My Boyfriend Became My Brother

“He is Julian Yun,” my father said on my eighteenth birthday. “Your biological brother.”

The man standing in front of me was my boyfriend.

My boyfriend of three years.

For one second, the world went silent.

Then I heard a voice.

If I keep lying to her, even I’ll feel guilty.

Julian’s voice.

But his lips had not moved.

He stood there in a white shirt, polite and elegant, smiling as if we were strangers meeting for the first time.

He extended his hand.

“Hello, Iris.”

I stared at him.

The face I had loved for three years.

The hands that made me breakfast before exams.

The voice that told me not to be afraid when I cried.

The boy who had once appeared like an angel when a group of thugs beat me half to death.

Now his thoughts were pouring into my head.

She’s calm. Too calm.

Does she know the rescue was staged?

Does she know I approached her on purpose?

My fingers went cold.

The rescue was staged.

The first time we met, I had been cornered by street thugs after school.

Julian appeared out of nowhere.

He fought them off.

He wiped blood from my face and asked if I was afraid.

From that day, I trusted him.

No.

From that day, I loved him.

And now I learned those thugs had been hired by him.

My mind spun.

He had approached me to get close to my father.

Because he was supposedly my father’s illegitimate son.

Brother.

What a cruel joke.

I placed my hand in his.

“Brother?” I smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

His eyes flickered.

She isn’t shocked.

She isn’t heartbroken.

Impossible.

Good.

Let him wonder.

Then I turned to my father with the sweetest expression I could manage.

“Dad, are you sure there isn’t a mistake?”

My father frowned.

“What mistake?”

“This is my boyfriend.”

The room exploded.

My father’s face drained of color.

“What did you say?”

I held Julian’s hand tighter.

“Julian and I have been dating for three years.”

My father staggered back.

To him, this was a nightmare.

His long-lost son was his daughter’s boyfriend.

But even through the chaos, I noticed Julian’s expression.

For one brief second, relief crossed his face.

At least I’m inside the Jiang family now.

He had achieved his goal.

I smiled wider.

Oh, Julian.

You wanted to enter my house?

Fine.

Then let us see who locks whom inside.

“No,” Father snapped, face dark. “Absolutely not. You break up immediately.”

“I don’t want to,” I said.

Julian’s gaze sharpened.

I leaned against the sofa like a spoiled girl throwing a tantrum.

“Brother chased me for so long. He loves me so much. If I break up with him, he’ll be devastated. Right?”

I wanted to hear more.

His plan.

His purpose.

His hate.

Before Julian’s thoughts formed, my father raised his hand.

The slap came fast.

I tried to dodge.

Julian moved faster.

He stepped in front of me and took the blow.

The sound cracked through the room.

Five purple-red finger marks bloomed across his cheek.

My father froze.

Julian spread his arms slightly, shielding me behind him.

“It was my fault,” he said. “I pursued Iris first.”

For a moment, the boy who once protected me seemed to return.

The illusion hurt.

Because now I knew he had created the danger himself.

Father fainted shortly afterward.

We rushed him to the hospital.

The doctor said it was emotional shock, nothing life-threatening.

“Try not to upset him again,” the doctor advised. “At his age, strong emotional swings are dangerous.”

Julian stood beside me, silent.

Then his thoughts returned.

If he dies from shock, he deserves it.

He should die.

I looked at him.

The hallway lights made his face look calm, almost gentle.

But inside him was hatred.

Cold.

Deep.

Directed at my father.

I stepped back.

Julian noticed.

“What is it?”

“I’ve thought it over,” I said.

He looked at me.

“We should break up.”

His hand tightened around mine.

“No.”

He pulled me into his arms.

“Iris, I love you. Don’t leave me.”

I shoved him away.

“Do you?”

His eyes darkened.

“Do you really love me?”

“Of course.”

“Then stop acting.”

I laughed.

“Julian, I know about the staged rescue. I know you approached me for a reason. I know everything.”

Not everything.

But enough to hurt him.

He did not deny it.

His thoughts trembled instead.

She hates me. She should.

When this is over, I’ll explain.

She’ll forgive me.

I looked at his lowered eyes.

He still thought I was the same Iris.

The girl who loved him enough to believe anything.

He was wrong.

This time, I could hear him.