After He Became My Brother-in-Law Chapter 04
Leanna’s POV
The call went dead.
I set the faded ring down on the coffee table without hesitation.
I pulled on my hat and mask, grabbed my suitcase, and walked right out the door.
Chicago’s winter night was brutal. The freezing wind sliced through me, sharp and stinging.
Oddly enough, that cold ache felt like pure relief.
Christopher had no idea Estrella told me about their engagement long before it went public.
She’d also sent me an audio clip.
In the recording, Estrella demanded he cut me off completely.
Christopher’s reply was soft, gentle, utterly devoted to her.
“Essie, you know how I am,” he’d said.
“I’m impatient and I have a terrible temper. But I never want you to see that side of me. That’s why I keep Leanna around. I only use her for physical release so I can be a better man for you.”
The clip ended.
Shock and cold dread crashed over me all at once.
Estrella followed it up with a sharp, mocking question.
“What do you even see in a guy like him? If my family didn’t need his investments, I wouldn’t spare him a second glance.”
That’s when I started planning my exit.
I’ve never been lucky.
We’re twins, but I’ve always fallen short of her in every single way.
As a baby, I choked on my bottles.
I barely made a sound when I cried, and I was never cute.
I didn’t walk until I was two. I didn’t speak a single word until I was four.
Estrella was perfect from day one.
She ate well, slept well, grew into a gorgeous child, and won over everyone around her.
She was singing and dancing before she even turned four.
When we were five, our parents died in a car crash, and we got sent to the orphanage.
Estrella never really liked me, but she always looked out for me while we were there.
When I turned twelve, my face finally started growing into hers.
I’d stare at my reflection in the river for hours, happy to finally look like my sister.
That’s why I happened to be there when a local kid fell in — I jumped in and saved him.
But by the time I got back to the orphanage, the director, Adeline Beckford, broke the news.
Estrella was gone.
A wealthy couple had chosen her at a charity event. She wasn’t coming back.
Adeline told me if I’d only returned sooner, I could’ve been adopted right alongside her.
I cried uncontrollably, fully believing my mistake was why we got separated.
For years after that, I never dared be late to anything.
I stayed at the orphanage until I aged out, then kept volunteering there.
That’s where I met Christopher.
I was naive enough to think the tiny bits of attention he gave me meant my luck was finally changing.
Then I started seeing Estrella all over the media.
Grown-up Estrella was stunning, glamorous — a global superstar, the beloved daughter of the ultra-wealthy Rowlett family.
Most importantly, she was Christopher’s one and only love.
I never usually complained about my terrible life, but in that moment, I felt completely worthless.
No matter how hard I tried, it seemed I was always destined to end up alone, stuck in a plain, ordinary life.
That night, I boarded a southbound high-speed train, heading back to the orphanage I grew up in.
It was the only place I ever felt safe.
I’d fought so hard to stay by Christopher’s side for years.
But walking away felt shockingly easy.
To my own surprise, I wasn’t sad at all.
I just never thought he’d call me again.
Against my better judgment, I answered.
He was practically yelling, his voice raw and vicious.
“It’s three a.m. Why the he11 aren’t you home?”
He sounded slightly drunk, but I answered honestly anyway.
“I’m heading back to my real home.”
Christopher let out a cold, cruel laugh.
“You’re an orphan. You don’t have a home. You have thirty minutes to get back here. I’m giving you a chance to fix this. If you don’t show up, I’m cutting all funding to that orphanage.”
I stared out the dark train window and replied quietly.
“No, you won’t. That orphanage raised Estrella too.”
I hung up and blocked his number.
As the train swayed gently down the tracks, I knew for certain Christopher and I would never cross paths again.
