The moment I sent the message, my phone rang. It was Billy.

I swiped to answer but said nothing.

His voice came through, edged with impatience, laced now with a hint of panic.

"Kat? Why do you suddenly want to meet? Didn't we agree that once things are stable on my end, I'd come find you?"

I listened to his well-rehearsed lies, and inside me, everything fell silent.

"I just… suddenly miss you," I said, forcing my voice into something fragile. "I got chewed out by my boss today. When I came home, it was cold and empty—there wasn't a single person here. Billy, I can't do this anymore. I don't care—I just want to see you. I want to see you now. I've already bought a ticket for tomorrow. Send me your address."

Silence fell on the other end.

He was thinking—scrambling for a way out.

A full thirty seconds passed before he spoke again, his tone softening.

"Be good, Kat. Listen to me. I know you've been wronged. It's all my fault—I'm useless, I can't be there for you."

He switched to emotional manipulation.

"My project is at a critical stage right now. I have to be on call 24/7—I really can't get away. And I'm sharing a place with coworkers. It's cramped and messy. If you come, it'll be so inconvenient for you."

"It doesn't matter," I cut in, seizing on his words and pressing forward, leaving him no room to retreat. "No matter how messy it is, I don't care. I'm not afraid of hardship. I don't want anything. I just want to see you with my own eyes—even once is enough."

He was about to come up with another excuse. I drew a sharp breath and interrupted him.

"Billy, I'll ask you one last time. Are we meeting or not?"

My sudden firmness caught him off guard. He choked, unable to respond.

I didn't give him time to think.

"If you refuse again, we're done."

Panic broke through immediately.

"Don't! Kat, don't say that! That's not what I meant! How could I want to break up? I just… I just don't want you to feel wronged!"

I listened in cold silence. I knew he wasn't afraid of losing me. He was afraid of losing his source of money. So he had no choice but to give in.

"Fine, fine—you win. You're impossible, you know that? Come. I'll send you the address. But just one meeting—you can't interfere with my work."

"Mm," I answered softly, adding a faint nasal tone, obedient.

After hanging up, I stared at the darkening screen of my phone. My reflection stared back—pale, bloodless.

A few minutes later, my phone chimed. A message came through with an address.

It was a street name and number I didn't recognize at all.

Maybe it was somewhere he had casually picked to brush me off. Or maybe… another trap.

Either way, I had to go.

I looked at the address, took a deep breath, and replied: [I'll be there tomorrow.]

When I set my phone down, a chill had already spread through my entire body.

Before leaving, I scrolled through my contacts and found a name I hadn't reached out to in almost a year.

Jamie Rowan. My brother.

Things between him and the family had always been strained. Aside from the occasional like on my social media posts, we barely spoke.

I sent him a long voice message, detailing my "online relationship" over the past year—every doubt I had, and everything I had just discovered.

At the end, I attached the address Billy had sent me.

After it went through, I typed one last line: [Jamie, if I don't contact you again before noon tomorrow, call the police for me.]

I took a three-hour flight and followed the navigation to the address Billy had sent me.

It was a high-end residential complex—tight security, quiet surroundings, meticulously maintained.

There was no way Billy—a self-proclaimed struggling young man who claimed he came from a poor family and needed my financial support—could afford to live in a place like this.

A deep sense of unease settled over me.

As I hesitated at the entrance, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Billy.

[You here? Don't just stand at the gate. Come in.]

My scalp prickled.

How did he know I had arrived? Was he watching me from somewhere I couldn't see?

Forcing myself to stay calm, I replied: [The complex is huge. I can't find your building.]

[Building 14. Go straight after you enter. It's the tallest one on your left.]

His instructions were precise and immediate. I had no choice but to steel myself and walk in.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves overhead, scattering across my skin, but I felt no warmth—only a chill creeping down my spine.

I found Building 14. As I stood in front of the elevator, another message came.

[Get in. Press 21.]

My palms were already damp with sweat.

The 21st floor. The top floor.

That number only deepened my dread.

The elevator climbed slowly. In the enclosed space, I could hear my own heartbeat pounding like a drum.

The doors opened on the 21st floor.

A quiet corridor stretched ahead, carpeted, with only two units per floor.

Before I could get my bearings, another message came.

[Turn left. 2101. There's a fiddle-leaf fig by the door.]

I froze completely.

He knew this place intimately—every detail, down to the smallest thing.

I stood before the heavy apartment door, my heart racing violently.

What was waiting on the other side?

Billy himself? Or an actor he'd paid to put on a show? Or worse—a carefully laid trap, something far more sinister?

Stories I'd seen online—romance scams, setups designed to lure victims—swirled through my mind.

I gripped my phone tightly in my pocket, the emergency call screen already open. Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand and pressed the doorbell.

After a long pause, I heard footsteps inside—slow, unhurried, drawing closer.

The lock turned with a crisp sound.

My heart leapt into my throat. Every muscle in my body tensed.

The door slowly opened.

"Kat?"

The person at the door looked at me, his face mirroring my own shock and disbelief.

"Jamie?"

The word came out with difficulty.

Time seemed to freeze. The air turned solid between us. We stood on either side of the doorway, staring at each other.

He looked at me. I looked at him.

The one who had cared for me over messages, who had been endlessly gentle, who knew all my preferences…

My lips began to tremble uncontrollably as I stared at him.

"My online boyfriend… That was you?"

My brother looked at me for a long moment, then nodded with visible effort.

It felt as though all the strength had been drained from my body. I had to brace myself against the doorframe to keep from collapsing.

No explanation was needed. Why I had ended up at his door. Why Billy knew this home so intimately.

The elaborate deception Billy had spun over the past year lay exposed before us in an instant.

All along, the person I had truly fallen for… was my own brother.