Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 349

Liam was about to speak, but he remembered that Stefan took after their mother's last name. Any argument he could make about whether a child should take the father's or mother's surname would be pointless in front of Stefan.

So, he changed his approach. With a bitter smile, he said, "Stefan, let's not worry about the child issue for now. It's not as if I'm going to become a father right away. I just want to marry her. I know she has feelings for me too. She was the one who made the move that night."

That was the night they returned from the club. He was furious, but she suddenly flirted with him.

Liam had always been secretly in love with her. Even without any provocation, they were like a tinderbox ready to ignite.

They had known each other since childhood, like two peas in a pod. Liam knew Tiffany's character very well.

She wouldn't have flirted with him if Tiffany didn't love him. Now, she was living in his house, effectively sharing a home with him. Although she was straightforward and didn't care about what others said, he didn't want her to suffer any indignities.

Since they were already living like a married couple, he wanted to marry her and fulfill his responsibilities as a man.

But, to his surprise, she refused his proposal.

Now, Liam was confused. Wouldn't it be better for them to be married and live together legally rather than the way they were now?

In the eyes of both the Anderson and Paisley families, they were already a couple.

Whenever his grandparents saw Tiffany, their eyes would soften as if they were looking at their granddaughter-in-law.

Seeing his cousin's confusion, Stefan struggled with whether to tell him the truth.

"Stefan, Liam, you guys haven't called it a night yet? I saw the light on and thought I'd check in," Eric called out as he walked in. Seeing Liam's frustrated expression, Eric asked, "Liam, what's wrong? Got a problem? Please share it with us. Maybe we can help." Noticing the pillow on the couch, Eric realized that Liam had been kicked out of his room again.

"None of your business, Eric. Go back to your own house," Liam snapped, annoyed at being called out by his cousin.

Eric, however, was not fazed. He continued to tease Liam, "Still troubled about proposing, huh? You really don't understand Tiffany at all." "Do you know what she's thinking then?" Liam challenged.

Eric was all smug, "I'm smarter than you, Liam. I understand women. Even if I can't guess exactly what she's thinking, I'm usually in the ballpark." Liam scoffed, "You don't even have a girlfriend, and yet you claim to understand women. What do you think Tiffany is thinking about, then?"

"Hmm, Liam, I can't figure it out right now. I'll think about it at home. You can stay on the couch in the meantime."

Eric was about to reveal the problem, but then he remembered that if Liam got married, he would be next in line. He didn't even have a girlfriend yet and didn't want to be pressured into marriage. It was better to let Liam continue being the shield.

"I knew you were just boasting," Liam muttered.

Eric just chuckled and said goodnight to his cousins before quickly slipping out.

"He understands nothing but food," Liam grumbled, disappointed that Eric had raised his hopes only to let him down.

"Eric did guess the reason, but he doesn't want to tell you," Stefan revealed.

"Why? Is he even my brother? Can he bear to see me not getting married?" Liam asked, frustrated.

Stefan simply smiled, "That's the price of being the eldest."

"Is there a problem with that? I am older than him."

In their family, they all considered themselves the eldest, except for the youngest brother.

But when it came to urging them to marry, the elders followed the order of their ten brothers.

Seeing Stefan smile and remain silent, Liam suddenly realized what he meant. He immediately started cursing Eric, "That little guy thinks he can escape by using me as a shield. Tomorrow, I will suggest to our grandparents that we host a party and invite all the young ladies of the city. It will be a disguised matchmaking event for Eric, no, for all our younger brothers except the youngest."

Thinking of how Eric used him as a shield, Liam was furious.

"I suppose the next party will be for grandma's birthday next month," Stefan said.

Liam nodded vigorously, "Exactly! Let's see who can escape then!"

"Liam, go home. If you're still confused, download the novel app and read the novels your sister-in-law wrote. The plot of the overbearing CEO falling in love with a girl may be cliché, but with your intelligence, you should be able to figure out the reason from it. Remember to tip your sister-in-law, but don't throw any eggs," Stefan warned.

Hayes once threw thousands of eggs under Lucinda's novel without understanding the situation, which put Lucinda on the egg leaderboard. On that website, everyone was curious about what Lucinda wrote, which angered the readers so much that they threw thousands of eggs at her.

Stefan didn't even want to imagine his wife's face when she saw those thousands of eggs.

"Read novels? Stefan, I'm past the age of reading novels."

In high school, he did read quite a few novels, but they were all thrillers or horror stories with little romance.

Romance novels? Liam had never read them.

"If you want to replace the reason, go read it. Remember to tip generously with diamonds, flowers, or directly with gold coins as a fee for seeking advice from your sister-in-law." Liam was speechless.

Stefan patted his brother's shoulder a few times, then went upstairs.

Watching Stefan leave, Liam took out his phone with a puzzled look, downloaded the app as Stefan suggested, and started searching for his sister-in-law's pen name.

Back when Stefan first started courting his wife, he posted her novel's title on Facebook, and all their friends and family flocked to it, giving her tips and helping him win her over.

He found the novel Lucinda had written.

It was a story about reincarnation.

Upon reading the premise, Liam couldn't help but mumble, "Isn't this misleading? Who actually gets to go back in time after dying? Wouldn't all the folks struggling in life just off themselves, hoping to rewrite their fate in the past?"

He skimmed through a couple of chapters, but he just couldn't get into it.

Forget it, he thought. It's better to go back and sweet-talk Tiffany. Maybe he'll even get lucky tonight.