The temptation of my brother-in-law

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Seven

Travis’ POV

I used to be different.

When I was a kid, I laughed more. Smiled more. I was the silly one. The one who made jokes at dinner and got in trouble for not taking things seriously enough. I’d put whoopee cushions on Pa’s chair and short-sheet Malachi’s bed and do impressions of the butler until everyone was laughing.

Pa would shake his head and tell me to be more like Malachi. Always Malachi.

Malachi who got perfect grades without even trying. Malachi who excelled at combat training. Malachi who could negotiate business deals before he was old enough to drive. Malachi who never put a foot wrong, never embarrassed the family, never gave Pa a reason to be disappointed.

I tried. God knows I tried. I studied until my eyes burned. Trained until my muscles screamed. Tried to be serious and focused and everything Pa wanted.

But no matter what I did, it was never enough. Never right. Pa would look at Malachi with pride shining in his eyes and look at me with that tight-lipped expression that meant he was trying not to say something cutting. Eventually, I stopped trying. Stopped caring.

What was the point when I’d already lost before I even started?

I became the family disappointment. The screwup. The one they didn’t talk about at business meetings or introduce to important contacts. I leaned into it. If I was going to be the failure anyway, I might as well enjoy it.

I drank. I gambled. I did everything I could to make Pa regret comparing me to Malachi.

But then Emily came into the picture.