Chapter 2

"Liam... easy..."

Mia's voice came through—soft, coy, dripping with a sweetness I'd never heard from her before.

Then came Liam's heavy, ragged breathing.

"Mia, you're killing me... you're tighter than I ever imagined..."

I stood there in the hallway, and it felt like every drop of blood in my body had frozen solid.

The noise from inside grew louder. The bed frame creaked under the strain, groaning like it was about to give out.

Mia let out a breathy little laugh. "Liam... Bree turned in a blank test for you today. Doesn't this feel a little... wrong?"

Liam chuckled softly. "She's the one I'll marry—I can't live without her. But Mia... you're the only one who can satisfy me physically.

"She's too innocent. Like a plank of wood. She blushes just from a kiss—nothing like you. You actually know how to let go."

Mia giggled. "Then why'd you make her give up Stanvord University just to stay here with you?"

"That's different." Liam's voice carried a flicker of hesitation. "She loves me that much. She can't function without me. I have to keep an eye on her."

"You're terrible... you only love my body, don't you..."

"My heart's yours too. Now turn around, babe..."

Then came the sickening sound of skin slapping, mingled with labored breathing.

I dug my nails into my palms so hard they broke skin. The pain was the only thing keeping me grounded.

Liam's voice was low and hoarse, thick with urgency and desire.

And suddenly, he felt like a complete stranger.

Growing up, he'd always been a little older than me, but everywhere I went, he followed. The adults used to tease him, calling him my "kept boy," and he'd always grin and fire back, "You bet! Bree's going to be my wife someday!"

So for the first half of my life, nearly every milestone came with Liam by my side.

Until high school, when Mia entered the picture—and she and Liam couldn't stop butting heads.

Mia couldn't stand to see me upset. Every time Liam showed up, they'd be at each other's throats, chasing and bickering like it was World War III.

I always ended up in the middle, playing peacemaker, pleading with both of them—because they were the two most important people in my life.

Eventually, the three of us became inseparable. Even though they still clashed like oil and water the moment they were in the same room, always circling around me with their petty fights, I genuinely believed those were the happiest days of my life.

At my coming-of-age ceremony, I officially said yes to Liam's confession. We promised to go to the same college together. Our friends teased us until both our faces burned red—everything felt impossibly perfect.

Around that same time, Mia's mood took a nosedive. She seemed drained, hollow.

I was so worried I stayed by her side constantly, even neglecting Liam in those early weeks of our relationship.

Looking back now, I realized I'd missed every single one of Mia's forced smiles.

My thoughts snapped back to the present. My chest felt so tight I could barely breathe.

I turned and walked away without a sound.

The moment I stepped out of the motel, the sunlight hit me so hard I had to squint.

I didn't shed a single tear.

From this day forward, the Bree who would've thrown away her entire future for Liam—she was dead.

When I got home, I walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let the cold water blast my face.

Then my phone buzzed on the sink.

It was another text from that "Unknown Number."

[If you hadn't gone to that motel today—if you'd never found out the truth—then seven years from today would be your wedding night.]

I dried my hands and stared at the screen.

[That night, you'd booked out the biggest hotel in the city. But right before the ceremony was over, Liam got a call.]

[Mia had overdosed on sleeping pills. She was being rushed to the hospital to get her stomach pumped.]

[Liam went berserk. He shoved you aside without even hearing the vows through, and tore out of there straight to the ER.]

The texts unspooled like a curse, one sentence at a time before my eyes.

[He left you alone in the bridal suite, still in your gown, while you became the laughingstock of the entire city's social circle.]

[That whole night, he stayed by Mia's hospital bed. When she woke up crying that she didn't want to live anymore, Liam lost his mind with guilt. In a cheap motel right next to the hospital, they slept together.]

[When you confronted him afterward, he had the nerve to say: 'Bree, you're my wife now. You have everything that comes with that title. Mia has nothing—she only has me. I just felt sorry for her. Can you stop being so petty about it?']