He Watched Me Shine Without Him novel Chapter 123

“Don’t divorce me. Please.”

Houston’s repeated plea softened Rose’s heart like a freshly ironed sheet—every corner of her resistance slowly collapsed.

“…Okay. I won’t divorce you. Houston, let’s go home.”

“Okay,” he answered meekly, like a child.

Rose stood up and carefully looped Houston’s arm around her shoulders, nearly carrying his upper body as she helped him stumble forward.

Owen, watching from nearby, was baffled by what he saw.

“How is he so obedient with Rose?”

After paying the bar tab, Owen drove both Rose and Houston home.

Rose didn’t want Sam and Linda to see Houston in such a state and worry, so she brought him back to Grand Plaza.

Owen, perhaps still concerned for his brother, didn’t leave right away.

But in truth, there wasn’t much he could do. Rose was already taking care of everything.

She laid Houston on the bed, fetched water, and began wiping his face. When she moved to clean his body, she hesitated and turned toward Owen.

But Owen knew his brother well—too well.

“You’re not seriously asking me to wipe down my own brother, are you?” he protested immediately. “He’d flip. He only lets you touch him. He only listens to you.”

Rose recalled Houston’s furious outbursts. It was true—he could be terrifying.

So she dared not ask for Owen’s help.

While she was undressing Houston, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Startled, Rose tried to reason with him. “Houston, if you want to sleep comfortably, you need to cooperate, okay?”

And cooperate he did.

He didn’t move a muscle—just lay there, eyes bright like stars, never looking away from her. As if afraid she’d disappear.

She wiped him down, changed him into fresh sleepwear, and gently patted his chest.

“All done. Sleep. You’ll feel better after a nap.”

Houston obediently closed his eyes.

Rose finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

“He’s Crestview’s famous old money Ryan, and he married me under a fake name. But I didn’t know who he really was until now. Isn’t that fraud?”

Owen stomped his foot. “Rose, if he used his real identity from the beginning, that would mean he didn’t care about you at all! You don’t understand—my brother hates that name. He doesn’t even let us call him Ryan in private.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “He doesn’t like being Ryan?”

Owen’s expression clouded. “No.”

“Why?” she asked.

“…Probably has to do with something that happened to him when he was young.”

Mentioning Houston’s past cast a shadow over Owen’s entire face. His whole demeanor dimmed, as if dusted in gray.

“I swear, he never meant to deceive you. He just… couldn’t bring himself to explain. Rose, he really cares about you. I’ve never seen him treat anyone the way he treats you.”

A dull ache rose in Rose’s chest—like a well of sour water slowly bubbling up from deep inside.

She thought of Houston’s strained relationship with his father and stepmother. She began to piece it together. He must have suffered in that reconstructed family. No wonder he struggled with such severe insomnia.

“Owen… can you tell me why he and his father are so estranged?”

Owen looked almost pleading. “Rose, please—don’t make me talk. My brother has too many secrets. If I spill even one, he’ll skin me alive.”