That’s Not How Love Works

I fell for my next-door neighbor, James Grayson. I even tried to seduce him in a sexy nightdress.

But he humiliated me by throwing me out in front of everyone. I was utterly embarrassed.

The next day, he told me straight up that he was getting engaged, and I should just give up.

So, I did. I let him go and said yes to someone else’s proposal.

But on my wedding day, James showed up looking like a mess and tried to stop the wedding. “Summer, I regret everything.”

But by then, my heart already belonged to my husband.

“Alright, I accept your proposal.”

An excited voice came through the phone right away. “Summer, I’m so happy you said yes! Don’t worry. I’ll treat you well, I promise—”

I cut him off. “But I have one condition.

“I want to start a company. I need funding.”

“I’ll give it to you!”

Caden Frost agreed without hesitation, but a second later, he hesitated. “What about James? Have you told him?”

“I will. Within a week.”

Just hearing James Grayson’s name messed with my head. As soon as I hung up, my hand trembled, and the glass I was holding fell to the floor and shattered, just like what we had between us. The moment when I told him I loved him, there was no going back.

Our families used to be neighbors. When I was ten, James was kidnapped by human traffickers.

My dad tried to protect him and was stabbed three times. Each wound was fatal.

James survived, but my dad lost his life.

My mom could not handle the pain. The shock made her go gray overnight, and she passed away too.

Just like that, I became an orphan.

James’s parents took me in, and he became my brother, though we were not related by blood. But later, his parents got divorced, and his mom, Monica Bennett, got custody of both of us.

“Summer, like I said, you’ll always be my daughter.”

James always looked out for me. As I grew older and hit my teenage years, I fell in love with him. So, on my 18th birthday, I bought a big bouquet of white roses and, behind Monica’s back, confessed my feelings to him.

“James, I like you. I don’t want you to be my brother. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

I looked at James, full of hope, but all I remember was the white roses falling to the ground and getting stained with dirt.

The next day, James publicly announced he had a girlfriend. He was rich and handsome, so it was easy for him to find dates. From that day on, he kept changing his girlfriends.

But I did not give up. I stubbornly wanted an answer. I confessed to him repeatedly, only to be rejected every time.

“Summer, I’ve only ever seen you as a sister.

“You’ll always be my sister.”

I did not believe him.

If he did not love me, why