Liam called Eden as he made his way upstairs and was mighty relieved when Clara picked up.
"Where is she?" He demanded.
"She's right here, sir; I was about to call a cab for her."
"No need, I'll take her home," he said. "Meet me outside; I'll bring the car around."
Five minutes later, he pulled up in his Lamborghini, parking as close to the entrance as possible where Clara was doing her best to prop up a blind drunk Eden.
Liam stormed out of the car and approached them, scowling at his assistant before picking Eden up and placing her in the front seat. He dumped her bag and shoes in the back and returned to the sidewalk to wait with Clara.
"Jeff's almost here," she said, a wide, drunken smile flickering on her lips as she held on to the street lamp. "I'll be okay, so you can go ahead and take Ms McBride home, sir."
"And leave you on your own? As wasted as you are?" Liam asked, crossing his arms.
Trying to talk sense int
Eden had just returned from the breakroom with a steaming cup of tea—her last for the day—ready to wind down for the afternoon when her office phone rang. After listening for a moment or two at the voice on the other end of the line, she placed the phone back on its stand. She took several shaky breaths to calm herself before she dashed out of her office. Their meeting was bound to happen at some point; she didn't expect it to be so soon, though. How could she possibly look at Liam now when she couldn't even remember a large part of Friday night? She knew she had drunk-called him at some point during her alcohol-fueled binge. A quick check of her call records, while she sipped on Brenda's hangover cure sometime after midday on Saturday, had confirmed that much. As she weaved through the hallways, Eden tried yet again to access what seemed to be her permanently deleted memories. But the only things her foggy mind came up with were Aleks
"Did you miss me?" Liam asked. "Only like one percent," Eden mumbled absently. Her attention was now on the envelope, her eyes shining with joy as she stared at it in wonder like it was a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Well, in the fashion world, it most certainly was. When Lydia showed off her ticket weeks ago, Eden was insanely envious of her. Since she's now a mom, there are things she had learned she would have to slowly let go of, like attending late-night events. But now, because of a work commitment, she'd get a front-row seat to the best fashion in the country before the general public saw it. Eden was so thrilled she wanted to shout with joy and break into a happy dance. If she wasn't in the CEO's office, she would have. But— She turned to Liam, suspicion clouding her eyes again. Why was she going as his date when he had Clara? "Shouldn't you take Clara or one of the senior as
Dazedly, Eden drifted in front of the screen and watched the news anchor report live from the N1, where three of Anderson Logistics freight trucks, en route to shipping depots in different parts of the country, were engulfed in flames, in what the police had termed a highly sophisticated attack. The reasons for the ambush, though, were still unclear. Within seconds, Liam's office door shot open. Matthew, Julian, and the other senior executives stormed in, along with their PAs, and they all held an impromptu meeting. The room was in stunning chaos for three hours as everyone lost their heads trying to do damage control. Julian was close to tears as they all watched Anderson Logistics' share prices tank on the markets. Matthew had a PR nightmare on his hands. Speculations and rumours about the attack, which was eerily similar to those that had befallen other logistics companies in recent days, were already spreading like wildfire. Every man and
Eden raced back inside the building, planning to sneak in and out of Liam's office to grab her phone. She knocked once and eased inside when she didn't get an answer. Her heart splintered in two when she found Liam on the couch, cradling his face in his hands, his shoulders sagged in defeat. He turned when he heard the door close softly behind her, his gaze darkening when their eyes locked. "I forgot my phone," Eden explained, lingering just inside, feeling like she'd intruded on a private moment. "It's here." Liam held it up in the air, and she dashed over to grab it. When she tried to reach for it, though, he grabbed her instead, and she clumsily fell on his lap. "Mr Anderson," she cried breathlessly, startled by his swift move. "Liam," he groaned, his lips hovering so close to hers she could smell the bourbon on his breath. "Liam," she said, matching his quiet tone. "I don't think I should be here." "
It rained for a week straight following the incident with the burning of the trucks, adding even more gloom to the sadness and depression that had settled over the company soon after Liam had called an emergency meeting to pay tribute to the fallen drivers. It was almost as if the heavens above felt their loss just as fiercely, and they, too, were in mourning. Incidentally, the horrid weather coincided with Gibby's departure from Anderson Logistics. By the third day, when the relentless storm showed no sign of ceasing, all the assistants on the 36th floor began to think that maybe the dark clouds and torrential rains were an omen and a sign that the older woman wasn't meant to leave. Gibby, though, as she told everyone in her farewell speech, firmly believed the rain was a blessing and a clear sign of all the wonderful things that awaited her in her next chapter and retirement. There wasn't a dry eye in the medium-sized private room at La Fami
Over the next few weeks following the burning of the trucks, Liam threw himself into his work with newfound vigour and determination, spurred on by his unyielding guilt and grief over losing three of his drivers. When he wasn't hounding the detectives about the lack of progress on the case, he was permanently on the second floor with the security team, monitoring all their freight trucks all over the country in real-time over a satellite feed. Ellie, the head of the area, was happy to have him on board for the first week but nicely asked him not to return the following week. Her guys worked far better when they were at ease. They couldn't relax with him constantly hovering over their shoulders, barking and growling instructions. With too many fires to put out, Liam didn't want to waste energy arguing with her. There were many ways to skin a cat. He demanded the technology team set up a live feed on his laptop where he could tap in at any time from the comfort
Like Liam had expected, the board—Clarke included—was firmly on Julian's side, and for two hours, he had to sit and take the tongue lashing from all the senior board members when they nicely asked him to stop his reckless shopping spree! "Why the hell can't you all see this is a good thing for us? All these small towns are light years behind us, relying on postal services for their goods. If we have shipping depots—" "That was not part of our expansion plan, Son," Clarke said, his voice barely above a whisper. He was still frail and should not even be sitting in such lengthy meetings. But as the chairman, his presence was required. "Plans are meant to be altered!" Liam pushed back, refusing to give up on his vision. "You can't make up for the loss of life by snapping up all these struggling companies!" His mom tried to reason with him. "I'm giving them a new lease on life, creating jobs, restarting economies! What's the issue?" Liam asked. He
Eden stared at her phone, unable to believe the last five minutes. "What the hell?" She fumed as she dumped it on the table and picked up her glass of water. "Is everything okay?" Cassandra asked. They were at Heat, an Asian fusion eatery in downtown Rock Castle, celebrating Sienna's 26th birthday. To say Liam's call was unexpected was an understatement. "Three weeks without a word from him, and when he finally calls, he has the nerve to make demands on me!" Eden fumed and seethed and fussed as she replayed her phone conversation to her friends. They all listened and sipped their saké and nibbled on their sushi. "Can you believe him?" She asked for the millionth time as she picked up her chopsticks, twirled them in her fingers and dumped them on the table again. "What did he want?" Sienna asked. "To go with him to see his—" She stopped herself before she could let the cat out of the bag. Her friends still didn't
[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