My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 92: The First Clue

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Adrien’s home gym had a hint of cedar and that clean sweat smell, the kind that sticks around even after a workout. I settled cross-legged on the padded bench against the wall, an old leather journal from Joanne in my lap, its yellowed pages soft from being flipped through so many times.

Across from me, Adrien was doing his usual thing — trying to act like he wasn’t aware I was in the room while he worked out shirtless.

The steady clank of weights filled the quiet as he lifted the barbell again, muscles in his arms flexing under the light. His focus was locked in, not drifting even a little, and honestly, it was kind of frustrating how effortlessly good he looked while doing something as basic as breathing.

I sighed, pretending to be engrossed in the journal to keep my eyes from wandering. "Do you ever train with a shirt on?" I asked, flipping to another page and trying to sound casual.

He didn’t even look up. "Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Yes.

I shot him a glare. "No, it’s just making me question your ego. You strut around like you’re some kind of Greek god. It’s embarrassing."

A teasing smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth as he set the weights down with a soft thud. "So you think I look like a god? Good to know."

I groaned, leaning back against the wall. "That’s not what I said, asshole."

He chuckled under his breath, that low, casual laugh that somehow held a hint of charm — before taking a swig from his water bottle. "Don’t get too distracted. You’re meant to be reading, not drooling over your stepbrother."

How dare he?!

I shot him a glare over the top of the book. "You’re so full of yourself, did you know that?"

"I’ve heard that before," he responded easily, grabbing a towel from the rack to wipe his face. As he moved, the veins on his arms stood out, and for a split second, I almost hated how unfairly good-looking he was.

Almost.

Adrien tossed the towel aside and came to sit on the bench across from me, resting his elbows on his knees. "So? Anything new in there? Or is it still just... diary rambling?"

I sighed, flipping through the next few pages. "Mostly therapy notes. She writes a lot about feeling alone and how her marriage wasn’t what she hoped for. I guess she thought writing it all out would help."

He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "She used to write everything down. Said it helped her feel less trapped in her own thoughts."

There was something soft in his voice, a hint of sadness that tugged at my heart.

I glanced back at the journal, letting the silence linger as the ceiling fan buzzed above us. Then, a few pages later, something caught my eye. The writing had become messier, almost shaky, like she’d been anxious when she wrote it.

"Wait..." I frowned, squinting at the ink. "This part is different."

Adrien sat up, curiosity crossing his face. "What does it say?"

I hesitated, reading aloud slowly. "I shouldn’t have taken L.S.’s number from Rachel. I shouldn’t have called him. I don’t know what I was thinking. Keith and Adrien would never forgive me if they found out. But he said he understood me better than anyone... and for one night, I believed him."

The words hung in the air, heavy and sharp.

Adrien frowned deeply. "L.S.?"

I nodded and flipped to the next page, but the entry jumped to a completely different topic, no explanation, no follow-up. It was like Joanne had intentionally skipped over it. "She doesn’t say who he is. Just... L.S. That’s all."

Adrien leaned back, rubbing his jaw. "Could be initials. Maybe a friend, or..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing. "Or something else."

My throat felt dry as I stared at the words, the cursive writing spilling secrets from a life that felt lost in time. "She said she shouldn’t have accepted his number. That she shouldn’t have had brunch with him."

Adrien’s brows knitted together, a quiet storm brewing behind his eyes. "That doesn’t sound innocent."

I shook my head slowly, running my thumb along the edge of the page.

For a long moment, we both sat in silence. The room felt still, broken only by the hum of the air conditioner and the subtle creaking of the gym bench beneath Adrien as he shifted.

And while I kept reading, part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that Joanne’s words were filled with some kind of guilt and fear.

Whoever L.S. was, it was obvious he wasn’t just a friend.

And judging by the flicker of unease on Adrien’s face, he was starting to realize that too.

Adrien didn’t say anything for a long time after I read the last line. His gaze was locked on the journal, but his expression was unreadable — cold, deep in thought, maybe even a bit haunted. The relaxed confidence he usually had seemed to slip away, replaced by a heavier weight.

I could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. The air felt thick, as if the room’s temperature had dipped.

"Adrien?" I finally asked quietly, setting the book on my lap. "Do you... think she was having an affair with this L.S. guy?"

He took a moment to answer. His jaw clenched, fingers drumming on his knee. When he finally looked up, his green eyes were unreadable. "I don’t think," he said flatly. "I know."

The bluntness of his words caught me off guard. "What? How can you possibly know that? Did you see something?"

"No," Adrien leaned back, elbows resting casually on his knees, but I could see the tension in his clenched fists. "But it happens," he replied, his voice low, edged with something that wasn’t quite bitterness, more like resignation. "Loveless marriages don’t stay clean. Someone always finds comfort somewhere else."

I swallowed, unsure how to respond. "That’s... pretty cynical."

"It’s realistic," he shot back, then sighed. "At the end, my parents barely spoke. I’d catch my mom crying when she thought I wasn’t home, and Keith would disappear for nights without telling her anything. She probably got tired of being lonely."

The weight of his words hung in the air. I stared at him, trying to picture what that must’ve been like a twelve-year-old Adrien witnessing his mother fall apart while his father acted like nothing was wrong. It suddenly clicked, that quiet sadness he sometimes carried beneath all the sarcasm.

I attempted to lighten the mood, though my voice came out smaller than I’d hoped. "Maybe you’re reading too much into it. L.S. could’ve just been a friend or someone from her therapy sessions. She might’ve just needed someone to talk to."

Adrien let out a short, humorless laugh, sending an unsettling chill down my spine. "You don’t have to soften the blow, Hamster. She was definitely seeing someone. I’ve known that for a while."

The way he said it, so certain, so detached— made my chest tighten. I wanted to argue, to tell him he didn’t know everything, but the truth was plain on his face. He’d come to terms with this long before I stumbled upon the journal. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

I hesitated before asking softly, "Does it... change how you feel about her?"

Adrien’s expression softened a touch, but his eyes remained distant. "No," he finally replied after a pause. "She was still my mom. I just—" He paused, searching for the right way to express himself. "—I just wish she’d told me what was happening. Things might’ve been different if she hadn’t tried to handle it all alone."

The silence that followed was thick, filled with things we both hesitated to voice. I traced the edge of the journal absentmindedly, my heart aching for him.

Then, unexpectedly, his tone shifted sharper this time, but with purpose. "But this L.S. guy..." A small, dark smirk appeared on his lips. "Now that’s intriguing."

I looked up, cautious. "Intriguing how?"

Adrien stood up, running a hand through his hair, that familiar fire igniting in his eyes again. "Because if he was close to my mom, he definitely knew things. Maybe even things about what really happened to her." He paused, locking eyes with me, a determined smile forming. "We’ve finally got our first lead."

I blinked at him, taken aback. "You’re not seriously suggesting we go looking for this guy."

"Of course I am," he replied simply, as if it were obvious. "If my mom believed she was in danger, and this L.S. was involved before she died, then he could’ve been the last person to see her alive."

The way he stated it made my stomach twist. His eyes were alight with a strange intensity, and for a moment, I couldn’t tell if it was fueled by grief or a thirst for vengeance.

Still, I felt that spark of curiosity too — the mystery, the questions buried under years of silence.

I let out a sigh, closing the journal slowly. "You really think this L.S. could lead us to whoever killed her?"

Adrien’s smirk deepened as he met my gaze. "Oh, I don’t just think so, my dear Elf." He stepped closer, his shadow stretching across the floor until it brushed against my feet. "I know."

From the look in his eyes, it was clear he’d made up his mind. "We need to find out who this L.S is...and to do that, we need to find out Rachel is."

No matter what, he was going to find out who L.S. was.

And somehow, deep down, I understood this was just the start of something far riskier than either of us had anticipated.

Not that that fact would stop us though.

𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯’𝔰 𝔯𝔞𝔪𝔟𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰

one Chapter for today... because I’m kinda running low on stock piles, so I’m gonna fake an illness to get off work and school so I can spend the week restocking Chapters to catch up.

Thank you all for the support as always, you beautiful people💕

As usual they never fail to encourage me to write more Chapters💪