003

Soren’s POV

I barely tried to hide my smirk as my brother’s supposed fiancée’s eyes widened.

She looked like she’d seen a ghost.

Which, if I was being honest, was a huge blow to my ego.

I couldn’t blame her for her shock, though. My brother had always kept my existence like his dirty little secret. I’d never seen someone as ashamed of their reflection as he was of me.

“T-twin?” she stuttered.

My smirk widened. “Don’t tell me you didn’t tell your little fiancée about my existence now, brother.”

His eyes narrowed at me. “Soren…”

I looked back at his fiancée.

I had to say, he’d always had a type. Dark, curly hair, hazel eyes that looked green under the right lighting, short but not too short… that kind of stuff.

I cocked my head. There was something different about this one, though. Something that almost made me believe he wouldn’t ditch her.

Almost.

“You have a twin?” she asked, looking at me while directing the question to my brother.

“Babe…”

“You have a twin and you didn’t tell me?” she cut him short. Her voice was stiff, her gaze questioning as she eyed me.

Asher let out a breath. “I was waiting for the right time to tell…”

At that, her eyes snapped to him. “We’re getting married tomorrow, Ash. When was the right time going to be?”

He exhaled again. “I didn’t…”

But she wasn’t letting him speak. I knew there was something I liked about her.

“How hard could it have been to say… I don’t know, ‘Babe, I have a twin brother who looks exactly like me, and I think you should know about him’?” Her chest rose as she took a deep breath. “Or are you ashamed of me?” Her voice was a whisper, almost like she was going to cry.

…And there went the little admiration I had for her.

“On the contrary, babe,” I quickly interrupted, fearing that the next time she spoke, she’d be in tears.

There was something about the unnecessary, poorly timed female tears that irked me.

My brother’s jaw clenched.

Her eyes returned to me.

“I think it is me my brother is ashamed of. Always been insecure about me being the better-looking version.”

Her moist eyes roamed over my features, almost like she was checking how true my words were.

I didn’t stop the tilt to my lips.

Caught staring, she threw me an irritated glance before turning back to Asher.

“You lied to me.”

“I didn’t… I just didn’t tell you.”

I arched an eyebrow.

Even I knew that those were the wrong choice of words. And that was saying a lot.

“Lies of omission are still…” She huffed. Then she stood. “You know what? I’m not doing this right now. I’m stressed enough about the wedding as it is.”

He stood also, presumably to follow her.

Fucking simp.

“Babe, hold on.”

He tried grabbing her arm, but she moved away quickly.

“Don’t. I’m leaving now, so don’t follow me either.”

“But I drove you here.”

“I’ll call an Uber.”

“Ror.”

“Follow me, and the wedding’s off.”

They exchanged a tense, silent look. He opened his mouth—to say something stupid, I was sure. But at the last moment, he settled for, “Call me when you get there?”

She watched him, then said, “I’ll text.”

Before he could say anything else, she turned and walked away.

“That was surely entertaining,” I said when the look he was giving her back started to get annoying.

He turned to me, glaring. “You just had to go and get arrested again, didn’t you?”

“I don’t think my getting arrested is the cause of your problem, brother,” I drawled. “You’re the one who chose to keep me a secret, after all.”

He remained glaring. I kept my smile.

After a moment, he sighed heavily. “What do you want from me, Soren? I thought you’d finally walked out of my life.”

If I had possessed a working heart, his words would’ve hurt me. But I didn’t, so they didn’t.

“Now, now. That isn’t a way to talk to your brother, is it?”

His jaw ticked once. “Did Mom know you were back?”

I shrugged.

I hoped she didn’t. Before the mess, I’d kept my distance, knowing she’d have dragged me into attending Asher’s wedding. Which was something neither of us wanted.

I tipped my chin toward the door. “Does she know that she looks exactly like—”

“Don’t,” he grit out, cutting me off.

I chuckled under my breath at how easy it was to get a rise out of him.

“You really have a type, don’t you? I wonder what would happen if, peradventure, she found out that you’re only attempting to marry her because…”

I let the remaining words linger between us.

“Attempting? I’m marrying her tomorrow. I love her.”

“And I love getting arrested,” I deadpanned.

“Believe what you want, but I will marry her tomorrow.”

Same thing he’d said about his last three fiancées before he realized that no one could replace the original. The morning of the weddings. My brother’s words held no fucking value.

“So you say,” I leaned toward the glass separating us, “But the thing is, would she still want to if she found out about your other fiancées?”

His nostrils flared.

I thought as much.

“What do you want from me, Soren? I know cheap blackmail isn’t your thing.”

Now he was speaking the language I understood; the one where things only benefitted me.

“I want you to take my place here.”