جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Liam’s POV It was like I’d spat poison into the room. Avery blinked at me, confused, her perfectly lined brows furrowing as I said— "Can you just please, when next you want us out... don't include Jackson?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them. My jaw clenched after. She paused halfway between reaching for the car keys and completely freezing. Her head turned slowly, like she needed to make sure she heard me right. “Excuse me?” she said. My throat bobbed. I tried to recover, tried to rewind it into something softer. “I mean, it’s just…” I ran a hand through my hair. “When we go out, I want it to be us. You and me. Not your brother, not the ghost of your father’s expectations, or mine.” She narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t about Jackson joining us. It’s about something else, isn’t it?” “No.” “Yes.” “Not like that—” She crossed her arms, leaned against the Maserati like she owned the sun and the moon. “Liam, if you’ve got an issue with Jackson, tell me.

Liam’s POVI’m home. The shadows lengthen through the glass front doors, draping the hallway in dusk as if the house itself is watching me return with suspicion. Daddy always said silence is the most honest thing we’ve inherited. Right now, this silence screams accusations I can’t escape.My phone buzzes in my pocket. Not Jackson this time but Avery: “Dinner tonight. We need to talk. Dress sharp.”I wish I could refuse, but I’m in deep, and she’s the one holding the leash, even though she doesn’t know how badly she bites into me. I walk through the foyer, past that painting we made together of Mama and Daddy when they looked happy—liars. I can’t help the hollow ache in my chest as I stare at her smiling eyes on canvas. I want answers tonight. Maybe.Earlier today I went down to Chambers & Weld, the cold law firm Daddy expects me to take over someday—or disguise myself in until I can pull back. I asked for Mama’s accident file. I had the date, the name of the driver, the phantom record

Liam's POV I walked in through the front door and caught the scent right away—something unexpected, almost intimate. It was the soft gleam of candlelight and the precise placement of a table set for two. Not by the maids, not by staff, but by her. Avery Maddox. I paused, stunned. This isn’t her style. Ever. There she was—standing just inside the dining room doorway, wearing a crisp white blouse and tailoring that spoke business, not domestic. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, lips parted as though she staked a question in the air. When she saw me, she offered a small, uneven smile. “I wanted us to eat together,” she said, voice unsteady but steadying itself. “You must be starving.” I took in the plated salad, fresh bread, the dim lighting. It was more than just a gesture—it felt like a message. Soft, fragile, and earnest. My shirt rode tight against my chest—every nerve prickling. “I’ll just…” I gestured toward the hall. “Take a bath first.” Her eyes followed me, silent,

Third-Person POVThe leather seat still bore the heat of their bodies.Liam hadn’t moved for a full minute, his skin sticking to the car’s interior, sweat drying too slowly as his chest rose and fell like he’d run miles uphill. The taste of Jackson still lingered on his tongue—warm, heady, forbidden. A part of him wanted to rewind time and do it all over again, slower this time, filthier. Another part of him? It was already regretting everything.The heavy silence in the car pressed in around them.Jackson had zipped up his pants, scrubbed a hand through his tousled dark hair, and rested his head against the steering wheel like he was seconds away from slamming it against the dashboard. He didn’t say anything. Not thank you, not what now, not we shouldn’t have. Just silence.That’s when Liam noticed it.The sleek, dark outline of a black SUV slid out from behind a cluster of trees on the other side of the empty lot. It moved too quietly. The windows were tinted like night and no l

Third Person POV“Who are you meeting with that late?” Avery’s voice sliced through the tension in the air, sharp and unforgiving, her arms folded tightly across her chest. She leaned against the bedroom doorframe, her eyes narrowing as Liam turned away from the mirror where he was loosening his tie.She had waited. Waited for him to come home, waited for the silence in the room to grow heavy enough to suffocate her, waited for the perfect moment to confront him.Liam let out a soft, calculated smile. His expression was relaxed, almost too relaxed—as if he'd rehearsed this conversation in the mirror a hundred times.“My cousin sister,” he said, calmly. “Her name is Vivian. I know you probably don’t remember her. She’s on my dad’s side. She just moved back from the UK and is going through some… financial mess. I just dropped off a few things.”Avery’s jaw clenched. Her teeth ground behind the gloss of her lips. “Vivian?” she echoed, her tone disbelieving. “A cousin I’ve never heard of