Eden passed out in his arms sometime after midnight, but Liam was wide awake, his mind racing, thinking about their fight.
As he listened to her snore peacefully beside him, he was grateful their night had ended with her in his bed. It could have easily gone the other way since they were both determined to hurt each other earlier.
He tightened his hold around her now when he remembered her anger and hurt at seeing him with Laura.
He told her plenty of times his ex was as inconsequential as that lawyer dude, but for some reason, Eden refused to believe him, and he didn't know how else to make her see she was the only woman for him.
One thing was certain, though. He had to handle Laura fast. There couldn't be any more misunderstandings between them.
Eden shifted restlessly, breaking through his chaotic thoughts as she tried to get comfortable.
"Liam, why are you still awake?" She mumbled sleepily and pushed her bare ass close to him, and
Eden stood with her back against the door, willing her heart to stop beating so hard in her chest. She felt lightheaded and weak-kneed. Probably a normal sensation after being thoroughly ravished by the only man she was now certain was her once in a lifetime love—a revelation that came to her at some point between leaving her place last night and waking up in Liam's arms this morning. The whole night was full of many revelations, actually, starting with catching Liam in a very compromising position with his ex. Eden knew Laura had goaded her when she jumped Liam as soon as she saw her come out of the restaurant. But she had at least expected him to push his ex away immediately if he felt nothing for her like he kept saying. When he didn't, it was like Simon and Olive all over again, and the memory of being cheated on had reared its ugly head. Seeing Laura so comfortable at Liam's side had made Eden realise something she had tried very hard to ignore f
It was still dark when Liam returned home after dropping Eden off, but the house should have been at least lively with Dave and the housekeepers as they got ready to start their day. It was surprisingly quiet, though, and the silence was even more deafening now that Eden was gone. Liam picked up the gift box with her dress and underwear and took it upstairs, smiling as he relived their conversation earlier when he asked for his shirt back. He was teasing her about the shirt, of course. But if he was honest, he liked having something of hers close to him. The smell of their lovemaking, still lingering in the air, hit him as soon he walked into his bedroom, and his eyes immediately fell on the tousled sheets, and he suddenly found himself missing Eden with a force that left him stunned for breath. He pulled out his phone and sent her a quick text. 'I miss you.' She replied immediately. 'You just miss fucking me, that's all.' Liam laughed and typ
Mathew called Eden into his office as soon as she came in and gently broke the news to her. She was being reassigned back to the CEO's office. Reeling from the announcement, she asked. "Why? Did I do something wrong?" "Of course not." Her boss shook his head. "If I could keep you, I would. But you were hired to work in Liam's area." "Until he got rid of me!" She reminded him. "I don't want to go." Matthew touched her shoulders gently. "Liam means well. You'll learn a lot in his space." "I fail to see how," Eden said stubbornly. "He sits in meetings the whole day; there's only so many minutes and reports and presentations I can take. At least in your area, I can work with the user experience and marketing teams—" Matthew waved her off. "Eden, don't make this difficult. He's already on the way here to get you. We both know why he wants you back. He needs you close to him. He's not comfortable when he doesn't see you." "I am not h
The girls were already seated in a corner booth, nibbling on their quesadillas and sipping their warm drinks, when Eden stepped into Rise in the food court some five minutes later. "Gah! I need something strong today!" She blew out an exasperated sigh and hid her face in her hands as soon as she sat down. "That bad, huh?" Cassandra asked, patting her back gently. "Here," Sienna murmured and slid the chai latte they'd ordered for her across the table. "Have something light instead. You'll thank me later when you wake up with no hangover tomorrow morning." "Thanks," Eden mumbled and stared broodily at her cup. "I must have been insane. Honestly, I think I've lost my mind. Why didn't you guys stop me when I applied for a job here?" "Well," Lydia smiled wickedly and shrugged. "We did, but you wanted Liam's dick so bad it was obvious anything we said wasn't gonna fly!" "Lydia!" Eden looked around the room cautiously, making sure no one had
Liam held the door for her, and she jumped in the backseat. He joined her a second later, and they pulled away from Anderson Logistics. "Where are we going?" Eden asked as they left the skyscrapers behind and sped towards Glen Eagles. "To see my parents since they couldn't make it for the board meeting," he replied, taking her hand in his and held it on his lap. She relaxed in her seat and stared at their entwined hands, liking the calloused feel of his palm in her soft one. Liam had good manly hands, thanks to the countless hours he'd spent in the past—back when he was still a motorsport driver—tearing apart his cars' engines and putting them back together again. Eden remembered watching one of his interviews once where he had given an in-depth guide to his car maintenance routine. "Are you nervous about meeting them?" Liam whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to him. His low, gruff voice sent sparks of awareness twirling at her centre
Liam's been back from lunch with his parents for a while now, but no matter how hard he tried to settle down for the afternoon and trudge through the thousands of proposals screaming for his attention, he couldn't. He pushed away from his desk and stalked his way to Matthew's office. "King Liam, twice in one day! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this time?" Matthew mocked him when he walked in and crashed on the couch. "Eden's old office," Liam said. "Don't you think there's something wrong with it?" "You mean apart from its size?" "Look at all the other offices; they're all cluttered with shit from their homes, family photos, travel boards, birthday cards." "So?" Matthew pushed away from the desk. "Eden doesn't have any of that. When I fetched her this morning, all her stuff fit in a small box." "Maybe she doesn't like clutter." "I get that," Liam blew out a frustrated breath. "But what about her son
It was hard to be in Rock Castle in the last week of April and not be steeped in the fanfare and drama that came with Fashion Week. Even if Eden didn't have a ticket to her front-row seat, there was no way she would have missed out on any part of the weeklong festivities because Sienna had a backstage press pass to cover the daily shows. Lydia, too, had secretly recorded the entire opening event, giving her a sneak peek of what to expect when she attended her hump day evening show. By the time Wednesday rolled around, Eden was a bundle of nerves, unable to sit still or hold down anything she ate. It was her first Fashion Week and as close to a red carpet event she would ever attend, but she'd also chosen today to break the news to Liam about Aiden. It wasn't their impending talk, though, that had her stomach in knots; after all, she had the custody agreement to help smooth things over. Eden's biggest worry was finding the right outfit
"Eden!" Laura was a picture of joy and politeness as she dazzled her with her megawatt smile. Eden could see right through her fake friendliness, though. But she smiled back anyway as she tried to side-step her. Laura quickly blocked her path. "Can we talk?" Eden didn't think they had anything to talk about, considering they didn't know each other very well. Before she could refuse, though, Liam's ex took her hand and pushed her to a dimly lit corner a few meters from the restrooms. "What's this about?" Eden demanded as soon as they were out of earshot and prying eyes. "I get to ask the questions, and you just listen," the other woman snapped, her saccharine smile vanishing as quickly as it had appeared, leaving a frostiness that chilled Eden to the bone. "Now, how long are you planning to keep this up?" "What?" She asked, baffled by the question. "Your innocent act," Laura murmured. "We both know you are hardly the saint that
[Six Months Later]... After months of preparations, Eden's weeklong exhibition at Fugue was a smashing success. She even managed to sell two of her paintings. But with all the smiling and pandering she had done to Rock Castle's uber-rich, she would not have expected anything less. So when Saturday rolled around, the only thing she wanted to do was to crash on the couch and put up her feet. Not a lot for a girl to ask. But she wasn't destined to enjoy the little things in life. Having tried every trick in the book to get her to give up her spot on the couch and leave the house with him, Liam finally let the cat out of the bag. Her friends had tasked him with the sacred job of dropping her off at Heat for a surprise baby shower. Eden didn't want to go anywhere, but she would never hear the end of it if she didn't show up. So she threw on a pair of black leggings—the only thing in her closet that still fit her— and Liam's denim
As Liam watched Eden slowly make her way to him, he was overcome with emotion. The whole day he had tried to keep it together, and he had lost track of the number of times his cousins had had to stop him from running to her guest suite to see her. And now that she was here, and they were so close to the start of their next chapter, hard as he tried to blink away his tears, Liam couldn't. He choked back a sob, unable to believe how lucky he was. He had never seen that many brides before, but Eden took the number one spot from the few that he had. She looked incredible in her dress, a vision of grace and elegance and beauty, exactly how he imagined a real-life princess would look. But then again, she was his Princess, his hell, his paradise, and her slow progress down the aisle wasn't working for him. He crossed the room in few quick strides, and in a heartbeat, he had her in his embrace as he kissed her fiercely, much to everyone's surprise and cheers.
Wedding fever hit town as soon as the press release about Eden and Liam's impending nuptials went out. For days the announcement, posted on Anderson Logistics website and all the company's socials, was the number #1 trending topic on all social media platforms. The internet was in disbelief. Thousands of Liam's adoring fans couldn't accept that the day they had dreaded was finally upon them, and the Three-Month Prince was officially off the market. Well, almost off the market. Like most people who have an unhealthy obsession with their idols, they had to share their outrage and sadness with strangers on the internet. Overnight, Eden became the villainess, the woman who had ruined all their fantasies, and they couldn't understand why, out of all the beauties in the universe ready to fall at his feet, Liam would choose her. She had to have used some kind of witchcraft or love spell on him, they said. And when Sienna's exposé on t
Liam headed straight to his study as soon as they got home and spent almost an hour on the phone with his father. Like he'd expected, Clarke was against the meeting and even more disturbed when he brought up the idea of dropping the charges. "Are you insane?" His father barked on his end, and if they were in the same room, Liam knew he would have likely throttled him. "We almost lost you. You almost died! How can you even think about this?" "What other choice do I have, Dad? He's watching Eden. We're getting married in three weeks. I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder. What kind of life will that be for Eden and our children?" "James told you there's a way to handle this. Aleksei and his brother are dogs. They should be put down." "And what will that make us?" Liam asked sadly. "I didn't call to ask for your permission. I was simply informing you the meeting with Andrei is happening." He clicked off before his father could pus
The botanical gardens were in the northern part of Rock Castle, and on a good day, it would have taken them under ten minutes to get there from Van Holt Industries. But, it took them almost twice as long because, by the time they left the doctor's rooms, every man and his dog was out and about, running their morning errands. By the time they arrived, the place was almost packed to capacity. Everywhere they turned, they were greeted by people on their picnic blankets with their wicker baskets; others were on camping chairs under big shady umbrellas, already sipping beers and turning sausages and steaks on their braai stands even though it wasn't even 10:00 AM yet. "Look at this place," Eden murmured, her eyes flitting everywhere. "We can't let Aiden out of our sight. I don't want a repeat of the aquarium. What if Aleksei is here?" "He's in jail, remember?" Liam reminded her as he lifted her chin. "He can't hurt us." "But his brother is around—"
Liam never thought he'd survive two weeks in hospital. But he did. With lots of patience, tons of reports and proposals to keep him sane and an endless supply of meds to ease his pain. Before he knew it, the dreaded family fun day, months in the making, finally snuck upon them. However, Anderson Logistics' big day coincided with his hospital release and their first check-up with Dr Emily. Eden was highly strung, anxious out of her wits when she came to pick him up. "There's so much to do today," she wrung her hands as they watched James scoop Aiden up and grab Liam's travel bag. It was amazing how much stuff he had managed to collect over the past couple of weeks. His duffel bag was now heavier than it was when Eden first dropped it off. "Tell me what's wrong," Liam said as he wheeled himself around the room and paused in front of her. He didn't need the wheelchair now, but he found it very comfortable, way better than sitting on the stiff bed. "So, what's wrong?" he pulled her do
The thought of spending an indefinite amount of time in the hospital did not please Liam at all, so as soon as they returned to his ward after their brisk walk, he tried every trick in the book to get Eden to speak to the doctors and get them to discharge him. But she refused to do his dirty work, much to his dismay. He thought she would want him home as soon as possible. "Whose side are you on?" He glared at her. "Yours, of course. I don't want to take any chances, you know," she said as she helped him up on the bed. Their son was now sitting on the floor, craning his neck at the blank TV screen in the corner and sipping his boxed juice. Liam had never met a kid who loved TV as much as Aiden, and he wondered if it was normal. Maybe spending all that time with Brenda during the day wasn't such a good thing. Maybe he needed to start going to school to get his mind stimulated. "I'm someone's fiancée now, you know, and I need the groom pr
Later that evening, when Eden walked into Liam's ward with Aiden in her arms, she was surprised to find him clean-shaven and fully clothed in joggers, sneakers and a hoodie as if he was ready to go somewhere. "Dad!" Aiden shrieked with joy as soon as he saw his father rolling around the room in a wheelchair. Liam roared right back at him, his voice thundering through the room as he opened his arms. "Kool-Aid!" Eden set their son down, and he ran to his father. Liam scooped him up despite his visible agony but yelped out in pain when he tried to throw him up in the air. Eden was instantly at his side, worry dancing in her eyes, the travel bag in her hands falling at her feet with a dull thud. Aiden, too, look just as concerned. "I'm okay," Liam assured them, but the anguish on his face told a different story. "Why are you even out of bed?" Eden scolded him, much to Aiden's disapproval. "Mom, no!" He shook his hea
Eden looked up, startled out of her mind to see his eyes were open. "Liam!" She was instantly on her feet and kissing him on the lips as she sobbed so loud she thought she'd wake the patients in the neighbouring rooms. "Oh my God, it's true. You're awake! I was starting to think they lied." "If you keep crying, I might just pass out again!" He growled and patted the empty spot on the bed. "Come here!" She sank beside him, and he drew her closer and placed his hand on her tummy. "How's my little warrior?" Eden burst into tears again at his words. "You heard everything I said that night?" "Of course I did," he smiled tearfully as well. "I may have been dying, but I'm not deaf, you know." "And you're not angry?" "Why would I be angry?" Liam asked. "Because you just found out about Aiden and now—" "Now our family will be complete," he pulled her down, and she nestled in his arms, careful not to touch his wound. "I l