All Chapters of One Night With My Brother’s Worst Enemy : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

46 Chapters

The Truth About My Father

The Truth About My FatherDinner was a quiet affair.Ezra took her to a restaurant hidden in the basement of an old building, a place with no sign on the door and no menu posted outside. The host knew Ezra by name. The waiter brought wine without asking. The table was in a private corner, surrounded by velvet curtains, and Vienna felt like she had stepped into another world.She ordered fish she could not pronounce. She drank wine that probably cost more than her weekly rent. She laughed at things he said and touched his hand across the table and pretended that her brother's words were not echoing in her head with every breath.He is the reason our father is dead.Ezra must have sensed something was wrong. He watched her through the candlelight, his dark eyes steady and searching, and he asked fewer questions than usual. He did not push. He did not demand. He just sat with her in the quiet and let her be.By the time dessert arrived, Vienna could not take it anymore."I need to know e

The space between us

Vienna did not go to work the next day.She called in sick. It was not entirely a lie. She had not slept. Her eyes were red from crying. Her body ached from the tension of holding herself together for hours while Ezra told her about her father. She could not sit at a desk and answer phones and pretend to be fine.Lydia answered the call. "I will let Mr. Vance know. Feel better."Vienna hung up and stared at the ceiling.Silas was already awake. He sat in his hospital bed, laptop open, fingers moving slowly over the keyboard. His physical therapist had taught him exercises to keep his hands strong, but she could see the fatigue in every movement. He looked up when she walked into the living room."You look like hell.""I feel like hell."He closed the laptop. "Talk to me."Vienna sat on the edge of the couch. She wanted to tell him everything. About the auction. About the money. About Ezra and the collar and the forty fifth floor and the way her father's old friend had held her while s

What Silas Saw

Vienna stayed at the coast for three days.She woke up without an alarm. She ate breakfast at a diner where no one knew her name. She walked on the beach for hours, letting the cold water numb her feet and the salt air clear her lungs. She read a book. A real book, not a manuscript or a medical chart or a contract. She slept without dreaming of masks and collars and hospital beeps.On the second day, she called Silas."How are you?" she asked."Bored. The nurse is nice but she talks too much. I have started pretending to be asleep when she comes in.""Silas.""I am kidding. Mostly." She heard him shift in bed. "Are you coming home soon?""Tomorrow. I need to ask you something first.""Okay.""Dad's journals. Do we still have them?"Silas was quiet for a moment. "In the closet. Top shelf. Behind Mom's old shoes.""I thought Mom threw everything away after he died.""She threw away his clothes. His tools. His cologne. But she could not throw away his words. She put them in a box and tol

The Man at the Door

Ezra arrived in eighteen minutes.Vienna heard his car before she saw it, the low growl of an engine that cost more than most people's houses. She stood by the window and watched him park on the street, climb out, adjust his jacket. He looked up at the apartment building, at the Chinese restaurant below, at the cracked windows and peeling paint.He looked terrified.Vienna had never seen Ezra Vance look terrified before. Confident. Controlled. Hungry. But never terrified.She opened the door before he could knock."Hi," she said."Hi." His voice was rough. "Thank you for calling.""Silas is inside. He wants to meet you."Ezra's jaw tightened. "Does he want to meet me, or does he want to throw things at my head?""Maybe both." Vienna stepped aside. "Come in."He walked past her into the apartment. His eyes moved quickly, taking in the hospital bed, the machines, the pill bottles, the thin blankets. He stopped when he saw Silas.Silas was sitting up. His back was straight. His hands wer

Good Girl At Work

The next morning, Vienna went back to the office.She wore her best blazer. Her best blouse. Her best slacks. She applied makeup carefully, hiding the dark circles under her eyes. She pinned her hair back and put on her professional face and walked into Vance Industries like she belonged there.Because she did.Not because of Ezra. Not because of the auction. Because she had earned this job. Because she was good at it. Because she had spent fifteen years taking care of everyone else, and it was time to take care of herself.Lydia greeted her at the elevator. "You look better. Are you feeling okay?""I am feeling fine. Thank you for covering for me.""Of course. Mr. Vance is in a meeting until ten. He asked me to give you this."Lydia handed her a small white envelope.Vienna opened it.Inside was a single sentence, handwritten in Ezra's sharp script.My office. 10:15. Bring coffee.She folded the note and tucked it into her pocket."Thank you, Lydia.""Sure thing." Lydia walked back t

The Voicemail

Ezra's penthouse smelled like garlic and smoke. Vienna stepped off the elevator and laughed. The kitchen was a disaster. Pots on every burner. Flour on the counter. Something blackened in a pan on the stove. Ezra stood in the middle of it all, wearing an apron over his dress shirt, his hair falling across his forehead. "I warned you," he said. "You said you burned things. You did not say you burned the entire kitchen." "The pasta is fine. The sauce is salvageable. The garlic bread is a lost cause." Vienna walked to the stove and peered into the pan. "What is this supposed to be?" "Shrimp scampi." "It looks like charcoal." Ezra sighed. "I am a better CEO than chef." She turned off the burner. She opened a window. She found a bag of frozen vegetables in the freezer and a box of rice in the pantry. "Sit down," she said. "I invited you to dinner. You are not supposed to cook." "I am cooking. Sit down." He sat. Vienna moved through the kitchen like she had been doing it her wh

The Investigator’s Report

Ezra arrived at the office twenty minutes later.He walked past her desk without stopping. His face was hard. His jaw was tight. He closed his office door behind him and did not open it.Vienna sat at her desk and pretended to work.Her phone buzzed.Ezra: Come in.She stood. She walked to his office. She closed the door behind her and locked it.Ezra was standing by the window, phone pressed to his ear. He was speaking in low, rapid tones. She caught fragments. "Background check. Security footage. I want every name."He ended the call and turned to face her."Silas told me about the investigator.""I know.""I also know that someone has been following you. Someone from inside this company."Vienna's blood went cold. "Who?""I do not know yet. But I will." He walked to her and took her hands. "You are not safe here. Not until I figure out who is watching you.""What are you saying?""I am saying you need to take leave. A few days. A week. Until I can guarantee your safety.""I cannot

The Boardroom

Vienna spent the next two days in Ezra's penthouse.She did not hide. She worked. She called Silas. She read the investigator's report front to back, memorizing names and dates and connections. She made lists. She asked questions. She built a timeline.The person following her was a woman.Her name was Elena Vance. Ezra's ex-wife.Vienna stared at the name on the page. "Your ex-wife? You did not tell me you were married."Ezra set down his coffee. "I was married. Briefly. It ended badly.""How badly?""She tried to take half the company. When that did not work, she tried to destroy my reputation. When that did not work, she disappeared.""Until now.""Until now." Ezra sat beside her on the couch. "Elena is connected to the board. Her father is a major shareholder. He has been trying to push me out for years."" And Elena is his weapon.""Elena is his attack dog. She has been following you. Taking pictures. Building a case.""A case for what?""Adultery. Fraternization. Abuse of power.

The Aftermath

The elevator doors closed.Vienna leaned against the wall and let out a breath she did not know she had been holding."You just resigned," she said."I did.""You just gave up your company.""I did.""For me?"Ezra turned to face her. He took her hands. "For us."The elevator stopped at the ground floor. The doors opened. They walked through the lobby together, past the security desk, past the guards who looked at them with confused expressions.Outside, the sun was bright.Vienna squinted. "What do we do now?""Now," Ezra said, "we go home. We pack. We take a vacation. Somewhere warm. Somewhere no one knows our names.""We cannot just leave. Silas—""Silas is coming with us."Vienna stared at him. "What?""I already talked to his doctors. They cleared him for travel. There is a facility in Spain that specializes in his condition. I have arranged for him to be admitted.""Ezra.""He can get better there, Vienna. Not just manage the symptoms. Actually better."Vienna felt tears streami

The Collar Comes Home

The private jet landed at 3:47 in the afternoon.Vienna pressed her face to the window and watched the city rise up to meet her. The buildings. The bridges. The river. Everything looked the same. But everything felt different. She was not the same woman who had left three weeks ago. That woman had been scared and broken and desperate. This woman was loved.Ezra's hand found hers. His thumb traced circles on her palm."Welcome home, princess.""Home." She tested the word. It felt strange on her tongue. She had not had a real home in years. Just apartments. Just hospital rooms. Just places to sleep between emergencies."You are home," Ezra repeated. "You are safe. You are loved. And you never have to run again."Vienna turned to look at him. His dark eyes were soft. His smile was real. He had not shaved in two days. The stubble made him look younger. Less like a CEO and more like a man."I am going to hold you to that," she said."Please do."The plane taxied to a stop. The door opened.

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