Free My Shameful Secret (Forbidden Stepbrother Billionaire Romance) by Lana Evers

5

    My brother started spending the summers in England when he turned sixteen. It was about the same time I realized my brother wasn’t “just” my brother.
    Europe’s high society had welcomed my brother with open arms the moment he was introduced as Vivian’s sole heir. His photos started appearing on the Internet, and the media began to link famous singers, actresses, and models – people who I only knew from seeing their faces on TV – to my brother.  
    The first summer he was away, I had battled with shock and unease when I started reading articles about him. Articles that painted a different picture of the brother I had grown up with.
    St. Clair heir throws wild parties every night!
    Girls go gaga over new face of St. Clair Enterprises: Heir’s Instagram followers shoot to 5M in one month!
    Saehan St. Clair Charbonneau – moving to England permanently?
    Headlines like the last one had lingered in my mind at that time. It had kept me awake almost every night, and I struggled with both loneliness and resentment. Although my parents tried their best to make it seem like everything was normal, I knew they were as bothered as I was that Saehan’s calls had become more and more infrequent. Could it be a sign that my brother didn’t want to come back to us anymore?

    “Phone for you, Mish. It’s your brother,” Elizabeth called out from below.  
    Poking my head out of my bedroom door, I shouted, “Sorry, I can’t. I’m busy with school.” It was a lie. I just didn’t want to talk to my brother.
    I heard footsteps, my mom appearing by my doorway even before I could reach my bed. She held out the wireless receiver.  
    I shook my head.
    “Then you tell him that yourself.” She tossed the phone on my bed.
    “Mom!”
    But she was already closing the door behind her. For a moment, all I could do was gaze at the phone in the middle of my bed like it was a snake.  
    Another moment passed, and I knew I was just delaying the inevitable, aside from being unreasonably rude. Slowly, I sat on my bed, tucking my legs under me before reaching for the phone.
    “Hello?”
    “You little brat,” my brother said immediately. “Why don’t you want to talk to me?”
    I couldn’t answer right away. I felt too happy at being able to hear his voice again.
    “Misha?”
    Swallowing, I lied, “I have to study.”
    “Liar.”
    I kept silent. I was pretty sure whatever I said, my brother knew me well enough to see through my lies.
    Saehan sighed over the phone. “Are you mad because I don’t get to call much?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “Sorry about that, brat. I promise I’ll call more. It’s just…life is very different here, you know?”
    “More exciting?” I blurted out.
    “Yes.” Saehan sounded surprised.
    “I see photos of you on the web,” I mumbled. “They say you have parties all the time. And they say you’re friends with lots of famous people. And they—”
    “Misha, stop reading stuff like that—”
    I acted like I didn’t hear him as I continued determinedly, “—and they say you’re not coming back anymore.”
    Silence.
    It frightened me, and I asked shakily, “Is it true, Saehan? You’re not coming back to us anymore?”
    “Misha—”
    “We can throw parties here, too,” I said desperately. “I’ll help ask permission from Mom and Dad—”
    “Misha, quiet.”  
    My brother’s hard voice made me inhale sharply. Had I made him mad? Was I too pushy? I rarely was, but…I just wanted him to come back home again.
    Saehan said quietly, “I’m sorry for making you worry.”
    Oh!
    “I’m coming back before school starts, ‘kay? So stop worrying. Promise me that?”
    “You really mean it?”
    “Yes.”
    I sniffed. “I miss you, Saehan.”
    There was a smile in his voice when he said, “Miss you, too, brat.”

6

    I’m a really superstitious person. My brother laughs at me for being so, but I just like to play it safe. I avoid opening my umbrella inside our house,