My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}

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I noticed Adrien take that in, his shoulders relaxing a little even though the tension in his jaw remained. He nodded slowly, accepting it because it aligned with the mother he remembered from the journal—flawed, scared, but fiercely principled.

"Then who was L.S. to her?" I asked, shifting closer to Adrien on the sagging couch. "Why did she keep writing about feeling so guilty every time they got together? She said she hoped you’d understand if you ever found out."

Rachel closed her eyes for a long moment, rubbing her temples like the question was physically painful. The radiator clanked again, and her mother’s wheelchair creaked as the old woman adjusted slightly, still watching us with that eerie silence.

"Do you two really believe she was murdered?" Rachel finally whispered, her eyes opening to meet Adrien’s. "Because to everyone else—to the police, to newspapers, even for a long time to me—it appeared to be just a tragic car accident. Black ice, bad luck, wrong place at the wrong time."

Adrien’s voice was raw when he replied. "I’ve never thought it was just an accident. Not since I was twelve and realized what the adults were quietly discussing. There were too many things that didn’t add up, too many questions no one wanted to voice." He glanced down at his hands before looking back at her. "I wasn’t the best son back then. I shut her out whenever she tried to talk about being scared. This—finding the truth—is the least I owe her. I need to know what really happened."

Rachel studied him for what felt like a heavy eternity, tears shimmering again. Then she released a shaky breath that seemed to come from a weary place deep within her.

"L.S. wasn’t a lover," she said softly. "He was a lawyer and his full name is Logan Seymour." She paused, as if even the name left a bitter taste. "I... I met him online a few years before everything went down. We dated for a bit—nothing too serious, just dinners and long phone calls. He was kind, really good at listening. When Joanne started opening up about how bad things were with Keith—money vanishing, arguments that got ugly, her feeling trapped—I thought Logan might be able to help. He specialized in family law, divorce, asset protection. So I gave her his number. Told her he was discreet and would understand."

My heart was thudding loud enough that I could feel it in my throat.

Logan Seymour.