chapter 2

Neo POV:--

The door creaked open, and a young man stepped inside.

For a second, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest—

Was it him?

But then I exhaled in relief.

Oh, thank God. It wasn’t my mysterious soon-to-be husband.

It was Darin Rittavath— my brother-in-law, or rather, my husband’s brother.

Not going to lie, Darin looked stupidly handsome in that red suit. The color suited him too well, and that effortlessly charming smile of his could calm down a storm. For a second, it almost worked on me too.

My friends—karun,kritsana,sirin,

tonkla,pao —and my cousin tawan quietly slipped out to give us some privacy.

The door clicked shut behind them with a sharp “click”, leaving me alone with Darin.

He leaned against the doorframe, a teasing glint in his eyes.

“So, how are you feeling? Nervous… or on the verge of a heart attack?”

I sighed dramatically. “Both. At the same time.”

Darin chuckled. “Should I call you Neo, my husband’s brother, or my brother-in-law?”

I groaned. “Darin, please stop teasing me. I’m already having a mental breakdown here.”

“Alright, alright,” he said, hands raised in surrender, a smile still tugging at his lips. “Take a deep breath, groom-to-be.”

I obeyed. One. Two. Three deep breaths. It helped… a little.

“Hey, Darin,” I said after a moment, curiosity creeping in, “can you tell me something about your brother? Like… how he looks, his personality, if he’s nice or mean?”

Darin and I had always been close—more like friends than in-laws.

We’d done all sorts of stupid things together: sneaking out for midnight snacks, judging random people at parties, binging horror movies until 3 a.m.

He had a heart of pure gold—gentle, warm, and loyal. It honestly baffled me that my brother,Kai , couldn’t see that. he was always buried in his mafia work, wearing that cold, emotionless mask.

But that’s a whole different story.

And it hurts.

We haven’t talked properly in years… and I still don’t know when exactly he drifted so far away from me.

Darin's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Hm…” He hummed thoughtfully before saying, “In personality, he’s a total copy of your brother—cold, calm, calculated. But in looks?”

He smirked. “Young, handsome, charming, adorable… though obviously not as handsome as me or my husband.”

I snorted. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I just hope he’s not what I’m imagining—a fifty-four-year-old bald man with a beer belly.”

Darin froze for half a second, then burst out laughing.

Like—really laughing. He was holding his stomach, tears forming in his eyes.

“You’re killing me, Neo! My little brother, a fat bald old man? No way!” He could barely breathe between laughs. “He’s damn handsome, trust me.”

“Okay, okay, stop exaggerating,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He’s not that handsome. You sound like you’re promoting a model brand.”

Darin finally stopped laughing, his grin softening into something genuine.

“Neo, I’m serious. He’s handsome. And when you see him for the first time…”

He leaned closer, lowering his voice.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll be mesmerized.”

“Oh really?” I said dramatically, crossing my arms. “We’ll see about that.”

He chuckled, eyes gleaming with mischief. “If you’re so confident, let’s make it interesting. A bet. Your first reaction decides who wins.”

Oh, now that caught my attention.

“You’re on,” I said with a smirk. “one million dollars.”

One million meant nothing to our families.

Millions, billions, trillions—it was all part of the mafia life.

But what wasn’t normal was us—the people stuck living inside those deals.

Darin’s grin widened. “Deal.”

We both said it at the same time, our voices in perfect sync.

“Deal.”

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