Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle-Chapter 173: You’re Alex’s Brother

Arianne sat on the long sofa in the sitting room with Lily resting against her shoulder.

The girl’s breathing had become steadier since the medicine that morning, but the fever had not fully broken. Lily remained warm beneath the blanket wrapped around her, her face flushed from the lingering heat, while her small hand held the edge of Arianne’s sleeve.

Across from them, Franz sat with Leo leaning against his side.

The boy had not spoken since waking, which was not unusual in itself, but his silence carried a different weight today. His tablet lay untouched on the table beside the sofa while he remained pressed quietly against Franz’s arm.

Every few minutes, he shifted as though making sure Franz was still there.

Franz adjusted the blanket covering his shoulders. Leo did not protest. The boy simply settled again.

Arianne glanced toward the clock. It had been nearly forty minutes since she last spoke with Ellie on the phone.

"She should be here soon," she said.

Franz followed her gaze toward the window where the driveway curved between the trees.

"If the roads are clear."

The winter storm had slowed travel across most of Montclair. Several nearby streets remained partially blocked by snow, and the city had already announced that schools and offices would remain closed for the day.

For once, neither of them had argued about leaving work unfinished.

Arianne looked down at Lily. The girl stirred slightly.

"Mommy..."

The word came out faint and unfocused.

Arianne’s hand kept moving across Lily’s back. Slow circles. The same rhythm she’d used all night. She didn’t answer because there was no answer to give—nothing that would make sense to a fevered child, nothing that would explain why Mommy wasn’t here, why she kept calling for someone who would never come back. So she just kept moving her hand.

After a moment, Lily’s breathing deepened again.

Franz watched the quiet exchange from across the room. Leo followed his gaze briefly before pressing his face against Franz’s shoulder.

Franz lowered his voice. "Tired?"

Leo nodded faintly.

Before Franz could say anything else, the sound of tires crunching against snow carried through the window.

Arianne lifted her head. A car moved slowly through the estate gates before stopping near the front entrance.

"That should be Ellie."

Franz stood. Leo tightened his grip on his sleeve immediately.

Franz looked down. "Coming with me?"

Leo nodded.

Franz lifted him and walked toward the hallway.

Ellie stepped through the front door with a small cloud of cold air following behind her.

Snow clung to the shoulders of her coat while she brushed a few remaining flakes from her sleeves. Mira closed the door behind her.

"Thank you," Ellie said.

Her breath carried the sharpness of someone who had spent too long driving through winter roads. She pulled off her gloves while glancing around the entrance hall.

Arianne appeared from the hallway a moment later.

"Ellie."

Ellie smiled briefly. "It’s been a while, Aria."

They stepped closer, exchanging a quick handshake that felt both professional and familiar. Ellie studied Arianne’s face—the shadows under her eyes, the careful composure.

Then Ellie’s attention shifted past Arianne.

Franz stood near the base of the staircase with Leo resting quietly against his shoulder.

Ellie stopped.

The recognition was immediate.

"Noah Hart?"

Franz inclined his head. "Yes."

Ellie blinked once. She had seen him often enough on television and billboards that the face was impossible to mistake. The magazines, the interviews, the endorsement campaigns—all of it had drilled those features into public consciousness.

But the setting made the sight unusual. Noah Hart standing in the Rochefort entrance hall at nine in the morning, holding a sick child, looking like he hadn’t slept much.

Before she could process the contradiction, Arianne spoke calmly.

"Ellie, thank you for coming on such short notice."

Her voice carried the exhaustion of the previous night, though her posture remained composed. She turned toward Franz.

"This is my husband, Franz."

Ellie looked at him again.

The sentence rearranged the situation quickly. Without the distraction of his public identity, the resemblance became clearer. The shape of the jaw. The line of the mouth. The way he held himself.

Not identical. But unmistakable.

"You’re Alex’s brother," she said.

Franz nodded. "Yes."

Ellie exhaled quietly. The pieces clicked into place—the old Rochefort connections, the charity work, the internship program Alex had helped her secure years ago.

Alex had signed off on her hospital placement personally. She remembered his handwriting on the approval form—looping, confident, exactly like the man himself. He’d shaken her hand afterward and said, "Make us proud." She hadn’t thought about that moment in years. Now it came back, sharp and clear, standing in his brother’s entrance hall.

"I met him a few times during the internship program," she said. "He helped approve my hospital placement."

Franz’s expression softened. "That sounds like him."

Ellie glanced briefly between Franz and Arianne before continuing. "And you’re Noah Hart."

"Yes."

The exchange ended there. No explanations, no justifications. Just the fact of it, hanging in the air between them.

Arianne gestured toward the hallway. "Let’s go upstairs."

Ellie nodded. "Let’s take a look."

The twins’ bedroom had been prepared earlier that morning.

Curtains drawn slightly open. Water on the bedside table. Thermometer beside the medicine bottle. Someone had folded the blankets neatly at the foot of the bed.

Lily lay on the bed first. Ellie checked her temperature while the girl shifted restlessly beneath the blanket. Then she listened carefully to her breathing with the stethoscope, moving the instrument across Lily’s back while the girl complained quietly.

Arianne watched from beside the bed.

"Her fever was higher earlier."

Ellie nodded while writing a few notes.

"That’s common." She replaced the thermometer on the table. "Her lungs are clear."

Arianne exhaled. Some of the tension in her shoulders released.

Ellie turned toward Leo.

The boy had not left Franz’s arms.

"I’ll need to borrow him."

Franz lowered him onto the bed. Leo hesitated before allowing Ellie to check his breathing. The boy remained silent but cooperative, his eyes following Ellie’s movements without expression.

Ellie listened carefully before checking his temperature. Then she stepped back.

"Same pattern," she said. "Mild fever. Upper respiratory involvement, but nothing in the lungs."

Franz folded his arms. "So nothing serious."

"Not from what I’m seeing." Ellie zipped her bag halfway. "This kind of virus moves through children quickly during winter. It looks worse than it is because the fever spikes at night."

Arianne glanced down at Lily again. "How long should it last?"

"A couple of days." Ellie placed the stethoscope back into her bag. "The fever will come and go. That’s normal. Hydration and rest are the most important things."

Franz nodded. "We can handle that."

Ellie looked between them briefly.

"You already are." She pulled out a small pad and began writing. "I’ll leave you a schedule for the medication. Alternate the fever reducer with the ibuprofen every four hours. Don’t wake them to take it—sleep is more important right now."

Arianne accepted the paper. "Thank you."

"Of course."

By the time Ellie finished writing the medication schedule, the tension that had hovered over the house since the previous night had eased.

Leo had fallen asleep again beside Franz, his head resting against a pillow, one hand still loosely gripping Franz’s sleeve even in sleep. Lily remained curled against Arianne’s arm, her breathing slow and even.

Ellie slipped her gloves back on before walking toward the door. "I’ll check in tomorrow."

"You don’t have to," Arianne replied.

"I’d like to." She paused at the door. "Make sure the fevers stay manageable. Call me if they spike again or if either of them has trouble breathing."

Arianne nodded.

Ellie opened the bedroom door. Outside the window, the snowfall had nearly stopped. Only a few scattered flakes drifted through the air now while the clouds above Montclair began thinning.

She glanced back once before leaving. "They’ll be fine."

The door closed behind her a moment later.

Franz returned to the bedside.

Leo still slept quietly, his face relaxed in a way it hadn’t been all morning. Franz adjusted the blanket over him before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Arianne shifted Lily against her shoulder. "At least we know what we’re dealing with."

Franz nodded. "Better than guessing."

Silence settled between them. Outside, the last of the snowflakes drifted past the window. The clouds had begun to break apart, revealing pale gray sky behind them.

Lily stirred once, murmured something unintelligible, then stilled again.

Leo’s grip loosened slightly in sleep.

Franz looked at Arianne across the bed. She met his eyes for a moment before glancing down at Lily. Her hand continued its slow motion across the girl’s back, the same rhythm she had maintained for hours.

Neither of them spoke.

They didn’t need to.

Outside the window, the winter storm that had covered Montclair through the night finally began clearing above the Rochefort estate. The first weak sunlight touched the edge of the garden, catching the fresh snow and making it glow.

Inside, the four of them remained where they were, the silence of the room wrapping around them like the blankets wrapped around the children.

Lily breathed.

Leo slept.

Franz and Arianne stayed.

That was enough.