Luke's POV
My fiancée's so-called sworn brother, Oliver Gibson, pulled out a document at the engagement party.
"Luke," Oliver said, sliding it across the table to me. "Shannon promised me years ago. She said she'd give me a child."
He tapped the paper like it was a done deal and continued, "Sign the contract. Or else, forget about marrying her."
I didn't touch it.
Instead, I turned to my fiancée. "You really promised him something like this?"
My fiancée, Shannon Hoffman, waved it off like it was nothing. "It was just a childhood joke. Oliver was drunk."
"Don't take it so seriously," she added, her voice calm but careless. "Just sign it and get it over with so he doesn't cause more trouble."
That indifferent look on her face, like this was beneath her, made me laugh under my breath.
So that's what this is.
There was no reason to hold on to this relationship any longer.
——
I picked up the agreement and tore it clean through, shredding the pages into pieces and letting them scatter across the polished floor.
Oliver's expression turned dark in an instant.
He shot to his feet, his chair screeching loudly against the tiles. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Luke?!"
I didn't even glance at him. My eyes stayed locked on Shannon.
Her brows had already knit together, and that familiar look was back—the one I'd seen too many times. Annoyed, scolding, like a parent tired of breaking up squabbles between two stubborn kids.
And every time, she expected me to be the one who caved.
"Oliver's drunk. You know how he gets," she said, her voice sharper now. "He's just messing around. Do you really have to take it this seriously? Just sign the damn paper and humor him a little."
Humor him.
I stared at her face, flushed with anger, and it pulled me straight back to the start of our relationship.
That same expression.
The first time I told her I thought Oliver seemed too attached to her, she snapped at me.
"Luke, he's my sworn brother. We grew up together. He's just a kid at heart. Why are you getting jealous over nothing?"
So I backed down for five long years.
Oliver took full advantage.
He once 'accidentally' lost an important contract of mine. Another time, he spilled coffee all over my laptop, which was loaded with critical files. He even thought switching my herbal tea for laxatives would be hilarious.
Every single time, Shannon defended him. "He didn't mean it. Don't be so petty."
And then, three months ago, he crossed the line.
Oliver tampered with the brake pads on my car.
I nearly died on the highway that night. The car was totaled. My right leg was fractured, and I spent two straight months flat on my back in a hospital bed.
The doctor said I was lucky. That I had brushed right up against death and somehow walked away. He told me I had been a hair's breadth from being crippled for life.
I can still see Shannon crying at my bedside that night, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, promising she would scold Oliver until he understood.
But the next day, she came back calmer, carrying a thermos of soup.
Her tone had already softened as she told me, "Oliver cried all night. He knows he messed up. He didn't mean any harm. He just got carried away and didn't realize it would turn out so bad. Please, don't go to the police. Just let it go, okay?"
I looked at her tear-stained eyes that day and said nothing.
And in the end, I let it go.
And now, here he was, at our engagement party of all places, waving around some absurd 'surrogacy contract' and demanding I sign it like he had every right.
I had reached my limit.
"Shannon," I said, forcing down the fury boiling in my chest, "say that again. What do you want me to do?"
She seemed taken aback by my tone, but she shot to her feet and snapped right back at me.
"I just want you to sign the paper so Oliver will stop making a scene!"
Furious, she continued, "Luke, what the hell is wrong with you today? You're not usually like this. Oliver was just joking. Can't you play along? Do you really have to ruin the mood, embarrass everyone here, and make a spectacle out of this in front of the guests?"
Off to the side, Oliver let out a snort.
He tilted his chin slightly, his eyes shining with smug defiance.
