I came back to two years ago, a baby tucked inside me. In the dim light of the private booth, the campus charity case was sinking her teeth into Leo Donovan’s belt. She acted like she didn’t see me, her tongue flicking out playfully. “Big brother,” she cooed, “I’ve left my mark on you now.” I acted like I didn’t hear her. I walked straight past them, heading for Leo’s twin brother. Someone tried to stop me. “Audrey, Leo’s over there.” Leo’s face darkened. “Audrey, get over here.” I didn’t break my stride. I stopped in front of Liam Donovan. The man, all lazy grace and coiled energy, lifted his eyes. There was a spark of something dangerous under the polished, gentlemanly surface, a magnetism that pulled you in. “Looking for me?” he asked, one eyebrow arching. I nodded, holding out a folded paper. A sonogram report. “I’m pregnant,” I said, my voice steady. “It’s yours. Want to raise it with me?” Liam: “?” The air in the room evaporated. Every breath was held captive. Leo slammed his glass on the table, shooting to his feet. “Audrey,” he snarled, “say that again. Whose baby is it?” 1 The silence was a vacuum. Everyone in that room knew Leo and I were a couple. What none of them knew was that two hours ago, I was done with him. Liam’s long, pale fingers took the report from me. He studied it for a moment, his expression unreadable, then lifted his gaze to mine. His eyes, long and dangerously beautiful, were a swirl of shadow and light. A single syllable escaped his throat. “Hm?” “It’s yours,” I repeated. “Are you going to take responsibility?” He didn’t answer, just kept looking at me, his stare so intense it felt like it could see right through me. “Or,” I added, “we could discuss this somewhere else.” I held his gaze, my own completely serious. He seemed to be trying to decide if this was some elaborate, cruel joke. Finally, a strained voice broke the silence. “Audrey… you’re kidding, right?” A chorus of nervous agreement followed. “Yeah, this isn’t funny at all.” “We were just playing a game. Daisy just bit his belt, that’s it. We all saw. Leo didn’t do anything, he didn’t even touch her.” “Audrey, you can’t be doing this just because you’re scared he’ll dump you, right? Trying to scare him into line?” “We all know how crazy he is about you. You can’t mess with him like this.” “Daisy, come on, you gotta help him out here. Explain it to her.” The girl they called “Daisy” was the arts department’s star sob story, a girl named Daisy Miller. She stood beside Leo, her voice a fragile whisper. “But… the look on her face… she doesn’t seem like she’s joking, does she?” Her words plunged the room back into a frozen stillness. Leo’s jaw was tight as he strode toward us, snatching the sonogram from Liam’s hand. He scanned it, and a bitter, incredulous laugh escaped him. “Audrey, is this seriously it?” he said, his voice dripping with disbelief. “Just because I took pity on Daisy, because I’m helping her out, you pull my brother into this insane little drama?” Drama? Oh, this was no drama. This was a reckoning. 2 I need other people’s love to live. It’s not a metaphor; it’s a biological fact. The moment no one on this earth loves me, my heart will stop. I will simply die. In my last life, after my grandfather passed, I believed the love keeping me alive was Leo’s. That’s why I never really cared about Daisy. Daisy was the classic hard-luck case. She’d made a viral post on some social media platform, a cutesy plea for help. 【I’m about to starve to death, is there any kind human out there willing to adopt a poor college girl?】 【I’m just so clumsy and helpless, I really need a big brother or a daddy to take care of me.】 【Disclaimer: This is adoption, not a sugar daddy situation! #AdoptACollegeGirl】 She’d posted a picture of herself, looking doe-eyed and innocent. Someone from campus recognized her and reposted it to the university’s online forum. She blew up overnight. Guys flooded her DMs with disgusting offers; girls tore her apart for being a manipulative pick-me. Leo found her crying in a corner, shattered by the backlash. He saw a damsel in distress, so he stepped in. He helped her, and then, on a whim, he “adopted” her. After that, she was always there, a little shadow glued to his side. I wasn’t okay with it at first. Leo accused me of being cold-hearted, and we didn’t speak for days. Then, Daisy started trying to win me over. She was sweet, deferential, playing up her tragic backstory to earn my sympathy. As another woman, I couldn’t help but soften. I figured, what’s the harm? It was an adoption, not an affair. All that mattered was that Leo still loved me. I never once doubted his love. Not even at the very end. But my life ended just moments after Liam’s did. 3 In my past life, I accidentally drank something that had been spiked. I ended up spending a chaotic, blurred night with a drunk Liam. When I woke up next to him, the shock was paralyzing. I couldn’t face it. I ran away to a quiet mountain town and hid for a month. During that time, Daisy got into a car accident, and Leo was by her side, taking care of her every need. Liam, however, followed me. He tracked me down in that little town and asked me a single question. He asked why, when they had both loved me, I had chosen Leo over him. Leo and Liam were identical twins, but their eyes made them worlds apart. Leo had these perfect, almond-shaped eyes that made him look earnest and intense all at once. Liam was cursed with devastating upturned eyes, the kind that could look at a garbage can and make it feel like the most cherished thing in the world. Leo was the cool, reserved one. Girls fell all over him, but he kept a careful, respectful distance from everyone. Liam was the wild one, the charmer who always knew the right thing to say, constantly surrounded by beautiful girls who claimed to be his girlfriend. So, I gave him my answer. I told him I felt like he’d had too many girlfriends, and I’d never even had a boyfriend. I told him I thought he was a player, that his feelings had a short shelf life. And then I said the cruelest thing. I told him I thought he was… used. That being with him would have felt like a bad deal for me. The color drained from his face when he heard that. It was like something inside him shattered. He tried desperately to explain, to tell me something, but I didn’t want to hear it. I cut him off. I told him to pretend it never happened, to never tell a soul. A month later, I found out I was pregnant. The day I got back from the mountains, I walked in on Leo and Daisy locked in a passionate, desperate kiss. I stumbled back, out the door, my world tilting on its axis. I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see the car losing control, barreling right for me. In that last, terrifying second, Liam shoved me out of the way. He took the impact that was meant for me. The last words he ever said were, “As long as you’re okay…” 4 Two hours ago, I woke up back here, the baby still safely inside me. This was right after Leo had “adopted” Daisy, during the cold war he’d started because I didn’t approve. When Liam died in the other timeline, the love that sustained me vanished in an instant. That’s when I finally understood. Leo hadn’t loved me for a long, long time. In my first life, I never came to this bar. I never saw this disgusting little display. Thinking back now, he probably had filthy thoughts about her from the very beginning. I looked at the fury on Leo’s face, at the timid girl cowering beside him, and a wave of nausea rolled through me. “Leo,” I said, my voice flat. “You’re disgusting now. I don’t want you anymore.” “What did you just say?” His eyes were rimmed with red, his voice dangerously low, each word laced with ice. “You think I’m… disgusting?” “Yes. You are.” I nodded, my gaze dropping to the belt still hanging loosely from his pants, the buckle undone. The teeth marks were clear, the dark leather still damp. It was sickening. “You told me no one would ever touch that belt but me. You said a man’s belt was like his honor. You let someone else lick it. Now it’s dirty. And so are you.” Leo’s pupils constricted. His face went white. “No, it wasn’t—I…” Just then, Liam’s voice cut through the tension, lazy and sharp. “It wasn’t what? You looked like you were enjoying it just fine a minute ago.” Leo choked on his words, his face flushing with humiliation. I had no desire to stay in that room a second longer. I grabbed Liam’s arm and started pulling him toward the door. “Forget him,” I said. “Let’s go talk somewhere else.” 5 I told Liam a version of the truth. I told him I was from two years in the future. That in that future, Leo was dead. That he had made his intentions for me clear and we were engaged. That after we got together, I got pregnant, and then, somehow, I woke up back here. Liam listened, his eyes lowered, casting his face in shadow. His expression was impossible to read. He didn't speak. He just pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, slipped one between his lips. As he brought a lighter up, I stopped him. “Smoking is bad for the baby,” I said softly. “…” His hand froze. “So,” I pressed, “you don’t believe me?” He lowered the lighter, his long fingers pinching the unlit cigarette. His throat moved as he swallowed. “I’m more inclined to believe,” he said slowly, “that you saw him flirting with another woman and you’re doing this to punish him.” My fingers tightened around the chain of my purse. He didn’t believe me. “Then come with me.” I grabbed his wrist and dragged him back into the booth. The atmosphere was still thick with tension. Leo was slumped on the leather seat, his face a thundercloud, staring intently at the sonogram in his hand. I snatched it from him, pointing to the line item for my age. “Look. It says I’m twenty-two. You know perfectly well I’m only twenty this year.” I turned back to Liam. “And if you still don’t believe me, we can go to the hospital and get a paternity test—” Before I could finish, Leo roared my name. “AUDREY!” “The baby is mine,” he seethed, “I won’t let you pretend he’s the father.” Liam’s gaze drifted down to me, a knowing, almost melancholic look in his eyes. “We’re identical twins,” he said quietly. “Our DNA is the same. A paternity test would show that either of us could be the biological father.” I paused. I hadn’t thought of that. Then, a slow smile spread across my face. “Fine. Since neither of you believe me, I’ll just choose option C.” I turned on my heel and walked out. “I’m keeping the baby and cutting the father.” 6 They both came after me. I was already in my car, the door clicking shut just as they reached it. Leo slammed his palms against the window. I didn’t even look at him. I just hit the gas and drove away. My phone, which had been in my purse when I arrived in this time, started buzzing relentlessly. It was my phone from the future, but somehow, the number worked. When I got home, I ignored the flood of missed calls. I opened my chat with Liam. The history was from two years in the future, of course. There were only four messages. The ones I sent him right after I found out about Leo. —【Liam, I’m pregnant.】 —【Where are you? I’m coming to find you.】 —【At the XX Hotel】 —【I’m on my way.】 The timestamp at the top of the screen read October 10, 2037. Today was April 26, 2035. I remembered sending that last message, then looking up to see the two of them through the window, their clothes already on the floor… The memory made my stomach churn. The raw, sickening taste of betrayal. My nerves felt like they were being chewed on by a million tiny ants. It was true. Love and men were both unreliable. So, I was going to place a bet. I was going to make them both into fuel to keep me alive. I hit the screen record function on my phone. Waited five seconds. Then I tapped the input box and held down the microphone icon. “Liam,” I said, my voice clear and steady. “Do you believe me now?” I sent the message. I stopped the recording. I sent him the video file of the screen recording. Then, I turned on Do Not Disturb, tossed my phone aside, and went to take a shower. Time for bed. 7 The next morning, the first thing I did after my brain came online was reach for my phone. 99+ missed calls. 99+ unread messages. Leo’s chat window was a novel of desperation. 【Audrey, pick up the phone.】 【We were just playing a game. I didn’t touch her.】 【I don’t agree to you cutting me out. And I damn well don’t agree to you letting my brother be the father to my child.】 【It was a game. Nothing happened. Can you stop being so dramatic?】 【Daisy is innocent. She’s poor, she hasn’t seen much of the world. We didn’t do anything.】 【…】 【Are you making this huge scene just because you don’t want me helping Daisy?】 【Audrey, when did you become so cold and heartless?】 【Audrey, answer me.】 【Daisy literally just touched my belt, can you please not be like this?】 【Please stop trying to hurt me like this.】 【Audrey, I’m not dirty. You can’t leave me…】 … Hah. Daisy this, Daisy that. He spoke her name with such familiarity. I switched to Liam’s chat. 【…I believe you.】 【Audrey, let me raise the baby with you.】 【I’ll do my best to be a good father.】 【And I’ll… I’ll take care of you and the baby.】 【I’ll protect you both.】 【?】 【Why aren’t you answering?】 【Did you see my message? I said, I want to raise our baby with you.】 【Audrey, don’t play with me. I’m taking this seriously.】 【…】 【Audrey, you didn’t make up with Leo, did you?】 【I won’t allow it. I won’t let you raise our child with him.】 【Audrey, answer me when you see this…】 After quickly skimming the messages, I typed out a reply to Liam: 【Come get me. We’re going to the hospital for a check-up.】 Then, I switched back to Leo’s chat. I typed the exact same message: 【Come get me. We’re going to the hospital for a check-up.】 I waited exactly two minutes. Then I sent another message to Leo: 【Never mind. Sent to the wrong person.】 This time, his reply was instantaneous. 【???】 【Wrong person? Who were you trying to send that to? LIAM?】 【AUDREY!!!】 【I told you, I will not let you raise our child with my brother.】 The messages kept coming, a frantic barrage. I simply turned off my phone and went to get ready. When I came downstairs, sure enough, both Leo and Liam were waiting in the living room. 8 In the living room, Liam was lounging on the sofa, a vision in a black silk shirt and matching trousers. He was completely absorbed in his phone, his beautiful, long-fingered hands scrolling through something. He looked casual, but there was an undercurrent of predatory grace to him. Leo, on the other hand, was a storm cloud. He stood stiffly, his lips pressed into a thin line, glaring at Liam with an intensity that was practically suffocating the room. The moment he saw me, Leo shot to his feet. “Audrey…” I pursed my lips, a slight frown touching my features. “What are you doing here?” I asked coolly. Leo stared at me, a wounded look in his eyes, a faint ring of red slowly appearing around them. “Audrey, I told you,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I won’t let you do this. You can’t treat me this way.” “Daisy and I did nothing. It was just a stupid game.” “Hah.” Liam let out a soft, dismissive laugh without looking up from his phone. “A normal game where you let someone lick your belt. Sounds perfectly normal to me.” Leo spun on him, his control snapping. “Liam, shut your mouth!” he roared. “Stop trying to cause trouble. She and I are engaged. That makes you the other man here.” Liam chuckled, a short, dry sound. The sharp line of his Adam’s apple bobbed. “The other man. Has a nice ring to it.” Leo looked like his head was about to explode. “Liam, you’re my brother! Are you trying to steal my fiancée? Have you no shame?” I stood on the spiral staircase, arms crossed, enjoying the show. Tsk. This was even more entertaining than I’d anticipated. Leo was a hysterical mess. Liam, on the other hand, was perfectly composed, with just a hint of delightful madness. “You’re talking about shame?” Liam finally looked up, his eyes glinting. “You, the guy who was getting his belt licked by another girl?” Leo looked like he’d been punched in the gut. He was speechless. K.O. Liam Donovan. Absolutely lethal. The man was a master at pushing buttons. 9 My family and the Donovans have been friends for generations. I grew up with Leo and Liam; they were the closest things I had to childhood sweethearts. Our families had arranged a marriage for me since we were kids, with the understanding that I would choose between the two brothers when the time came. When we were old enough for crushes and confessions, they both told me they liked me. But Liam was always a magnet for girls, constantly surrounded. I saw him as a flirt, a butterfly who couldn’t be tied down. Not solid and dependable like Leo. At that age, my feelings were black and white. I disliked how popular Liam was, so I kept my distance, growing closer and closer to Leo. After Leo and I started dating, we held hands and kissed, but we never took that final step. The pressure was getting to me, and I couldn’t seem to relax. A friend in an older sorority suggested that maybe being with my boyfriend would help ease the stress. That night, we’d both had a little to drink. The alcohol and the charged atmosphere made things feel inevitable. My thinking was simple. We loved each other. He was going to be my husband anyway. It wasn’t a big deal. That was just over a month ago. The sonogram showed the pregnancy was at five weeks. So, it was understandable that Leo was so certain the child was his. He ended up getting in the car with us. He sat in the front passenger seat. After helping me into the back, Liam once again pulled out his phone, completely absorbed. Leo was like a ghost haunting the car, twisting in his seat to glare at Liam, his face a mask of fury. I glanced at Liam’s screen and understood immediately. He was looking up prenatal appointment procedures and checklists. No wonder Leo was so furious. And Liam, cool as a cucumber, was treating him like he was invisible, which only made Leo angrier. His breathing grew heavy, like an old bull. It felt like he might actually spontaneously combust from rage. Finally, he exploded again. “Liam, can you stop looking at that?” I shot him a cool look. “He’s the baby’s father,” I said calmly. “Shouldn’t he be the one looking at it?” “The baby is mine!” “Oh,” I said, my voice dripping with boredom. “So you want to be the dad? Then you should be looking at it too. Why are you stopping someone else from being prepared?” I paused for effect. “Frankly, I think he’s much better suited for the role than you are.” Leo froze. The bull-like huffing stopped. He pulled out his own phone and furiously started searching for prenatal care information. Liam looked up from his screen and gave me a long, meaningful glance. 10 At the hospital, Leo had spent the entire car ride frantically studying prenatal protocols, thinking he could seize control of the situation. It was useless. Liam gently helped me into a chair, took my ID, and went to get in line at the registration desk without giving Leo a single glance. Leo just stood there foolishly, his hand still outstretched towards me. “Audrey, give me your ID. I’ll go register.” I just pointed toward the front of the line, where Liam was already at the window. Leo’s face fell. A moment later, Liam returned, holding the registration slip. His voice was a soft caress. “Come on. Obstetrics is on the second floor.” We waited in line. We waited for my name to be called. Then, we started the round of tests. A fetal DNA test can be done at five weeks. So, I had them both do one. A non-invasive test. Just a blood draw. They both knew I was terrified of needles. They got theirs done quickly. Then it was my turn. “Audrey, don’t be scared, I’ll—” Leo started, but before he could finish, Liam was beside me. He wrapped an arm around me, his large hand covering my eyes. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “It won’t hurt.” “Liam, get away from her. She’s my fiancée, she doesn’t need you.” Leo reached out to pull him away. Liam didn’t budge. “The baby is mine,” he stated, his voice calm and even. Leo’s voice rose, sharp and cracking. “The baby is MINE!” His shout echoed, drawing the attention of everyone in the waiting area. Whispers erupted from all corners. “What’s going on? Two guys fighting over one girl?” “Not just any guys, they’re twins. Maybe she’s married to both of them, you know, like in the old days.” “Whoa, that’s some serious drama.” Even with my eyes covered, I could feel the stares burning into me. After the blood was drawn, the world came back into focus. I stood up, pointed at Liam, and addressed the gossiping crowd. “Everyone, please don’t misunderstand. The baby I’m carrying is his,” I said, indicating Liam. Then I looked at Leo, who looked like the poster child for wronged men, and pointed to my own head. “He has some issues up here. He likes to compete with his brother over everything. Just ignore him.” A wave of understanding washed over the crowd. “Oh, so he’s got problems.” “That explains it.” Just then, a thin, sharp smile touched Liam’s lips. He looked at Leo. “You haven’t forgotten that you were unbuckling your belt for another woman just yesterday, have you?” “Liam!” Leo’s voice was a furious warning, the red in his eyes deepening. It was impossible to tell if it was pure rage or something else entirely. “What kind of decent person plays a ‘let me lick your belt’ game with a girl?” Liam continued, his voice dripping with disdain. “I can assure you, guys with self-respect and a sense of boundaries don’t play games like that. In the future, don’t go out with me. Having a brother as indecent as you is embarrassing.” Three clean sentences. Every one a kill shot. Leo’s metaphorical health bar instantly dropped to zero. He looked like a defeated rooster, turning and practically fleeing from the scene. 11 “Liam.” I watched him, a slow, teasing smile on my face. “When did you get such a sharp tongue? I never noticed before.” Liam rubbed his fingertips together, his voice soft as melting snow. “That’s because you only ever had eyes for Leo. You never paid any attention to me.” “…” How was I supposed to respond to that? I grabbed his arm, standing on my toes to get closer. “Liiiiaaam,” I drew out his name. “Don’t tell me you’re still upset that I chose him instead of you back then.” He stared down at me, his expression unmoving. His eyelashes were long and thick, framing eyes the color of dark, rich ink. They were deep and bottomless. “Am I allowed to be?” he asked quietly. “Of course,” I said, my eyes curving into crescents. “You can be upset all you want. What does that have to do with me?” I leaned in a little closer. “It’s not like I’m going to change my mind.” He didn't reply to that. Instead, he said, “I had some breakfast sent over. You should eat before your next test.” In the VIP lounge, I decided to play it up. I complained that my arm was sore from the blood draw and refused to hold my own chopsticks. Liam, ever patient, simply picked them up and started feeding me. “Have a bite of this dumpling.” “Shrimp shumai.” “Feed me some of the congee.” “Mmm, how come I never realized food tastes so much better when you feed it to me? Is it because I never let you before?” I mused aloud between bites. “Damn, I should have unlocked this ‘big brother’ feature way earlier. If I had, I probably would have chosen you from the start.” I kept up the stream of sweet talk, laying the emotional validation on thick. Liam’s breathing deepened slightly, but his face remained impassive. His ears, however, were traitors. They were bright red. “Audrey,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “After the appointment, we need to find a place to talk. Properly.” I blinked my wide, innocent eyes at him, my expression full of apology. “Oh, I’m so sorry, brother. I have a meeting at the office right after this. If you’re not in a rush, could we do it in a couple of days? You know me, juggling my studies and managing the company… I’m just so busy.” Liam’s gaze dropped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You shouldn’t overexert yourself in the first trimester.” “Don’t worry,” I chirped, patting his arm. “I know my limits. I’ll protect our baby.” 12 The second the check-up was over, I said a swift goodbye to Liam. I ran into Leo and Daisy at the hospital entrance. Daisy was biting her lip, her expression a perfect blend of innocent purity and stubborn grievance. Her pale face looked like it was on the verge of tears, a picture of fragile beauty. The moment she saw me, she shrank closer to Leo, as if seeking shelter from a storm. A flicker of contempt crossed my face. I couldn't believe how much I’d trusted Leo in my last life, how I’d dismissed her as harmless, completely missing her manipulative little act. I got into my car and deliberately rolled down the window. As we passed them, I had the driver honk the horn. It worked. Leo’s head snapped up. He saw the undisguised disgust on my face. His own face went pale, a flicker of panic in his eyes. I turned away, staring straight ahead as the window slowly slid shut. The rise and fall of my chest betrayed the turmoil inside. It was the suffocating absurdity of being betrayed. Leo. So, had you two been sneaking around all along? I thought, even with my strange dependency on love for survival, that my life could be simple. I thought after Mom, Dad, and Grandpa were gone, at least I would always have Leo’s love. It’s the biggest mistake you can make in a relationship, isn’t it? Assuming they’ll love you forever. Three days later. The hospital. The paternity test results were in. I called both Leo and Liam to meet me there. Unexpectedly, Leo brought Daisy with him. For the past two days, Leo had been trying to contact me nonstop. I’d found him so annoying that I blocked his number. He’d resorted to bombarding me with texts, none of which I’d read. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his red-rimmed eyes. His voice was raw and hoarse, thick with a pathetic sort of grief. “Audrey…” “That day at the hospital… Daisy and I weren’t doing anything. You wouldn’t talk to me, so I had to ask her to come and help me explain.” I let out a cold laugh. “Oh, so it’s ‘Daisy’ now? Weren’t you calling her your little ‘sweetie’ before? That sounded so much more intimate.” Leo flinched. “Audrey, please don’t be like this,” he pleaded. “There’s really nothing between us. The game… everyone was just egging me on, saying I was a bad sport if I didn’t play along, so I…” I looked at him, my face devoid of emotion. “Leo, don’t you dare try to blame this on other people,” I said, my voice flat. “It’s not the first time your friends have dared you to do something stupid. In the past, you always had principles. You had boundaries. This time, she broke them. You broke them. You’re not clean anymore. So whether it was a game or not, in my eyes, you betrayed me.” Leo’s face went slack, his lips parting as if to speak. He looked at me with the wide, uncomprehending eyes of a child who’s just been punished, lost and panicked. “I…” At that moment, Daisy, clutching the strap of her purse, looked at Leo with a heartbreaking expression of sympathy. She bit her lip, her voice trembling with what was supposed to be righteous indignation, but was really just pure, unadulterated bitchiness. “It was just a game. You’re making such a big deal out of nothing. Leo was probably just afraid of being called a spoilsport. Why do you have to be so difficult about it? You’re being incredibly petty, you know that?” 13 THWACK— The word was barely out of Daisy’s mouth before Leo was sent sprawling to the ground by a vicious kick. Liam stood over him, his eyes narrowed into dark, dangerous slits, radiating pure menace. “Leo!” he snarled. “Did you teach her to talk to Audrey like that? We’ve spent our entire lives protecting her, and you let some outsider disrespect her like this?” Leo lay on the pavement, dazed. “I didn’t,” he stammered. “Daisy, apologize to Audrey. Now.” Daisy’s face was as white as a sheet, her body trembling. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. I gave Leo one last, cold look. “Wait here.” With that, I grabbed Liam’s hand and walked into the hospital to get the DNA report. As expected, the results identified both of them as the baby’s biological father. When we came back out, Daisy was gone. I handed Leo his copy of the report. “Congratulations,” I said, my voice dripping with irony. “You’ve both been identified as the father.” Leo stared at the paper, his voice choked and raw. “Audrey, the baby is mine. I won’t let you leave me. I won’t let you raise our child with him.” He grabbed my hand, his eyes shining with a broken, desperate light. “If you don’t like Daisy, I’ll stop helping her. I’ll cut off all contact. I was wrong, okay? Can you please stop using my brother to punish me?” I leaned in close to his ear, my voice a soft, cruel whisper. “Leo, don’t you get it yet? I don’t want you anymore. It doesn’t matter whose baby it is. What matters is who I decide the father is going to be.” I straightened up, pulling my hand from his grasp. I walked over to Liam and stood beside him, my voice loud and clear for Leo to hear. “Liam will be a much better father for my baby.” Then, I leaned toward Liam’s ear. “He’s not dead yet, brother,” I murmured. “And he still loves me very much. I can’t exactly tell him I’m a time traveler, and he’s convinced the baby is his. So if you want the job, you’re going to have to fight him for it. You’re going to have to steal it from him. Show me how much you want this. Show me you’re willing to fight for me.” I paused. “And while you’re at it, do me a little favor. Beat him up. Make sure you get his face.” “If you win, come see me tomorrow. If you lose…” I let the word hang in the air. “Well, the baby takes after me. We’re drawn to winners. We don’t like having a loser for a father.” Just then, my car pulled up. I stood up straight, blinking innocently, my face a perfect mask. “Since you both want to be the dad so badly, you can figure it out between you. My business manager needs me for something, so I have to go.”
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