The Brother's Wife Chapter 7

I pushed through the crowd, but by the time I reached the stage, James had them all convinced.

"My God, Ryan, you really do have an identical twin!" someone exclaimed.

"Everyone," James said smoothly, his arm sliding around Claire's waist in a gesture that made me see red, "meet my brother. The one I've been telling you about. The one who's been... getting a bit too interested in my wife."

The crowd's mood shifted instantly.

"I've been supporting him financially for years," James continued with perfect, wounded dignity. "But lately he's been showing up at my house, trying to get close to Claire. I didn't want to believe it, but..."

"That's not—" I started forward.

James stumbled backward dramatically, somehow managing to fall into the champagne tower. Glass shattered everywhere. Expensive champagne soaked his—my—suit.

"Why did you push me?" he gasped, playing the victim perfectly.

Security guards grabbed my arms before I could explain.

"How dare you!" someone shouted at me. "Your own brother, who's been nothing but generous—"

"You're just jealous because you don't have what he has!"

"Pretending to be him, wearing the same clothes—it's pathetic!"

"Claire!" I called out desperately.

She was helping James to his feet, her face full of concern. "Honey, are you hurt?"

She wasn't even looking at me.

Then Sophie ran past me, tears streaming down her face, and threw herself into James's arms. "Daddy! Are you okay?"

I watched my daughter—the girl I'd raised for ten years—hug my brother like he was her whole world.

Blood connection. They say it's undeniable. Even though Sophie hadn't seen her real father in a decade, some part of her recognized him instantly.

And chose him.

Claire finally turned to me, her eyes cold. "I don't care if you're my husband's brother. No one treats him like that. Security, please escort this man out."

"But I'm—" The words died in my throat.

What was I going to say? That I was the real Ryan? But Ryan wasn't real. Ryan was a name I'd stolen, a life I'd borrowed, a family that was never actually mine.

James met my eyes over Sophie's head, his expression triumphant.