The night Liam found out was cold, a biting wind cutting through the city. They were at his apartment, curled up on the couch, when his phone rang. Hazel watched as he answered, his expression shifting from amusement to confusion, and then to something much darker.
"Oliver told me everything," Liam's voice was thick with disbelief, his eyes wide as he looked at Hazel.
Her heart stopped.
"What…what did he tell you?"
"That you were with him before. That you two were serious. That…that you're his ex."
Hazel's world spun. She felt like she was falling, crashing through layers of her past and present, unable to find her footing.
"Liam, I didn't…I didn't know. I swear, I didn't know you were his brother," she choked out, tears already stinging her eyes. "I never meant to - "
"To what? Sleep with my brother's ex? Make me part of some revenge scheme?" His voice broke, and Hazel could see the hurt in his eyes, the betrayal.
"No, it wasn't like that. I didn't plan any of this. I didn't even know."
"Did you know when we slept together?" His words were sharp, cutting deep into her already fragile heart.
Hazel couldn't speak. She could only nod, her tears flowing freely now.
Liam stood up abruptly, his fists clenched, pacing the room. He looked like a man on the verge of breaking, his mind reeling from the betrayal he felt.
"I don't know if I can believe you," he finally said, his voice hollow. "How can you fall in love with me when you loved my brother before? How?"
Hazel's heart shattered. She had no answer for him. All she knew was that she had fallen for Liam, not because he was Oliver's brother, but because he was everything she had ever wanted - everything Oliver had never been.