CHAPTER 126: THE BROTHER HE NEVER TRUSTED

Author’s POV

[My wife: Husband, I met your brother, Kai, at the audition....]

The moment Lando read that message, he shot up from his chair. His sudden movement made every executive in the meeting room turn their heads toward him.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Lan?" one of the employees asked, pausing his explanation of the financial chart on the projector. "Did I get the numbers wrong?"

Lando’s eyes were still fixed on his phone, and without looking up, he said, "No, your presentation is fine."

He was already walking toward the door when he added, "Owen, take over the meeting for now. I need to handle something urgent."

Owen Kingsley—the man officially listed as Zentra’s CEO even though everyone knew he was just Lando’s puppet—immediately stood up. "Yes, Mr. Lan."

Before anyone could question him, Lando was already gone. Without wasting another second, he called his wife.

"Husband! I—"

He cut her off. "Are you still with Kai?"

There was a brief silence before Helcia replied, "No, I’m not with him anymore."

Lando immediately let out a sigh of relief. He rested his hand against the wall, trying to ground himself from the nervousness rushing through his chest.

"That’s good," he said in a low voice. After a moment, he rubbed his face roughly and added, "What happened?"

"Didn’t you read my messages?" Helcia asked with an awkward laugh. "I already told you everything that happened."

He glanced back at his phone. She had sent a whole wall of messages, but her very first one had already made it impossible for him to focus on the rest.

"I’m sorry," Lando said. "I was in a meeting, so I couldn’t read them all."

"Oh? Then we can talk later if you’re busy," Helcia said.

"No," Lando said firmly. "No, it’s fine. The meeting’s over now. I can talk to you as long as you need."

He walked toward the seat beside the vending machine, thinking he probably needed a damn coke to calm his nerves.

"Where are you right now? I’ll come pick you up," he said while slipping a coin into the machine.

"No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine!" Helcia replied quickly, clearly not wanting him to worry. "I’m on my way home with Mr. Silo. You don’t have to pick me up."

Lando opened the can with a soft hiss, then asked carefully, "Did my brother do anything inappropriate to you?"

"Well... not really," Helcia said after a short pause.

Lando froze upon hearing the uncertainty in her tone. He was terrified that his brother might have done something bad to his wife, and she simply didn’t want to tell him.

"He only talked to me normally," she continued, "and asked me to grab coffee with him. I refused because I didn’t want to go anywhere with him without telling you first."

Helcia paused for a moment before adding softly, "But... would it be strange if he held my hand a little too long? He didn’t force me or anything, but... I don’t know, it just felt weird. I’m sorry if I’m overthinking it."

"He what?!" Lando crushed the can of coke in his hand, probably a bit too hard, because the soda spilled over his fingers and dripped onto the floor. His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he couldn’t even speak.

"Lando?" Helcia’s voice came through the speaker, worried. "Are you okay?"

He took a slow breath, trying to calm down, but his pulse was already racing. "Did he touch you again after that?"

"No, of course not!" she said quickly. "He just held my hand for a few seconds. I think he was trying to be friendly... maybe? I don’t even know anymore."

Lando leaned forward, his free hand brushing through his hair in frustration. "Friendly or not, he shouldn’t have touched you at all." His voice was low, trembling slightly with anger he was trying to suppress.

"I know," Helcia whispered. "That’s why I told you. I didn’t like it either." After a brief silence, she added in a small voice, "Are you mad at me?"

"What? No! Of course not. Why would I be?" Lando took a few deep breaths before speaking again, his tone softer this time. "I’m mad at him because he made you uncomfortable. Next time, you don’t have to shake his hand if you don’t want to."

He wasn’t feeling nervous for no reason.

Kai rarely did anything directly to harm Lando, not because he had any compassion for him, but simply because he didn’t care. Lando was just another man to him, not worth the effort.

But when it came to women, it was a completely different story.

Just like their father, Victor, Kai had no respect for women, not even for his own mother. In his eyes, women were nothing more than beautiful toys to play with, people meant to be controlled rather than respected.

He knew exactly how to hide his true nature behind a charming smile and gentle manners, but it was all an act, a well-practiced mask to lure good women into his trap.

When Lando still lived under the same roof, he had seen how their father would bend over backward to cover Kai’s scandals. Every time Kai got a woman pregnant, he’d walk away without a shred of guilt, and Victor would clean up the mess.

If those women refused to end their pregnancies, Victor would threaten them, making sure they disappeared quietly.

Kai had been that way since high school. And as he grew older, Victor no longer needed to intervene, not because Kai had become better, but because he’d learned how to hide his sins more cleverly.

Lando still remembered one particular day back in high school, when Marissa came to pick him up because they had plans to go somewhere together.

Kai had the audacity to flirt with her—right in front of him—and even shamelessly said it would be better if she spent the night in his room instead of Lando’s.

Good thing it was Marissa because instead of freezing up or pretending to laugh it off, she spat right in Kai’s face and said, "Sorry, I don’t like dicks."

Lando was punished by his father afterward, but honestly, it was worth it because for once, he finally saw Kai get humiliated by someone else.