MasukTommy..I shook my head. Violently. If only that were enough to dislodge the words out of my skull.“That's not possible,” I said, my voice cracking. “You’re wrong. There’s no way I could have had sex with you.”Liam’s gaze kept flicking between my eyes and lips, like he still wanted to kiss me.“Why would—why would I…” I tried to form words but then fragments of that night slipped into my head.The neon lights. The loud music. My heat had begun abruptly. I had begged him to take me home. I remembered his body on mine.I heaved, nausea crawled up my throat.“I was drunk that night,” I said, my jaw ticking. Another memory—he was drunk too. “We were drunk too. That night meant nothing to me. To us.”Liam exhaled, his fingers twitching. “You know what they say,” he murmured, “people are usually honest when they’re drunk.”Liam’s face didn’t change. No remorse. No guilt. No panic.It made my stomach twist, and chill settled at the base of my spine.Uninvited, Madeline’s words resurfaced
Tommy..My heart twisted as the door handle pulled downward.I hadn’t locked the door. I hadn’t even thought about it because I didn’t expect Gerard and me to go this far. Before the door complex snapped open, Gerard jerked to his feet. While I spun around, slipping my cock back into my pajamas.Liam stepped in. His face instantly screwed into a scowl, his jaw ticking.The air thickened as we all exchanged glances. I hid my erection, awkwardly placing my hand over my bulge.Gerard smiled. “Good night, Tommy,” he said, voice holding that teasing edge. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned around and left, shutting the door behind him.Liam stalked towards me, his fist clenching around the pack of chips in his hand. “What was he doing here?” He gritted, “Did you have sex with him?”My lips parted, but before I could answer. He continued again.“No need. You’re just going to lie to me.” He scoffed. “How could you do that? Father is just down the corridor. Like you couldn’t…”As he contin
Tommy..A couple of hours had passed since after dinner. I was on the mattress, my head propped by the pillow.I had barely eaten, but somehow, the news from Dad had got my stomach twisted with a thick feeling.I rolled onto my side, trying to find sleep. But my father’s words kept echoing in my head. I stared at the ceiling. Two months was too close—too fast.I had thought there was a way I could fix things before the marriage. A knock came, my attention snapping towards the door. My chest tightened.I didn’t need to open the door to know it was Liam.I crawled out of the bed. Approaching the door, I swung it open.My breath caught. It was Gerard.Instinctively, I darted my eyes around the dim hallway before yanking him into my room and locking the door.“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice tight.“I just wanted to check on you,” Gerard said. He raised his hands up, a pack of chips in one hand and juice in the other. “I noticed you didn’t eat anything, so I brought this.
Tommy..Tension sat in the air in the dining room. The sweet aroma of food—grilled beef, sauce, and rice, spices combined so perfectly that it should have been comforting.Yet, the scent hung in my chest.My father sat on the head of the table, composed, cutting into his meal calmly, like the tension had nothing on him.To his right, was Liam, sitting beside me. His fingers were wrapped too tightly around his cutlery, his shoulders tensed.Across from him was Gerard. He looked fine…relaxed. Like even if he could feel the tension, he didn’t let it cling onto him. Beside him was Raphael, a frown etched across his face. Of course he’d rather be anywhere than to be sitting at the River’s table.And there was I, beside Liam. While everyone ate, I had barely touched my food. I pushed it around the plates, almost like I was counting the grains of rice.After finishing a bite, my father reached for a napkin and dabbed his mouth. “So Gerard,” he said.Gerard’s attention drifted from the pl
Tommy..The road narrowed as I drew closer to the house. What used to be a neighborhood had been swallowed by silence, by my father’s money and influence. Although the houses were now replaced with trees, the memories remained intact. The way my feet slammed on the tarred road as I ran away, the way I had returned back, like a dog returning back to its vomit, tail between its legs.I shook my head, forcing my mind back to the present, back to the goal I had to accomplish—confronting Liam.My stomach knotted, and my grip tightened around the steering.It was as though the houses had given the tree the memories to keep for me.I continued down the path, the branches of the leaning trees filtering the sunlight.The gate loomed ahead, tall, large. Anyone would see it and think of it as a castle, but for me? It looked like a prison.It opened as my car approached it. The tires rolled down the pavement.Staff waited near the entrance. A bit too many.I stepped out of the car, and the p
Tommy..The onsite office smelled like dust, and wood. Even when all the construction work was going on the lower floors, it felt like the polluted air found its way up.My sneeze shook the office.“Bless you,” Gerard said, handing me his napkin.“Thank you.” I took it from him.Bringing it to my nose, his scent from the napkin hit me. It smelled so nice, that musky scent with a vanilla undertone. It softened the edges.Gerard propped his chin on his hand, his gaze assessing. “What’s on your mind?”My eyes sliced to him. “Me? There’s nothing on my mind,” I said.Gerard's eyes never left me, never stopped x-raying me. “I think I know you well enough to tell when you’re bothered.”My chest tightened. How could I tell him that he might have been right? Might that Liam have unbrotherly love for me?My stomach twisted, just as hard as it had three days ago when those words had left Liam's lips.Gerard was about to speak again, when the door swung open.Liam came in first.Whatever had be







