Prosperous Marriage: Married to My Brother-in-law

One person pedaled the bicycle while the other rode along. They shared the same road and the same destination, moving forward together. This feeling of advancing and retreating as one was truly enviable.

Neither of them knew that reliving their honeymoon romance would set a trend. The very next evening, countless couples and lovers could be seen whizzing by on bicycles in the opulent gardens. Even elderly men cautiously pedaled, carrying their lifelong partners, recapturing youthful romance and strengthening their bond. All of this was beyond what Glades Horne and Julia Bluen could have imagined.

"Would you like me to pedal a bit faster?" After riding for a while, Glades Horne turned to ask Julia Bluen.

"Don't, I like this leisurely feeling," Julia Bluen said longingly, her face pressed against his sturdy back.

Glades Horne then fell silent, turned his head back around, and kept the pace leisurely.

It was a moment brimming with romance and warmth, one that neither wished to end, yet it inevitably had to.

Because the night had grown too deep and the dew too heavy, Glades Horne worried Julia Bluen would catch a chill, so he reluctantly ended their romantic ride.

Once home, Glades Horne, as if by habit, went silently to their room. He entered the bathroom, drew a warm, comforting bath for Julia Bluen, and turned on the heater. When he finished and turned, intending to get clothes for her, he saw Julia Bluen standing in the bathroom doorway. She gazed at him steadily, her usually bright and charming almond eyes now glistening with tears.

For a man to do so much signified that he loved the woman to his very core.

"What's wrong? Are you not feeling well? Did you catch a cold outside just now?" Glades Horne quickly strode forward and reached out to touch her forehead, thinking she was unwell.

Julia Bluen threw herself into his embrace, her arms coiling around his sturdy waist like snakes.

She knew she had moved on from the pain of Nicholas Coldwell's abandonment and accepted the change in her relationship with Glades in such a short time all because of his attentive care. His love, as steadfast as a mountain and as deep as the ocean, had swept away her heartbreak. It eased the anxiety from the rapid shift in their relationship, allowing her to gradually accept everything and slowly open her heart to meld with his.

Outside the window, the night breeze gently caressed the curtains, composing a soft and touching love song.

The bedside lamp cast a hazy red glow, intensifying the rich, romantic atmosphere. Julia Bluen lay quietly on the bed, her eyes gently closed. Her posture was as beautiful as Venus in the famed painting *The Sleeping Venus*, a sight that made the love in Glades Horne's heart swell, becoming an unstoppable flood that completely engulfed him.

James Horne didn't return to his small villa until the dead of night. Lying on his large bed, he looked around at the photographs of Julia Bluen that filled the room, finding himself completely devoid of sleepiness.

Tossing and turning, then turning and tossing again, he still struggled to sleep and eventually had to sit up.

Turning his head, he picked up the photograph on the nightstand—a picture of him and his elder brother. Gazing at his brother's cool expression, an apologetic look surfaced on his own handsome face.

How could he betray his brother? Julia Bluen was now his sister-in-law; how could he still think of her? Such thoughts were a betrayal. Though he hadn't physically touched Julia, in his heart and spirit, he already had. This was a spiritual betrayal of his brother. How could he allow it?

"Big brother, what should I do?" James Horne gently caressed Glades Horne's image in the photograph, murmuring, his voice laced with bitterness. "I don't want to go home. I want to avoid seeing you both. Yet, when it's time to return, I can't help myself. Just a glimpse of you two brightens my day."

He was deeply conflicted. He kept telling himself not to yearn for his brother's wife. He didn't want to hurt either of them. But what if his feelings were discovered one day? Adele Horne had already sensed his feelings for his brother were abnormal. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said what she did to him at the Bluen family home when Glades was about to marry Julia. If these unnatural affections of his were exposed, it would deeply hurt his brother and sister-in-law, and the impact on the Horne Family would be immense. Adele Horne had noticed his abnormal feelings but hadn't dared to speak out further, precisely because she worried about the family's reputation, hadn't she?

Twenty-eight years ago, his birth had caused a stir for some time. The gossip only died down once people grew accustomed to his status as an illegitimate child. If the Upper Class Society were to discover he was a man with such unnatural affections, it would undoubtedly cause an uproar.