Stolen love: In love with my sister 's fiance-Chapter 18: Apologise and forgiveness

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As Alexander and Elaine stood in the garden, the silence between them was thick, almost suffocating. He had called her here, but now that she was standing in front of him, he didn't know what to say. Shame weighed heavily on his shoulders.

After a moment, he cleared his throat and hesitated before asking, "How...how have you been?"

Elaine's response was flat, almost lifeless. "Fine."

That single word hit him harder than he expected. There was no warmth in her tone, no trace of the girl who used to be so open with him. She stood before him like a stranger—guarded, distant, broken. And he knew it was because of him.

Alexander clenched his fists. He had tried to protect her once, but in a moment of weakness, he had betrayed her trust instead. The guilt was suffocating. His voice wavered as he finally spoke.

"Elaine...I'm sorry." His unshed tears made his voice thick. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I need you to know—I regret everything. I should have protected you. I should have been there for you instead of—" He swallowed hard. "Instead of hurting you."

Elaine studied him for a moment. He looked exhausted—his once sharp features dulled by stress, dark circles shadowing his eyes. For a fleeting second, her heart clenched at the sight of him like this.

Then he said something that made her breath hitch.

"If you could give me another chance...as a brother," Alexander said, hopeful yet hesitant. "I failed you before. What kind of brother does that?"

Elaine's expression turned bitter. Her lips curled into a hollow smile as she let out a humorless laugh.

"Brother?" she echoed. "Of course. That's what I was to you, wasn't I?"

Alexander's face fell.

She shook her head, looking away. "You don't have to ask for my forgiveness, Alex. I don't have any anger left in me. Too many people have already broken my heart—I've lost count. I guess I've just gotten used to it."

Her voice was eerily calm, but those words cut deeper than any outburst ever could.

Alexander felt his chest tighten painfully. For the first time, he truly understood—he hadn't just hurt her. He had made her lose faith in everyone.

Still, he wasn't ready to give up.

"I know I've failed you," he admitted. "But I'll try to be better for you. Once I take my company back, once I have control over everything, I'll make things right for you."

Elaine's head snapped up. Her expression hardened as she cut him off. "Why?"

Alexander blinked, caught off guard. "Why not?"

Elaine inhaled deeply, steadying herself. Then, she looked him straight in the eye.

"Why are you trying so hard to fix things?" Her voice was quiet but sharp. "Why do you want to make everything right for me? I'm just the sister of your fiance—not even your real sister . Why does it matter to you?"

Her words hung in the air between them.

For a moment, Alexander had no answer.

Because even he didn't know why.

---

Elaine stared at the dim light bulb in her room, her mind restless while sleep remained far away. Her heart still ached, bitter with Alexander's words. Of course, he thought of her as a sister. But then why—why had his eyes in the car told a different story?

Whatever it was, she refused to dwell on it. She would go mad if she did. This one-sided love hurt too much.

She should have learned from her mother's mistakes. Her mother had believed in love, in promises. And what had it brought her? Nothing but heartbreak.

Elaine clenched her fists.

Her father had promised her mother love—told her sweet lies. But in the end, when she found out the truth, it shattered her. He was already married. He had gotten her mother pregnant not out of love, but out of selfish desire—for a son. Instead, he got Elaine, a daughter he now saw as nothing more than a bargaining chip, someone to be married off to the highest bidder.

She had grown up watching her mother's quiet suffering, the longing in her eyes as she waited for a man who never came back. He had sworn he would marry her, but while she waited, he was too busy building his name, too busy playing the role of a respectable man. And when her mother finally discovered the truth—his betrayal, his lies—it had killed her. A heart attack had taken her away, but it wasn't just illness. It was heartbreak.

The man hadn't just ruined one woman. He had ruined two lives.

And instead of remorse, he still walked around with his head held high.

Elaine shut her eyes, willing the pain away.

She wouldn't make the same mistake. Never.

---

Alexander sat in his room, lost in thought, Elaine's words echoing in his mind. Why did her happiness matter to him so much? Yes, he had always seen her as a sister—or at least, that's what he told himself.

But something was changing.

He could feel it.

And he didn't like it.

He tried to deny it, to push it away, but deep down, in the quiet corners of his mind, he knew the truth.

There was a feeling growing inside him—one he couldn't name, one he wasn't ready to face.

And it terrified him.

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