Liam was, for all intents and purposes, my brother. In reality, he was the boy my parents raised to be my husband. After my father died, my mother, terrified Liam would abandon us, did the unthinkable. She drugged him and locked him in my room. That one act of desperation cost him his one true love, the girl who was his sun, his moon, and all his stars. In the life that followed, he chained my mother in the basement like an animal. And he spent his nights making sure I couldn't live, but wouldn't die. “We’re never going to be apart, Ava,” he’d whisper, his voice a venomous caress. “Isn’t this what you wanted, my dear little sister?” I opened my eyes to the sight of my own blood pooling around me. And then I was back. Back to the moment it all began, with his body pressing down on mine… 1 A guttural sound escaped my throat. A scorching weight crushed me, a storm of kisses landing on the delicate skin of my neck. The iron chain around my ankle sang its cold, metallic song with every thrust of his body, a rhythm of my despair. Liam’s fingers tightened around my throat, a cruel smile twisting his handsome face. “A hunger strike, Ava? Is that your latest little game?” he hissed. “For every day you refuse to eat, I’ll make your mother’s life twice as miserable. Let’s see what breaks first. Your spirit… or her bones.” “Liam.” My eyes, dull and lifeless, shifted to meet his. I spoke his name, and the word hung in the air between us. His movements froze. His voice, when he spoke again, was laced with ice. “What did you just call me?” Never before. Not then, not in the life that came after. In more than twenty years, I had never once called him by his given name without a title. From the time I was a little girl, I knew I was destined to marry him. You don’t call your future husband ‘brother.’ But today… I wanted to. “Brother,” I whispered, a faint, hollow smile touching my lips as my gaze drifted into nothingness. “Seven years, Liam. Hasn’t it been long enough?” From the day he married me, the day he took complete control of the company my father left behind, this brutal revenge had stretched on for seven agonizing years. In the beginning, I fought. I demanded a divorce, offered reparations, tried to end my own life in a dozen different ways. But in the end, I was forced to surrender. He held my mother’s life in his hands. If I was compliant, her dog’s life in the basement became marginally more bearable. So, this hunger strike wasn’t a protest. It was simply… that I couldn’t eat. I never knew late-stage stomach cancer could be this excruciating. “Enough?” Liam’s lip curled into a sneer. He gripped my chin, forcing a thin, tasteless porridge between my teeth. “Ava, what you owe me can never be repaid in this lifetime. You and your mother were so afraid I’d leave you, weren’t you? Well, I promise you this: we will never be apart. Are you satisfied now… sister?” I choked down half the bowl before my body rebelled, spewing the contents back out. Liam’s face darkened. He flipped me over with a violent shove, his fingers tangling brutally in my long hair. “You won’t eat? Fine! Then we’ll just keep going.” Forced to my knees on the bed, I endured his punishing conquest, a tearing pain that was both physical and spiritual. I bore it until the churning, metallic taste in my stomach could no longer be contained. Blood, bright and crimson, spilled from my lips, staining the pristine white sheets. His voice, suddenly laced with panic, echoed in my ears. His hands moved frantically, trying to wipe away the blood that only seemed to multiply. “Ava! Ava, what’s wrong with you?!” My body collapsed. I stared up at the dazzling crystal chandelier, a laugh of pure liberation bubbling up from my chest. “Liam… we’re even now,” I gasped, my vision blurring. “Let my mother go.” 2 My head was spinning, but a heavy weight pressed down on my body, pinning me in place. I frowned, my eyelids fluttering open. The ceiling that greeted me was familiar, yet achingly distant. I froze. I wasn’t dead? Where had Liam taken me? This wasn’t a hospital, and it wasn’t the bedroom where he had kept me chained for seven years. It looked… it looked like the home we once shared. My childhood home. Rip. The sound of tearing fabric was followed by a rush of cool air against my chest. A hand, with long, elegant fingers, covered my breast. A violent tremor shot through me, my skin erupting in goosebumps. My gaze darted down, and I fell into a pair of crimson-red eyes. A much younger Liam, his eyes clouded with a feverish haze, his breathing ragged and heavy. One scorching kiss, then another, landed just above my heart. A bolt of lightning split my mind in two, leaving me shaking uncontrollably. This… this was the night. The night my mother drugged him. My eyes scanned the room, the familiar furniture, the posters on the wall. I was sure of it. This was that exact night. Only last time, I had been knocked out cold by a painkiller my mother gave me for a stomachache, sleeping through the entire catastrophe. I hadn’t been able to stop the mistake from happening. But this time, by some divine mercy, I was awake. “Liam! Liam, calm down!” I cried out, my voice raw with panic. “Look at me! It’s Ava, your sister!” His body went rigid. He lifted his head, his red-rimmed eyes staring at me in a fog of confusion for a few seconds, his brow furrowed. But I had severely underestimated my mother’s determination to “succeed, by any means necessary.” She had poured nearly half a bottle of high-proof liquor down his throat. That, combined with the “special ingredient” she’d mixed in, meant his moment of clarity didn’t last three seconds before it was completely overwhelmed. His hand slid down the curve of my waist, fumbling, desperate, and clumsy as it snagged the waistband of my underwear— 3 CRASH! I grabbed the glass jar from my nightstand—the one filled with a thousand paper stars I’d folded for him—and brought it down hard on the back of his head. The glass shattered, sending a galaxy of colorful, hand-folded stars scattering across the bed. Liam’s body tensed, then slumped forward, a dead weight on top of me. He was unconscious. I lay there, gasping for breath, my eyes squeezed shut in sheer, post-adrenal terror. Thank God. Thank God. A buzzing vibration started up from somewhere beneath the bed. I shoved Liam’s dead weight off me, trying to sit up and find the source of the noise. But as I pushed myself up, the world tilted violently. The drug my mother had slipped into my painkiller was finally taking its full effect. My stomach churned, and a black fog began to creep in at the edges of my vision. Just before I lost consciousness, I remembered what was vibrating. It was Liam’s phone. And the person calling was the girl he secretly, desperately loved. The girl he held in his heart like a sacred prayer. Isabelle Croft. … “Oh, Isabelle, you’re here!” “You’re looking for Liam?” “Come in, come in.” The voices drifted from downstairs. It was my mother, welcoming a guest. I clutched my throbbing head and forced myself to sit up. Outside my window, the sky was bright with morning light. A flurry of footsteps was heading straight for my room. “Liam is in Ava’s room,” my mother said cheerfully. “Oh? This early? What’s he doing in Ava’s room?” a sweet, feminine voice asked. In an instant, my mind cleared. My heart plummeted. This is bad. 4 Isabelle Croft. Our former neighbor. We grew up in the same exclusive, gated community, three prominent families side-by-side: the Donovans, the Crofts, and the Reeds. Liam and Isabelle were the quintessential “perfect kids.” They were rivals from the day they met, competing over everything—grades, sports, debate club—from high school all the way through college. To an outsider, they looked like mortal enemies. But everyone knew it was just a pretense. The only thing standing between them was the unspoken truth of our family: my father had taken Liam in for one purpose—to groom a successor, and a husband for his daughter. So, Liam and Isabelle made a pact. On the day of their college graduation, they would finally tell my mother the truth. He would repay our family for raising him, for giving him everything. But he would not—could not—do it by marrying me. Instead, my mother got him drunk, drugged him, and he never answered her call. Worried something had happened, Isabelle came looking for him the next morning. And my mother, with practiced casualness, led her right upstairs to witness the “surprise” on my bed. Heartbroken and humiliated, Isabelle went home, accepted an arranged marriage with another family, and disappeared from his life. And Liam, consumed by a bottomless well of regret and hatred, shackled himself to me for the next seven years… A low groan came from the floor beside my bed. The unconscious Liam stirred. He pushed himself into a sitting position, his brow furrowed in pain as he reached back to touch his head. “Oww—” His vacant eyes slowly came into focus, finally landing on my face. Liam’s entire body went rigid, a violent tremor shaking his frame. “Ava!” He lunged toward me, his hands trembling as they frantically ghosted over my face, my lips, as if trying to wipe something away. His voice was a raw mix of fury and a terror so profound it made his words shake. “Who told you you could spit up blood? Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?! You don’t even have my permission to die, do you hear me! If you dare to die, I’ll torture your mother until she begs for death!” His words hit me like a physical blow. My body froze, and a cold, sharp tremor pierced my heart. “Liam, you…” You remember too, don’t you? 5 Before I could finish, the doorknob turned. The door began to swing open. Panic surged through me. There was no time to think. I kicked out, sending Liam tumbling off the bed and onto the floor. In the same motion, I yanked the duvet up to my chin, covering my naked body. The scattered paper stars rustled, many of them falling to the floor around him. “Liam, are you okay?” Isabelle rushed in, her eyes wide with alarm at the sight of him on the ground. She hurried over to help him up. Liam just stared at her, as if seeing a ghost. It was a long moment before he breathed her name, his voice thick with disbelief. “Isabelle?” “Yes,” she said, a soft blush coloring her cheeks. “I called you last night, but you didn’t answer. I was worried something might have happened, so… I came to check.” Liam’s pupils contracted sharply. He did exactly what I had done—his eyes darted around the room, a look of stunned disbelief on his face as the reality of our shared rebirth settled over him. But my mother, who hadn’t been reborn, had a far more dramatic reaction. Seeing that we weren’t tangled in the sheets together, her voice rose several octaves. “What happened? Why aren’t you two—” “Mom!” I cut her off sharply. “Liam was just bringing me my stomach medicine, and I accidentally knocked it over.” I gestured to the floor. “Could you get me another glass? And maybe ask Maria to come sweep up this glass? Ugh, my star jar broke, too. What a shame.” My eyes flicked to Isabelle, who was visibly relieved. I offered her a weak smile. “Are you here to see my brother, Isabelle?” “Yes,” she nodded, her gaze shyly finding Liam’s. By now, Liam had composed himself. He took a slow, deep breath, his eyes fixed on her face. His voice was low and raspy. “Isabelle. It’s been… a long time.” 6 Liam and Isabelle left to talk. But before he walked out the door, he insisted on cleaning up the broken glass in my room himself. Including every last one of the scattered paper stars. He was meticulous, picking up each one until not a single star was left behind. As he stood in the doorway, holding the small trash bag, he gave my mother and me one last, long look. His eyes were deep, dark pools of unreadable emotion. But in the end, he said nothing, and gently closed the door behind him. I didn’t dwell on it. I collapsed back onto the bed, letting out a long sigh of relief. “That was too close.” “Ava,” my mother whispered, her face pale as she sat on the edge of my bed. Her expression was one of utter despair. “Don’t you love Liam? Why didn’t you… keep him here?” A familiar ache tightened in my chest. But this time, it was followed by a wave of acceptance. “But he doesn’t love me, Mom. You can’t force something like that. We can’t just cash in on his gratitude like this. It’s not a business deal.” Tears streamed down my mother’s face as she covered it with her hands, her shoulders shaking with hopeless sobs. “But what if Liam really marries Isabelle? What if he leaves us? What about your father’s company?” I knew, deep down, what this was really about. It wasn’t just the fear of losing the boy she’d carefully groomed to be her son-in-law. It was the terror of losing the empire my father had built. I had no head for business; my life had been dedicated to the piano. Liam was the successor my father had hand-picked and trained. But if he didn’t marry me, he was, for all intents and purposes, an outsider. What if he took over the company and turned on us, setting a trap to take everything? He couldn’t be trusted the way a son-in-law could. “But Mom,” I said, wrapping the duvet around myself and leaning over to hug her. “If you manipulate him like this, don’t you think he’ll hate you for it? What if he marries me, takes over the company, and then traps us both in this house to make our lives a living hell? We wouldn’t just lose our protector; we’d lose any power to fight back at all. The only person you can truly count on… is me.” My mother’s sobs subsided. She stared at me for a long time, her eyes searching my face. Finally, she nodded. “Ava, I’ll find you a good husband. Someone who can take over your father’s company.” I just stared at her. That’s… not what I meant, Mom. Was it possible? That maybe, just maybe… I didn’t need a husband to solve this problem? 7 By ten-thirty that night, Liam still hadn’t come home. Isabelle, however, had updated her Instagram story at eight. It was a candid shot of Liam in profile, looking at her. The caption read: You’re worth being brave for. I silently liked the post and left a heartfelt comment: Congratulations, you two! So happy for you! Not long after, my phone rang. The voice on the other end was cool and magnetic, but his words were brief. “Come outside.” “I’m in front of your house.” I bit my lip, an odd feeling stirring inside me. “Okay,” I said softly. I grabbed a jacket from my bed and was about to head out when my mother suddenly perked up. “Ava, is that Nate?” “Yeah,” I nodded, my hand pausing on the doorknob. Nate Reed. The youngest son of the Reed family, our neighbors. My childhood best friend. In my last life, he was the unlucky soul who entered an arranged marriage with Isabelle, only to be targeted by a jealous and resentful Liam. Their rivalry had destroyed them both. My mother, oblivious to my hesitation, was already buzzing with excitement. “You know, I think Nate is a wonderful young man. We know his family, he’s from a good background, our families are a perfect match…” Click. The door suddenly opened from the outside, bumping gently against me. Liam stepped inside, bringing the crisp autumn chill in with him. In his hands were two takeout containers of fried noodles from the place my mother and I loved. He glanced at the jacket I was wearing, his voice cool. “Where are you going so late?” 8 I paused, my fingers unconsciously tightening on my jacket. In my past life, Isabelle and Nate had faded from my world so quickly. I never knew if their marriage had been a happy one. All I knew was that from that day forward, Liam despised Nate. Every time they crossed paths, Liam’s mood would turn black. And he would come home and take it out on me, in silence… “Just… for a walk,” I mumbled, avoiding the question of who I was meeting. I sidestepped Liam and walked out the door. “Mom,” Liam said as he came inside, slipping off his shoes and placing the food on the table, his demeanor perfectly normal. “I brought you both some dinner.” My mother’s eyes glistened. “Liam, about last night… I was just so afraid…” “Mom,” Liam interrupted her with a gentle smile. “I understand. And please, believe me when I say this: I will never forget what your family has done for me. It doesn’t matter who I marry. I will never abandon you and Ava. Let’s just let the past be the past.” My mother choked back a sob and nodded repeatedly. As she was about to speak, she heard Liam, who was casually unwrapping a pair of disposable chopsticks, ask as if it were an afterthought, “Is it really safe for Ava to be out by herself this late?” “Oh, don’t worry about her,” my mother chuckled. “She’s meeting Nate. As long as he’s with her, she’ll be fine. Liam, what do you think? About Ava and Nate? Don’t you think they make a rather handsome couple?” Snap. The disposable chopstick in Liam’s hand broke in two. 9 Under the amber glow of a streetlight, a silver Lotus sat parked quietly by the curb. Sleek, understated, just like the man who drove it. The driver’s side window was halfway down, revealing a sharp, handsome profile. When he saw me, he gave a slight nod toward the passenger seat. “Get in.” I lowered my eyes, pulling the door open and sliding inside. The tension in my body immediately began to unwind, and I let out a soft breath. “Want to go watch the sunrise?” Nate’s deep, resonant voice filled the quiet car. I blinked, then shook my head. “No.” He glanced over at me. “Find a bar? Have a good cry?” I shook my head again, this time with a small sigh. “No need. Honestly. It doesn’t hurt that much.” I couldn’t deny that it hurt. A little. But mostly… I was happy for them. Nate shot me a skeptical look. “If you say so.” I knew he didn’t believe me. He, more than anyone, knew how much I had loved Liam. How I had spent my entire life waiting to marry him. “Nate, I know this might sound sudden, but… I really am over him. I’m happy that he and Isabelle are together.” Nate’s fingers, which were resting on the steering wheel, tightened abruptly. He turned his head, his dark, intense gaze studying my face for a long moment. Then, out of nowhere, he asked, “The star jar I gave you the other day. Did you open it?” 10 I froze, a wave of embarrassment washing over me. “Well, I… I hit something with it. So it opened. But I wouldn’t exactly say I opened it…” Nate’s face was a canvas of confusion. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned toward me. The space between us shrank until, from the outside, it must have looked like we were about to kiss. He stared into my eyes, and his voice was laced with a surprising nervousness. “What do you mean, you ‘wouldn’t say you opened it’? You didn’t give it to someone else, did you?” “Ah,” I said, feeling a pang of guilt. “I didn’t give it away, it’s just—” The car door beside me was suddenly ripped open. Before I could even react, a hand clamped around my arm and yanked me out of the car. The door slammed shut with a deafening bang. Outside, Liam stood like a storm cloud in a black wool coat, his expression cold and severe. The hand gripping my arm felt like a vise, strong enough to shatter bone. His eyes were dark with a furious, possessive rage. “You let him kiss you, Ava? You were going to let him kiss you?! You said yes to him?!” I was stunned. “He wasn’t…” kissing me. “What’s the matter, Liam? Don’t approve of me as your brother-in-law?” From inside the car, Nate sat up straight. His expression was challenging as he looked at Liam through the half-open window. His voice remained calm, but every word was a sharpened dart. “You’ve got your own love life to worry about, brother. Why are you so concerned about your sister’s? Aren’t you afraid Isabelle will get jealous?” Liam’s jaw tightened, his tone hostile. “My concern for my own sister is none of your business.” “Hah.” Nate smirked. “Is she really just your sister…?”
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