Chapter 3

A few days after I returned home, Liam started his campaign to win me back. He showed up at my door with a bouquet of my favorite lilies, his face etched with a rehearsed sadness.

"Ava, can we talk?" he asked.

I didn't open the door all the way. "There's nothing to talk about, Liam. I've already spoken to my lawyer."

"Please," he said, his voice cracking. "I made a terrible mistake. I know that. I've been a fool. But I love you. I've always loved you."

His words were just sounds, hollow and meaningless. I looked at him, at the man I had once shared my deepest secrets with, and felt nothing but a weary emptiness. The betrayal had carved out a part of me, leaving a void that his apologies couldn't fill.

"The divorce papers will be sent to your office," I said, and closed the door.

I leaned against the cool wood, my hand pressed to my stomach. A wave of nausea washed over me, a familiar and unwelcome sensation I'd been having for the past week. I blamed it on the stress, the trauma of the kidnapping, the emotional turmoil of the divorce. I pushed it down, focusing on the practical steps I needed to take.

I started packing up my personal belongings, sorting through what I would take and what I would leave behind. My plan was simple: finalize the divorce and go back to my studies. Before marrying Liam, I had been accepted into a prestigious architecture program abroad. I had deferred it for our life together. Now, it was my escape route.

I kept my plan to myself. I knew Liam would try to stop me. He wouldn't let go that easily, not because he loved me, but because he couldn't stand the thought of losing. So I played along, letting him think his pathetic attempts at reconciliation might be working. I was polite but distant when he called, noncommittal when he sent gifts.

My carefully constructed wall of indifference was shattered one afternoon when Chloe showed up at my doorstep, unannounced. She was further along now, her pregnancy a visible statement of her victory.

"Ava," she said, her voice soft and cloying. "Liam is so worried about you. He hasn't been sleeping."

"That's not my problem," I replied, blocking the doorway.

She feigned a hurt expression. "I know you're angry. I would be too. But I just want us to find a way to be a family. For the baby's sake."

"Family?" The word was so absurd I almost laughed. "You and I will never be family, Chloe."

Liam arrived just then, as if on cue. He must have been waiting down the street. He rushed to Chloe's side, putting a protective arm around her.

"What's going on?" he asked, his eyes immediately accusing me. "Ava, don't upset her. The doctor said she needs to avoid stress."

Chloe leaned into him, a hand on her belly. "I was just trying to talk to her, Liam. I want us all to get along."

"Look at her, Ava," Liam said, his voice filled with a bizarre mix of frustration and tenderness for Chloe. "She's trying to make things right. Can't you see that?"

He guided Chloe to his car, his movements full of a gentle care he hadn't shown me since before the pregnancy, before the lies. He helped her into the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt for her, his head bent close to hers as he murmured something that made her smile.

I watched them from the doorway, a cold, detached observer. It was like watching a scene from a movie, one I had no part in. He was so consumed by the idea of this child, this heir, that he was blind to everything else.

He looked back at me one last time before getting into the car, a look of disappointment on his face, as if I were the one being unreasonable. As they drove away, Chloe gave me a triumphant little smile over his shoulder. The trip they were about to take was clear. It was a journey away from me, and I was more than happy to let them go. I had my own journey to plan.