Chapter 4 Expected Chaos

"I just helped her see it."

Alex let out a breath, sharp and ragged. Then, slowly, he turned his head, eyes locking onto mine.

"You think you've won, Ken?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried a weight that sent a shiver down my spine.

I smirked. "Haven't I?"

Alex wasn't broken.

Not yet.

And that realization settled like lead in my stomach.

He stepped closer, his voice low, measured. "You don't know what you've just done."

I opened my mouth to throw back another taunt, but the sound of hurried footsteps made me pause.

The doctor rushed out, his face drawn with urgency. "Ken! Alex!"

We both turned to him.

"It's Alie," he panted. "She...."

He didn't have to finish.

Because at that moment, a loud crash echoed from inside the hospital.

Followed by a scream.

Alex didn't hesitate. He bolted

for the door.

And for the first time that night, my heart clenched with something I couldn't name.

Because no matter how much I had wanted to break him...

This?

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Alex left before I could grasp what had just happened.

The sound of his footsteps echoed along the sterile hospital corridor, creating a suffocating silence.

I stood still for a while, my heart beating in my ears.

This was not what I expected.

I had pulled the truth wide open.

I had broken Alie's world.

She was supposed to loathe him.

She was supposed to look at Alex with hatred, push him away, and feel the betrayal in her bones.

Inside, the situation was utter mayhem.

The IV stand had tipped over, scattering shattered glass across the floor.

Alie was gasping and gripping her chest, as if she couldn't breathe.

Nurses crowded around her, their words a faraway buzz as she struggled frantically against their grip.

Alex was by her side in an instant, grabbing her arms and urging her to be calm.

"Alie," he said, his voice frantic.

"Look at me, Just look at me."

Her eyes snapped to his, frantic and full of something I couldn't place.

Her lips parted, but no words came out, just a sob, raw and broken.

I clenched my fists.

She should be screaming at him. Hitting him.

Telling him she never wanted to see his face again.

Instead, she was clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping her from shattering completely.

The doctor muttered something to a nurse. A vial. A syringe.

Her fear was palpable, thickening the air.

Alex's face was pained as he held onto it.

"It's okay," he murmured quietly.

"You are safe." I promise you that you are safe.

I raked my hand through my hair and sighed quietly.

I had prevailed.

Did I not?

What, then, was the reason behind my sense of defeat?

Behind me, the silence was broken by a slow, purposeful clap.

I felt a chill go up the back of my neck.

I bent quickly, and my body tightened.

Carmelle.

Her arms were crossed and her lips were curled in pleasure as she stood in the dim hallway.

"Well," she said, tilting her head. "That was dramatic." I forced a breath, covering the uneasiness in my gut.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

She moved closer, her heels tapping across the floor, her gaze glancing past me to the chaos erupting within the hospital room.

Alie trembled in Alex's arms, her body tortured with sobbing.

His grasp on her was hard and unwavering, as if he was terrified she might slip away if he let go.

Carmelle's smile became wider.

"You really think this is over, don't you?"

My eyes narrowed. "I did what I came here to do."

She laughed softly and mockingly.

"Did you?"

Something sinister was hiding behind her laughter as she fixed her eyes on mine.

I felt a cold go through me.

Because I had a terrible epiphany for the first time since it all began.

I believed I was manipulating the situation.

However, there's a chance that someone else has been tugging everything along.

"Come, meet me in the car," she had said, her voice a silk trap, her hips swaying with the kind of confidence that made men burn.

I should've let her walk away, should've stayed behind and watched Alex drown in the wreckage of his own making.

But Carmelle had always been a siren, and I was already sinking.

By the time I reached the car, she was inside, her legs parted just enough, her dress bunched up around her thighs.

I caught the faintest hitch in her breath, the way her chest rose and fell in a rhythm that wasn't entirely steady.

She thought she was alone.

My pulse spiked as I stepped closer, peering through the windshield.

And there she was.

One hand gripping the seat, the other slipping beneath the delicate lace of her panties, her lips parting in a soundless moan.

My stomach tightened.

Heat rushed through me, every ounce of control I had snapping like a frayed wire.

I yanked the door open.

Carmelle gasped, her body going rigid, eyes widening for half a second before her lips curled into a slow, wicked smirk.

"Ken," she breathed, her fingers still between her legs, teasing, taunting. "Took you long enough."

I didn't hesitate.

I climbed into the car, grabbing her by the wrist, dragging her onto my lap. Her laughter was breathless, full of challenge. "Mad at me?" she whispered, grinding down, her voice like gasoline on an open flame.

"You have no idea."

Then I silenced her with a kiss that was nothing short of war.

We didn't care that the windows fogged up, that anyone passing by might see. The hospital was just behind us, Alex was somewhere inside, and Alie...

As I thought about exposing more of who Alex was, Carmelle pulled back just enough to see the look in my eyes. And for the first time since I met her, since we started playing this game, she looked almost... hesitant.

Like she knew whatever I was about to do next wasn't just about Alex.

It was about Alie.

And this time, I wasn't just going to break my brother.

I was going to make sure she never looked at him the same way again.

Carmelle was still on my lap, her body flush against mine, but my mind had already left the car.