Serotonin

01 I when we first met

Chapter 1

27 Rue Pierre De Coubertin,

Toulouse, France.

I stared at the piece of paper in my hand. After all the struggle I had faced, I finally tracked him down. I felt a sense of relief, now that I knew where he was, I wasn't going to let him go. I was getting my brother back to where he rightfully belonged.

I had blindly followed all the leads I had to search for him, from volunteer camps in Tunisia to carnivals in Rio de Janeiro. Most teenagers spent the summer before college traveling the world with friends or partying from dusk till dawn, but I couldn't care less about enjoying the normalities of life. I had one mission to embark on: the return of the prodigal son. But it was not going to be a walk in the park.

Jace Whitmore had left home when I was sixteen. I had cried endlessly, begging him to not leave me alone, but nothing had fazed him. We were supposed to be a team against the world and especially against those calculating relatives who wanted to steal everything away from us. He had been my rock since the day of our parent's death. At the mere age of 15, he had decided to take on responsibility for eleven-year-old me. He had rocked me to sleep when I would cry in my bed every night. He helped me study, taught me meaningful things about life, and took care of all of my problems and tantrums. Jace always made sure that I was happy and put my happiness before his. With diligence, he learned the ropes of our family business before it could be snatched away by all the greedy relatives waiting to pounce on us.

The worst ones had become our guardians, but it didn't matter because we had each other. And as soon as Jace became eighteen, he had filed for my guardianship. That was when everything started going downhill. The most dangerous secrets came out, and our lives became messier.

Jace was not my father's son. My mother was already pregnant with Jace when she got married to my father unbeknownst to my father's knowledge, or so we were made to believe. A part of Jace broke after that, and he started growing heavy with resentment.

Then "the day" happened, Jace was drunk out of his mind and had turned his room upside down. I couldn't bear to see him like that, he looked so devastated and numb. I had tried to help him despite his incessant attempts to shut me out. I should've listened to him and let him be, but stubbornness was a trait that ran deep in our family. He had begged me to leave him alone but instead, I butted in his attempts to drown himself further in his sorrow. He shoved me away unintentionally, then I lost my balance and fell into the mess he had created.

So I ended up hospitalized with two fractures, umpteen stitches, and a head injury which had lead to two days of coma. Suffice to say, it hadn't been a pleasant experience. I didn't blame Jace because it was my fault, but I knew for a fact that nothing I'd say would deter Jace from believing it was his. Especially, not the words of those vile snakes who must have assisted him in making up his mind. So that's how my brother had left me and not returned.

But I was done waiting, neither had he called me nor had he picked my calls even once since he had left. How would he when his phone had been permanently turned off. There was no trace of him like he wanted to disappear.

As much as I missed him, his absence had made me stronger. I didn't depend on anyone anymore and I learned how to fight my own battles. I had handled my wicked Uncle and Aunt and made sure that Whitmore Co. remained up and running in the right hands till the rightful heir returned. My brother had worked extremely hard to keep the company intact after our parents' demise. He had earned the majority shareholders' support and trust and I wasn't going to let all his efforts go in vain because of his guilt.