After Her Lover Extorted Millions, I Taught My Brother Not to Divorce

I looked at him without a flicker of surprise. Everard stared at me, thrown off. "Sis, you... you're not shocked?" In my last life I had been shocked. Mia had always acted like she adored him. I never expected her to cheat. And I never imagined her heart could be that black. "Tell me everything," I said. He gave a small "mm." Then he laid it out for me, piece by piece. Two months ago, on a night of pouring rain. Mia was working late, and the office had sprung a leak. So she called Everard to come pick her up after work. But when he got there. Mia wasn't in the office. Instead, a different female employee, her clothes soaked through, was in the middle of taking off her bra when he happened to walk in. The woman started acting like she'd lost her mind. First she asked him to help her get her top down. Then, out of nowhere, she ripped her own bra apart. And clawed a few scratches into her own skin. Then she started screaming that she was being assaulted, screaming for help. And right at that moment. Mia appeared. She "happened" to catch the whole scene. And she swore up and down that Everard had betrayed her. There was a man standing beside her. That man laid out two conditions for him. First, pay the female employee a million in compensation. Second, agree to a divorce and walk away from the marriage with nothing. If he refused, they'd call the police. Everard tried desperately to explain, but Mia wouldn't listen. She claimed she already had evidence on video. Everard was afraid of going to prison. So he took money from our parents behind their backs to pay it off. He thought he could settle the whole thing quietly. But Mia and her lover wouldn't let up. They pushed him to take out a huge online loan. And then they demanded he mortgage the house. "Sis, I could accept all of it," he said. "But Mia wants me to mortgage the house." "That, I can't accept, no matter what." "If the house is gone." "Then wouldn't Mom and Dad end up sleeping on the street in their old age?" "So I'd rather die!" When he finished. I smiled. "At least you've still got some conscience." "Sis, what good does conscience do me?" "They've backed me into a corner. I can't breathe." "I haven't slept in days." "The second I close my eyes, I feel Mia right in my ear, pushing me to mortgage the house." "Hmph. She cheated during the marriage, set you up on purpose," I said. "She's the one in the wrong. What are you so afraid of?" Everard opened his mouth to say something. I got there first. "How long has she been gone?" "Days now." "Call her. Tell her to come home." "I... I won't. The moment she's home she starts hounding me, I..." He trailed off. Little by little, he settled down. Then he asked me, testing the waters, "Sis, maybe... maybe I should just divorce her and be done with it." "Divorce?" "Why would you divorce her?" "After everything she's done to you, wouldn't a divorce be exactly what she wants?" "My advice is, don't divorce her!"

"What?" "Not divorce her?" "But she doesn't love me anymore." "All she sees is money and Mom and Dad's house." "I can't keep living with her." "I feel like I'm going to lose my mind!" I looked at my brother, his face twisted with pain and already close to tears again. I pulled out a tissue and handed it to him. "You're a grown man. Stop crying at every little thing." "Do tears solve anything?" He blinked. "But I... I really don't have a way out." "You don't. I do." His eyes lit up, and he asked in a rush, "Sis, what's your plan?" "First, call her and tell her to come home." "I'll help you with this." "And remember." "No more trying to kill yourself over things like this. Do you know how hard Mom and Dad worked to raise you?" "If something happened to you, what would they do?" He hung his head, guilt all over his face. "Sis, I'm sorry. I just couldn't see a way through." "That's why I..." I patted his head. "Enough. You've got a big-shot lawyer for a sister, and when something like this happens, you don't come to me. You just swallow it and eat the loss in silence." "A setback teaches you something. Call this one a lesson bought and paid for." He nodded hard. Then, at my signal, he dialed Mia. The second he switched to speaker, she picked up. "Come to your senses yet?" "Honey, come home for a bit." "I asked if you've come to your senses." "Yeah." At his answer. Mia laughed on the other end. "Smart of you. Wait there, I'll be over soon." The call hadn't ended yet. And I caught the faint sound of a man's voice beside her. "Baby, your skin is so smooth." "Stop it, Everard can hear." "Tch, so what if he does?" "He's a useless piece of trash." "If he weren't still worth something to us." "I'd have kicked him to the curb ages ago." Then the sound cut off. Because Mia hung up. His eyes went red, his whole body shaking. "Sis, you heard it. That man is the one Mia's cheating with. The truth is... he's met with me a few times." "Met you for what?" "He said he'd leave Mia, as long as I paid him." "And you paid?" "Yeah." "How many times? How much?" "Three times. Eighty thousand total!" I pressed a hand to my forehead, at a loss for words. His own sister was a top lawyer. And he let someone threaten him and didn't dare say a word. It would be a lie to say I wasn't angry. But he'd already been through enough. I was afraid that if I scolded him, it would bring back the tragedy of my last life. So I forced the anger down. And smiled as I comforted him. "Don't worry. Whatever he took, I'll make him cough it back tenfold, a hundredfold!"

Two hours later, Mia came back. There was still a bright hickey on her snow-white neck. She walked in and didn't so much as greet her in-laws. She just went straight to the couch and sat down across from us. She pulled an agreement out of her bag and laid it on the table. “Everard, sign it once you've come to your senses.” My brother glanced at me. I picked up the agreement and read it carefully. It was a divorce agreement Mia had had someone draft. The terms were simple. She wanted a share of the assets. This apartment was in my brother's name. She wanted half of it. Total value six million, three million of it paid to her in cash. When I finished reading, I tossed it straight into the trash. “Doris Delgado, what do you think you're doing?” Mia glared at me, her brows knitted with fury. “My brother is not divorcing you.” That got a string of cold laughs out of Mia. “He and I have already talked about this.” “There's nothing left between us.” “And I'm not afraid to tell you the truth.” “I cheated.” “He and I are getting divorced, no matter what!” The moment Mia finished, my brother suddenly spoke up. “Honey, I know it's probably my fault. I've been so busy with work that I've ignored how you feel, and that left you empty and lonely, so you found another man to fill the gap.” “I won't be angry with you, and I definitely won't divorce you.” “Because I love you.” Cold-faced Mia heard Everard say he loved her. She froze on the spot. “Honey, you rushed all the way back, and it's cold out there.” “You're not dressed warmly enough. Be careful you don't catch a cold.” “I'll go make you a cup of cold medicine.” Watching Everard get up to go mix the medicine, Mia snapped out of her daze. She asked in disbelief, “Everard, is something wrong with your head?” “Honey, hold on, the medicine's almost ready.” “I asked you a question.” “Are you sick or something?” My brother set the mixed medicine down in front of Mia. Then he fished a necklace out of his pocket. “Honey, a gift I bought for you.” Mia knocked his hand away. “I want a divorce, do you hear me?” “Honey, let me put it on for you.” Watching Everard read every word she said and answer with something completely off, Mia was so angry her lungs were about to burst. But I just sat off to the side, eyes narrowed, smiling. Everything my brother was saying, I had taught him. She wanted a divorce, wanted to split the assets, didn't she? I was not about to let her get her way. “Get your hand off me!” Mia knocked Everard's hand away again, her face full of rage. “If you won't divorce me, then every cent you earn each month, I'll spend it all. You'll never save up a dime as long as you live. I want you broke for life!” “That won't really be a problem.” I spoke up out of nowhere. Mia looked over at me, and I smiled. “My brother only makes two thousand a month. He has rent, water, and electricity to pay, plus his aging parents to support. The most he could give you in a month is a tenth of his salary, so two hundred dollars.” “That kind of money isn't nearly enough to keep him broke for life!” Mia's face was pure shock. “He clearly makes twenty-three thousand a month.” “How did that turn into two thousand?” “You think I'm stupid? You're trying to fool me?” Smiling, I pulled my brother's pay stub out of my pocket.