Goodbye Husband, Your Brother Tastes Like Revenge

Shattered Glass Mia's POV I should've seen it coming when Damien started working late again. The coffee shop was quiet except for the soft jazz playing through the speakers. I sat at our usual corner table, watching the rain streak down the window, my wedding ring catching the dim light. Four years. That's how long I'd been Mrs. Damien Kirk, wife of the youngest billionaire CEO in the city. Four years of being hidden like a dirty secret. My phone buzzed. A text from my best friend, Lily: "Check i********:. Now." My stomach dropped. Lily never texted like that unless something was wrong. I opened the app with trembling fingers. The first post on my feed made my blood freeze. It was from a gossip account with millions of followers. The photo showed Damien at last night's charity gala—the one he said was "strictly business, too boring for you, baby." But he wasn't alone. My stepsister Victoria was wrapped around him like a second skin, her red lips pressed against his cheek while he smiled that rare smile. The one I thought was just for me. The caption read: "Power couple alert! CEO Damien Kirk and socialite Victoria Bruce looking cozy at the Kirk Foundation Gala. Sources say wedding bells might be ringing soon!" The coffee cup slipped from my hand, shattering on the marble floor. Hot liquid splashed across my shoes, but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything except the crushing weight in my chest. The barista rushed over with towels, but I was already standing, already moving. My hands shook as I called Damien. Straight to voicemail. I tried again. Nothing. I drove to his office building in the rain, my mind racing. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe the photo was taken out of context. The elevator ride to the top floor felt like an eternity. His secretary, Patricia, looked up with surprise when she saw me. "Mrs. Kirk? Mr. Kirk is in a meeting—" I walked past her. She knew better than to stop me. I was still his wife, even if nobody else knew it. The conference room door was glass. I could see everything before I even reached for the handle. Victoria sat on the conference table, her legs crossed, laughing at something Damien was saying. He stood between her knees, his hands on either side of her thighs. Too close. Way too close for a business meeting. I pushed the door open. Every head in the room turned—five board members I recognized from company photos. Damien's expression shifted from relaxed to stone-cold in a heartbeat. "Mia?" Victoria's voice dripped with fake surprise. "What are you doing here?" I ignored her, my eyes locked on Damien. "We need to talk." He straightened his tie, not even having the decency to step away from her. "I'm in the middle of something important." "Important?" My voice cracked. "More important than explaining why my stepsister is all over my husband?" The room went silent. One of the board members cleared his throat. "Husband? Mr. Kirk, you're married?" Victoria laughed, the sound sharp as breaking glass. "Oh, Mia. Still telling people that story?" She turned to the board members with a pitying smile. "My poor stepsister has been obsessed with Damien since college. It's actually quite sad." "Stop lying!" I pulled out my phone with shaking hands, scrolling to find our wedding photo, the marriage certificate, anything—but my gallery was empty. Everything was gone. Damien finally spoke, his voice ice-cold and unfamiliar. "Gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption." He looked at me like I was a stranger. No, worse—like I was nothing. "Security will escort Miss Bruce out." "Miss Bruce?" I stared at him, my world tilting. "I'm your wife. Tell them, Damien. Tell them the truth!" He turned to Victoria and took her hand, lifting it to his lips. "The only truth here is that you need help, Mia. This obsession has gone too far." Security arrived—two men in black suits. I recognized one of them. Marcus. He'd driven me and Damien home from our honeymoon. "Marcus," I pleaded. "You know me. You were at our wedding." He looked through me like I was invisible. "Ma'am, please come with us." They grabbed my arms. I struggled, my eyes never leaving Damien's face, searching for any flicker of the man who'd promised to love me forever. "Four years, Damien!" I shouted as they dragged me toward the door. "Four years of marriage! How can you do this?" Victoria hopped off the table, smoothing her dress. "Always so dramatic, sister." She walked over to Damien, sliding her arm through his. "This is why Daddy had to cut you off. The delusions, the lies..." My father. She was talking about my father, who'd died six months ago, leaving everything to Victoria and my stepmother after I'd mysteriously been written out of the will. "You planned this," I whispered, the pieces clicking together. "Both of you." Damien finally looked at me—really looked at me. And for just a second, I saw something flash in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? But it was gone before I could be sure. "Get her out," he said quietly. The security guards pulled me into the hallway. The last thing I saw was Victoria reaching up to whisper something in Damien's ear, and him smiling that smile I'd thought was mine. They escorted me through the lobby like a criminal. Every employee stared. Some whispered. Others recorded with their phones. By the time they pushed me out into the rain, my humiliation was probably already viral. I stood on the sidewalk, rain mixing with my tears, watching the building that had felt like a second home. My phone buzzed with notifications—tags, messages, people sending me the video that was already spreading online. The crazy woman who claimed to be Damien Kirk's wife. A black car pulled up beside me. The window rolled down, revealing a face I hadn't seen in two years. A face that made my heart skip for entirely different reasons. "Get in," Alexander said, his deep voice cutting through the rain. "Now." Alexander Kirk. Damien's older brother. The one who'd left the family company after a massive fight with their father. The one who'd disappeared to Europe and built his own empire. The one who'd warned me about Damien the night before our wedding. "I told you he would break you," he said as I sat there, dripping and shaking. "But you didn't listen." I looked at him through my tears. "Did you know? About Victoria?" His jaw clenched. "I suspected. That's why I came back." He handed me a towel from the backseat. "The question is, what are you going to do about it?" "What can I do? He has everything. The money, the power, the proof of our marriage—it's all gone." Alexander turned to face me fully, and the intensity in his dark eyes made my breath catch. "Then we take it all back. Every last piece." "We?" He pulled out a folder from beside him and handed it over. Inside were photos—Damien with Victoria at various events over the past year, secret meetings, intimate dinners. All while I sat at home, being the perfect hidden wife. "I've been watching him," Alexander said. "Gathering evidence. But I need someone on the inside. Someone who knows his weaknesses." I stared at the photos, my heartbreak morphing into something harder, sharper. "What are you proposing?" A dangerous smile played at his lips. "Marry me."