My Twin And Faincé Betrayed me...So I Married His Rival

Chapter 18

**Liam's POV**

Andrea's voice hit the kitchen like a bucket of cold water.

I stepped back. Elena stepped back. The pretzel bag hit the counter. And just like that, whatever that moment was, whatever had been building in the three inches of air between us ... evaporated completely.

I could have strangled Andrea.

Calmly. Quietly. With a smile on my face.

"What is going on here?" she repeated, her eyes were moving between us slowly, like she was collecting evidence.

I cleared my throat and looked at her. "What are you doing in the kitchen at this hour?"

Andrea tilted her head, one hand resting on the doorframe, completely unbothered. "I think I should be the one asking that question, actually. Both of you. Together. In the dead of the night." A small smile escaped her lips. "Very interesting."

"We were getting snacks," Elena said.

"Mm." Andrea looked at her. "Is that what we're calling it?"

"It is what it is," I said flatly. "You still haven't answered me. Why are you down here?"

Andrea lifted one elegant shoulder. "I heard noises. I came to check. I'm a light sleeper." She paused. "Besides, someone had to be the adult."

I opened my mouth and then closed it.

I let it go.

I turned and immediately clocked Elena. She had somehow, in the thirty seconds we had all been talking, retrieved the pretzel bag from the counter, and was standing slightly behind me with her hand inside it, chewing with the most angelic expression I had ever seen on a human face.

I stared at her.

She looked up at me and blinked innocently. A small crunch.

"Elena."

"Hm?"

"Give me the bag."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You are literally chewing right now."

"I'm yawning."

"That is not what yawning sounds like..."

I reached over and took the bag from her hands. She made a grab for it immediately, both hands swiping at the air between us, and I held it just out of reach and she kept reaching and we were laughing ... actually laughing, the kind that comes easily and warm before I even realized it had happened.

This woman.

I don't know when it shifted. I don't know exactly when Elena stopped being the stranger I had made a deal with in a hospital hallway and started being .... this. Someone who argued with me about sodium at midnight. Someone who dragged a chair across the kitchen floor with absolutely zero shame. Someone whose eyes, when she laughed, did something I was not prepared to examine too closely.

She had beautiful eyes.

I had noticed that before, obviously. I wasn't blind. But tonight, under the kitchen light, still laughing, completely unguarded ... they were something else entirely. Warm and bright and deep. The kind of eyes you could look into for a long time without getting tired.

I felt like I could get lost in them.

I was not going to get lost in them.

"Liam."

I blinked.

Andrea had moved closer. She was standing at my elbow now, her voice dropping into that particular register she used when she wanted something .. lower, softer and deliberate.

"Baby," she said.

Elena went still beside me.

"Let's wear matching outfits tomorrow," Andrea continued, her eyes still on mine, completely ignoring Elena's existence. "When we go see your Dad. I'm sure he's missed me."

The kitchen went quiet.

I opened my mouth. Elena beat me to it.

"You're going to visit your Dad tomorrow?" she asked, looking at me. Her voice was perfectly even. Her face was perfectly calm. Not a flicker.

"Yes," I said carefully. "I was going to go alone. You've been tired lately and I didn't want to..."

"I found out about it," Andrea cut in smoothly, "and I offered to go with him. For support. He needs someone there, Elena. Someone who knows the family."

I turned to look at Andrea. "I haven't agreed to that yet."

"Of course you will." She stepped closer, and her hand found mine , she put both hands on me, actually, wrapping around my fingers, her eyes lifted to mine, soft and certain. "Liam. I want to be there for you. This is a difficult time and you shouldn't have to carry it alone." A small, meaningful pause. "I'm sure your Dad has missed me. He always adored me. He'll be so happy to see you walk in with your first love."

The word landed in the kitchen like a dropped plate.

"First love".

I felt it before I could stop myself , a sort of internal cringe, the kind that starts behind the sternum and radiates outward. First love. The phrase sounded like something from a very old chapter of a very different life, and hearing Andrea say it with that much confidence, in that tone, in front of Elena...

I turned to look at Elena.

Her face was still calm. Perfectly, completely calm.

"First love?" Elena asked.

The way she said it was not loud. It was not dramatic. It was two words delivered at room temperature with the precision of a scalpel.

Andrea smiled. "Yes, honey." She finally looked at Elena directly. "First love. Liam and I have history that goes back a long time. So please don't worry about tomorrow ... if you're not feeling well, if you need rest, I completely understand." She waved a gracious hand. "I'll be there to represent the family. I know these people. I know his father. You don't have to stress yourself."

There was silence.

Then Elena smiled.

Not a small smile. A full one, slowly ...this smile meant she was done being polite and had decided to be something else entirely.

"That's very sweet of you," Elena said. "But I'll be there."

Andrea's smile stayed fixed. "What?...."

"I'll be there," Elena repeated pleasantly. "Right beside my husband. Where I belong." She tilted her head just slightly. "And as for representing the family .... you don't need to worry yourself about that, either. You're not the one who's legally married to him." Elena paused, then smiled again. "I am."

The kitchen went absolutely silent.

Andrea's mouth opened and closed like she was being remoted.

Nothing came out.

Elena looked at her with the patience of a woman who had just said everything she needed to say and had absolutely nothing left to prove. She wasn't angry. She wasn't even cold. She was just done. And she was glowing with it.

I pressed my lips together very hard.

I was not going to laugh. I was not going to laugh. That would not be appropriate. This was not funny. This was a tense domestic situation involving my ex-girlfriend and my..

It was a little bit funny.

It was very funny.

It was the most satisfying thing I had witnessed in recent memory and I was fighting with everything I had not to let it show on my face.

This new Elena, I thought. I like her.

I cleared my throat.

"Alright," I said, looking between them both — Andrea, who had gone very quiet, and Elena, who was serenely reaching past me to reclaim the pretzel bag. "All three of us will be going to see Dad then."