Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox) novel Chapter 199

Chapter 199

I keep my eyes on Luke, forcing myself not to let the anger boil over too soon. I see the hesitation in his eyes, the way he shifts in his chair, trying to calculate just how much of this evening he can salvage.

But I’m not giving him an inch.

“What’s in the article?” I ask.

Luke sighs, running a hand through his hair, but his eyes refuse to meet mine. He’s doing that thing–holding back, hesitating, as if he can cushion

the blow.

“Julie,” he begins, “I don’t think it’s necessary to ruin a good meal with some tabloid garbage.”

“I want to know what they said. No games, Luke.”

Javier clears his throat, and Luke gives him a quick glance.

་

“Maybe we should at least enjoy the food first. Just… breathe a bit, you know?” Luke says.

Javier leans back, folding his arms. “Lucas, just tell her. Or would you rather I do it?” His tone is matter–of–fact, tinged with something that almost sounds like sympathy.

Luke’s jaw tightens, and finally, he gives in. “Fine. But remember, it’s a blog. It’s mostly assumptions.”

“Read it to me. The most important lines. I want to hear it.”

After a moment of reluctance, he scrolls through Javier’s phone until he finds what he’s looking for. His eyes dart to me once before he starts reading, voice low and tense.

“The blog says they got a tip from a very ‘reliable source‘ that there’s some kind of battle‘ going on between Ryan and me… over you.” He pauses, gauging my reaction.

I feel my cheeks flush. “Go on.”

“And it seems I am winning, as the source also confirmed that Julie O’Brien left her home recently.”

My pulse quickens, anger coiling tighter with every word.

“They say it’s unclear where you’re staying, but the writer concludes, If we had to take a wild guess, we’d say she’s with her new lover, Mr. Lucas Martinez. This, of course, comes just a few days after the news of Julie’s divorce filing leaked to the press.“”

The last words echo in the room, mingling with the simmering tension. I feel my blood pounding in my ears, the fury threatening to break through my careful restraint.

I grit my teeth, forcing myself to stay calm, but

cracks.

as

I say, “I’d l

bet anything this is Adeline’s doing.”

don’t I think it is.”

Luke shakes his head, surprising me with a quick, blunt answer.

“Why?”

He looks almost guilty

for a moment, glancing at Javier again before he speaks. “Because we talked yesterday, and she… she proposed a deal.”

“A deal?” I repeat. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember, I told you I was going to terminate the partnership?” He sits up, bracing himself. “I went to Ryan’s office, and Adeline asked me to reconsider. To stay on, just for another few months–well, two years actually. I told her I’d think about it.”

“You… considered it?” I say.

“Julie, hear me out. I didn’t even want to tell you this, but you need to know what she’s offering.” He takes a breath. “They’re willing to drop all charges. Give you seventy percent of Ryan’s assets. All you have to do is drop your lawsuit.”

I sit in stunned silence, a thousand thoughts swirling in my mind. How dare he make decisions on my behalf, even consider deals with people who would sell my sanity for a dollar.

“That was my decision to make,” I say.

He holds his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t make any decision. I just… thought you should know.”

“No, Luke. You don’t get it. You don’t get how Adeline operates. You can’t trust a snake like her with something like that. This—this whole article?

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Chapter 199

Clearly, she’s behind it. She’s playing nice on the surface, while she’s sabotaging me in the press!”

His brows knit, and he shakes his head. “I still don’t think it’s her. It doesn’t make sense. She kid cut the partnership if she tried to pull a stunt

like that. It doesn’t fit.”

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