Sophie Evans
Liam never left New York.
His words echoed in my head like a siren, deafening and impossible to ignore. But that couldn’t be true. Lucas told me he saw Liam leaving. He told me he had tried to stop him, that he had pleaded with him to stay, but Liam had insisted on leaving because he didn’t want me.
So who was lying?
My brother, the one person who had always protected me? Or Liam, the man who had shattered my heart all those years ago?
There was no way I could trust Liam over my own blood.
But then, I remembered the way James had hesitated earlier, the way he had looked at Liam with something close to guilt. He had said Liam was trustworthy. He had refused to tell me what he knew.
I turned sharply, my heart pounding. Liam was standing right behind me now, his gaze locked onto mine.
“I never left,” he repeated, his voice firm.
My throat went dry. “What do you mean?”
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair before looking back at me.
“I went out to get you flowers,” he said. “I wanted to surprise you that night. I wanted to tell you—” He stopped himself, shaking his head as if the memory pained him. “But before I could make it back, some guys jumped me. They beat me until I lost consciousness.”
I stiffened, my breath catching. “What?”
“When I woke up, it was already the next day,” he continued. “I had bruises all over me. I was barely able to stand.” His voice darkened. “My mother reported it to the police. They caught some of the gang members.”
I shook my head, unable to process what he was saying. “But why? Why would anyone—”
His next words sent a chill down my spine. “Because Lucas hired them.”
The world tilted. I stumbled back a step, gripping the edge of the chair for support.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “That’s not possible.”
His gaze was steady, unwavering. “It is.”
I swallowed hard. “Lucas would never do that. He—he wouldn’t—”
Liam stepped closer, his fingers brushing against my face, tilting my chin up so I had no choice but to meet his eyes.
“Well, he did,” he said softly. “He had warned me before then to stay away from you. He said he’d do whatever it took to make sure I was out of your life.”
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. My body trembled against his touch.
Liam let out a heavy breath. “After I recovered, I tried to find you. I went to your house. But you were already gone.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to suppress the rising wave of emotions threatening to swallow me whole.
“You left the country,” he said. “No one would tell me where you went. I tried calling, but your number was unreachable. So I went to Lucas.”
I flinched.
“He told me you’d moved on,” Liam continued, his voice tight with barely restrained anger. “He said you were in love with someone else. That you were with Phillip.”
I inhaled sharply, my eyes widening. “What?”
Liam nodded. “And I saw a picture to prove that you truly were in love with him instead.”
Phillip was one of my classmates back then. Coincidentally, Phillip was on the same plane to London as me. I remembered the photo we had taken together on the plane, the one I had sent to Lucas to let him know I had arrived safely.
Realization hit me like a freight train. Lucas used that against me.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
But before I could say anything more, my phone rings. It was from the hospital.
“Ms. Evans... we need you at the hospital, right away.”
I felt a knot in my stomach, something wasn’t right. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Your brother… we were supposed to take his vitals a while ago, but when the nurse went into his room… he was gone.”