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

and I never walk under a ladder. I also believe the number 13 is unlucky, and I can prove it’s so. I was thirteen, you see, when my brother had to leave for college. The worst thing about it? He’d be attending Cambridge, which was half a world away!
    The first time I learned about his decision, I begged my brother to just attend the local one. He was smart anyway. He could afford to study wherever and still find a good job. Plus, he was Vivian St. Clair’s heir. I doubted he’d be disinherited based on where he attended college.
    But my brother only laughed at my protests. He was going to Cambridge, and that was that.
    So the night before he was supposed to leave, I locked myself in my room and texted my parents that I wasn’t going with them to see him off.
    I knew I was being unreasonable, but I didn’t care. I hated the thought of not being able to see my brother for such a long time. I was terrified by it. He was the only one who understood me, the only one who didn’t think I was too weird for being so quiet. If he left – when he left – I’d have no one to talk to. No one.

    “Wake up, Mish.”  
    I opened my eyes groggily at the words. When my sleep-blurred vision adjusted to the darkness in my room, my brother’s face, illuminated by the silvery light streaming in from the window, slowly came into focus.
    I sat up in shock. “Saehan?” I rubbed my eyes and switched my bedside light on.  
    It was really him. He was seated on the foot of my bed, his hair still wet from the shower, dressed in a black V-necked shirt and jeans.
    When my eyes flitted towards the door, my brother said casually, “I picked it.”
    I gaped at him. My perfect brother knew how to pick a lock?
    He shrugged. “I wanted to see you before I leave.”
    The words had me diving under the covers and burying my face against my pillow. “You’ve seen me,” I muttered, voice muffled. “Now go.”
    “What the—” My brother started to laugh.
    I wrapped the blanket around myself more tightly, turning myself into a cocoon. “I’m not going to see you off,” I gritted out.
    “I know that,” my brother said patiently. “That’s why I’m saying goodbye now.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears. “Goodbye.”  
    “That’s it?” he asked teasingly.
    “Yes,” I choked. “That’s it.” But the words were barely out of my mouth when he started tugging on the covers. I tried to resist but of course he was too strong. A few more tugs, and the covers were thrown out of the way.
    “Mish, come on.” He flipped me on my back.
    So unfair, I thought miserably. My brother knew how I couldn’t ever resist him when he talked to me like that.
    He smiled when I finally looked at him. “You’re usually so serious,” he murmured. “I don’t know what to do when you suddenly act your age.”
    When I just looked at him stonily, he said gently, “It’s not like I’m going away forever.”
    “But that’s how it feels,” I muttered.
    “You can call me—”
    “Everyday?” I asked hopefully.
    He rolled his eyes. “That’s an exaggeration.”
    I glared up at him. “Then it will feel like forever.”
    My brother chuckled. “Come on, Mish.”
    I sat up with a shake of my head. “Maybe it’s different for you, ‘coz you’ve always been so popular. But I’m not like you. I don’t have any friends. I don’t have anyone to talk to…” My voice broke, and I lowered my head as I fought back tears.
    “I know all that, brat,” my brother said quietly over my head. “But you see, that’s also one of the reasons why I have to leave.”
    Still not looking at him, I mumbled, “I don’t get it.”
    He tipped my chin up. “You rely on me too much.”
    “But you’re my brother,” I said automatically. “It’s your job to help me.”
    He pinched my cheeks. “There you go acting like a spoiled brat again. You’re one of the smartest girls I know. I’m sure you understand.”
    “Nope.” But we both knew I was