The Brother's Wife Chapter 10

The world seemed to tilt on its axis.

"What?" I whispered.

Claire's laugh was soft, almost sad. "Ryan. I've known for months that something was wrong. I installed security cameras after the gala—I wanted to figure out what was bothering you. And I saw him. James. In our house, threatening you."

She took my hand, her thumb brushing over my knuckles. "I heard everything. How he abandoned us ten years ago. How you pretended to be him to get revenge, but ended up staying. How he came back to reclaim what was never really his in the first place."

"But at the gala, you—"

"I didn't know which one of you was which at first," she admitted. "I made my best guess based on who was standing where. I chose wrong." Her eyes glistened. "By the time I realized my mistake, you were already being thrown out. I'm so sorry."

I couldn't process this. "The security footage..."

"Showed me everything. Including the fact that James has been contacting me for weeks now."

She pulled out her phone and showed me the messages. Photos of slashed wrists. Desperate pleas for help. Threats of suicide if she didn't come see him.

"He's been manipulating me," Claire said quietly. "Using my guilt over his wife—over Sergeant Emily Bennett's death—to force me to spend time with him. Telling me that I owe him, that I'm responsible for making him whole again."

"His wife?" I repeated, confused.

"James was never my husband," Claire said. "Emily Bennett was my commanding officer when I was an Army medic. She died saving my life during our deployment in Afghanistan. I made a promise to take care of her family—her husband James and their baby girl Sophie."

The pieces finally clicked into place.

"You weren't his wife. You were just... taking care of them."

"I was trying to honor my promise to Emily." Claire's voice broke. "But James never saw me as anything but a source of income. He waited until Sophie was barely six months old, then ran off with your fiancée Miranda, leaving me alone with debts and a baby. I rebuilt my life, built my company, all to make sure Sophie would be taken care of."

"And then I showed up, pretending to be him..."

"And I thought my dead friend's husband had finally come back to be a father." She smiled sadly. "But you were different. Colder at first, yes, but then... then you started to care. You protected Sophie. You pushed me to succeed. You became the partner I'd never had."

She cupped my face in her hands. "Ryan, you're the only man I've ever loved. James was Emily's husband, not mine. My first kiss, my first time, my first everything—it was all with you."

The taxi driver coughed awkwardly and stepped out to give us privacy.

"But the paperwork," I protested weakly. "Aren't you legally married to him?"

"Emily and James were married. Not James and me. I'm not listed on any documents as his wife. Sophie's birth certificate lists Emily as her mother, James as her father. I'm just... the person who took responsibility."

"So you're telling me that for ten years, we've been—"

"Building our own family," she finished. "Not stealing anyone else's."

I wanted to believe her. God, I wanted to believe her so badly.

But then I remembered seeing her at James's house, Sophie holding both their hands, the three of them looking like a perfect family through the window.

"I saw you with him," I said. "At his place. You and Sophie, spending the evening together."

Claire's expression hardened. "Those visits were torture. I was trying to keep him from killing himself while also keeping you safe from his threats. I never stayed more than an hour. I never touched him. And I made sure Sophie understood these were just visits to 'Uncle James's house,' not her real home."

"But Sophie hugged him at the gala—"

"Because he's biologically her father, and kids can sense these things. But ask Sophie who she wants to live with. Ask her who she calls Daddy in her heart, not just with her words."

Could it really be that simple? Could everything I'd thought was lost actually still be mine?

"Claire," I started, but she pressed her finger to my lips.

"Tomorrow, we're going to the courthouse," she said firmly. "We're going to file for legal guardianship of Sophie, cutting James out completely. We're going to get a restraining order. And then..." Her eyes met mine, fierce and certain. "Then we're getting married. Legally. Officially. So no one can ever question whether we belong together."

"But what about your promise to Emily?"

"Emily would want her daughter raised by people who love her, not by a man who abandoned her in infancy and only came back when there was money to be gained." Claire's voice was steel. "I kept my promise. I made sure Sophie was safe, healthy, and loved. That's what matters."