Flash Marriage to a Stunning CEO (Alistair and Richard)

Chapter 137 Not Stepbrother

After the debt collection call, Caleb said nothing. He quietly removed the SIM card from his phone and tossed it into a trash can like he was performing some kind of disappearing act, like this single gesture could render him invisible and spare him from everything unpleasant chasing him down.

The five million had originally been offered by Anne. She said it was to help him. She never called it a loan, never asked for a promissory note. Back then, they'd been practically inseparable, sweet to the point of saccharine. Anne had spent a small fortune

on him.

And it was him, trying too hard to prove he wasn't some gold-digging loser, who insisted on writing her that stupid IOU.

If he could go back, he'd break his own damn hand before letting himself write that IOU.

Should've just embraced being a freeloader. It wasn't like it was

the first time anyway.

But no, he had to pretend to be a man of pride. And now, because of a so-called cheating scandal, he'd not only lost the wealthy girlfriend, but he'd also landed himself in five million worth of debt.

He didn't even have a job yet. How the hell was he supposed to

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come up with that kind of money in a week?

Caleb was seething.

He'd been so sure he'd had Alistair right where he wanted him that day. And even if things hadn't gone to plan, he could've tried again later. But to this day, he still couldn't figure out how it all

backfired.

They had seen Alistair drink the spiked water with their own eyes,

so how was it that he and that female coworker were the ones

who ended up in trouble?

Whatever the explanation, all of this misfortune traced back to

Alistair.

And Liam.

Caleb's eyes turned cold and dangerous.

Alistair's off-limits-at least for now. But his dad? I can still make

him pay.

If Liam hadn't conned him out of that five million, he might've had

a fighting chance to bounce back. But now? With that kind of debt hanging over

his head, he'd never claw his way out.

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Alistair sat on the couch like a kid waiting for a report card.

Caroline sat close beside him, scrolling through her phone.

Alistair kept sneaking glances at her, trying to read her expression. After a few

seconds, he peeked again.

Caroline glanced at him, amused.

"Relax, babe," she said with a soft laugh.

"I am relaxed," Alistair replied, clearly lying.

She raised an eyebrow. "Your whole body's stiff as a board. You

think I can't tell?"

"Right..." he muttered.

Then he smiled sheepishly. "So what do you think?"

"I've only read a couple of lines," she said. "But it flows pretty

well."

That was a compliment.

Or at least, Alistair decided it was.

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The truth was, ever since Caroline found out he was writing a novel, she'd asked to read it. He kept dodging with excuses like, "Let me write more first," but tonight, when she brought it up again, he had no more excuses left. So he finally sent her the link.

The book had been doing okay, actually, better than okay. Reviews were decent, daily income floated between eight hundred and a little over a thousand, and he was pulling in around

twenty or thirty grand a month in royalties. For a debut author, that

was a solid win.

Still, showing it to Caroline made him feel like a first-grader getting

his homework reviewed by the principal.

But as time passed, and she continued reading with real interest, he gradually started to relax.

And she really was interested; he could tell.

After spending the entire evening reading, she finally looked up and said, "You know, this is really good. Super visual. I could totally see this as a TV show or an anime."

It was high praise, and exactly what he'd expected.

Alistair had heard that some Wattpad stories got picked up and turned into

dramas or even animated series. Some had gone viral.

Chapter 137 Not Stepbrother

He hadn't dared to dream that far ahead just yet.

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But maybe he should. If the platform didn't pick up the rights, he could always buy them back himself and turn it into something else.

Still, that was a plan for another day. Right now, something else was on his mind.noveldrama

He leaned in with a grin. "All that reading must've worn you out. Want me to give you a break, maybe a little head rub?"

He started out genuinely massaging her temples, but his hands

quickly wandered, and so did his thoughts.

The moment was broken by the sharp trill of his phone.

It was one of his people keeping tabs on Caleb.

Caleb had taken Liam out of the nursing home.

All the frustration in his life and all the hate he had for Alistair, he

unleashed it on Liam, the one person too weak to fight back.

He beat him until he was drunk and exhausted, and then passed

out.

Bloodied and bruised, Liam crawled toward the door to look for

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help. The noise startled Caleb awake. In a blind rage, Caleb tried to drag Liam back inside.

Driven by pure survival instinct, Liam clawed at Caleb's eyes. Caleb screamed in pain and flung him away. Liam tumbled down the stairs, his head slamming into the last step. Blood gushed from the wound as he lost consciousness on the spot. Caleb panicked. He ran out into the street, desperate to escape the consequences, and was immediately hit by a speeding truck.

The bastard survived.

Now he lay in a hospital bed, covered in bandages and hooked up to more tubes

than a science experiment. His voice was weak, trembling, pathetic. "Please... save me... please..."

Alistair stared at him, nauseated. Then, without hesitation, he replied, "Save you? What for? So I can send you to jail?"

Caleb looked desperate, but that desperation still burned with the

will to live. "You have to save me... I'm your brother. I'm not Liam's

stepson. I'm actually your half-brother!"

He locked eyes with Alistair, searching for a flicker of surprise, fury, empathy-

anything.

But there was nothing.

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Alistair's face was stone. From beginning to end, he stayed perfectly composed,

like the truth meant absolutely nothing to

him.

"I'm telling the truth," Caleb gasped. "I swear I'm not lying! After your mom got pregnant, your dad... he started seeing my mom. I really am your half-brother. We're family. You can't just let me die

like this."

It was because they shared blood that Celeste had always hated how he never measured up to Alistair. That resentment made

sense now.

For a moment, Alistair's face shifted.

He looked at Caleb with dry amusement. "So now he's my dad? Cute. But let me

ask you this. If I didn't even want him, what makes you think I'd give a damn

about some disgusting relative like you?"

He paused and then added casually, "Oh, right, you've never exactly been known

for thinking. Kind of hard when you're short

on brain cells."