Chapter 4

"Boss, time to eat!" she chirped sweetly.

I said I wasn't hungry, but she insisted that food was fuel, and I had to eat.

I couldn't argue with her. As soon as I opened the container and caught a whiff of the food, my stomach churned.

I drove myself to the hospital. Just as I expected, I was pregnant.

I stared at the confirmation of pregnancy, silent for a long time. At the worst possible time, he came. Was fate trying to make Liam and me work things out?

But would Liam agree? Would he abandon Stella for me and our child?

I wanted to go home and tell Liam about my pregnancy, but I couldn't even get inside. Standing at the door of my own home, unable to enter—how pathetic was that?

Suppressing the nausea, I called Liam. One call, two… ten. He finally picked up, but the voice that came through was Stella’s.

"Audrey, Liam isn't coming back. He's living with me now."

"We went to take wedding photos today, it was so much fun. You’ll bless Liam and me, right?"

"Everyone said today that we’re a match made in heaven, perfectly suited."

"Oh, right, the password is my birthday. Just go in and get your stuff. Liam’s selling the house…"

Hearing the password, I hung up decisively. I opened the digital lock, typed in Stella's birthday, and the door clicked open.

Inside the house, all traces of his life were gone. Our wedding photos lay shattered on the floor, in a thousand pieces…

I tried to pick them up, but how can something broken ever be put back together?

The vast room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the atmosphere incredibly heavy. The ring of my phone in my bag broke the oppressive silence. I looked at the caller ID: "Mom."

It was my mother. She told me to go to the hospital with Liam tomorrow; she had something to say. My mother had late-stage liver cancer, and her time was running out.

She only agreed to fight the illness in the hospital because she wanted to live for me.

Mom loved me deeply, and because she loved me, she adored Liam, too. Sometimes, she seemed more like his mother.

These past few years, Liam had always used my mother to get to me. He'd say, "Audrey, if you don't eat properly, I'll tell Mom."

"If you keep working late, I'll tell Mom you kept me up all night…"

We were so happy back then. But Stella came back, and I became irrelevant.

Liam, if you still care about me, please pick up this call. I prayed to fate.

This time, it didn't disappoint me. Liam's voice came through on the other end, but it was filled with impatience.

"Audrey Knight, aren't you annoying? Why are you calling me all day long?"

I swallowed the bitterness in my heart. "Liam, Mom wants to see us tomorrow. Can you come?"

There was silence on the other end. I continued, "Liam, please."

"Okay, I'll be there." Then he hung up. It was the first time I'd ever begged him, and it would be the last.