Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle

Chapter 409: Chosen Family

Gilbert leaned back in his chair. "Alex always said you were his sister. Long before you married Franz. He used to tell people—at parties, at business meetings, to complete strangers—’That is Arianne. She’s my sister.’ Not my best friend. Not my business partner. My sister." He paused. "He decided a long time ago that you were family. The rest of us just followed his lead."

Arianne was momentarily stunned. Alex had called her his sister. He had never said it to her directly, but that was Alex, wasn’t it? He had shown his love through action, through loyalty, through the steady presence he had maintained in her life since they were teenagers. She hadn’t known he’d said it out loud. She hadn’t known he’d told other people.

"So you can’t get rid of us," Gilbert said. "No matter what happens. Alex made sure of that. We’re just carrying on what he started."

Warmth filled her chest. A genuine smile spread across her lips—not the expression she wore in boardrooms, but something real. Something unguarded.

"Thank you," she said. "I didn’t know. About Alex."

"He wouldn’t have told you. He wasn’t good at saying things out loud." Gilbert’s voice was rough but warm. "But he meant it. Every time."

Arianne took that in without speaking. Not the closed silence she carried into boardrooms, but something different. The kind that came when something landed exactly where it needed to.

She thought about Alex. The way he had shown up at every difficult moment without being asked. The way he had introduced her not as a business contact but as someone who belonged. The way he had stood beside her when the Conways had tried to cut her out, when the Summers had tried to box her in, when she had started to believe that belonging to a family was not something she was built for.

He had been calling her his sister the whole time. He just hadn’t said it to her face.

That was so completely, entirely Alex that she almost laughed.

Julian chose that exact moment to arrive at the table, Kyle finally released to go play with the twins near the cake table. He dropped into the empty chair beside Nate with the heavy sigh of a man who had been negotiating with a four-year-old for the better part of an hour.

"What’s going on?" he asked, looking around the table. "You all look serious. Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened," Nate said. "You just need to say yes."

Julian’s eyes narrowed. "No. Absolutely not. The last time you told me to say yes, I ended up hosting Kyle’s entire preschool class for a field trip to my office. There was glitter everywhere. I’m still finding glitter."

"This is different."

"That’s what you said last time."

"This is about Arianne and Lexx."

Gilbert’s expression was perfectly level. "Are you going to say no?"

Julian hesitated. He glanced at Arianne, at her face, at the smile that had not left it, and then at Gilbert’s expression.

"What exactly am I agreeing to?"

"Just say yes," Nate said.

"I’m not saying yes until I know what I’m agreeing to."

"It’s nothing bad."

"That’s what you said about the field trip."

"Julian." Gilbert’s voice was even. "It’s Arianne. And Lexx. Are you really going to say no?"

Julian looked at Arianne again. She didn’t say anything. She just watched him with that same small smile.

"Fine," Julian said. "Yes. Whatever it is, yes."

Nate clapped his hands together. "Great. Julian is now Lexx’s official on-call babysitter. Congratulations. You start next week."

Julian’s expression moved through several distinct stages: confusion, realization, horror, and then outrage. "You tricked me. Again. You tricked me again!"

"You agreed. You said yes. There were witnesses."

"I didn’t know what I was agreeing to!"

"That’s not our fault. You should have asked for details."

"I did ask for details! You refused to give them!"

"And you still said yes. That’s on you."

Julian turned to Arianne, his expression desperate. "Did you know about this?"

"I didn’t," she said. "But I’m not opposed to it."

"You’re supposed to be on my side."

"I’m on Lexx’s side. He needs a babysitter."

"He has two parents. And an aunt. And grandparents."

"And now he has an on-call uncle." Nate raised his glass in a mock toast. "The more, the better. It takes a village."

"I’m not a village. I’m one person. One person who already has a four-year-old."

Julian dropped his head into his hands. "I hate all of you. Every single one of you."

"You love us," Gilbert said. "You just don’t want to admit it."

"I want it on record that I was coerced."

"Duly noted."

"You can start next Saturday," Arianne said. "Franz and I have a board meeting."

Julian lifted his head. "You’re part of this now? You’re conspiring against me?"

"I’m not conspiring. I’m scheduling."

"That’s worse. That’s so much worse."

"Saturday. One o’clock. I’ll send you the details."

Julian looked at Gilbert, then Nate, then Arianne. "I’m surrounded by traitors."

"You’re surrounded by family," Gilbert said. "There’s a difference."

"A very small difference."

"But an important one."

Julian sighed, the resignation in it audible across the table. But he was smiling now, a reluctant, rueful smile he couldn’t suppress. "Fine. Saturday. One o’clock. But if Lexx cries the whole time, I’m calling all of you for backup."

"That’s fair," Arianne said.

"And I’m not changing diapers."

"You’re definitely changing diapers."

"I’m not—"

"Uncle Julian." Arianne’s voice was calm, but there was something in it that brooked no argument. "You agreed. You said yes. You’re changing diapers."

Julian stared at her. Then at Gilbert. Then at Nate, who was openly laughing.

"I walked right into this," Julian said. "I walked right into this and I didn’t even see it coming."

"None of us ever do," Gilbert said. "That’s the point."

Across the garden, Franz was holding Lexx, talking to his relatives. The fairy lights flickered overhead. The twins were chasing Kyle around the balloon arch. Amanda was laughing at something Vincent had said.

Arianne sat at the table with her brothers, watching it all, and felt something she hadn’t expected to feel at a family gathering.

Peace.