Chapter 23
Seventeen years, and he'd never dared raise his voice to her. Now, his first act of defiance was for an outsider. Dorothy's brow arched, her feelings complex. Partly pleased to see this spark in her brother, partly deeply displeased by its cause. "Leaving aside who you are to her," she stated coldly, "even if you were someone, do you have the *life* or the *time* to take responsibility for her?" Charles's face drained of color. He slumped onto the plush sofa, clutching his head. His slender, pale fingers clenched, knuckles white. His mother and sisters had never hidden his condition. He didn't have long. Today, the Brown family would announce Dorothy as the heir, not him, the son. The birthright he'd held since birth would irrevocably shift. That was the real reason the reclusive Charle
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