Chapter 2The Wedding I Burned

After saying that, Liam announced he had an urgent work matter and left in a hurry. He was in such a rush, he didn't even notice he'd put on one of his loafers with one of my house slippers.

This wasn't normal.

After a moment's hesitation, I grabbed my car keys and drove to his office building downtown. I hadn't even made it to the elevator bank when the receptionist told me Liam had taken the afternoon off. His assistant had just called it in.

My hand, hanging by my side, started to tremble.

A wild, terrifying thought clawed its way into my mind, and the blood drained from my face. I took several deep, shaky breaths before my legs felt strong enough to carry me to the underground parking garage.

It was the middle of the workday, and the garage was cool and silent.

And then I heard it. A series of low, ragged breaths that cut through the quiet.

"Do you have to marry him? He's Audrey's brother!"

A man had a woman pinned against a concrete pillar, his hand tight around her neck, their bodies pressed so close they seemed to merge into one shadow.

She was still smiling. "What's wrong, Liam? Jealous? You're the one who threw me away. It doesn't matter who I'm with now. You don't get a say anymore."

Isabelle's taunts only made the storm in Liam's eyes darken.

He silenced her, his mouth crashing down on hers with pinpoint precision.

The ragged breathing grew louder.

The only other sounds in the vast, empty garage were my own, a choked sob I tried to swallow as I clapped a hand over my mouth.

Liam was cheating on me.

With Isabelle. My brother's fiancée.

How was I supposed to accept this?

I don't know how long I stood there, frozen, before the sounds stopped. When I looked again, Liam still hadn't let her go. His voice, when he spoke, was softer than before, almost gentle.

"Isabelle, I never said you couldn't get married. But it can't be him. It can't be Audrey's brother. Come on, break it off. I can set you up with someone better."

Isabelle’s eyes were red-rimmed, her body language a study in bruised pride. "Audrey is the love of your life. Even after I spent three years as your secret, you dropped me for her without a second thought. You made your choice. Stay out of mine."

Liam was not a patient man. I was the only person he ever let shout at him, the only one who could get away with sarcasm and moods.

But now, it seemed Isabelle had been granted the same privilege.

I watched him. He lowered his head, silent for a long moment, as if weighing an impossible decision. It wasn't that complicated.

It was her, or it was me.

The moment I knew he had betrayed me, it was already over between us. But his hesitation, right here, right now—it still sent a sliver of ice through my heart.

My car keys slipped from my numb fingers and clattered onto the concrete floor.

I stood there, staring.

And met Liam's eyes as they snapped toward me, suddenly cold and sharp.

In the next second, he shoved Isabelle away from him, his face a mask of panic I had never seen before.

I snatched my keys from the ground and ran.