The next morning, Elena woke up early and got ready in silence.
Her movements were calm, almost mechanical.
When she picked up her phone, a new message caught her attention.
Aaron: Address
Elena stared at the screen for a moment, then locked the phone without replying.
After finishing breakfast, she grabbed her bag and left the house.
The taxi ride was quiet. She watched the city pass by through the window, her expression unreadable.
Soon, the taxi stopped.
Elena stepped out and looked around.
A private place… she realized.
Inside, a waiter greeted her politely and guided her toward a private room at the end of the hallway.
As soon as Elena pushed the door open, her eyes landed on Aaron.
He was already there.
Aaron stood up the moment he saw her.
"Please, come in. Have a seat."
Elena walked in without saying a word and sat down across from him.
Aaron picked up the menu and handed it to her.
"Order whatever you like. Dinner is on me."
Elena observed everything quietly — the reserved room, the careful arrangement, his overly polite behavior.
Then she smiled.
A soft, almost teasing smile.
"Brother-in-law," she said lightly,
"you're taking such good care of me. When my Roben comes back, I'll definitely tell him how kind you are."
The moment those words left her mouth, Aaron felt a strange surge of pride.
In my entire family, I'm the only one with this much charm, he thought.
She loves my second brother so deeply, yet she's still impressed by me.
I really am the ideal boyfriend type.
Elena noticed that he had gone quiet.
She waved her hand in front of his face.
"Aaron?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, clearing his throat.
A faint blush appeared on his face as he spoke, trying to sound casual.
"Elena… I wanted to talk to you about something."
Her expression instantly hardened.
"Brother-in-law," she said coldly,
"what are you talking about? I told you already — you should call me Second Sister-in-Law."
She leaned slightly forward, her eyes sharp.
"If Roben finds out that you're not behaving properly with his dear darling…
or that you're not saying what I want you to say…
he'll be very angry."
Aaron looked at her, his expression turning complicated.
For him to be angry, he thought,
he would have to remember you first.
He sighed inwardly.
Forget it. I won't take the words of a woman blinded by love seriously.
After all, she has a relationship with my second brother.
With that thought, Aaron spoke calmly.
"Elena, I'll call you Second Sister-in-Law the day you marry my second brother."
He met her gaze directly.
"Until then, I'll call you by your name."
"What's the big deal?" she said lightly.
"Roben and I can get married anytime. It's just a matter of saying the word."
She tilted her head and lowered her gaze, lashes fluttering deliberately.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks — perfectly timed.
"My Roben never refuses me," she added in a shy voice.
"He listens to everything I say."
But the moment Aaron spoke, the softness in her eyes vanished for half a second.
"You probably don't know my second brother as well as you think," Aaron said calmly.
"He's not someone who does things just because he's told to."
That half-second was enough.
Elena's expression shifted — smoothly, flawlessly.
Her smile disappeared, replaced by anger that rose too fast to be real.
"So that's what this is?" she snapped.
"You're trying to separate me and Roben."
She stood up suddenly, the movement sharp and calculated.
The chair scraped softly against the floor — loud enough to draw attention.
"That's why you're saying such disgusting things."
Her eyes glistened now, but the tears never fell.
They stayed there, carefully controlled.
"I know exactly what you're doing," she continued, her voice trembling at just the right moments.
"My Roben would be devastated if he found out that his own brother is trying to break us apart."
She pressed a hand against her chest, breathing unevenly —
a performance perfected by practice.
"He would be heartbroken," she said dramatically,
"to know that his own brother wants to destroy the woman he loves."
Silence followed.
Aaron watched her without interrupting.
For a brief instant, Elena's gaze flickered —
not with pain,
but with calculation.
She was waiting.
Waiting to see if her act had worked.
Elena sniffed softly, her voice trembling on purpose.
just for a second.
Elena inhaled sharply — a little too sharply, like an actress preparing for a close-up shot.
Her shoulders rose, then fell in a controlled motion, as if she were timing her breath.
"If Roben hears this," she said, her voice trembling on cue, carefully cracked at the right syllables,
"he'll be shattered."
She pressed a hand to her chest, fingers curling dramatically over her heart, nails digging in just enough to look painful.
"He won't eat. He won't sleep," she continued, her tone slowing down deliberately.
Her eyes lifted toward the ceiling, unfocused, as if she were watching an invisible tragedy unfold above her.
"He'll just sit there…"
she paused, letting the silence stretch,
"…missing me."
The pause was perfect.
Too perfect.
"He'll cry," she added solemnly, lowering her voice as though sharing a fragile truth.
"Right here."
She tapped her own shoulder gently, twice — an almost tender gesture — then let her hand linger there, presenting it like evidence.
Her lips trembled.
Her eyes glistened.
But no tears fell.
Across the table, Aaron stared at her.
Long.
Quiet.
...
As he listened to her, a strange thought crossed Aaron's mind.
Was she talking about my second brother…
or about someone else entirely?
Because no matter how he replayed her words,
none of them matched the man he knew.
The second brother I know doesn't stop eating,
doesn't forget sleeping,
and definitely doesn't sit around crying on someone's shoulder.
If anything, the man treated emotions like unnecessary software —
installed, but never opened.
Aaron's gaze flicked back to Elena's carefully trembling expression.
If this is really about my brother, he thought dryly,
then I must have missed an entire version of him.
Or she's describing a character from a very emotional drama.
Either way, one thing was clear—
She wasn't talking about the man Aaron knew.