My brother smiled as I welcomed his fiancee into the family with a hug that was tighter than it should've been. He smiled as if he'd forgotten everything that had happened between us... as if he actually trusted me. How could he be so naive?




Maybe he did suspect I would try something, because he made a grand show of marking his territory just about every afternoon on the living room couch. But that was Jordan—always the showoff.




They were sickeningly sweet at breakfast and dinner, too, holding hands and blowing each other kisses and ignoring the way I stared at Amber. To give the devil his due, Jordan had managed to snag the most gorgeous woman in Veronaville. But he wouldn't have her for long.




It wasn't long before Amber started staring at me, too. Couldn't blame her—I was clearly the better-looking brother. But more importantly, I was more her type. She needed someone exciting... and Jordan, the family man with the steady job, was anything but.




While Jordan was at work, I was the one Amber spent her days with. (I didn't need to work. I was the heir to the Foxworth fortune, after all.) We jammed in the music room, played long games of darts, and gossipped—and I was sure to mention how Jordan stabbed his own brother in the back once upon a time.




And over lunches she told me about her past, and what was troubling her in the present. Was she moving too fast with Jordan? Should she start a career before a family? Like a good brother-in-law, I listened with concern to the things she didn't even talk to Jordan about.




I was also her outlet for silly, childish fun, something Jordan was too busy being "an adult" to do.




When she started acting more shy and coy around me, I knew she was starting to see me in a different light. She was starting to see how much better I was than Jordan. My plan was working.




One hot, sunny summer afternoon, we were sitting on the bench in the backyard talking about everything and nothing, and I dared to put my arm around her shoulder. She didn't stop me, only smiled in that shy way.




And then, we were kissing. It didn't even take much effort on my part. She wanted me, so much that she ignored whatever voice might've been inside of her telling it was wrong, it was cheating on Jordan. But Jordan deserved what was coming to him.




It wasn't the last kiss that backyard patio would see, and every time we came together there, it was more passionate and more forceful as she surrendered to what she was feeling for me.




Then, unexpectedly, my father died. I can't say I was very upset over the loss, since he'd never been much of a father to lose. But I was disappointed that he wouldn't see his favorite son finally fall off that pedastal he'd always had him on.




Of course, Mom was completely devastated. One good thing I can say about my father is that he loved Mom very much, and he made her very happy. If I grieved, I grieved for her, not for him.




The only thing that made Mom smile now was Riley, the stray cat I'd rescued off the streets. It satisfied me to know something I did, and not Jordan, was cheering her up.




As for Jordan... of course he was upset over Dad's death. Dad had always treated him like a little prince. A big part of me enjoyed watching him cry.




Losing Dad reminded Jordan of the importance of family and he finally decided to apologize for stealing my girlfriend, and my little bit of spotlight, all those years ago.




I gave him as much as a smile as I could, even though I wanted to punch him in the face. Let him think I forgave him, and I loved him as a brother again. It would hurt him all the more once Amber was all mine.




I knew that day was coming soon when she came into my bedroom late in the night. She stared at me from the doorway as though she was afraid to come in. Jordan had changed since our father died, she said; he was deeply grieving and hardly looked at her now. And she needed someone who did see her, and did want her.




She closed the door behind her. We were drawn together like magnets until our hands and lips were roaming all over each other.




Clothes were ripped off, thrown to the floor. We fell down onto my bed, never speaking a word until it was over. And then she apologized, and quickly fled from the room.




I knew she went back to the bed she shared with Jordan, but only because she was obligated to. I knew from the way she'd looked at me, touched me, made love to me, that I was the one she wanted now.




We met quietly in my bedroom for weeks after, and each time we gazed at each other longer, deeper, until it was less about sex and more about... love. I had to admit to myself that I was in love with her, madly in love with her—and that wasn't part of the plan.




One evening I found her waiting for me, but there was something wrong. There was worry, not passion, in her eyes and even in her posture. My heart pounded, thinking Jordan had found out about us...




But in a broken voice she told me that Jordan had found out something else: she was pregnant. Naturally, he was thrilled and couldn't wait to be a father... and he had no idea that the baby might be mine.




Amber begged me not to tell Jordan about our affair, and that the baby might not be his. She still loved him. She still wanted to marry him. And she wanted him to be her baby's father. And though I knew the truth would absolutely kill him, and give me the revenge I'd wanted for so long... Amber would be hurt in the process, and I couldn't do that to her.




So I agreed to stand silently by as Amber and Jordan were married, and watch my brother get everything that I wanted, yet again.




I was seething with every kiss I had to witness between them. It was history repeating itself: Jordan with the woman that should've been mine. Why, why did he always have to win?




I ran to the only refuge I had: the mausoleum. There I could cry, growl, scream, thrash about in anger, and nobody but my dead relatives would hear me. How had everything gone so wrong? How did I end up as the one who's hurt? The portraits of my ancestors couldn't answer my questions. Nobody could.




Outside, the wedding party went on into the night. I could vaguely hear the music and the laughter from inside my stone grave. Everyone except me was enjoying themselves, appreciating life... what did I have to enjoy, or appreciate?




When I finally emerged from the mausoleum, I saw Jordan heading towards the strange plant Mom had acquired working as a rogue botanist. She'd warned us it could be dangerous, but Jordan had a bit too much wine to remember that. And I was too upset to care what could happen if he took that inviting piece of cake. In fact, I egged him on.




It happened so quickly that I couldn't have done anything to stop it—if I'd wanted to. The bulbous head of the plant flew down onto Jordan, and then he was gone. Just... gone.




The plant let out a belch as its udders began to swell, and I began to realize what happened. It ate Jordan! I couldn't stop a smile from spreading over my face. My brother, my enemy, my lifelong competition... he was dead.




Mom and Amber didn't share my elation, of course. I truly felt sorry for Mom, who'd lost so many people she loved in her lifetime. And Amber... her husband, dead, before they left for their honeymoon.




But she still had me. And I would love her—as soon as she was finished grieving for Jordan. And as I placed a hand on her swelling stomach and felt the baby kick, I promised her it would have a father, whether or not it truly was mine.




She slept in my bed that night, because she couldn't bear to be alone in hers. I knew she'd never go back to her own bed, Jordan's bed. She was mine now. Finally, finally... I'd won.