you.”
My head snapped toward him.
Xavier’s eyes narrowed.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t answer for my wife.”
Magnus leaned back casually.
“You should ask her yourself.”
“I am.”
“Then why are you looking at me?”
The tension around the table became unbearable.
Xavier turned back to me.
“How long have you known him?”
I hesitated.
Magnus smiled.
“Long enough.”
Xavier’s fingers tightened around his glass.
“Laurel…!”
“I knew him before,” I finally whispered.
“Before what?”
“Before my marriage.”
Xavier went completely still.
Magnus watched him carefully.
“You never told me about him,” Xavier said quietly.
“I didn’t know he was your brother.”
Magnus laughed under his breath.
“Neither did I.”
Xavier looked at him.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Magnus’s smile disappeared.
“Nothing.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Magnus looked at me again.
“You haven’t changed much.”
I frowned.
“What?”
He smiled.
“You still scratch your palm when you’re lying.”
Xavier immediately looked at me.
I felt my stomach drop.
“I’ve haven’t seen that side of you,” Xavier said.
Magnus leaned forward.
“You haven’t seen many sides of Laurel.”
“Enough….!”My father in law said loudly.
“But you want to know her, don’t you?”
Xavier’s eyes turned cold.
Magnus continued before he could respond.
“You probably don’t even know about the little birthmark on her waist.”
My entire body went cold.
Xavier stared at him.
Magnus’s gaze shifted briefly to me.
“Or the one higher on her thigh.”
My face burned.
The room fell silent.
Xavier slowly placed his glass on the table.
“How do you know that?”
Magnus smiled.
“Because I knew her before you.”
Xavier stood.
The chair scraped loudly against the floor.
“Watch yourself.”
Magnus stood too.
“I’ve been watching myself for years.”
“Are you trying to provoke me?”
“Maybe! Do you feel provoked”?
Xavier stepped closer.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Magnus’s expression hardened.
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I quickly stood between them.
“Stop.”
Neither listened.
Xavier grabbed Magnus by the collar and punched him.
Magnus didn’t even flinch.
Instead, he smiled,as he wiped off the blood on his lips.
“You’re angry because I know something about your wife that you don’t.”
Xavier’s fist tightened.
“ I don’t care how you two know each other,but its in the past now.
Just where you belong,the past….brother!”
Magnus’s smile vanished.
“Half-brother.”
The words landed like a slap.
Everyone at the table went silent.
Xavier released his collar.
Magnus straightened his jacket.
“I think we should remember that.”
Xavier stared at him with pure hatred.
“You come back after years and think you can walk into my house and disrespect me?”
Magnus’s eyes darkened.
“Your house?”
He laughed once.
“You really believe everything belongs to you, don’t you?”
Xavier took a step toward him.
Magnus didn’t move.
“I know exactly what kind of man you are,” Magnus said. “And I know exactly what you do to people who refuse to do your biddings.”But guess what? “I don’t give a damn”.
“When you left never changed a thing,and you being back also doesn’t change a thing”.
My heart pounded.
Xavier’s expression changed.
For the first time that evening, I saw something beneath his anger.
Hatred.
For his brother.
“Get out.”
Magnus smiled.
“I just got here.”
“Then leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Their eyes locked.
I had never seen two people hate each other like that.
And suddenly, I understood something.
This wasn’t simply a family disagreement.
Whatever had happened between Xavier and Magnus had started long before tonight.
There was history between them.
Pain.
Betrayal.
And something neither brother was willing to talk about.
Magnus finally looked at me.
His expression softened for just a second.
Then he smiled.
“Don’t worry, Laurel. I’ll see you again.”
Xavier stepped in front of me.
“You won’t.”
Magnus’s smile widened.
“We’ll see about that.”
He walked away.
As Magnus reached the doorway, then suddenly stopped.
He turned back.
His eyes settled on me.
“You still wear it?”
My blood ran cold.
Xavier looked between us.
“Wear what?”
Magnus smiled.
“The necklace.”
My hand immediately went to my chest.
The small pendant was hidden beneath my dress.
The one Magnus had given me years ago.
Xavier noticed the movement.
His face changed.
“You gave her that?”
Magnus didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked directly at me
“I wondered why you kept it.”
Xavier’s voice dropped.
“Laurel.”
I couldn’t speak.
He reached toward my necklace and pulled it from beneath my dress.
The pendant fell into his palm.
He stared at it.
Then he looked at Magnus.
“You gave my wife this?”
Magnus’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
He paused.
“I gave it to the woman I thought would be my wife.”
