Cheated, But A Night With My Ex's Brother

CHAPTER 6

BELLA

After the holiday ended, I returned to my apartment. The very first thing I did was change every passcode—door locks, phone, even my online accounts. I also replaced the debit cards Caleb had access to.

The last thing I needed was Caleb strolling into my apartment like he owned the place or using my money without asking. That man had no boundaries, and I knew better than to expect him to start respecting mine now. He was selfish and manipulative, and honestly, I wouldn’t put anything past him.

I was still lost in thought, staring blankly at the stack of papers on my desk, when the landline beside me buzzed, making me jump slightly.

“Mr. Caleb Jones is here to see you,” the receptionist’s voice crackled through the speaker.

My stomach twisted. What the hell did he want now? And more importantly, how did he find out where my new office is?

It had only been two days since I resumed work, and I’d barely told anyone I was back—let alone about the promotion I’d quietly received. My father had insisted he had nothing to do with it

“Let him in,” I said flatly, pinching the bridge of my nose as I leaned back in my chair.

It wasn’t a decision made out of curiosity or even concern—it was exhaustion. Caleb had been loitering outside my apartment building for the past three days like a ghost that refused to fade. Every morning, I’d leave for work and see him there—sometimes pacing, sometimes just sitting in his car, watching the entrance. And every single time, I ignored him, walking past without so much as a glance.

Clearly, being brushed off hadn’t deterred him. Now here he was, invading the one place he had no business being—my office.

His sudden appearance here only confirmed one thing: he wasn’t going to stop until I heard whatever nonsense he was desperate to say.

A few minutes later, the door creaked open. I didn’t bother looking up immediately. I knew it was him.

“Nice space,” Caleb said after a moment, his voice softer than I remembered. I finally looked up to find him standing just inside the room, his eyes sweeping over my office. He wore a faint, hesitant smile.

I didn’t return the smile. Instead, I fixed him with a cold, unreadable stare, my expression completely void of warmth or amusement. There was a time when seeing him might’ve stirred something in me—a flutter, a sigh, a weakness. But not anymore. That part of me had withered.

“What’s it going to take for you to stop stalking me?” I asked, my tone clipped.

His smile faltered, the corners of his mouth twitching downward as my words registered. “I’m not stalking you,” he muttered, sounding wounded, like he was the one who’d been wronged. “I just want us to talk.”

I blinked slowly, before replying, “Well, we’re talking. You have five minutes. Use them wisely.”

He stepped farther into the room, closing the door behind him before lowering himself into the chair across from me. He looked unsure, almost awkward.

“I want you back.” The words tumbled from his mouth. His eyes met mine, searching, pleading. “I really want you back.”

I sat there, completely still, watching him fumble with the edges of his sleeves like a nervous schoolboy. He was waiting for a reaction. A gasp. A tear. Maybe even a smile.

My eyes flickered briefly to the digital clock on my desk—9:03 a.m.—then drifted back to Caleb.

“Are you drunk this early?” I asked, arching a brow. “At nine in the morning, no less?”

He sighed heavily as his gaze dropped, no longer able to meet mine, and instead he focused on his hands, which were tightly interlocked and resting in his lap.

“I messed up, Bella,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved with my secretary. I was stupid. Careless. I know that now. And I’m sorry, okay? I really am.”

I didn’t feel sorry for him. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know—he had betrayed me, and now, he was hoping words could rewind time.

“Two minutes left,” I said flatly.

That pushed him into motion. He rose from the chair abruptly, and my eyes trailed him, watching each step he took.

He rounded the desk slowly, then—before I could blink—dropped to his knees beside me, his hands clenched together tightly like he was praying.

“I’m literally on my knees, Bella,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “I’m begging you. Please believe me when I say I’m sorry. I’d do anything to fix this. Just tell me what to do.”

I stared down at him, utterly unmoved.

Was this supposed to impress me? A grand gesture meant to make me forget?

Is this fool for real?

I smacked my lips, exhaling slowly as I stood up from my chair.

Without saying a word, I stepped around the desk and walked right up to him—then lowered myself down until I was kneeling in front of him too. His eyes widened slightly in confusion, his brows drawing together as he tried to process what I was doing.

Slowly, my lips stretched into a mocking smirk. It wasn’t one of amusement—far from it.

“What?” I said softly. “You think kneeling down makes what you did forgivable? That it somehow erases everything you did?”

I gestured toward the cold marble floor beneath us, “See,” I continued, “there’s nothing noble about being on your knees. Nothing sacred or powerful about it. It doesn’t change the past, and it sure as hell doesn’t earn you redemption.”

His eyes dropped to the floor for a brief second, then back up to meet mine. The realization settled in his features, his old tricks weren’t going to work. Not the dramatic apologies. Not even this pitiful display of submission.

After a beat of silence, he slowly pushed himself to his feet again, brushing invisible dust from his pants.

I rose to my feet too.

“I’m not giving up,” he muttered. His dark grey eyes locked onto mine, unblinking. “You can hate me all you want, Bella. But I’m going to keep coming back. Again and again. Until you take me back.”

I let out a quiet breath, folding my arms across my chest, unimpressed.

He had let it slip that I was his “stepping stone” to becoming CEO. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. I may not have fully understood, but I was smart enough to recognize when someone was using me.

And Caleb? He was a master at pretending. Pretending to love, pretending to care, pretending to feel guilty.

This wasn’t about love. This wasn’t about us. This was about ambition. About power. I was just a pawn in his plan—and now that his pieces were slipping off the board, he is scrambling to hold it all together.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, the door to my office clicked open.

Logan walked in, followed closely by Alex, whose eyes immediately swept over the scene with narrowed curiosity.

Caleb straightened instinctively, the pleading look on his face evaporating as if he didn’t want an audience for his humiliation.

It took less than a second for a wild, impulsive idea to strike me—so sudden, so ridiculous, it almost made me second-guess myself. Almost. But then I looked at Caleb’s face, still standing there with that stubborn, entitled expression, and I knew this was my shot.

If I wanted him gone—really gone—then I needed to give him something. So I acted.

Without thinking twice, I closed the distance between me and the two men who had just walked into my office. My heels clicked rapidly across the floor as I reached for Alex’s hand in one swift motion. He barely had time to react before I pulled him beside me, keeping him close.

I turned back to Caleb with the fiercest expression I could summon—chin lifted, jaw locked, eyes blazing.

“This is my new boyfriend,” I announced coldly, gripping Alex’s hand like my life depended on it. “I’ve moved on from your cheating ass, so whatever twisted little plan you have to stalk me into submission—end it now. I’m done. I’ve moved on.”

The lie rolled off my tongue with terrifying ease, but inside, I was screaming.

Please play along. Please, Alex. Just this once.

If he pulled his hand away, if he looked confused or—God forbid—corrected me in front of Caleb, I was going to sink into the marble floor and die a thousand quiet deaths.

For a split second, I glanced at Caleb—and oh, the expression I caught was everything. His eyes were wide with disbelief, jaw slightly slack. Shock. That was the only way to describe it. Shock and definitely jealousy. Maybe rage. Maybe both.

Good.

Before I could bask in the aftermath, I shifted my gaze to Logan

He wasn’t looking at me.

Logan’s gaze was fixed squarely on Caleb, eyes dark and burning. His entire expression was tense, his jaw clenched tight like he was holding himself back from doing something reckless. If given even permission, I was sure he’d strangle Caleb right then and there with his bare hands.

I swallowed hard and shifted my attention from him to the man whose hand was still locked in mine. My fingers curled slightly, silently begging him not to pull away.

Alex’s face was unreadable. No smile. No frown. Just stillness. Slowly, he tilted his head down, and our eyes met.

It was like staring into a mirror I hadn’t seen before—one that reflected all my desperation, my panic.

We held each other’s gaze in silence, our breaths synchronized in a strangely tensed pause. We weren’t speaking, but a thousand unsaid things passed between us.

And then… he moved.

His hand gently slipped out of mine.

No words. Just the soft withdrawal of contact.

My stomach twisted. My heart dropped somewhere around my knees. Cold sweat slid down my spine in slow, humiliating trails.

No, no, no.

But then—before I could even begin to retreat into my shame—his arm came around my waist.

Confident. Possessive.

He pulled me into his side and my breath caught in my throat. Without hesitation, he dipped his head and placed a soft kiss on my temple.

The world stopped.

It took every ounce of self-control not to widen my eyes in shock. My lips parted slightly, but no sound escaped. Heat bloomed across my cheeks, not from embarrassment this time—but from the sudden intimacy, the way his lips lingered just a little longer than necessary.

He was playing along.

No—he was owning it.

And Caleb? I didn’t need to look at him to know what was going on in his head. I had delivered the blow… but Alex had turned it into a masterpiece.

“Is this the ex you told me about?” Alex asked, his voice low and husky. “The one who’s been harassing and stalking you?”