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123|Let Them Stare
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The 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
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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
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"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
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[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
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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.
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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
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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
