The day before my brother's wedding, I was picking out a dress when Liam suddenly lost his temper. "I told you, she likes the fuchsia one. Why do you always have to steal her spotlight?" At first, I thought he was just worried I’d be overdressed for the ceremony. A little too much, a little too soon. But then he added, "Isabelle only gets one wedding day. She’s already miserable enough that she can't marry the man she loves. Can't you just let her have this?" A silence stretched between us. I didn't ask Liam how he knew, better than I did, who exactly his brother’s fiancée was in love with. Instead, I picked up my phone and video-called my brother. 1 My brother, Ethan, was with Isabelle for her final fitting. He was dressed in a sharp black tuxedo, his eyes crinkling with a smile that was pure, unfiltered joy. "Audrey," he said, his voice beaming through the phone. "Your sister-in-law wants you and Liam to come over for dinner later." Liam’s profile slid into the frame beside me. Without even glancing my way for an opinion, he agreed for both of us. Strange. He usually hated going to my parents' house. The camera on Ethan’s phone flipped. Isabelle burst out of the dressing room in a cloud of white tulle, tiptoeing as she threw herself into my brother's arms. "Ethan, how do I look?" At the exact same moment Ethan answered, a voice behind me, barely a whisper, murmured its own reply. I heard it. "I've always known. She's never more beautiful than when she's trying to seduce someone." I turned my head. Liam’s face was a calm mask, tinged with a familiar shade of weary resignation. For a second, I thought I might have imagined it. He leaned in close, his mouth near my ear, a gesture of intimacy that felt like a lie. "Hey," he whispered, his tone soft and placating. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Are you still mad?" He shifted, his voice dropping lower. "Tell me how to make it up to you, Audrey. Whatever you want. You know I'll do it." I thought of all the ways he had of "making it up to me," each one more inventive than the last. We were still on a video call with my brother. A blush crept up my neck. I turned away from him, and my eyes met Isabelle’s across the screen. They were sharp with something that looked like jealousy. It was gone in a flash. She replaced it with a bright, brittle smile. "Audrey, you and your boyfriend seem so close. Are you two getting married soon?" Ethan, still fussing over the lace on Isabelle's train, didn't even look up. "Liam's been plotting to marry my sister since the day they graduated. Audrey's the one who wants to play the field a few more years." My hand holding the phone tightened. I'd never really thought about it before. Why was it that Liam was the one who wasn't ready for marriage, yet he always insisted I tell everyone it was my idea? His reason at the time was that he didn’t want my parents to get the wrong impression, to think he wasn't serious about me. Now, that excuse felt flimsy, almost transparent. A stylist led Ethan away to change. I picked up the fuchsia dress I'd chosen earlier. Before I could say a word, my future sister-in-law's eyes welled with tears. Her gaze drifted past me, landing on Liam standing just behind my shoulder. "Audrey, could you… could you let me have that dress?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Someone once promised to buy me the perfect dress, one that was just for me. But… someone else got it instead." The hand on my shoulder tightened, its pressure unconscious and absolute. This time, I knew I wasn't imagining it. "Give it to her," Liam said. 2 After saying that, Liam announced he had an urgent work matter and left in a hurry. He was in such a rush, he didn't even notice he'd put on one of his loafers with one of my house slippers. This wasn't normal. After a moment's hesitation, I grabbed my car keys and drove to his office building downtown. I hadn't even made it to the elevator bank when the receptionist told me Liam had taken the afternoon off. His assistant had just called it in. My hand, hanging by my side, started to tremble. A wild, terrifying thought clawed its way into my mind, and the blood drained from my face. I took several deep, shaky breaths before my legs felt strong enough to carry me to the underground parking garage. It was the middle of the workday, and the garage was cool and silent. And then I heard it. A series of low, ragged breaths that cut through the quiet. "Do you have to marry him? He's Audrey's brother!" A man had a woman pinned against a concrete pillar, his hand tight around her neck, their bodies pressed so close they seemed to merge into one shadow. She was still smiling. "What's wrong, Liam? Jealous? You're the one who threw me away. It doesn't matter who I'm with now. You don't get a say anymore." Isabelle's taunts only made the storm in Liam's eyes darken. He silenced her, his mouth crashing down on hers with pinpoint precision. The ragged breathing grew louder. The only other sounds in the vast, empty garage were my own, a choked sob I tried to swallow as I clapped a hand over my mouth. Liam was cheating on me. With Isabelle. My brother's fiancée. How was I supposed to accept this? I don't know how long I stood there, frozen, before the sounds stopped. When I looked again, Liam still hadn't let her go. His voice, when he spoke, was softer than before, almost gentle. "Isabelle, I never said you couldn't get married. But it can't be him. It can't be Audrey's brother. Come on, break it off. I can set you up with someone better." Isabelle’s eyes were red-rimmed, her body language a study in bruised pride. "Audrey is the love of your life. Even after I spent three years as your secret, you dropped me for her without a second thought. You made your choice. Stay out of mine." Liam was not a patient man. I was the only person he ever let shout at him, the only one who could get away with sarcasm and moods. But now, it seemed Isabelle had been granted the same privilege. I watched him. He lowered his head, silent for a long moment, as if weighing an impossible decision. It wasn't that complicated. It was her, or it was me. The moment I knew he had betrayed me, it was already over between us. But his hesitation, right here, right now—it still sent a sliver of ice through my heart. My car keys slipped from my numb fingers and clattered onto the concrete floor. I stood there, staring. And met Liam's eyes as they snapped toward me, suddenly cold and sharp. In the next second, he shoved Isabelle away from him, his face a mask of panic I had never seen before. I snatched my keys from the ground and ran. 3 I cried the whole way. Tears streamed down my face, blurring the traffic into streaks of light. In my rearview mirror, Liam’s black Mercedes was a relentless shadow, chasing me through the city. Was he that afraid I would expose them? He was right to be. I was going to tell everyone. I was going to tell my brother. I was going to tell him he couldn't marry Isabelle, that she didn't love him, that we had all been played for fools. I screeched to a halt in front of the bridal shop. Inside, Ethan was still trying on tuxedos, his face glowing with a naive, unshakeable happiness. He looked startled when he saw my tear-streaked face. I opened my mouth to speak, but his phone rang. It was Isabelle. I don’t know what she said, but when he looked back at me, his expression had shifted. It was questioning, suspicious. "Audrey," he said slowly. "Are you about to tell me that there's something going on between Isabelle and Liam?" I didn't have time to think. I just nodded frantically, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush. "Yes, Ethan! Liam's cheating on me. Isabelle has been his secret mistress for three years. She only got close to you to get back at him." My mind started to clear. From their conversation in the garage, I could tell. Isabelle wasn't over Liam. And Liam… Liam was far from over her. But my brother’s reaction was not what I expected. His face remained calm, his eyes fixed on me. A terrible premonition began to form in my stomach. Just then, Liam strode into the shop, pulling Isabelle along with him. "Ethan," Liam said, his voice smooth and reasonable. "I'm sure Miss Lin has explained everything. Audrey and I had a little argument. I happened to run into Miss Lin on my way to the office, and we were just saying hello when Audrey jumped to conclusions." He spread his hands wide in a gesture of utter helplessness, as if I were a hysterical child. I understood immediately. He was betting on the fact that I had no proof. He was lying, twisting the truth to protect her. Isabelle pushed past me to stand in front of Ethan. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying. "Ethan, I know I'm not good enough for you, and that's why your sister doesn't like me. But she can't just throw accusations like this at me… saying that I… that I'm with her boyfriend. Does she really think I'm that cheap, that shameless?" Her voice broke. "Maybe we should just call off the wedding. This is too much. I can't take it!" She shot a frightened glance at me, shrinking back as if I might strike her. Seeing Isabelle so fragile and distraught, Ethan's heart melted. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a protective embrace. Then he raised his hand. Before I could process what was happening, a sharp, stinging slap echoed through the quiet showroom. "Audrey," he said, his voice cold as steel. "If you ever say another bad word about Isabelle, I will forget I have a sister. This is your only warning." I was stunned. My parents had never, not once in my entire life, laid a finger on me. But my brother had just hit me. Faster than my shock, however, was Liam’s fist. It shot out, connecting squarely with Ethan's nose. "Who the hell do you think you are," Liam snarled, his voice a low growl, "putting your hands on the girl I've spent years cherishing?" A raw fury erupted from him, and he and Ethan became a tangle of limbs and curses. It ended with Ethan on the floor, hands raised in surrender. He mumbled an apology in my direction, his words thick with resentment. 4 Liam dragged me out to the car. He moved with a grim efficiency, not looking at me once after we got in. I stared out my own window, a silent, vibrating wall of anger between us. He drove until the city lights faded, pulling over on a deserted stretch of road on the outskirts of town. I thought… I hoped… I would finally get an explanation. Even a lie would have been something. Instead, he said, "Audrey, Isabelle is a good person. I'm not going to let this wedding happen, but not like this. Not by destroying her reputation." He turned away, a flicker of discomfort on his face, and rolled down the window. He lit a cigarette with a trembling hand. I knew his every tell, every gesture, after all our years together. So, he could feel guilt after all. What was I supposed to say? Scream at him? Hit him? Join forces with him to stop my brother's wedding? If none of this had happened, maybe I would have swallowed my pride, done whatever it took to protect Ethan. But now… I didn't want to. "Liam," I said, my voice flat. "We're done." I would stop this wedding. But I would do it my way. The hand holding the cigarette shook. The burning tip fell from his fingers onto his crisp white shirt, instantly searing a small, dark hole. I had rarely seen him so undone. He turned back to me, a look of genuine helplessness on his face. "So what do I have to do? Tell me what to do to make you forgive me." Some things can't be forgiven. For me, betrayal was the line. There was no coming back from it. I held his gaze, letting my contempt show. He looked down, and in a soft, pathetic voice, he told me everything. "I met Isabelle during the first big fight we ever had. She was… gentle. Kind. She had a way of calming me down. She was like a drug, Audrey. I got addicted. But I was never in love with her. I swear. The only reason I ended it for good was because she started pressuring me to break up with you." My nails, already short, dug into my palms. I didn't feel the pain. What he was saying was… if Isabelle had been content to be the other woman, to stay in the shadows forever… would he have kept her a secret from me for the rest of our lives? The thought arrived like a punch to the gut, turning every beautiful memory we ever shared into a sick joke. I opened the car door. "Liam, I will never forgive you. And I won't let Isabelle get away with this." Since she was so prepared to be a homewrecker, she should be prepared for the consequences. Liam’s eyes narrowed, his expression hardening. "So you're still going after her?" So, he was still going to protect her. That day, Liam left me there. He drove away alone. I was on a deserted road, and the sky was growing dark. He never came back for me. 5 It was almost eleven at night when I finally made it back to my parents' house. Ethan wasn't there. I collapsed into my mother's arms, my body wracked with sobs that seemed to tear me apart from the inside out. My parents were terrified. They wanted to call Ethan, to demand he come home. "No!" I pulled back, my hand instinctively going to my right cheek, which was already swollen and throbbing. The pain from my brother's hand hurt far more than Liam's betrayal. My own brother. He had believed Isabelle, a woman he'd known for less than two months, over me. When the tears finally stopped, I told them everything that had happened. My father, in a silent rage, swept an expensive porcelain tea set off the coffee table, shattering it against the floor. He immediately got on the phone and called the wedding planner. The wedding tomorrow was canceled. The news reached Ethan quickly. After settling Isabelle and her family, he stormed into the house. I was waiting for him, sitting on the sofa between our parents. The moment he saw me, he raised his hand again, his face twisted with fury. But before he could move, my father, his face a thundercloud, kicked him hard in the stomach. "Ethan! Have you lost your mind? Raising a hand to your own sister? Is that how I raised you?" Ethan had just finished calming Isabelle down after the call from the planners, only to have her start crying again, threatening to take her family and leave that night. He had spent hours apologizing and placating them. He truly hated me. Even with my mother shielding me, I could feel the daggers in his eyes. "Audrey, what did Isabelle ever do to you? Why are you so determined to destroy her?" He glared at me, his resentment deepening. "Oh, I get it. This isn't about her. It's about me. You've always had to compete with me, haven't you? Always had to get a perfect score on every test just to make my ninety-eight look bad. You wanted everyone to think I was less than you. You wanted to steal Mom and Dad's company right out from under me." When you've been hurt enough, nothing really surprises you anymore. Two slaps echoed in the room as both my parents struck him across the face. He stumbled back, laughing a hollow, bitter laugh. "It's because I'm the son, right? Not the daughter. So you always take her side. It was like that when we were kids, and it's like that now. I've known for years." He wiped his eyes and stared at us, his gaze hard. "Isabelle is the only woman I have ever loved, and I am marrying her tomorrow. If you want to keep me as your son, you won't stand in my way." After he left, my parents sat in silence for a long time. The truth is, they weren't just taking my word for it. I had shown them the video from the parking garage. 6 My entire life, I was taught to be prepared, to always have proof. Especially for something like this. Something dirty. Something that belonged in the dark. I had intended to show the video to Ethan. But after he took Isabelle’s call, after he refused to even give me a chance to speak, I changed my mind. Let the fool wear his crown of thorns. Let Isabelle play him for everything he was worth. But then I thought of her becoming my sister-in-law. Of her enjoying everything our family had built, a smug smile on her face. And I couldn't stomach it. And Liam. He needed to be punished for what he did to me. If my life was going to be a wreck, then I was taking everyone down with me. The wedding happened after all. But I wasn't there.
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