The door swung open. Ivan stepped in with his suitcase, his voice dying mid-sentence when he spotted Mathew. His eyes darted between us. "Crystal, who is this?"

Mathew glared at Ivan, hostility radiating from him.


Afraid of what Mathew might say, I jumped in: "This is my brother, Mathew. I've told you about him."

"Ah, Crystal's brother." Ivan's face relaxed as he dragged his suitcase inside. "What brings you back so suddenly? Weren't you overseas? I should introduce myself—"

"I know exactly who you are," Mathew cut in, lips curling into a smirk. "My sister's ex-boyfriend."


Ivan froze. "What did you just say?"

"Ivan," I managed, my voice cracking despite my efforts. "How was your trip?"


"Crystal, what are you getting at?"

I closed my eyes, then pointed to the floor. "See for yourself."

Ivan froze when he saw the scattered photos, color draining from his face.

"Let me explain—" he stepped forward desperately.

"Explain?" Mathew shifted to block me, his voice glacial. "Explain how you string her along with empty promises while screwing around?"

Ivan stopped dead in his tracks.

His face contorted as he looked past Mathew to me. "I'm stringing her along? That's rich!"

"I've proposed multiple times and you've rejected me every time! You're young with your whole career ahead—you're not in a hurry, but I am! I'm terrified of losing you!"

I stared at Ivan, feeling like I was looking at a stranger.

He had mentioned marriage twice, but never in a way I could take seriously.

Once while drunk, mumbling incoherently. Once as a joke at dinner with friends.

He'd never actually proposed. How was I supposed to take those moments seriously?

I thought he was joking, and now he's blaming me for not taking his jokes as proposals?

"Ivan, when exactly did you propose to me?"

He started to speak, but I cut him off. "Even if you did propose, does that justify cheating?"

Ivan went quiet, then broke into harsh, ugly laughter.

"I see how it is," he looked between us, his gaze filthy. "What right do you have to question me? I think your relationship with your 'dear brother' needs explaining!"

He spat "brother" with such venom, dripping with insinuation.

My heart lurched—not quite the feeling of being exposed, but something unsettlingly close.

"Growing up together in an orphanage, then adopted into the same family... who knows what you two get up to behind closed doors—"

*CRACK!*