I Have Five Kick-Ass Brothers – Episode 27
Theo recovered quickly enough to complain about every restriction. On his third day in the hospital, Raina caught him trying to review business reports beneath the blanket. She confiscated the tablet and threatened to replace his lunch with unsalted broth.
“Cruelty does not suit my childhood hero,” he said. Raina reminded him that the childhood hero had dragged him through broken glass, so stealing a tablet required little effort. Their teasing eased the shadow the fire had left between them.
Mr. Jones watched from the doorway and concealed a satisfied smile. Theo had spent years treating affection as an obligation to the past. With Raina, he looked alive in the present.
The forged medical-record request worried him. Jones security traced the credentials to Weston Hale, a senior executive competing for control of Jones Group. Weston had long resented Theo’s position as sole heir and might exploit his hospitalization to question his fitness.
Theo dismissed the threat as corporate maneuvering. Raina did not. She had learned that paperwork and rumors could steal lives as effectively as weapons. She asked to see the request and noticed language similar to anonymous posts used against her.
Luke compared the phrasing and confirmed both campaigns came through the same reputation-management firm. Weston had financed some of Coco’s attacks, using the family scandal to weaken Theo and destabilize the Smith and Lincoln alliance.
Coco recognized the firm’s name when investigators questioned her. She admitted an unnamed sponsor had paid for photographs and gossip articles, but claimed she never met him. Messages instructed her to keep Theo focused on scandal while Jones shareholders prepared an emergency vote.
The vote was scheduled for the night of Mr. Jones’ formal dinner. Weston planned to present Theo’s injuries, romantic “instability,” and involvement in criminal investigations as evidence that he endangered the company.
Theo intended to attend despite medical advice. Raina opposed him until she understood refusing would hand Weston the narrative. “Then we go prepared,” she said. “Not to defend our relationship, but to expose why he cares about it.”
Noah offered Lincoln Group’s legal team. Theo accepted on one condition: Raina would not be used as a symbol without her consent. The two men shook hands, their rivalry settling into reluctant respect.
The Lincolns prepared Raina for the dinner with more enthusiasm than she expected. Henry arranged a stylist, Mathew reviewed the guest list, Luke mapped the media accounts, and Joshua examined security. Noah merely asked what she wanted to wear.
Raina chose an elegant blue dress but kept the silver star necklace visible. She would not hide the past; she would decide what it meant. Mrs. Lincoln fastened the clasp and apologized again for every truth delivered too late.
“You are telling me now,” Raina said. It was not complete forgiveness, but it was a door opening. Her mother hugged her carefully, unwilling to demand more.
At the Jones estate, investors and social leaders filled a hall designed to project permanence. Theo entered beside Raina with his healing arm beneath his jacket. Whispers followed, exactly as Weston intended.
Weston greeted Raina with polished contempt. He praised her talent for attaching herself to influential families and asked whether street food had been merely a strategy. Raina recognized the insult as bait and answered that honest work required more talent than inherited cruelty.
Mr. Jones formally introduced her as the woman who saved Theo’s life. Raina corrected the emphasis before the room could turn her into a legend. “I was a frightened child who helped another frightened child. What matters is what all of us choose now.”
Weston called the statement charming but irrelevant to corporate leadership. He announced an emergency motion to remove Theo as acting heir until questions about his judgment were resolved. Several shareholders raised their hands.
Theo began presenting evidence of Weston’s media manipulation, but the hall screens abruptly changed. A stolen hospital report appeared, falsely stating Theo had suffered permanent cognitive damage from smoke inhalation.
Doctors in the room murmured while shareholders recoiled. Theo knew the report was fabricated, yet its official seal looked genuine. Weston requested an immediate vote before verification could occur.
Raina studied the document and saw one familiar flaw: the identification code matched the dissolved vendor used to frame her food stand. Weston had reused Walter’s forgery network—and she had seconds to prove it before Theo lost everything.
