Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 32

Geoffrey and Chadwick were in 4th year high school when they first met each other. 
Geoffrey is older than Chadwick. However, he dropped out from school and repeated a year. When Geoffrey’s father died, he was forced to work and support his widower mom. But after his mom re-married a rich man, Geoffrey did not have to work anymore and that’s why he was able to study in a prestigious school with his step-sister, Isa. 
“This is my stepbrother, Geoffrey,” Isa introduced Geoffrey to Chadwick. 
Chadwick looked at the stepbrother that Isa had been talking about non-stop. Geoffrey has tall legs and round glasses in his eyes. But the glasses did not hide his handsomeness. Chadwick heard that Geoffrey was a top 1 in his class before, and maybe, the glasses justified his smart aura. 
“And this is my friend, Chadwick,” Isa introduced Chadwick to her brother. 
Geoffrey observed the frail pretty boy beside his stepsister. He already heard that his sister has a friend named Chadwick, and he felt happy for meeting him. 
“Hello, nice to meet you,” Chadwick greeted. 
The shy Geoffrey just nodded his head and smiled. 
“I heard a lot about you from Isa,” Chadwick added. “She said that you are a reliable brother, and that you are really really handsome. I don’t know if the first compliment is true, but for the second, I will agree.” 
Geoffrey shyly chuckled at Chadwick’s friendly gestures. He had hard time adapting around the school where rich students study at. So, he couldn’t easily make a friend. But he felt comfortable with Chadwick. 
“Why do you need to say that?” Isa complained to Chadwick. “You sound so gay. Don’t fall in love with my brother.” 
“Isa is jealous,” Chadwick said before he put his arms around Geoffrey. 
Geoffrey flinched. He looked at Chadwick and blinked his eyes swiftly behind his glasses. 
“My brother and I aren’t close. So think of me as someone who is just jealous of you guys,” Chadwick explained. He met Geoffrey’s gaze and said, “Right, brother?” 
Feeling touch, Geoffrey smiled at him and replied “Yes, bro.” 
The three of them became friends in an instant. 
Despite being in different sections, they always created time to spend with each other. They studied together in the library, ate together in the cafeteria, hung out in the rooftop, went to cafe after school, played games in computer shops, spent their weekends while watching movie, and even skipped school for a day. 
In their school, students called them as ‘The trio’, because they always stick together. 
They had fun and colorful high-school life. However, things changed when love interfered. 
“I like you, brother.” 
Geoffrey dropped the trash bin he’s holding after he heard his stepsister’s confession. 
He was on his way to throw the trash when Isa suddenly followed him. And when they arrived at the alleyway between C and B building, where no one usually walks by, Isa told him something that woke up every cell in his body. 
At the same time, Chadwick went to that place. He knew Geoffrey would use that way to throw the trash. His plan is to talk to Geoffrey about the two movie tickets that he bought. He was going to ask Geoffrey to let him, and his sister go alone. Chadwick did not want to hide the truth from Geoffrey anymore, so he promised he’d tell him that he likes Isa. However, he couldn’t approach the two as soon as Chadwick heard the confession from the woman he likes. 
“W-What did you say?” Geoffrey turned around to face Isa. 
Isa inhaled sharply. Looking straight at her stepbrother without blinking, she said, “I like you. I fell in love with you, brother.” 
Nonsense. 
Geoffrey thought how nonsense it was for Isa to fall in love with her stepbrother. He did his best to play the role of the good bro, not knowing that it would lead to this taboo. 
“Are you… in your right mind?” Geoffrey replied. He swept his golden hair upward and removed his eyeglasses. 
Geoffrey has poor eyesight. So, without the glass, he can’t see clearly what’s in front of him. Someone told him that he should get a contact lens since he looks more damn hot without the glasses. However, he thanked himself for not getting a pair of contacts at that time. Because during that moment, he couldn’t bear seeing his stepsister expression while staring at him. He did not want to. 
“I know. I know that this is wrong. But what can I do? I really like you, brother,” Isa replied. Tears fell from her eyes, and sobs slipped from her quivering lips. 
“Isa. I am your brother,” Geoffrey said firmly. “Stop this.” 
“But we aren’t blood related!” 
Chadwick’s eyes widened when he heard that. He peeked at them from the wall he was hiding and stared at Isa’s crying face. 
All this time, Chadwick thought that Isa and Geoffrey are real siblings. So, he did not suspect anything. Yet now, it is clear to Chadwick why Isa always talks about Geoffrey whenever they go. It is because she likes him. 
Chadwick’s hands around the movie tickets clutched. 
“Although we aren’t, this is still not right. Let me make it clear,” Geoffrey responded. “Isa, you are just a sister to me, nothing more, nothing less. But if you can’t throw away that damn feeling, then I have no choice.” 
Geoffrey turned his back against Isa and walked away. 
“Brother! Brother!” 
Since then, Geoffrey did not hang out anymore with Isa and Chadwick. Everyone in the school was shocked that the trio isn’t a trio anymore. It was so obvious that it was Geoffrey who was avoiding the two. 
Geoffrey had no choice. 
Even if he clearly told Isa that she should stop, the stubborn lady did not listen. So, he did his best to stay away from them as far as he can. 
Because of Geoffrey’s cold treatment, Isa got so heartbroken. And who was left to comfort her? It was Chadwick who stayed by her side. He tapped her shoulder, wiped her tears, and told her that everything would be back to normal. 
Actually, Chadwick also wished for Geoffrey to be their friends again. Although he’s jealous, Chadwick  still thinks Geoffrey as a precious friend whom he cannot lose. 
Therefore, two weeks before their graduation, Chadwick asked Geoffrey to talk to him, just the two of them alone. 
“Geoffrey, what’s wrong with you?” asked Chadwick. 
They were inside the empty spacious gym of the school. And when Chadwick spoke, his words echoed all thorough out the space. 
“What do you mean?” Geoffrey replied, with hands inside his pockets. 
“Stop avoiding us.” 
“Do you know the reason why I am avoiding you and Isa?” 
“Well, somehow, I found out.” 
“How?” 
“Isa told me.”
“So, Isa told you that she likes me?” 
Chadwick clamped his fingers into white-knuckled vise-grips. He had to admit it. That he is so jealous of Geoffrey that he wished he could exchange places with him. 
If only he’s Geoffrey, then doesn’t need to beg for Isa to look at him and to love him back. All the affection that he’s longing for, Geoffrey has it. But despite that, he still saw Geoffrey as his friend. 
“Isa always cries,” Chadwick said with a sharp exhale. 
“That doesn’t mean that I need to be by her side to wipe her tears.” 
“But you are her brother.” 
“Damn, Chadwick. If she really sees me as brother, then she should act like my sister!” 
“Even so, you should stay by her side!” 
Geoffrey gritted his teeth. He scoffed a few times, tilting his head to the other side before he stared back at Chadwick. 
“You don’t understand anything, Chadwick. My mom was so happy when she re-married Isa’s father. I can’t destroy our family just for this,” Geoffrey said. 
“But you don’t like Isa. So, what’s wrong?” 
“I don’t like her, but you do!” 
Geoffrey’s loud voice resonated around. 
It was loud and clear that it kept ringing inside Chadwick’s ears. 
Chadwick did his best to hide his feelings for Isa. He did not plan on telling this, and make the situation more complicated.
“You… You know that I like her?” Chadwick asked Geoffrey at a slow pace. 
“I know. From the beginning, I knew that you liked her. Wasn’t that the reason why you be-friend me?” 
“W-What?” 
Chadwick couldn’t believe this. The person he cherished as friend, the man he sees as his older brother, that man just accused Chadwick that he’s using him to get close to his stepsister. 
‘Which means… he doesn’t see me as friend even from the start,’ Chadwick said to himself. 
But that’s not the case. 
Geoffrey really treated Chadwick as his younger brother. But what can he do? If he stays close to them, he will hurt Chadwick more. 
“Chadwick,” a sweet voice called him. 
The two both looked at Isa who came inside the gym to find her brother. When she came in, she found them together and heard their conversation. 
Staring at Chadwick, Isa opened her lips and asked, “You… You like me?” 
Chadwick and Geoffrey could not say anything. They did not mean to let Isa hear this. 
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But I only like Geoffrey,” Isa answered that broke Chadwick’s heart. 
Days passed by. 
The three graduated without fixing their misunderstanding. Chadwick and Isa remained as friends, while Geoffrey went to study at college in faraway place where he met Adira. 
Geoffrey did his best to stay away from Isa and Chadwick’s business as much as possible, even after his parents died. But after many years, their paths crossed again. 
Chadwick married Adira. 
Isa uses Chadwick to make Geoffrey jealous. 
And Geoffrey, who saw Adira after a long time, couldn’t stop his love for the married woman. 
The time did not heal the wounds in their hearts, but instead, it made the situation more complicated. 
After meeting Adira and Chadwick a moment ago, Geoffrey removed his Super Mario mascot. He quickly looked for his phone and dialed a number. 
Seconds after, the person over the line answered his call. 
[“Brother?!”] Isa exclaimed. 
“Where are you? Meet me right now.” 
------------------------------------
For the first time after many years, Geoffrey called Isa first. 
Isa got so excited. Not only did he call her, but he asked her to meet him as soon as possible. 
So, she wore a good dress and dolled herself prettily.
She was like a rabbit hopping up and down while walking towards the place where she’ll meet the love of her life.
Isa entered the coffee shop. She looked around and then she saw the handsome man sitting next to the huge glass window. 
“Brother!” she exclaimed. 
Geoffrey looked at her side. Isa waved her hands enthusiastically before she walked closer to him and perched down on the seat across from him. 
“What is it? Did you finally miss me?” she asked, hoping it’s the case. 
Geoffrey set his eyes down on the coffee in front of him. He took a sip. Then he looked at her with a stern gaze. 
“Stop it,” he said. 
“Huh?” 
“Stop clinging around Chadwick. He is a married man.” 
Isa’s finger flinched above her lap. 
“W-Why? Is it because you’re getting jealous?”
“Jealous?” 
Geoffrey sighed before he continued.
“Isa. You are old enough to know what is right and wrong. You know I am not saying this because I am damn jealous but because it is not right to cling with a married man.” 
The corner of Isa’s lips crooked. 
“Stop it. Stop that. All this time, you just trying to do stop what I wanted!” 
The customers inside the coffee shop glanced at them. 
Geoffrey got aware of the gazes, so he suggested, “Let’s talk outside.” 
He held Isa’s wrist and was about to pull her. But Isa yanked her hand away from him and kept shouting. 
“You know that Chadwick is an important person for me! He is the only one who cares for me!” 
Unable to control his emotions anymore, Geoffrey refuted with his unusual loud voice. 
“But you know that he likes you! Don’t give home to someone who can never be yours!” 
“Is that why…” Isa’s voice cracked in the middle. Then tears fell from her eyes. “Is that way you did not even give me a single hope? Why is it so wrong to hope!?” 
Why is it wrong to hope. 
That question went inside his brain and into his heart. 
Geoffrey thinks that maybe, even if Isa and him aren’t blood related, they might be a real siblings. Because until now, he’s hoping to have Adira by his side; even if it is wrong.