For eight long years, I was trapped in a blurry, toxic situationship with Liam Spencer. Whenever he introduced me to his friends, he would just say lightly, "She's my sister." Until a few days ago, when he eloped with a girl he had known for exactly eight days. She posted a picture of their marriage certificate online. In the comments, she pinned a sweet reply: "Love isn't measured in time." 1 The night before Liam’s "business trip," we spent the entire night tangled in his bed. "...Are you not tired at all?" I bit my lip, looking up at the man I had loved for eight years with a mix of obsession and pleading, hoping he would finish soon. Or at least, be a little gentler. "I'm flying out tomorrow." Liam kissed my sweat-dampened forehead and chuckled. "Just cashing in an advance for the next month." I was about to protest when he suddenly covered my lips. "My parents just got home." "Be good. Don't make a sound." But his movements didn't pause for even a second. A sudden wave of grievance washed over me. "Do you really hate the idea of them knowing... about us?" Liam gave a faint "Mhm," and went back to kissing me. "It's hard to explain." "..." By the time the thunder woke me up, Liam was already gone. The AC in the room was blasting, but my entire body felt scorchingly hot. First thing the next morning, I sent Liam a text with a photo of a thermometer reading 102°F. He didn't reply. While waiting for my medicine to be delivered, I started scrolling through Instagram. And then, I saw a post shared by a mutual friend. It was Liam's official announcement— "I haven't known you long, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you." The post included a picture of a marriage certificate. The date of the marriage was today. The bride was a beautiful, gentle-looking stranger. I stared blankly at that tiny ID photo, a dull, throbbing pain spreading through my chest. We had been entangled for eight years. Every time he introduced me, he always said, "My sister." Yet he had eloped. With a girl he had known for barely eight days. Under the post, she replied intimately: "Love isn't measured in time." 2 The location tag on Liam's post showed he was right here in the city. He never went on a business trip at all. My hands shook so badly I could barely hold my phone. I don't know how many frantic, questioning voicemails I left him. Or how many times I called. Liam didn't reply to a single text, nor did he answer a single call. It was pouring rain outside. I braved the storm and searched for him like a madwoman for three whole hours. Finally, I found him at a bar he frequented. The VIP booth was loud and lively. Surrounded by the crowd, Liam was currently drinking a linked-arm toast with a woman. Through the sea of people, I saw the woman softly call him, "Liam." The friends around them erupted into teasing cheers. "You guys are officially married! Why are you still calling him by his first name?" The woman looked down shyly and murmured, "Hubby." "Mhm." Liam let out a low chuckle, leaning down to kiss her. The room erupted in applause and whistles. They stood in the center of the crowd, bathed in the light, accepting everyone's blessings out in the open. I stared at the scene in a daze, suffocating from the pain. I almost forgot why I had even come here. 3 My mom and Liam’s mom were best friends. During my sophomore year of high school, my parents moved to Europe for a business venture and left me to board at Liam's house. Since then, I had harbored a massive crush on him. When he graduated high school, I took a gap year and studied relentlessly until I finally got into the same university as him. I had gathered all my courage to confess my feelings, only to overhear him talking to his roommate: "Chloe? Please. I'm not sick enough to want to date my own sister." After that, I actively distanced myself from him. Until recently. I was walking home late one night when a deranged man charged at me with a knife. Liam took the blade for me. He was severely injured and spent two whole months lying in a hospital bed. That was when I realized he had been secretly waiting for me to get home every night during that period. The night he was discharged, I asked him, "How can I ever thank you?" Liam stared at me for a long time before suddenly leaning in and kissing me. We started dating that night. The first time we slept together, it wasn't the greatest experience. I couldn't handle the pain and ended up biting down hard on his arm. "Have you... been like this with anyone else?" I asked. "Kissing, sleeping together..." "Have other women ever bitten you like this?" "No. Only you." "Mhm. My girlfriend." Liam's gentle, doting tone had felt like a true lover's whisper. I never imagined that before we could even announce our relationship, he would secretly marry someone else. 4 When I pushed open the door to the booth, someone turned around and shouted, "Chloe?!" It was his old college roommate, Matt. Liam looked over, too. He seemed to freeze for a second, staring at my drenched, pathetic state. "How did you get yourself looking like this?" "Liam, I just want an explanation." Liam's expression was completely indifferent. "What explanation do you want?" I subconsciously dug my fingernails into my palms. I wanted to ask. Why did you lie about a business trip? Why did you elope with someone else when you already had me? But as the words reached the tip of my tongue, I felt the curious, judging, and even disdainful stares from the crowd around us. Every word I wanted to say was swallowed by cowardice and humiliation— He had never made our relationship public. The moment I said the words out loud, I would become the "other woman." During our standoff, the woman walked over, wrapping her arm naturally around Liam's. She looked me up and down with subtle, probing curiosity. "Hubby, who is this?" "A neighbor's sister." Liam answered without a single second of hesitation. "Chloe, this is your sister-in-law." Someone whistled. "Oh, so it's a little sister! Come on, say hi to your sister-in-law so Emma can give you a nice wedding gift." Emma's face instantly flushed. The look she gave me carried a subtle triumph and an eager expectation. In that moment, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I raised my hand and slapped Liam as hard as I could across the face. "Liam, is this how you hold hands, kiss, and even sleep with your sister?" I took off the tiny ring I had always worn on my finger and dropped it into Emma's hand. "Sister-in-law, then I wish you and my brother a happy marriage." That ring was a graduation gift from Mrs. Spencer. Back then, she had always tried to set Liam and me up, teasing him, "Liam, when are you going to buy Chloe a real ring?" The moment I turned and walked away, I heard Liam chase after me, his voice urgent as he yelled, "Chloe!" 5 I didn't stop. I flagged down a cab and climbed inside. Liam sent me a text— "Why would you just run in and make a scene without asking me anything?" "Chloe, I will explain everything to you." ... He married someone else behind my back, and he actually had the nerve to blame me? I blocked every single one of his contacts. I dragged myself back to my apartment. The moment I closed the door, I noticed someone moving around in the living room. My heart skipped a beat. Just as I was about to call 911, I received a text from my mom— "Aunt Sarah's son just got back from Europe and doesn't have a place to stay yet. Didn't you say you were moving into Liam's place? I told him he could crash at our apartment for a bit. He should be arriving today." ... I clutched my phone, not even getting the chance to reply before a sudden, violently hot wave of dizziness hit my brain. The moment I lost consciousness, I thought I saw an unfamiliar, incredibly handsome face. When I woke up, a man was swapping a warm towel on my forehead. Our eyes met, and the air turned a little awkward. "Are you Aunt Sarah's son, Reid?" Aunt Sarah was my mom's best friend who lived abroad; her husband was British. The man set the towel down and smiled at me, speaking in perfect, unaccented English. "I go by my American name here. Carter. Carter Hayes." After chatting with Carter for a while, I was surprised to learn he was actually two years younger than me. "Until I find an apartment, I'll be in your care, Chloe," Carter joked. For the next few days, even though Carter was crashing at my place, he seemed incredibly busy. He left early and came back late, so we were mostly just exchanging morning and evening greetings. Since I blocked Liam, he didn't come to harass me either. But then, I was scrolling through a mutual friend's likes and saw photos of Liam and Emma surfing in Cabo. I stared at it in a daze. Two years ago, when I graduated college and landed an amazing job offer, Liam said he wanted to get me a gift. I had pointed excitedly at a magazine spread. "Let's go surfing in Cabo!" Liam had frozen, then gently rejected the idea. "Chloe, I'm terrified of the water." Later, I learned he had seen a childhood friend drown in a river, leaving him with deep trauma. In this photo, he was surfing the waves with Emma. Emma was laughing brightly, and Liam was holding her from behind. They looked incredibly in love. Turns out, even trauma depends on the person. 6 Even though I had resolved never to see Liam again, I still had some important IDs and documents at his apartment. After messaging him with no response, I picked a time to take an Uber over and get my things. When I arrived, I punched in the passcode three times. It flashed "Error." It finally dawned on me—Liam had changed the passcode. Naturally, my fingerprint had been deleted too. The door clicked open. "Chloe?" The moment Liam saw me, a flash of something complicated crossed his eyes. The apartment was loud and chaotic. It was a party. "Oh, if it isn't Liam's little sister!" "Can you really call her a sister if they've slept together? More like a sugar sister~" "What, regretting that slap from the other day? Coming crawling back to apologize?" "Easy. Chug a few bottles for the boys, and I'll forgive you on Liam's behalf." The guys burst into laughter, looking at me with frivolous, careless eyes. "Who is it?" Emma walked over holding a slice of cake. When she saw it was me, her smile slowly vanished. "I just came to get—" Before I could finish, Emma shoved the slice of cake directly into my face. My vision went dark as the thick, sticky frosting smeared across my eyes. "How do you even have the face to show up here?" "Liam told me everything. He treated you like a real sister, and you're the one who kept throwing yourself at him." "Trying to seduce your own brother? Are you really that desperate for a man?" The crowd broke into whispers. I wiped my face. Expressionless, I grabbed a handful of the ruined cake from the floor and hurled it right back at Emma's face. "Right back at you." Emma shrieked. "Are you psychotic?!" I smiled, meeting Liam's eyes perfectly. "Liam. Was I the one who seduced you first?" He didn't speak. He just stared at my face. In the reflection of the glass window, I could see a dense rash of red hives breaking out across my neck. Right. I've been severely allergic to dairy and heavy cream since I was a kid. The very first birthday I spent at the Spencers', his mom made me a beautiful buttercream cake. I was so terrified of disappointing her as a houseguest that I carefully ate the cake slice by slice, trying to avoid the frosting. That was how Liam discovered my secret. That night, he brought me allergy medicine. "I already told my mom not to use cream on your cakes anymore." "From now on, if anything is wrong, you can tell me first. Don't always bottle it up inside." There was no moon that night, but his eyes were softer and more forgiving than moonlight, wrapping tightly around my anxious, terrified heart. Over the years, he was the one who slowly pulled me in. He ran hot and cold, pulling me close and pushing me away, but in the end, I was the only one who truly fell in love. "I knew you wouldn't admit it." Emma's voice yanked me back to reality. Before I could react, she gathered a pile of crumpled papers and threw them all over me. "Is this enough proof?!" "For a girl to be this clingy and desperate... it's honestly pathetic." I stood there, frozen. These were the letters I wrote to Liam during my gap year. Pages and pages, all scattered on the floor. The onlookers were practically buzzing with excitement. A few curious ones had already picked them up to read. "Liam, I knitted a scarf for you..." "I heard college is super demanding. Are you really busy right now...?" Back then, Liam must have been truly busy. He never wrote back, until I sent my final letter. "Your university is so hard to get into. Why couldn't I just be a little bit smarter? I'm already trying so hard." "I can't go to the same school as you. I'm sorry. I'm really useless. Liam, please don't forget me, okay...?" Every word was so pathetic, yet so sincere. Liam only replied with one sentence: "Chloe, I'll help you." And he did. He dropped his college work, took me to amusement parks to destress, tutored me, and reviewed my test mistakes. When I finally got accepted, he even rushed back to celebrate with me. And now, Liam had told Emma all about these things, just to prove to her that I was the pathetic stalker who wouldn't leave him alone. Even though I had resolved to let him go, tears still streamed down my face uncontrollably. Emma's mocking words rang in my ears, stabbing me in the heart: "Liam told me you were honestly just really annoying back then." The strange guests joined in the heckling. "So she's just a desperate groupie." "The guy is married and she's still begging for it. Yikes." I took a deep breath and said calmly, "Whether you believe it or not, I never actively threw myself at him." "While we were in a committed relationship, he eloped with Emma." "I'm only here to get my ID." Under the gazes of the crowd, I collected my documents. I turned to look at the silent Liam. "I won't ever bother you again. Because you don't deserve me." 7 When I got home, I curled up on the couch and sobbed. "Are you okay?" A tissue suddenly appeared in my vision. Through the blurry haze of my tears, I saw Carter staring at me quietly. "Can you do me a small favor?" he asked suddenly. Carter's "small favor" was rescuing a stray cat. The frail little kitten was hiding under a car, too terrified to come out. There were always strays in our complex, and I was pretty good at dealing with them, so I managed to coax it out relatively quickly. "Chloe, you're amazing," Carter said. I felt a little embarrassed and quickly looked away. On the walk back, I shared a bunch of funny stories about my past encounters with stray cats. I felt like I had momentarily forgotten all my miseries. During the walk, an unknown number kept calling my phone. I had a pretty good guess who it was, so I didn't answer. It was already past 11 PM when we got back. After I showered, Carter poured me a glass of warm water. "Feeling a little better?" It finally clicked in my head, and I let out a dry laugh. "You didn't actually need my help rescuing that cat, did you?" Carter admitted it easily. "I came back to grab a cat toy, but then I saw you crying." When I didn't say anything, Carter stayed quiet for a moment. "There's so much insincerity in this world. People weighing the pros and cons, playing games, leading people on. Those people will get their karma eventually." "But there is nothing wrong with being the one who loves deeply. There's nothing wrong with giving your whole heart. You should never doubt the version of yourself that loved sincerely." "It will all pass." The rims of my eyes burned, and my emotions surged. "...You're actually... pretty good at comforting people." Carter chuckled softly. "It's not like just anyone is worth me going out of my way to comfort them." I didn't quite catch that. "Huh?" "Nothing." He turned and waved at me. "I'm going to sleep." "Wait," I called out to him. I ran to my bedroom to grab the first aid kit and pushed him back onto the couch. "Let's put some medicine on that first." When the kitten finally came out earlier, it had panicked and scratched the back of Carter's neck. "You saw that?" Carter had tried to hide it, assuming I hadn't noticed. "Lift your chin a bit." I leaned over slightly, using a cotton swab to carefully apply the ointment. Carter obediently tilted his head back. He was only wearing a bathrobe, his hair still wet and dripping. The collar hung open slightly, exposing his collarbones and a glimpse of his firm chest. The shadows of the lamp fell over his eyes, making them look pitch black and glossy as he stared directly at me. "...Maybe you should turn your head back around." Carter gave a small laugh. "Okay." He turned his head, but the sudden movement threw off my balance. I stumbled, collapsing onto the couch with a heavy thud, falling right against his chest. Because he had his head turned, my lips... landed perfectly against his cheek. We both froze. Suddenly, there was a loud rattle at the front door lock. Liam stood in the doorway, his face horrific as he stared at us. "What the hell are you doing?!" 8 He stormed over, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me off the couch. "Chloe, do you really hate me this much? You're sleeping with another man just to get back at me?" I ripped my hand away from his grip. "What right do you have to question me?" "As my brother? Or as someone else's husband?" "Don't make me sick." Carter didn't hold back either, cursing at him. "Are you gonna get the hell out, or what?" Liam looked utterly enraged, the veins on his forehead bulging. It took him a long time to choke out a hoarse sentence. "Chloe, I just came to bring you allergy medicine." He pulled a bottle of pills from his pocket. "Allergies?" Carter raised an eyebrow. "Minor issue." I shrugged, not elaborating. Since it was only a smudge of frosting, the hives on my neck had faded quickly. Liam watched our interaction, his tone turning even colder. "Those letters—I didn't give them to Emma. She snooped and found them herself." "Marrying Emma was out of necessity. My dad's company suddenly had a massive cash flow crisis. Emma is the daughter of a huge investor, and their only condition for the bailout was that I marry her." "Just give me a little time. Once the company recovers, I'll divorce her." "We can go back to how things used to be..." He paused, then added: "A woman needs to respect herself. Just because you're mad at me doesn't mean you should find some random guy—" I directly grabbed Carter's hand. "He's not a random guy. He's my boyfriend." Carter seemed to stiffen for a microsecond, but he was quick on the uptake. He instantly squeezed my hand back. "We're dating out in the open. Everything we do is completely appropriate and legal." Liam's face paled visibly. He took two steps forward, reaching out for me. "Boyfriend? How many days has it been since we last saw each other?" "Stop acting out. Come with me." There was an unfamiliar panic and insecurity in his voice, realizing things were spinning out of his control. "You should go back and keep your new wife company." "I, Chloe Bennett, will never be the other woman." His face completely darkened. Before leaving, he didn't forget to drop a warning: "Chloe, you're going to regret this." ... After Liam left, I thanked Carter warmly for playing along. I also promised that I would cook dinner for him from now on. "From now on?" Carter looked at me for a moment and smiled. It took me a second to realize how that sounded. My face felt a little hot. "I mean, for the duration of the time you're staying here, I'll handle dinner." Carter didn't say anything, he just kept smiling at me. I awkwardly avoided his gaze. Right as I was about to go to sleep, Liam texted me from yet another new number: "I haven't done anything with Emma these past few days." "If that's what's bothering you, let me tell you right now, Chloe: from start to finish, I have only ever wanted you." I replied with a single sentence: "I have a boyfriend. Do not harass me again." Liam's chat bubble showed he was typing for a long time before he finally sent one line: "Chloe, you loved me for eight years. You couldn't possibly fall for another man this fast." I blocked that number too. And Liam's words were thrown back in his face almost immediately— Emma posted a picture of an ultrasound on her Instagram story. The caption read: "He wouldn't let me tell a certain someone, but I just couldn't wait to share the news. So I guess this story is for 'Close Friends' only!" Doing the math, the conception date was way before they even got their marriage license. Which meant, while he was dating me, he was already sleeping with Emma. My stomach violently churned. Any final, lingering trace of emotion I had for Liam vanished into nothingness in that exact moment. ... But Liam refused to let me go. In fact, he wanted to ruin me in the most despicable, degrading way possible. When I walked into the office a few days later, I immediately felt something was wrong. My coworkers were pointing and whispering, looking at me with a mix of schadenfreude and disgust. "She's the star of the video. Gotta admit, her body's incredible." "You really can't tell just by looking at her. She acts so professional, but in bed she's so..." My brain exploded with a deafening roar. I rushed to open my laptop. The usually dead-quiet company Slack channel was currently blowing up. Someone had uploaded a highly explicit, intimate video. The man's face was blurred out with pixels, but the woman's face was crystal clear— It was my face. I stood frozen in place, trapped in an unspeakable nightmare. Liam called me at that exact moment. "Chloe, are you at the office yet?" I gripped my phone, my voice trembling violently. "Was it you?" Liam didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either. "When... when did you film that?" Liam's voice was gentle, as if he were reminiscing. "You were drunk that night. So eager, so sweet. I couldn't resist capturing the moment." The suffocating bitterness in my chest erupted. I roared through gritted teeth, "What you did is revenge porn! It's a federal crime! I'm calling the police, Liam. I will never let you get away with this." Liam didn't seem to believe me. "Chloe, do you really love this Carter guy?" Alarm bells shrieked in my head. A sudden, terrifying premonition hit me. "What are you trying to say?" "Tell me, if he sees this video, do you think he'll still want to be with you?" ... The sheer humiliation threatened to drown me. After calling the cops and taking an emergency leave of absence from my manager, I rushed home, enduring the burning stares of everyone in the office. Carter was in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, completely motionless, staring at the screen of his laptop. When I walked in, he slowly looked up, his eyes meeting mine.
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