
My Dead Brother's Return
godgoust · Completed · 13.2k Words
Introduction
Just when I thought life would stay perfect forever…
Years after my marriage, I came home one day ready for dinner.
My gaze froze firmly on the opposite side of the dining table.
There sat a ragged little boy covered all over in dirt and grime.
His face… looked exactly like mine ten years ago.
Chapter 1
I killed my brother, stole his identity, and enjoyed everything he had worked for.
Just when I thought life would always be this good...
One day after we got married, I came home for dinner.
My eyes locked onto the other side of the dining table.
A little boy in ragged clothes, covered in mud.
His face looked exactly like mine from ten years ago.
[Chapter 1]
He was wearing a worn-out, rough cotton shirt, the collar and cuffs frayed to threads.
That face looked exactly like mine from ten years ago.
Not just similar. Identical.
It was clearly me at fifteen.
"Eat slowly. Don't choke."
Susan Blake, sitting next to him, finally spoke.
Her eyes were full of motherly tenderness.
In seven years of marriage, that was a look she almost never showed anyone — except stray cats and dogs.
After wiping the corner of the boy's mouth, Susan heard me come in. She looked up toward where I stood at the dining room entrance.
She stared at me coldly, then spoke in a tone like she was interrogating a suspect.
"Aiden Jenkins," she said, calling my name. "Tell me the truth. Do you have a long-lost younger brother?"
Those words sent cold sweat crawling down my spine.
Brother.
Younger brother.
The words echoed and grew louder in my head.
My name is Camden Jenkins.
Ten years ago, on a rainy evening, in the overgrown rose garden behind our old house in the countryside.
I was the one who raised that heavy iron shovel and brought it down on the back of my twin brother Aiden's head.
I still remember the feeling. I remember the warmth of blood and muddy water splashing across my face.
I remember how I dug like a madman and shoved his still-warm body into the dark earth.
I remember washing my hands clean, putting on his favorite clothes, and copying the way he talked.
And from that day on, I lived as him for ten full years.
I have no younger brother.
Because I am the younger brother — the one who was always looked down on, always forgotten, who finally killed his older brother and took everything.
So who was this boy?
How could he possibly have my face from ten years ago?
My throat tightened as I swallowed hard.
"What are you talking about? I don't have a brother. Where did you pick this dirty kid up — some orphanage? Off the street? Get him out of here before he tracks mud all over the place."
The moment I finished speaking, the boy who had been quietly working through his crackers suddenly went still.
Slowly, inch by inch, he raised his head.
He looked at me. His lips parted slightly.
"Were you thinking about killing me?"
His voice — clear but with that rough, cracking edge of a boy going through puberty — sounded exactly like mine when I was young.
My hand hung in the air, shaking badly.
I stared at him hard.
Then something strange happened to his expression.
The dead, hollow look in his eyes collapsed all at once, like an avalanche. He scrunched up his face and started to cry.
He let out a small smile, showing a chipped tooth. The hardness and darkness in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by something heartbreaking — pure, wounded hurt.
His eyes went red. Fat tears rolled down his face one after another, cutting two clean streaks through the mud on his cheeks.
"Aiden..."
He sobbed. The sound was miserable.
"So you've been living like this all along... A house this big, a wife this beautiful, more food on the table than you can eat... Then why didn't you ever come back for me? I was waiting for you in the countryside. I waited ten whole years."
Ten years.
The countryside.
Those two words hit like precision bombs going off inside my head.
What was he hinting at?
Who was he?
The moment Susan saw him cry, whatever was left of her maternal instinct completely gave way.
Her own eyes turned red. She pulled the filthy boy into her arms without a second thought, not caring at all that the mud was ruining her expensive silk dress.
She gently patted his back and murmured softly to comfort him. Then she turned and looked at me like she wanted to cut me open.
The disgust and contempt in her eyes had reached their peak.
"Aiden, you're unbelievable."
Susan spat the words through clenched teeth. "I always thought you were selfish and cold. I never knew it went this deep."
"The things this child is carrying, the way he looks — it's written all over him that he's connected to you. And you just left him behind in the countryside for ten years so you could live your comfortable city life?"
"You just tried to deny him. You even tried to scare him. I can't believe I married someone like you."
Her words hit like a whip, but I had no room to care about her anger right now.
Because that strange boy was sitting in Susan's arms, angled just enough that only I could see his face.
The tears were still falling. But his mouth had stretched into a smile that didn't look human.
"I don't care who he is or what he's carrying. No strangers stay in this house. He's gone tonight."
I didn't wait for Susan's response. I turned and walked down the hallway toward the study at the far end.
It was only a few dozen feet. It felt like wading through a swamp.
The cold sweat had soaked completely through my shirt, pressing cold and sticky against my skin.
I stepped into the study, shut the heavy oak door behind me, twisted the lock, and pressed my back flat against it until my legs gave out.
The room was dark. Only pale moonlight came through the window.
My chest heaved.
How is this possible? How is any of this possible?
That face. That voice. "Waiting in the countryside for ten years."
In this dark, sealed room, I was the only one who knew the real truth.
I was never the older brother.
I was Camden — the younger one — the one who had clawed through the mud, eaten alive by jealousy.
The one who died in that rose garden ten years ago, buried in cold earth until there was nothing left, was the real Aiden. The one our parents had always loved more.
If I were the younger brother, then who was that boy on the other side of the door?
A ghost?
Had Aiden crawled out of the rose garden, crossed ten years of time, and come back for revenge?
I was hunched over with my hands pressed to my head, teetering on the edge of a breakdown, trying to find some crack in this impossible reality.
Then the oak door was knocked.
Three times. Slow. Even. Quiet.
The sound wasn't loud. But it landed directly on my heart.
A thin line of light crept in under the door. And through the wood came the boy's soft, young voice — a voice meant only for the two of us.
"Aiden. What are you hiding from?"
He let out a quiet laugh. It passed straight through the thick door and into my ears.
"Are you scared that I might tell someone... exactly what you did in that rose garden ten years ago?"
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
My Life As A Werewolf
Lexington makes it crystal clear: most new turnlings die before the second full moon, and if she survives, she belongs to his pack. But to Jo, this isn't a terrifying curse—it's the content gold she's been waiting for. She starts documenting her bizarre, terrifying, and surprisingly entertaining supernatural life, determined to make her 'My First Shift' vlog the biggest sensation on VidHub.
Her antics quickly draw the ire of the most powerful being on the continent: Merrick, the lethal and uncompromising Lycan King. He sees her rogue vlogging as a threat to his world’s secrecy, and tasks Lexington with the impossible: bring the feisty new wolf to heel or face the King’s wrath.
Unbeknownst to Jo (and the King himself), Merrick recognizes her as his fated mate—a destiny he has vowed never to accept. As Jo's bright, defiant personality starts to chip away at the sullen, dangerous existence of his pack, the King finds himself helplessly watching her channel, falling a little more in love with the chaotic wolf he's supposed to silence forever.
Jolene's journey is a battle for survival, not just against her shifting body and dangerous Alpha, but against a destiny written by a Lycan King who loves her too much to ever claim her.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
A Queen Among Tides (Book 5 in the Gods' Saga)
Shocked to find he's been bound in more ways than one to Sebastian, the future King to the Kingdom of Atlesper, Lemuel resists Sebastian's advances at every turn, believing this may be one pairing Goddess Zarseti got wrong.
Lemuel will have to face his past in hopes of starting a new future, but an overly flirtatious King is the least of his worries when he learns Sebastian's parents are convinced that a conniving usurper disguised as a curvy blonde, is the future king's true soulmate.
A Queen Among Tides is the 5th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.
Books in the series order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Gen Coming Soon)
King of the Underworld
However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”
But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”
Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.
She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
Alpha Under Love Spell
Thorin pushed her on the bed and pinned her with his body. He growled near her face, “Liar!”
“No! No! I am not lying!”
“Then explain this!” Thorin whipped the screen of his phone near her eyes. Maeve looked at the screen, and her eyes widened with shock. It was a DNA report. It clearly said that Valeska was Maeve and Thorin’s daughter. “You have been lying to me for months now. Why did you hide that she is my daughter? Why did you start hating me? Did you never love me?”
“What should I have done? Let you kill my daughter!” snapped Maeve.
“What? Kill? What the hell are you talking about?” shouted Thorin.
After a passionate night with the Alpha Heir Thorin Blackridge, Maeve Arrendale, a human, found herself pregnant. She knew she had left her contact details for Thorin to find her, but he never came. Desperately, she went to tell him everything and ask him to take responsibility. But what came at her was humiliation and the devilish serial killer, Ozul.
She had no idea how she escaped her certain but she thanked every god and ran far away from Thorin and his world. She raised her child on her own. She herself had a difficult life and didn’t want her daughter to suffer. So she did everything in her power to give Valeska a good life.
Her life was turned upside down when Thorin came to her office as her boss. His fated mate, Vespera clinging to his arms. Now, Thorin hated her for vanishing from his life, and Maeve hated him for sending a serial killer to kill her.
Will Thorin accept his daughter? Will Maeve forgive him for attempting to kill her? If not Thorin, then who sent a serial killer to kill Maeve? An ancient magic, a prophecy, a powerful child is going to change everything in everyone’s life. Is everyone ready?
Protectors Of Her Warrior's Heart
Rescued by men who call themselves Protectors—warriors from another realm who embody the legends of angels and vampires—she is thrust into a world she never knew existed. For the first time, she experiences freedom, safety, and the possibility of a future.
But freedom comes with a price.
Tali is forced to face the father she believed abandoned her and a powerful council determined to use her for their own ends. Stranger still are the abilities awakening within her—powers no one understands, yet everyone seems desperate to control.
As she learns to trust, she chooses the mates destined to stand beside her. In their arms she finds love, devotion, and a family worth fighting for. But not everyone wants their bond to survive.
When the council betrays the Protectors and attempts to steal her newborn son, it ignites a war that will shake every realm.
Now Tali stands at the center of a conflict far greater than herself. The answers to ancient mysteries, the fate of her child, and the future of countless worlds all rest on her shoulders.
Surrounded by mates who love her fiercely and refuse to leave her side, Tali will battle enemies old and new, forge powerful alliances, and discover just how strong she truly is.
Because this war won't be won for her.
It will be won with her.
And together, they will fight for their future, their family, and a love worth crossing realms to protect.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON
There was also a twenty-year age gap between them, Michelle didn't care because their relationship was the only ray of sunshine in her rather bleak world. And when he popped the question she was more than happy to say yes. Michelle thought she had found her happily ever after, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With each year that passed Elliot became more of a stranger and less of the man she had fallen for, neglecting her and looking the other way when his mother treated her poorly, that was until the day their 5th anniversary rolled around, she caught him in bed with her sister.
Her love is replaced by hate, a swooning affection now burning rage. Well, two could play that game. That night, she dials her stepson's number with a single text that will change their lives forever.
‘I need you tonight’
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
I’d appreciate all your support, thank you so much!
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
They'll Regret This
My fiancé didn't just dump me—he proposed to her that same night. My so-called family handed me bus fare and a one-way ticket to the countryside.
Perfect. Let them think they won.
They don't know who I really am. The anonymous genius surgeon who saves lives when elite hospitals give up. The legendary artist whose paintings sell for millions at auction. The undefeated shadow queen of the underground fighting circuit. And the true heiress to a fortune that makes theirs look like pocket change.
Now my ex-fiancé begs on his knees. My fake sister's jealousy is eating her alive. And that cold, arrogant CEO who once threw our engagement contract in my face? He's hunting me down like a man possessed, desperate for one more chance.
They threw me away like trash to upgrade their lives.
Joke's on them.
I was always the upgrade.












