The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 103 - one hundred and three

Chapter One Hundred and Three

Alicia’s POV

I barely made it to my room before the tears started. Hot. Angry. Frustrated tears that I’d been holding back all day.

I locked the door and leaned against it. Sliding down until I was sitting on the floor. My chest heaving with suppressed sobs.

The Blackwood slut. That’s what I felt like. That’s what I was.

Sleeping with my brother-in-law while he had a perfect girlfriend. While my husband was passed out drunk clutching photos of his dead love. While I pretended to be something I wasn’t.

Cecilia was everything I wasn’t. Poised. Confident. Legitimate. She belonged in Malachi’s world. Fit seamlessly into the Blackwood family like she’d been born into it.

She was kind. Friendly. Trying to include me. Wanting to be friends.

And I hated her for it. Hated her for being perfect. Hated her for having what I wanted. Hated her for making it so hard to justify my jealousy.

Because she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was just being herself. Being the kind of woman Malachi deserved.

Not me. Not the poor girl who’d married for protection and fell for the wrong brother.

I pushed myself up off the floor and went to my dresser. Pulled open the drawer where I’d hidden the necklace Malachi had given me.

The one I couldn’t wear anymore. The one that felt like a lie now.

I took it out. Held it in my palm. The teardrop diamond caught the light. Beautiful. Expensive. A symbol of something that didn’t exist.

"Something real," he’d said when he gave it to me. "I wanted you to have something real."

But none of it was real. He’d been lying. Playing games. Using me for whatever twisted reason while planning a future with someone else.

I closed my fist around the necklace. Pressed hard. Wanting to damage it. To break it. To destroy this symbol of my stupidity.

But the chain didn’t break. The pendant didn’t crack. Quality craftsmanship. Made to last.

Unlike whatever we’d had. That broke easily. Shattered the moment someone better came along.

I pressed harder. Until my palm ached. Until I could feel the edges of the pendant digging into my skin. Until it hurt.

But the necklace remained perfect. Undamaged. Mocking me with its resilience.

I threw it back in the drawer and slammed it shut. Then I sank onto my bed and let myself imagine the worst.

Malachi and Cecilia getting married. A beautiful wedding. Probably at some exclusive venue. She’d wear a designer dress. He’d look devastating in a tuxedo. Pa Wood would beam with pride. The whole family would celebrate.

And I’d have to be there. Would have to smile. Would have to congratulate them. Would have to watch him promise forever to someone else.

Would have to call her sister-in-law. Would have to interact with her at family functions. Would have to watch them build a life together.

Children. They’d probably have beautiful children. Dark-haired like him. Perfect like her. Children who’d run through the Blackwood mansion. Who’d call me Aunt Alicia.

Malachi would be a father. Devoted. Protective. Everything he was with Sophie. But with his own children. With Cecilia’s children.

And I’d be the pathetic sister-in-law who’d once slept with him. The family secret. The shameful affair no one talked about.

Maybe they’d pity me. Poor Alicia, stuck in a loveless marriage while watching the man she wanted with someone else.

Or maybe they’d judge me. Whisper about how inappropriate it had been. How I’d crossed lines that should never be crossed.

Either way, I’d be trapped. In this family. In this house. Watching him be happy with someone else.

The image was so vivid it felt real. I could see it perfectly. Could feel the pain of it settling into my bones. Making a home there.

This was my future. This was what I had to look forward to.

Unless I left. Unless I took Sophie and ran. Found a way to survive without the Blackwood name. Without their protection. Without their money.

But where would we go? My father was still out there. Still dangerous. Still angry that I’d taken Sophie away.

And I had no money of my own. No resources. No connections outside this family.

I was trapped. Completely and utterly trapped.

Fresh tears spilled over. I curled up on my side. Hugging my knees to my chest. Making myself as small as possible.

The dead roses flashed in my mind. The threat that had been delivered to our door.

Someone wanted to hurt the Blackwoods. Wanted to destroy them. And I was caught in the crossfire.

The anonymous texts. The photos. The promises of more to come in the Maldives.

I should tell someone. Should show those messages to Pa Wood or Tom. Should warn them that something bigger was coming.

But I couldn’t. Because explaining how I got those messages would mean explaining why. Would mean admitting to the affair. Would mean exposing everything I’d been trying to hide.

So I’d stay silent. Would keep the secrets. Would protect myself even as everything crumbled around us.

I thought about Cecilia at the spa. Her easy confidence. The way she talked about Malachi like he was already hers. Like their future was certain.

"I could see us getting married," she’d said. "He’s everything I want in a partner."

Everything she wanted. Everything she deserved.

And what was I? A distraction. A mistake. Something he’d grown tired of.

Maybe that’s all I’d ever been. Maybe he’d never felt anything real for me. Maybe it had all been physical. Convenient. Something to pass the time.

I touched my lips. Could still taste blood from when I’d bitten him. His blood. A mark I’d left. Proof that I’d hurt him the way he’d hurt me.

But it wasn’t enough. Biting him. Running away. None of it was enough to ease this pain.

Nothing would be enough except time. And distance. And somehow finding a way to stop loving him.

Because I did love him. That was the worst part. Somewhere along the way, I’d fallen completely. Stupidly. Desperately in love with Malachi Blackwood.

And now I’d have to watch him love someone else. Have to pretend I was fine with it. Have to smile through the pain.

Have to be the bigger person. The mature one. The one who accepted that sometimes you don’t get what you want.

I heard movement in the hallway. Footsteps. Someone walking past my door.

I held my breath. Wondering if it was him. If he’d come to check on me. To explain. To tell me it was all a mistake.

But the footsteps kept going. Fading away. Leaving me alone with my thoughts and my tears and my broken heart.

This was my life now. This was what I’d become. The other woman. The secret. The shame.

The Blackwood slut who’d fallen for the wrong brother and had to live with the consequences.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine a different future. One where I was happy. Where Sophie was safe. Where I didn’t wake up every day feeling like I was drowning.

But I couldn’t see it. Couldn’t imagine anything beyond this pain. This endless, suffocating pain.

So I just lay there. In the dark. Letting the tears fall. Letting myself break one more time.

"What a shame."