I Married His Brother to Save Him

Chapter 3 A Brutal Show

"Julian, you called me? Is something wrong?" A worried voice called from the doorway.

Julian yanked the door open and pulled the woman inside, and Sylvia, too slow to conceal herself, froze and stared at her in stunned disbelief.

It was Grace Haven, the nurse who had cared for Julian during his post-surgery recovery.

Julian let out a cold, bitter laugh and kissed Grace square on the mouth—right in front of Sylvia's eyes.

Sylvia froze, as if struck by lightning.

Driven to the brink of madness, Julian wasted no time. He shoved Grace onto the bed, tore her dress open, and claimed her mouth with ravenous hunger, putting on a vicious show purely for Sylvia's torment.

Sylvia stared at the scene in horrified disbelief. How could he do this with another woman right in front of her?

Her nails dug into her palms until her knuckles whitened, her throat tightening as if stuffed with cotton—she couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe, could only stand there and suffer.

She bit her lip until it bled, fighting to hold back her tears, but they streamed down her face anyway, unstoppable, like a cascade of unstoppable pearls.

She turned to flee, but Julian's furious roar rooted her to the spot.

"Wait outside! You can't go unless I say so!" His voice was cold and vengeful. "Sylvia, this is what you owe me."

Her legs gave out, sending her collapsing to the floor outside the door. Though only a thin wall separated them, the sounds of his moans and whispered sweet nothings pierced through clearly, cutting her to the bone.

"Baby, you like that? Baby, do you love me? Promise you'll never leave me."

These were the exact words he had once murmured to Sylvia in the dark, the sweet talk that had once made her heart soar.

Sylvia squeezed her eyes shut, his words turning into shards of glass, stabbing her over and over again—each blow more excruciating than the last, leaving her gasping for air.

Weakly, she buried her face in her knees, hiding her tears from the world.

That day, she cried as if she were shedding every last tear she would ever have in her lifetime.

"What are you doing outside Julian's room? What's with the tears?" George's puzzled voice cut through her despair.

Sylvia frantically wiped away her tears and looked up to see Camilla leading George toward her, obviously plotting to catch them in a compromising scandal.

Her face turned deathly pale, and she fumbled for her phone, desperate to scramble for an excuse.

Sylvia typed quickly on her phone. Sylvia: Spotty's missing, and I'm so worried. So I came looking for him.

Spotty was the tiny puppy she had adopted two years prior, her only source of comfort in the Hugo household. Every time Leon tortured her, the little dog curled up beside her, giving her the strength to keep going. She loved that puppy like her own child, and the entire Hugo family knew just how precious Spotty was to her.

Her tears over a missing dog sounded perfectly believable, and as expected, George bought the excuse right away. "Julian only just got back." He frowned. "Spotty isn't here. Go search elsewhere."

Sylvia nodded hastily, ignoring Camilla's venomous glare, and turned to leave.

Suddenly, Julian's door swung open, and he stepped out with Grace clinging to his arm.

"Dad, she wasn't looking for any dog." Julian sneered, holding up the vial of the aphrodisiac pills. "She came here to seduce me, to drug me. If my girlfriend hadn't shown up on time, she would've pulled it off."