Lost in the Twin Game is a suspenseful romance thriller where hidden identities, dangerous secrets, and forbidden attraction blur the line between truth and deception. When an intelligent young woman becomes entangled with a pair of mysterious twin brothers, she finds herself trapped in a deadly game where appearances can never be trusted.
As shocking family secrets, inheritance battles, and carefully planned betrayals begin to unravel, she struggles to uncover which twin is protecting her—and which one is manipulating her. With every revelation, the mystery grows deeper, forcing her to choose between love, loyalty, and survival.
Filled with psychological suspense, emotional twists, romantic tension, elite family drama, mind games, and unforgettable plot twists, this addictive series keeps viewers guessing until the very end.
Watch the Full Episode featuring twin brothers, hidden identities, billionaire family secrets, psychological mystery, romance, betrayal, and an unforgettable journey through a game where nothing is what it seems.
#LostInTheTwinGame #TwinGame #TwinBrothers #HiddenIdentity #MysteryRomance #PsychologicalThriller #BillionaireRomance #LoveTriangle #FamilySecrets #RomanticSuspense #DramaSeries #DramaUrbano #ShortDrama #ShortFilm #ShortMovie #FullEP #ENGSUB #TrendingDrama #ViralDrama #MysterySeries
As shocking family secrets, inheritance battles, and carefully planned betrayals begin to unravel, she struggles to uncover which twin is protecting her—and which one is manipulating her. With every revelation, the mystery grows deeper, forcing her to choose between love, loyalty, and survival.
Filled with psychological suspense, emotional twists, romantic tension, elite family drama, mind games, and unforgettable plot twists, this addictive series keeps viewers guessing until the very end.
Watch the Full Episode featuring twin brothers, hidden identities, billionaire family secrets, psychological mystery, romance, betrayal, and an unforgettable journey through a game where nothing is what it seems.
#LostInTheTwinGame #TwinGame #TwinBrothers #HiddenIdentity #MysteryRomance #PsychologicalThriller #BillionaireRomance #LoveTriangle #FamilySecrets #RomanticSuspense #DramaSeries #DramaUrbano #ShortDrama #ShortFilm #ShortMovie #FullEP #ENGSUB #TrendingDrama #ViralDrama #MysterySeries
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I fold. Avery's yours for tonight.
00:03You're willing to give her up?
00:05Since you like her, I'll gladly step aside.
00:09Although, we've been together for almost a year.
00:11If you think she's secondhand, no need. I'll take her.
00:19Fine. Then enjoy yourself tonight, brother.
00:23As soon as Liam left, the room immediately came alive again.
00:28Logan, are you serious?
00:30You chased Avery for three months, went all soft for her, and you're already bored?
00:32It's not even been a year.
00:35A bet's a bet. And besides, she's just a girl.
00:38So Avery wasn't anything special to you after all.
00:44At first she was. Hard to get. A bit high and mighty.
00:48But now, she's no different from the others.
00:52Still the same. Behaves like a damn dog in front of me.
00:56Hey, Logan. Next time, can I have a turn with her?
01:02But Logan, what if Liam actually gets to her? What then?
01:08He won't. They say he didn't even touch a girl back at military school. Ice cold type.
01:12That's not necessarily true, though.
01:14He did look at Avery a few times when she wore that dress showing her legs.
01:17He just hates girls who try too hard to show off.
01:20Bet on it then, Logan. You in?
01:22Don't forget, Avery is obsessed with me. She'd rather die than let another guy touch her.
01:26If you really want to bet, you better be ready to lose everything.
01:29Logan stood up and walked out. A pretty cheerleader was already waiting outside the door.
01:34He shoved her against the hallway wall and kissed her. Hard.
01:37No one noticed that I, the subject of the twins' bet, had already heard everything.
01:44If he could openly bet me away to another guy, then I meant absolutely nothing to him.
01:50And if I was stupid enough to make a scene and embarrass him in front of everyone, I'd be the
01:56one paying the price.
01:57Everyone knows Logan's family had endowed the athletic center of our school.
02:01His name was on the donor wall in the main hallway, in letters bigger than most people's futures.
02:07That's why he could break rules, get into fights, and cause trouble at school without ever getting expelled.
02:14Someone told me there had been a ballet dancer before me.
02:17Logan had chased her for months before she finally said yes.
02:21He spoiled her.
02:23Let her get away with things no one else could.
02:25For a while, everyone thought that she'd gotten the notorious bad boy to settle down.
02:31But less than six months later, he got bored and messed up with other girls.
02:38The ballet girl slashed the tire of Logan's motorcycle, making a scene in front of half the school.
02:48A few days later, she fell during rehearsal.
02:51She lived, but she was paralyzed from the waist down.
02:55Her whole life, finished.
02:58She withdrew from Stonebridge High before the semester was over.
03:02Officially, she'd transferred to a performing arts academy in another state.
03:07Unofficially, nobody wanted to talk about it.
03:10Back when Logan was chasing me, someone told me that he had been quietly looking into my scholarship.
03:16If he wanted to, he could make my life at this school a living hell.
03:20I had said yes to him because I was afraid of saying no.
03:23I had stayed with him for a year, keeping my head down.
03:27And now he'd put me in a card game.
03:30I went back to the guest room and lay down on the couch, pulling the blanket over myself.
03:35The door opened, footsteps across the room.
03:38And then the smell, clean and unfamiliar.
03:41Not Logan.
03:42You should sleep in an actual bed.
03:48Finally, I've been waiting forever, Logan.
03:52Have you been waiting long?
03:54My head is killing me.
03:56You'll feel better once you get something in your stomach.
03:59I'm tired.
04:00Take me somewhere.
04:02You smell different tonight?
04:03Do I?
04:04Yeah, it's better though.
04:06Actually better.
04:08A lot.
04:09Glad you like it.
04:12Two days earlier, I hadn't known Liam Hayes existed.
04:16Logan never talked about him.
04:17In fact, he seemed almost wary of him.
04:20Mrs. Patterson introduced Liam in AP Lit.
04:22Transfer student.
04:24Previously enrolled in Vermont.
04:26Joining us for senior year.
04:27The rumors spread fast.
04:29He'd been kicked out of multiple schools.
04:31He'd hospitalized two guys in a fight and had no marks on him afterward.
04:36He'd been at a military academy before Vermont.
04:38He had a 4.0 and no one at his previous schools would say much about him.
04:43Which people interpreted as either very good or very bad.
04:47At dinner, I sat next to Logan.
04:49Liam sat alone at another table.
04:51Near the end, his eyes moved to me.
04:53Just for a second.
04:55He didn't talk to anyone before leaving.
04:57I had no idea why he would agree to something as ridiculous as Logan's bet.
05:01But one thing became clear the moment I heard that bet.
05:05If I wanted to walk away from this game those rich guys were playing without getting hurt,
05:09Liam might be my only way out.
05:11I had just stepped out of the bathroom when Liam pulled me into his arms from behind.
05:28You're unusually impatient tonight, Logan.
05:33Change how you call me.
05:36Then what do you want me to call you?
05:40What do you usually call me?
05:43Your name, Mr. Hayes.
05:45And I've called you Baby.
05:49Then tonight call me Sir.
05:53Sir?
05:55Sir?
05:56Sir?
05:59Sir?
06:00Sir?
06:00Sir?
06:01Sir?
06:02Sir?
06:02Sir?
06:03Sir?
06:04Sir?
06:04Sir?
06:04Sir?
06:39Don't stop, Avery. Don't stop.
06:41Sir.
06:43Sir.
06:47The next day, I opened my eyes to full daylight.
06:50Every part of me ached.
06:52The kind of all-over soreness that goes bone deep.
06:55The room was empty.
06:57Liam was gone.
06:58I didn't know when he'd left.
07:00Through the glass, I could see the back lawn below
07:02and Logan standing in it.
07:04I picked out a dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline,
07:07revealing the marks on purpose.
07:13Hey.
07:14What's wrong?
07:20Can you go get me some medicine from the infirmary?
07:22What for? What hurts?
07:24Last night, you were really rough.
07:26I didn't realize until the shower.
07:28It bled a little. It really hurts.
07:32Say that again.
07:33What bled?
07:34Last night, it was a lot.
07:36You were... I'm really sore.
07:37Like, everywhere.
07:38You were so different last night, though.
07:40Like, really different.
07:41Better.
07:42I don't know what got into you, but I really liked it.
07:44I even cried.
07:45I begged you to stop and you didn't.
07:46You were so mean about it.
07:48But also, I kind of didn't want you to.
07:51I'll go get something.
07:52Stay here.
07:54He was gone 40 minutes.
07:55I'd gotten takeout from the cafeteria
07:57and was eating in my dorm room.
07:59I was halfway through when I noticed someone outside.
08:01I saw Liam coming up the path.
08:03The two of them weren't actually that hard to tell apart.
08:06Liam was slightly taller than Logan.
08:08Broader through the shoulders.
08:09More solidly built.
08:10And the jacket he had on today
08:12was the same cut as Logan's.
08:13From a distance, the similarity was close enough.
08:16Hey, Logan.
08:17Did you bring it?
08:25What medication?
08:27Stop pretending.
08:28I told you.
08:29Last night you hurt me.
08:30And I need...
08:34I just remembered.
08:34I should see how bad it is first
08:36so I can tell the pharmacist what to get.
08:39You don't need to be embarrassed.
08:41It's not as if I haven't already...
08:43I'm not talking to you.
08:47Okay, I'll stop.
08:48I mean it.
08:50What exactly are you two doing?
08:55His face went through several things in a row.
08:58All of them controlled.
08:59None of them good.
09:00Liam, Avery, what exactly are you two doing?
09:04Liam?
09:04Logan, I got the wrong person.
09:07You weren't wearing your glasses today.
09:08I thought you were him.
09:11Avery, you're hopeless.
09:12You can't even tell your own boyfriend apart.
09:14I'm sorry.
09:15Liam, I'm so sorry.
09:16I really did mix you up.
09:17It's not your fault.
09:19Twins get confused all the time.
09:20Logan, you shouldn't have snapped at her.
09:22Whose fault is it she's so dense?
09:24You share a bed with someone for a year
09:25and can't recognize them?
09:26She's only met me once.
09:27Mixing us up is normal.
09:28Fine, I'll apologize to her.
09:32Go back to the room.
09:33Let me see where you're hurt.
09:34I'll put the ointment on for you.
09:36If I had it right, Logan had spent last night with another girl.
09:40And now, he wanted to put his hands on me.
09:43A wave of nausea rose up, sudden and violent.
09:46I forced it down, hard.
09:49Take it off.
09:50Lie down.
09:52Logan, why are you being so harsh with me today?
09:54In our year together, maybe to keep me fooled,
09:56maybe out of some sliver of something real,
09:59Logan had always been gentle.
10:00Are you still mad that I mistook your brother for you?
10:02No, you're overthinking it.
10:04I'm just worried about your injury.
10:06Is it still bleeding?
10:07Let me see.
10:08The truth is, when Logan first chased me,
10:10I kept saying no.
10:12I only said yes in the end because I was afraid.
10:14Someone had made a point of telling me about the girl before me,
10:17the dancer.
10:18Avery, be careful.
10:19Don't really set him off.
10:20I heard he's been digging into your family.
10:22People like Logan, we couldn't afford to cross him in 10 lifetimes.
10:25I was afraid of dying.
10:26I was more afraid of living through something worse than death.
10:29So I accepted him.
10:31And for a whole year, I'd kept my head down,
10:33careful with every step.
10:34And Logan had been good to me,
10:36devoted even,
10:37so much that sometimes I let myself dream impossible things.
10:40I lost my grip on reality.
10:42But I never imagined that lowering myself this far would buy me nothing
10:46but being handed off to another man like a chip on a table.
10:49My head was a tangled mess.
10:50Logan pressed me down to sit,
10:52then crouched in front of me.
10:53He looked down,
10:54took hold of my slim calf.
10:55You must have worked me up last night.
10:58Otherwise, why would I have been so rough?
11:00and parted my legs.
11:01He laughed softly and glanced up at me,
11:03then slowly began to lift the hem of my dress.
11:05I turned my face away and bit down on the inside of my lip,
11:08swallowing the sickness churning in my stomach,
11:10just as he was about to pull away the last thin layer of fabric.
11:14Logan!
11:15Come to the study, now!
11:17Liam's voice,
11:17from the hallway,
11:19heavy with warning,
11:19and a thread of barely leashed anger underneath.
11:22Logan muttered something that might have been a curse,
11:24but he stood up at once.
11:25Put it on yourself.
11:27I'll go deal with him.
11:28I took it and watched him leave the room.
11:30Only then,
11:30like a prisoner granted a stay,
11:32did I let out a long,
11:33ragged breath.
11:34My phone buzzed beside me.
11:35I picked it up.
11:36A text from an unknown number.
11:38This is Liam.
11:39Save my number.
11:41I stared at the small words on the screen for a long moment,
11:44before I typed back,
11:45okay.
11:46Liam didn't reply,
11:48and Logan didn't come back to the room.
11:51He called me from the campus instead.
11:53Something had gone wrong at his father's sportswear subsidiary,
11:56the one his family had set up,
11:58and he had to fly out for a few days.
12:00I could hear the strain in his voice.
12:02It sounded like more than a small problem.
12:05For me, at least,
12:06it bought a little room to breathe.
12:08The next morning,
12:10I got ready to head back to school.
12:11I'd barely come down the stairs when I ran into Liam again.
12:14This time,
12:15he was wearing his glasses.
12:16Nothing at all like the man who had kissed me so gently that night.
12:20I greeted him the way I had the very first time.
12:22Morning.
12:23Heading back to school?
12:26Yeah.
12:27It's on my way.
12:28I'll drive you.
12:29I started to refuse,
12:30but he went on.
12:31Logan's gone,
12:32as his brother looking after you is the least I can do.
12:35Eat something first.
12:36I forced down a few bites and set my fork aside.
12:39Liam said nothing,
12:40just turned and walked out.
12:43I shouldered my bag and followed.
12:49When the car door shut,
12:50he reached up and pressed the button raising the privacy partition.
12:55Liam?
12:56Nerves flickered through me.
12:58He took off his glasses and set them in the storage box.
13:01How's the injury?
13:03Better?
13:04A little better?
13:05My face went scarlet in an instant.
13:08If it's healed,
13:08use this.
13:12No!
13:12No,
13:13I don't need it!
13:14Logan already put medicine on it for me.
13:17There was nothing on Liam's face,
13:19which somehow made him more frightening.
13:21Take it.
13:22This one works better.
13:23Really?
13:23I don't need it!
13:25Logan was already upset that I mixed you two up.
13:29If he found out I took your ointment too,
13:31he'd yell at me for sure.
13:33Liam looked at me steadily,
13:34then slowly lowered his hand.
13:39You care about him that much?
13:40I pressed my lips together.
13:43He's my first boyfriend.
13:45He's always been so,
13:47so good to me.
13:48Letting a sweetness I didn't feel
13:50rise into my eyes.
13:51I really love him.
13:53Liam let out something
13:54that might have been a low laugh.
13:56Or maybe I imagined it.
13:57He didn't look at me again,
13:58just leaned back,
13:59gaze fixed calmly ahead.
14:00He didn't say another word the whole drive.
14:02When we reached the school parking lot,
14:03I thanked him quietly.
14:05Thank you for today.
14:05I'll go in now.
14:07Liam nodded faintly.
14:10Avery.
14:10I turned without thinking,
14:12straight into those clear, dark eyes.
14:15This ointment is the best there is for scars.
14:17Use it on the one on your calf.
14:19How do you know I have a scar on my calf?
14:21He didn't answer.
14:22He just placed the tube in my hand.
14:24I sat frozen for a second,
14:26then opened the door and got out.
14:28Liam got out after me,
14:29not looking at me once
14:30as he headed for the school building.
14:32I stood there a while
14:32before I took out my phone
14:34and answered Logan's text.
14:35I miss you too.
14:36Are you really not back for another 10 days?
14:39About that long.
14:40But I'll wrap it up
14:41and come home as fast as I can.
14:43Okay.
14:43I'll wait for you.
14:45Time crawled forward.
14:46Those 10 days without Logan
14:47were strangely peaceful.
14:49Liam never came near me once.
14:51That night started to feel
14:52like some absurd dream.
14:54Sometimes I even wondered,
14:55had it really been Liam?
14:56A person like that?
14:57So far above everyone.
14:59Untouchable.
14:59Why would he play such a vile game
15:01with his own brother?
15:02Friday afternoon,
15:03Logan texted to say
15:04he was going back to campus that night
15:05and told me to wait for him.
15:07Stonebridge had a handful
15:08of senior residence suites.
15:09Small private rooms
15:11in the old dorm wing.
15:12The kind the legacy family's kids
15:13always ended up with.
15:14Logan's was one of them.
15:16I let myself in,
15:17showered,
15:17and lay on the couch
15:18scrolling my phone,
15:19waiting.
15:20And somewhere in the waiting
15:21I fell asleep.
15:21I don't know how long.
15:23The sound of the door woke me.
15:25I sat up, bleary,
15:26and saw a tall figure
15:27walking toward me
15:28against the light.
15:29With him came that cold scent
15:30from that night.
15:31He came closer.
15:32No glasses.
15:33Exactly like that night.
15:34I reached out
15:35asking to be held.
15:42Why are you back so late?
15:44I'm so tired from waiting.
15:46His breath seemed to catch.
15:48Then the arms around me
15:49tightened all at once,
15:50hard enough that I hissed.
15:56You're hurting me again.
15:58I only just healed.
16:00Don't you dare be rough
16:01with me tonight, Logan.
16:09Liam caught my chin.
16:10I couldn't fight his grip.
16:14What did you call me?
16:15So I had no choice
16:16but to turn and face him.
16:18His scalding breath
16:19brushed across my nose.
16:20My lashes trembled
16:21and then he kissed me
16:22soft at first.
16:25Do you miss me?
16:26But the gentleness
16:27gave way fast
16:28to a sudden storm.
16:29I do?
16:30I answered, blurred.
16:32Miss who?
16:33Say it clearly.
16:34I miss Logan.
16:35He bit down hard
16:36on my lip.
16:37The pain made my tears
16:38spill over.
16:39I glared at him,
16:40wounded.
16:40But before the name
16:41could leave my mouth,
16:42he stopped it with a kiss
16:43deeper and more reckless
16:44than before.
16:45And when I was fully pinned
16:46beneath him,
16:47claimed by him,
16:48only then did he take
16:49my face in his hands
16:50and brush the tears
16:51from the corners
16:52of my eyes
16:53with his thumb.
16:55I couldn't stop sobbing.
16:58Avery,
16:59I'll ask one more time.
17:01What do you call me?
17:03Sorry, sorry.
17:04Do you like it
17:05when I treat you this way?
17:07I cried so hard
17:08I choked,
17:09wanting to shake my head,
17:10but he kissed me
17:10until I couldn't move.
17:12All I could do
17:12was nod, whimpering.
17:13Only then did his kiss
17:15gentle again.
17:16Now from now on,
17:17I'll treat you like this
17:18every day, alright?
17:19You'll hurt me.
17:20It hurts like that.
17:21You were never this rough
17:23with me before.
17:24He pressed me to his chest.
17:27Did I hurt you tonight?
17:28Then did it feel good?
17:30I bit my lip,
17:31cheeks burning.
17:31The body doesn't lie.
17:33I couldn't deny it.
17:34Liam had given me
17:34a pleasure Logan never had.
17:36Maybe it was
17:37the forbidden thrill,
17:37or maybe I'd never liked
17:39Logan that much
17:40to begin with.
17:40It felt good.
17:41Something dark and hungry
17:42flared in his sated eyes.
17:44He flipped me
17:45beneath him again.
17:46From now on,
17:46only do this with me.
17:48Alright?
17:49I laughed under my breath.
17:51What are you talking about?
17:53Of course only with you, Logan.
17:55Don't say the name.
17:56His voice dropped hard.
17:58I blinked up.
17:58What's wrong with you?
17:59You're being so strange.
18:01But Liam only let go
18:02of my hands
18:03and gently covered my eyes.
18:06Avery,
18:06I love hearing you
18:08call me sir.
18:09Every time you do,
18:10it does something to me.
18:12Call me that from now on.
18:14Always.
18:15And my fingers brushed
18:16an old scar
18:17at the web of his thumb.
18:18Something flickered
18:19across my mind,
18:20fast as a spark,
18:21but I couldn't catch it.
18:22After a long moment,
18:23I answered low.
18:24Okay, sir.
18:27Liam got the dorm wing
18:28to himself,
18:29a word to the right people,
18:30and the floor cleared out
18:31for the weekend.
18:32He stayed with me openly.
18:35Meals in the half-empty
18:36dining hall,
18:37slow walks across
18:38the quad after dark,
18:39and at night,
18:41the endless,
18:42insatiable tangling.
18:43On the third night,
18:45he signed us both out
18:46and drove off campus,
18:47down to the marina
18:49at the edge of town.
18:50We ate fresh-caught fish
18:51at one of the dockside places,
18:53built out over the water.
18:55I drank a lot of the wine,
18:57and by the time we left,
18:59I couldn't walk straight.
19:00Liam carried me back
19:01to the car on his back.
19:03His fingers grazed
19:04the old scar on my calf,
19:06and he asked,
19:07naturally,
19:09How did you hurt
19:10your leg so badly?
19:12When I was little,
19:13there was this awful kid,
19:14so mean.
19:17His family was loaded.
19:19All the other kids
19:20circled around him,
19:21sucking up to him.
19:22Not me.
19:23The more I ignored him,
19:24the more he wouldn't
19:25leave me alone.
19:29But I wasn't some
19:30idle little rich boy
19:31with nothing to do.
19:33I had to help my parents
19:34run their food stall,
19:36look after my little brother,
19:38change his diapers,
19:40feed him.
19:41He kept pestering me
19:42until I'd had it,
19:43so I got in a fight with him.
19:45I was small.
19:47Couldn't beat a boy,
19:48obviously.
19:50He shoved me down,
19:52and I cracked my leg open
19:53on the edge of a planter.
19:54Bled everywhere.
19:57He didn't get off easy
19:58either, though.
20:01I grabbed his hand
20:02and bit him as hard
20:03as I could.
20:04Sank my teeth right in,
20:05my whole mouth
20:06was full of blood.
20:07He had no spine at all,
20:09just blod, screaming.
20:12He wasn't really bad, though.
20:14Just kind of spoiled.
20:17Afterward, he even
20:17brought me medicine,
20:19tried to cheer me up,
20:21said the scar was shaped
20:22like a flower petal,
20:24that it was actually pretty.
20:28And after that?
20:29Don't remember.
20:30He left pretty soon,
20:31I think.
20:32Picked up by his parents,
20:33probably.
20:35Back then,
20:36I had work that never ended.
20:38Who'd remember stuff like that?
20:44I heard Liam say my name.
20:48Avery.
20:49He seemed to say something after it,
20:51but I didn't catch it.
20:53The day Logan actually came back,
20:56Liam set up a dinner.
20:57Liam reserved a private dining room
20:59and put the three of us at the same table.
21:01I asked him,
21:02on purpose.
21:04Liam,
21:05Logan's been back a few days already.
21:07Why are you only doing this dinner today?
21:09Liam looked at me for a long time without answering.
21:12I shrank back and ran off to find Logan.
21:14I didn't look back,
21:16but I could feel it the whole time.
21:18Liam's gaze following me.
21:20At dinner that night,
21:21Logan's mood was foul.
21:23Maybe the trip hadn't gone well.
21:25When he reached for his third drink,
21:27I lightly pressed my hand over his glass.
21:29Sir,
21:30drink less.
21:31Your stomach's bad.
21:32The words weren't even finished
21:34before two pairs of eyes snapped to my face.
21:37Liam always had impeccable manners.
21:39Even here,
21:40he wore a full blazer,
21:41sitting straight-backed.
21:42But now his knife clinked clumsily
21:44against the porcelain plate.
21:46Logan's brow furrowed too.
21:48What did you just call me?
21:53Sir.
21:54Why?
21:55Avery!
21:57Logan.
21:58Who the hell are you calling Sir?
22:00What the fuck have you been doing behind my back?
22:05You said it yourself.
22:07You said you liked it when I called you that.
22:09Bullshit!
22:10When did I ever say...
22:18You said it with your own mouth.
22:19You said you liked me calling you Sir.
22:22You told me to call you that lately.
22:24Liam slowly set down his knife and fork.
22:27He rose.
22:28The pressure rolling off him chilled the room.
22:31My crying dropped away.
22:32An unspeakable terror crawled up my spine.
22:35Maybe Liam's polished surface had fooled me.
22:38He was, in fact,
22:40far more frightening than Logan.
22:41I started to shake and couldn't stop.
22:44Liam's gaze landed on me for only two short seconds.
22:47But my whole back went damp with sweat.
22:50Don't bully a girl.
22:52Come with me.
22:53We'll talk.
22:56When the door shut behind them,
22:58my phone lit with a text.
23:00From Liam.
23:02Four words.
23:03Don't be afraid.
23:04I'm here.
23:05I looked at those words,
23:06wiped my eyes,
23:08and slowly lowered myself into a chair.
23:10Then I covered my face and laughed at myself.
23:13Did Liam think I didn't know?
23:14Or that I wouldn't remember?
23:16The day he transferred in.
23:18At the welcome reception the trustees threw.
23:21Someone had congratulated him on his coming engagement.
23:24Some arrangement with another old money family.
23:26He hadn't denied it.
23:28And a man about to be engaged,
23:30playing a game like this with his own twin.
23:32It was just one last thrill before it was all settled.
23:35Or some indulgence of an ugly little appetite
23:38hidden beneath that flawless face.
23:41But what had I done to deserve it?
23:43Why should I be a plaything passed between the two of them?
23:49They'd ended up in an empty classroom in the academic wing.
23:52The corridor outside, dark and deserted.
23:56Don't you think you've taken this too far?
23:58Born of the same mother.
24:00Twins.
24:01And yet from childhood,
24:03Logan had fallen short of him in everything.
24:06Liam, brilliant in ways ordinary people weren't,
24:10had won the affection of every elder in the Hayes family.
24:14And with it, in time, the inheritance.
24:17Logan was left to be a spendthrift wastrel.
24:20Countless people envied him.
24:22And none of them knew how often he envied Liam.
24:26Hated Liam.
24:26And yet, because of a shadow that went back as far as he could remember,
24:32feared him down to the bone.
24:34The contradiction gnawed at him.
24:36Robbed him of sleep.
24:37If I remember right,
24:40you were the one who lost her to me that night.
24:43But you don't touch girls.
24:44You've got no interest in them at all.
24:46I thought you'd never lay a hand on her.
24:48I thought you'd find her dirty.
24:51Logan wouldn't admit the rest.
24:53That night, handing Avery over,
24:56had been mostly about one thing.
24:59Humiliating Liam.
25:00A girl Logan had grown tired of,
25:02and Liam wanted her in secret.
25:05Did Liam think he couldn't see it?
25:07The first time Liam laid eyes on Avery,
25:10his expression had changed.
25:1218 years as brothers,
25:13and that was the first time
25:15Logan had ever seen Liam's gaze catch and hold on a girl.
25:20He'd even looked at Avery's legs.
25:22Twice.
25:23So Logan had hatched the absurd idea.
25:26Use a girlfriend he was sick of
25:28to humiliate the brother who'd always stood over him.
25:31It would feel good.
25:33A thrill.
25:34What he never expected was that Liam,
25:37a man with an absurd, obsessive aversion to mess,
25:41would actually touch her.
25:42And he never expected
25:44that the night Liam took her away,
25:46he himself would lie awake the whole night through,
25:50restless.
25:51The cheerleader girl he'd taken away that night,
25:54he'd been certain he'd do something with her.
25:57But in the end, he'd pushed her away.
25:59His whole mind had been somewhere else.
26:02Was Liam kissing Avery?
26:04Touching her?
26:05The way I would?
26:07How would she react?
26:08Could she tell it wasn't me?
26:10Would she yield to him as sweetly,
26:12as obediently,
26:14as she does beneath me?
26:16The thought tormented him to distraction.
26:19He'd gone back to the dorm at first light.
26:21When someone told him Liam had left at six,
26:25the same as always,
26:26he'd been flooded with relief.
26:28But then he saw Avery come down the stairs covered in marks,
26:32shy and sweet,
26:34complaining that he'd been too rough and hurt her.
26:37And in that instant, he could have killed.
26:40He'd had many girls,
26:41leaving them,
26:43passing them off.
26:44He'd never felt a flicker of reluctance.
26:47He'd assumed Avery was the same.
26:49And in that moment,
26:51he finally understood.
26:52She wasn't.
26:54From the very start,
26:55she had never been like the others.
26:58He'd forgotten.
26:59Avery was the only girl he'd fallen for at first sight,
27:03and then chased in earnest.
27:05And he'd badly underestimated how much she weighed in his own heart.
27:10Find her dirty?
27:12Liam suddenly rose and crossed to Logan.
27:15It was perhaps the first real crack in his composure all day.
27:18The first time a man so sparing with words
27:21said this much at once.
27:24I don't know why you talk about your own girlfriend that way.
27:27And I don't agree that a girl who's had a boyfriend,
27:29who's had sex,
27:30is somehow dirty.
27:34Say one more thing like that about her.
27:35Go on.
27:36Try.
27:42Liam.
27:44You set me up on purpose.
27:46That night you did it deliberately.
27:49Baited me into betting.
27:50Because you wanted her.
27:52Because you wanted to take her from me.
27:53If you were truly in earnest about her,
27:55no one could take her.
27:57So I'll say this one last time, Logan.
27:59The opening was yours to give.
28:02You put her in my hands.
28:06So what?
28:06You think she'll be with you willingly?
28:08She's poor, badly born,
28:09but she's stubborn to the core and proud to the bone.
28:11If she finds out you disguised yourself as me to play her,
28:13what do you think she'll do?
28:13She'll hate me,
28:14and she'll hate you just as much.
28:17So what?
28:20If I hadn't taken your bet that night,
28:22hadn't taken her away,
28:23would you have gambled her off to a third man?
28:26I wouldn't have.
28:27You would have!
28:29Other people may not know it,
28:31but you do.
28:32You'd had enough of her,
28:33grown tired of her.
28:34There was a younger,
28:35prettier girl already waiting to spend the night with you.
28:38Say it yourself, Logan.
28:39Isn't that right?
28:40Logan ground his jaw,
28:42breath heaving.
28:43And yet,
28:44somehow,
28:44he couldn't get out a single word in his own defense.
28:51You'd better worry about getting yourself through this first.
28:55That mess with Father's sportswear line,
28:57the one the boosters front the money for.
29:00If you can't put a convincing story behind it,
29:03you can forget about keeping your spot here at all.
29:08It was you again?
29:09Logan came to it late,
29:10then jolted with the realization.
29:13How convenient.
29:14Liam barely transferred in,
29:16and suddenly,
29:18every project with Logan's name on it
29:20was falling apart at once.
29:22Every step laid out in advance.
29:25For night after night of stolen pleasure,
29:28he turned on his own brother,
29:29and set even the family's interests aside to do it.
29:33What if it was?
29:36If you had a shrirk of skill or nerve,
29:38you wouldn't be at everyone's mercy at every turn.
29:45Do you tell her the truth yourself,
29:47or do I?
29:48Why?
29:49Why our whole lives
29:51did you have to be one step above me in everything?
29:53You had it good off at that school in another state.
29:55Why did you suddenly have to come back here?
29:57You've got girls lining up for you.
29:58You've got a fiancé who's the most sought-after girl in our whole circle.
30:01Why did you have to come and fight me for Avery?
30:06Standing a step above you all our lives.
30:08That was just each of us playing the hand we had.
30:11You think a single thing you own is something I'd want?
30:15Then what about Avery?
30:17Liam was about to answer.
30:18The study door was suddenly shoved open hard.
30:25I stood there, outside the classroom,
30:27numb, trembling like a leaf in the wind.
30:30My face was bloodless, streaked all over with tears.
30:33A friend had dragged me into the theatre society.
30:36I'd picked up a little about acting.
30:38It was all coming in handy now.
30:40Avery.
30:42I stared at him blankly.
30:44Then I slowly moved my gaze to Logan's face and held it there, not blinking, just letting
30:50the tears run straight down.
30:51A man's guilt toward a woman is a weapon that never misses.
30:55The opening would vanish in a blink, and right now was the perfect moment.
31:01Logan.
31:02Avery.
31:04Don't come near me.
31:05Avery, let me explain.
31:06I...
31:06Logan, you're my first man.
31:08My first love.
31:09You know how much I cared about you.
31:10How much I loved you.
31:11I could accept that your heart changed, that you stopped loving me, but I can't accept that
31:15you gave me away.
31:16This past year with you, I was so happy.
31:18So happy.
31:20No one had ever been as good to me as you were, and it turns out it was all just
31:24a dream
31:24I had.
31:25Avery, it's not like that.
31:27Let me explain.
31:28I can explain.
31:30Logan, I'm awake now.
31:32I'll never dream again.
31:34As the last word landed, I suddenly spun and ran for the second floor balcony.
31:40Below the balcony was a small garden.
31:42The gardener had just turned the soil yesterday.
31:45I'd take only the lightest injury, but the sight of a girl throwing herself off a balcony
31:50would be devastating, and I'd bet right.
31:53As Liam and Logan came chasing after me, I went over the railing without an instant's
31:58hesitation, as though I'd made up my mind to die.
32:02I heard them screaming my name behind me.
32:04I couldn't tell whose voice it was.
32:06In the brief plunge downward, I smiled, mocking.
32:11The whole campus fell into chaos.
32:13Liam, who was so far above everyone, who never appeared in public with a single crease in
32:19his shirt, now had mud caked on his trousers, and didn't notice at all.
32:23He reached out as if to hold me, then didn't dare touch.
32:27I lay curled on the dirt, my foot bent at a sickening, swollen angle.
32:32Avery, don't be afraid.
32:34The nurse is coming.
32:42Footsteps came pounding up the path, then closed in fast.
32:45The school's night nurse, kit in hand.
32:49I'm not going to the infirmary.
32:51Don't help me.
32:54I don't want to see you ever again, Logan.
32:59Avery.
33:05And I don't want to see you ever again, either, Liam.
33:09Once two people have known each other's bodies, the boy will always carry some thin softness
33:13toward the girl.
33:14That sliver of softness was exactly what I wanted.
33:17Let the nurse look at you first, Avery.
33:19Be good.
33:20Not until you promise me, or I won't let her touch me.
33:24This is not the time to be stubborn.
33:28Get her onto the stretcher.
33:29Don't move, Avery.
33:32But I wouldn't listen.
33:33At the break in the bone, the torn skin had split open and was bleeding.
33:38The blood ran slowly down over the old scar on my calf, staining red that faded.
33:43Faded flower.
33:44Liam's pupils contracted all at once.
33:47In an instant, the color drained from his whole face.
33:50Stop moving.
33:55I promise you, neither Logan nor I will ever appear in front of you again.
34:03Sir, we trust you this way.
34:06That day at the campus, Liam had made that promise in front of many people.
34:10So through all my days in the infirmary, neither he nor Logan appeared even once.
34:15When I was finally cleared to leave, the Hayes family lawyer came to see me.
34:19A mild, well-mannered man.
34:21Miss Carter, Liam says that whatever you need, you have only to ask.
34:26Anything within his power.
34:28I want a sum of money.
34:30And I want to transfer, finish school somewhere far from here.
34:33My family was bad.
34:35Two older sisters above me, a younger brother below.
34:39My father was diagnosed with a serious illness.
34:42Both my sisters had dropped out early to work, and neither was doing well.
34:46I wanted to give my family a little money.
34:48Enough, at least, to make their lives somewhat easier.
34:51The money's long been arranged.
34:53As for the transfer, whichever school, whichever city you'd like, it can be done.
34:59Please give Liam my, my thanks.
35:06Miss Carter, is there nothing you'd like to say to Liam?
35:10I looked down at my own thin wrist.
35:12Slender enough that it seemed a light snap would break it.
35:16Like an ordinary girl like me.
35:18In their eyes, nothing more than a plaything to be traded away at a whim.
35:22Maybe Liam really did like me.
35:24Maybe there was some sliver of true feeling.
35:26But true feeling set against money and standing, weighs nothing at all.
35:31Uh, there is.
35:36Please tell Liam.
35:38I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
35:41Miss Carter?
35:43Nothing else?
35:44But I had already lain back down.
35:46He couldn't linger, and could only turn and leave.
35:56When I walked out of the infirmary for the last time, I saw Liam.
35:59He was standing under the row of oaks at the edge of the quad.
36:03He was a gentleman about it.
36:04He kept his promise and didn't come toward me.
36:07Didn't disturb me.
36:08And I, I didn't look back either.
36:12Liam sank down against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
36:15It was as if he'd returned to that night.
36:17He had known about Logan's bet in advance.
36:20That was why, so unlike himself, he'd gone to that absurd party.
36:24So unlike himself, he'd gambled with his brother that once.
36:27He couldn't stand by and watch Avery.
36:28The truth was, that night he hadn't meant to do anything to Avery.
36:32But she had put her arms around him.
36:34She had said he smelled good.
36:35And he hadn't been able to stop himself.
36:37He'd lowered his head and kissed her.
36:39And she hadn't resisted in the slightest.
36:41She'd even answered him, sweet and pliant.
36:43In that instant, his selfishness, his greed, had won out.
36:47He'd thought, basely.
36:48Then let me have her once, under Logan's name.
36:51But some things, some people, you cannot touch.
36:54After the first time, you want a second.
36:56You want it without end.
36:57When he heard Logan say he'd take her back to the room, the last thread in him broke
37:01clean through.
37:02He'd thought, then let me fall all the way.
37:04Even if, in the end, she sentences me to death.
37:07But he had never imagined she would sever herself from them both in a way so absolute.
37:11She said she never wanted to see him again.
37:13Liam suddenly opened his eyes.
37:15He looked down at the old scar at the web of his thumb.
37:18The years she had bitten him.
37:19Savage.
37:20Blood everywhere.
37:21She had said the same thing then.
37:24My second year at college in the city, I ran into one of Logan's old friends from Stonebridge
37:29on the street.
37:29Avery, long time no see.
37:31What are you doing here?
37:32Come on, let's eat.
37:32No refusing.
37:33Speaking of which, I've been thinking about Logan lately.
37:35Do you remember him?
37:36His brother originally planned to send him to a boarding school across the whole country,
37:39but somehow he ended up staying at Stonebridge.
37:41Honestly, he studied a lot.
37:42He actually businessed.
37:43His dad left for him now.
37:44He took it seriously after everything that happened.
37:46And another thing, he hasn't dated one ever since.
37:48There was a party once.
37:49Someone happened to bring up your name and the look on his face.
37:52The truth is, at first, I hadn't liked Logan much.
37:54Maybe it was a prejudice I'd brought in from the start.
37:57Toward boys born to that kind of money and standing, I'd always kept my guard up.
38:01Later, he was truly good to me.
38:03I was young.
38:04When a golden boy like that lowers himself in front of you, of course your heart stirs.
38:08But before I could do anything foolish, reality woke me up.
38:12Though he and his brother Liam seem to be on pretty bad terms now, Liam was supposed to
38:17get engaged this year too, I think.
38:18That fell through.
38:19And the girl everyone said he was promised to, she's gone and gotten engaged to someone
38:23else.
38:23I've got class.
38:24Let's do this another time when there's a chance.
38:27Avery, is there really no chance for you and Logan?
38:29You know, Logan really was a bit reckless back then.
38:30But from what I know, you two just had him understanding.
38:32He honestly never slept with that girl.
38:33Can we please not bring him up again?
38:35Alright.
38:36Thanks for dinner.
38:36Goodbye then.
38:37Hey, no need to be polite with me.
38:38Avery, come back to town and visit sometime.
38:40Everyone misses you.
38:40We'll see.
38:41A black car drove past him.
38:43My step caught just for a moment.
38:45But the car didn't pause an instant.
38:46It sped on ahead.
38:48I looked down, smiled, shook my head, and kept walking.
38:52Waiting at the crosswalk, the wind picked up.
38:54Hey, Avery.
38:56I turned without thinking and looked straight into a pair of deep, dark eyes.
39:01Liam stood at the intersection.
39:02His black car parked behind him.
39:05Avery.
39:05He wasn't wearing glasses.
39:07Finner than two years ago.
39:09The line of his jaw sharper.
39:11What are you doing here?
39:13Passing through.
39:14Passing through.
39:15This is a college town.
39:16It's at least four hours from your city.
39:19He didn't answer.
39:20Just kept looking at me.
39:22His gaze heavy.
39:23Let me drive you back to campus.
39:25No.
39:28Alright.
39:32Avery.
39:32His footsteps followed, matching my pace, a few feet behind.
39:37What do you want from me, Liam?
39:41I want to talk to you.
39:43We have nothing to talk about.
39:44You promised.
39:46Both of you.
39:47I know what I promised.
39:48Then why are you here?
39:49For a second he said nothing.
39:51Then he reached into his pocket and took out a business card.
39:54If you change your mind.
39:55I looked at the card.
39:56White.
39:57Embossed letters.
39:58His name and a phone number.
40:00I took it and turned it over.
40:02Then I tore it in half.
40:04Then in half again.
40:05I let the pieces fall to the sidewalk.
40:08Don't come back.
40:09I turned and walked away.
40:11This time he didn't follow.
40:13I made it two blocks before I stopped.
40:15I leaned against a wall and pressed my palms to my eyes.
40:19My hands were shaking.
40:20When I got back to my dorm, something fell out of the pocket.
40:23A white card.
40:25The same business card.
40:26He must have slipped it in while I was tearing the other one.
40:29I hadn't felt a thing.
40:31I stared at it for a long moment.
40:33Then I opened my desk drawer, put it inside, and closed it.
40:37I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
40:39Two years of quiet.
40:41Of nothing.
40:42I thought I'd built a safe life here.
40:44And Liam had found me in three days.
40:47I didn't call him.
40:48I went to class, as usual.
40:50I studied.
40:51I ate at the dining hall with my roommate.
40:54Everything normal.
40:55But lying on my dorm bed, my thoughts suddenly drifted back.
40:58At the marina, after too much wine, I'd told Liam exactly how I got the scar on my calf.
41:05Back then, I hadn't thought much of it.
41:07It was just an old childhood story.
41:09But now, lying alone in my dorm room, I found myself remembering it again.
41:14The memory felt sharper now than it had in years.
41:16When I was little, there had been a boy whose family was richer than anyone else in the neighborhood.
41:22He was spoiled, stubborn, and always surrounded by other kids trying to impress him.
41:27For some reason, he loved bothering me.
41:30Maybe it was because I never paid attention to him.
41:32The more I ignored him, the more determined he became.
41:36One afternoon, he followed me around for nearly an hour, refusing to leave me alone.
41:41Eventually, I lost my temper and shoved him.
41:43He shoved me back.
41:44We ended up fighting beside a row of concrete planters.
41:48I was smaller than he was and stood no chance.
41:51He pushed me hard enough that I lost my balance and slammed into the edge of a planter.
41:55The pain came instantly.
41:57I looked down and saw blood pouring down my calf.
41:59I remember sitting on the ground, crying, while he stood there looking horrified.
42:04Then, because I was furious and hurt and eight years old, I grabbed his hand and bit him as hard
42:09as I could.
42:10He screamed.
42:12There was blood on his hand and blood on my leg.
42:15Both of us were crying by the time adults came running over.
42:18A few days later, he showed up carrying medicine.
42:21I thought he had come to laugh at me.
42:22Instead, he crouched beside me and stared at the bandage on my leg.
42:27It doesn't look that bad.
42:30It looks like a flower petal.
42:33The day I jumped from the balcony, the blood ran over that same scar.
42:37Liam's face went white the moment he saw it.
42:40I climbed down from the bed and opened the storage box beneath my desk.
42:44Inside were old notebooks.
42:45Photographs, after several minutes of searching, I found it.
42:48That year, there was a large photograph.
42:51Mr. and Mrs. Hayes.
42:52Logan.
42:53And Liam.
42:54My eyes fixed on Liam's right hand.
42:56At the web between his thumb and index finger.
42:58A scar.
42:59The boy who had called my scar a flower petal.
43:02The boy I had bitten until his hand bled.
43:04What if it had been Liam all along?
43:07Liam's version of that year starts the summer before.
43:10He saw me first at a scholarship dinner.
43:12He attended as a trustee representative.
43:15I stood on stage, accepting an award.
43:17Wearing a dress that didn't fit quite right.
43:19I looked nervous, but I spoke clearly, thanked the donors, and walked off without looking back.
43:24He didn't think much of it.
43:26Not then.
43:27Keep an eye on your brother.
43:29Logan's getting sloppy.
43:30Drinking too much.
43:32Chasing girls.
43:33The family name needs protecting.
43:34Liam arrived in September.
43:35At the private welcome reception, someone pointed out Logan's girlfriend.
43:40He saw how Logan talked to me.
43:41Casual.
43:42Dismissive.
43:44Your brother's putting his girl on the table tonight?
43:46You coming?
43:47The night of the bet, he knew about it before it happened.
43:50Liam came.
43:51He told himself he was there to stop it.
43:53To take me out of that room and tell me the truth.
43:55Then I hugged him.
43:56Called him Logan and told him he smelled good.
43:58He couldn't stop himself.
44:00He kissed me.
44:00And I kissed him back.
44:01At that moment, he didn't want to be the good one anymore.
44:04He wanted to be the one I chose.
44:06So he kept up the lie, night after night.
44:09He told himself it was temporary.
44:10That he'd confess when the time was right.
44:12Then I jumped off the balcony.
44:14And he realized, the time would never be right.
44:17The lawyer went in the next morning.
44:18Liam had written the check himself.
44:20Added three zeros to what the lawyer suggested.
44:22The lawyer came back and said, she wants to go far away.
44:26He didn't ask the lawyer to pass on a message.
44:28But the lawyer asked her anyway.
44:30Please tell Liam.
44:30I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
44:34Liam went to his room and stayed there for two days.
44:38I didn't call.
44:39I waited a week.
44:40Then two.
44:41Then I found myself standing outside the coffee shop.
44:43Where I'd seen him walk in three days in a row.
44:45He wasn't there by accident.
44:47He was there because he knew this was where I came on Thursday afternoons.
44:51I pushed the door open.
44:54I walked up to his table and sat down across from him.
44:57Tell me everything.
44:59From the beginning.
45:00The night of the bet.
45:02He told me everything.
45:03He came to stop the bet.
45:05But he kissed me instead.
45:06He kept pretending because he wanted more.
45:08He remembered the fight.
45:09He knew I was the girl who bit him.
45:13Two years.
45:14You had two years to tell me you knew who I was.
45:16It matters.
45:17I didn't think it mattered.
45:19Don't come back here again, Liam.
45:20I will.
45:21I'll come back.
45:22Every day if I have to.
45:23I waited two years because you asked me to.
45:25I'll wait two more.
45:27But I'll be here.
45:27I walked halfway down the block and stopped.
45:30I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes.
45:32Liam was the boy.
45:33The one who said my scar looked like a flower petal.
45:36The one I bit.
45:37The one who brought me medicine.
45:38The one who watched me fall and didn't catch me.
45:40I walked back to my dorm and opened the drawer looking at the card.
45:43Then I heard someone call my name again.
45:45I looked out the window.
45:46For a moment I thought it was Liam again.
45:48But I knew it was Logan.
45:51Avery, I know.
45:52I just...
45:53Someone told me Liam came to see you.
45:54I thought if he was breaking the promise lately how things I could too work.
45:57You shouldn't be here.
45:57That's not how promises work.
45:59No.
46:00I know.
46:00Two years ago I was...
46:01I know that's not enough to say.
46:03But I wanted you to hear it from me.
46:04Not through someone else.
46:05I don't need an apology, Logan.
46:07What do you need?
46:08I need you to leave.
46:09Both of you.
46:09I built something here.
46:10Small.
46:11Quiet.
46:11Mine.
46:12And you two show up in the same week and act like I'm still the girl from two years ago.
46:15I'm not.
46:15I don't want to be.
46:16I know you won't hate Liam either.
46:17But I don't want either of you.
46:18Not anymore.
46:19Not the way you want me.
46:20The boy I'd been afraid of for a year.
46:22The boy who'd thrown me into a card game like I was nothing.
46:25Who'd stood by and let his brother touch me.
46:27Claim me.
46:28Ruin me.
46:29Is there anything I can do?
46:31You can go home.
46:31Take care of your family's business.
46:33Stop gambling girls away.
46:36Okay.
46:37I meant what I said.
46:39About you being the only one.
46:40Then he got into a car and drove away.
46:42A week passed.
46:43Then two.
46:44On the third Thursday, I walked into the coffee shop.
46:47Liam was sitting at the same table.
46:48He looked up when I came in.
46:50I walked over and sat down across from him.
46:52Two years.
46:53You said you'd wait two years?
46:56Yes.
46:57Then start counting.
46:57You said you'd wait two years ago.
46:57You said you'd wait two years ago.
46:58You said you'd wait two years ago.
46:58You said you'd wait two years ago.
46:58You said you'd wait two years ago.
46:58You said you'd wait two years ago.
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