Liam’s POV‘We’re married but not together’. Emma’s words. Those words continued to echo in my head throughout my drive to Anna’s place. I just couldn’t seem to get it out of my mind. Yes, we’re married. Yes, we’re not together. I agree. The way she said it today though. Damn. She really meant it this time. The thing is, with the way Emma and I have operated since we started sleeping with each other, yes we definitely fought more, but at the end of every fight, she’d say that same line, but then we both knew that something would still happen between us again, which it did until recently. Now, though, there was a lot more truth to what she was saying, because she actually had someone to fall back on. Tony. I know it’s wrong of me to think in this way, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy when I knew that Emma would always come back to me. Until now, that is. Now, Tony is in the picture. Bastard. I may have never met him before, and he may have not done anything to me, but i
Liam’s POVIt was a bit past 4 a.m. on Monday and I had just woken up. I spent the weekend at Anna’s place but because I didn’t actually plan to, and I just said I would because I wanted Emma to feel bad, I didn’t actually pack any work clothes. I had to wake up early because I planned to go home, take a shower, and get dressed, then head to work from home, and I needed to do all of that before eight o’clock because I had a big meeting this morning. “Hey, baby,” Anna greeted me as she opened her eyes slowly.She picked up her phone from the nightstand by her side. I assumed to look at the time based on the next words that left her mouth. “Why’re you up so early?” she asked as she sat up. “Morning,” I greeted, clearing my throat. “I’ve got to get to work early, and I didn’t bring any work clothes, so I have to head home now”. “But why?” she whined. “Because I have a job?” I answered sarcastically. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, turning on the lamp on her nightstand to
Emma’s POV“Hey, girl,” my co-worker, Dina, greeted me with a hug as I walked into the office. “I’ve missed you”. “I missed you too, Dina,” I smiled as we let go of each other. “How have you been?” I asked, setting down my bags in my space. “Good, good. You? How was Greece?” she asked, wriggling her eyebrows. “It was fine,” I said, letting out a laugh. “I had a good time”. “That’s great. And how’s that husband of yours? I’m sure you both got down and busy over there” she said with a wink. “Dina,” I playfully smacked her arm. “You don’t have to be so loud about it,” I warned, with a hushed tone, as I looked around and noticed someone had turned their head toward us when she spoke. “Sorry, sorry,” she apologized, giggling. “My bad. But tell me you both didn’t have a good time together there”. “We did,” I lied. Dina obviously doesn’t know that my marriage is fake and even though I consider her one of my close friends in this office, I just can’t tell her. The fewer people that kn
Emma’s POVI was about to pack up my stuff and call it a day when I got a call from Liam. “Hey, Emma,” he greeted me once I picked up the call. “Hey, Liam. What’s up? Are you good?” I asked because I was quite shocked that he was calling at this time. He doesn’t usually call me during the day unless it’s really important. “Yeah. I'm fine,” he said, then sighed. “My mum just called me and said she wants us to come over tonight for dinner. She says it’s important because she and my dad have something they want to share with us or something like that”. “Your dad? Okay, now I’m kind of worried. Since when did your dad start wanting to discuss things with us? Not you but both of us?” I asked. “Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you. I tried asking her for details, but she wasn’t budging so we have to go. Please tell me you don’t have any plans tonight. If you do, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to reschedule”. I sighed. “Lucky for you, I don’t. I’m free tonight so we’re good to g
Emma’s POV“Emma, darling,” Liam’s mum greeted me as she hugged me and planted a kiss on my left cheek. “I absolutely missed you”. “Good evening, Maria. I missed you too,” I greeted her back as we let go of each other. “How are you?” “Much better now that you’re here,” she smiled. “Oh, stop,” I blushed. Maria had come to welcome me from the door, as opposed to Lilian, who usually does it. It’s almost as though she’d been waiting by the door in expectation of me. She’s so cute. “Come on in, dear. Liam is in the living room waiting for you. He got here about five minutes ago, so we were just waiting for you to get dinner started. “Oh I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting,” I apologized as we walked toward the living room. “Oh nonsense. You did not keep us waiting at all. I said eighth o’clock and it’s barely seven fifty yet. You’re right on time, darling. Don’t worry about it,” she smiled. We had gotten to the living room and sure enough, Liam was there. Right next to him, Mr.
Liam’s POVCancer. One word. Six letters.That’s all it took for me to lose my appetite. It’s all it took for my mind to grow hazy. It’s all it took to disorient me.Cancer.“Yes. Cancer. Lymphoma to be more specific, and I’m at stage four. Unfortunately for me, it progressed quickly, so the chemotherapy is no longer working, and I don’t have much time left, which is why I wanted this dinner to be held tonight so I could tell you both,” my father continued, looking between Emma and me. “I need you two to produce an heir”.“What?!” Emma shrieked out from beside me. “What do you mean you need us to produce an heir?!”“Well,” my father cleared his throat before speaking. “Seeing as Liam is my only child, and I am currently without any grandchildren, my two options are to either leave everything I have spent my whole life working for to Liam or give it all away. I do not mind giving my fortune away, but I believe it unfair to not have my legacy passed on considering how much effort I hav
Liam’s POV“We signed a contract. That’s legally binding, right? Is there no way I can get out of this by some sort of legal means,” Emma turned to face me and asked, tears welling in her eyes.Fuck. I hate seeing her cry.Unfortunately, there was no way out.The contract she signed had a segment in it that talked about how the initial agreement was subject to change if any unforeseen circumstances came up. I don’t know if she read over that part or not, but she signed the contract regardless, so she’s stuck.My jaw, which had been clenched for a good part of the time during their whole conversation, relaxed as I saw the look on Emma’s face. I had had some anger towards her because of the comment she made before she and I stepped into the dining room but that all disappeared within seconds as I looked into her now tear-filled eyes.It broke my heart to do so, but I shook my head in response to her question to signify that there was indeed no way out for her.“No,” she whispered, foll
Emma’s POV“Oh my God,” I repeated, but slower this time as the realization really sunk in me.He planned this.Mr. Henderson planned this.The bastard!“Emma, you were not supposed to hear that,” Mr. Henderson spoke up as he cleared his throat and recovered from the shock of hearing my voice the first time. “Eavesdropping is rude”.“It’s not eavesdropping if I was just about entering the room, is it?” I snapped back. “My goodness,” I scoffed as I took long strides toward where I was previously sitting at the dining table.One thing and one thing only was on my mind.I needed to get the hell out of this house. “I’m leaving,” I said, shortly, as I picked up my purse and my phone from the table.I contemplated picking up the gift Maria had presented me with because I didn’t see the need to have it anymore, but I eventually decided to take it along with me.“This conversation is not over”, Mr. Henderson stated.“As far as I’m concerned, it is,” I paused to answer him. “You want me to ha
Emma's POVAbout ten minutes after Maria and I got into our feelings with each other, Liam and his father returned to the dining room. Mr. Henderson looked fresh again in his change of clothes, but Liam, on the other hand, looked tired and stressed out. Clearly, the entire situation that had just unfolded in front of him stressed him out, but he didn’t say anything about it for the entire time the lunch went on. From one o’clock or so, till five minutes past three o’clock, the four of us ate lunch and made small conversations about anything else but the elephant in the room. While I found it a bit weird that everyone chose not to say anything about what happened, I obviously couldn’t comment on anything because, at the end of the day, I don’t have much of a say in what’s going on. It’s not like Mr. Henderson is my husband, neither is he my father, so yeah, I couldn’t exactly say much. Once we were done eating and had spent the extra hour at their place for our food to digest, Liam a
Emma’s POVTo cut the whole story short, Liam spoke. A lot. He said far much more than I could even remember, and what’s crazy is he just said these things a few minutes ago. He took his father’s go-ahead for him to say what was on his mind quite literally, and when I say literally, I mean literally. Unexpected to all of us, Liam started addressing issues from far before I came into his life. Issues he’s had with his father, and his mother, from when he was a little boy, actually. There was also him talking about how he felt closer to his grandfather than anyone else before his passing and how his passing really affected him because he knew that he wasn’t ever going to feel that type of pure love again from a father figure, let alone his father. He talked about how he always felt unloved by his parents because, while his father drowned himself in work most of the time, his mother drowned herself in work and societal events and gatherings, so it felt like she was even more absent. The
Emma’s POV“Okay,” Liam spoke up. “We’re listening. Why’d you call us over here today?” he asked. “First of all,” Mrs. Henderson cleared her throat. “Your father and I want to wish you both a happy anniversary”. Oh, so she remembered. “You remembered?” I squeaked out. “Are you kidding me, dear?” she asked with a small smile on her lips. “How could I forget? I mean after all the planning that went into that wedding and how invested I was, not just in the wedding but in your hopeful love story. With all that in mind, there was absolutely no way I could forget the day you got married to Liam; fake wedding or not. I was personally very happy that day because I liked you, so nothing was going to make me forget it”. “Oh…” I was speechless. “Thank you, Maria”.At the mention of her name, her smile instantly grew. I knew she hated me calling her Mrs. Henderson and I hated calling her that just as much because I believed we had formed a bond that went beyond me calling her that. So, while
Emma’s POVAs we pulled into the driveway of the Henderson house, I could see Liam visibly tense up already. From the way his fingers tightened on the steering wheel, to the way his jaw began to clench, it was clear he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. “Are you good?” I asked him, placing my hand on his that was still gripping the steering wheel even after he had parked the car. At the feel of my hand on his, the hold he had on the steering wheel instantly loosened, and I could thankfully feel the tension ease from his body under my touch. “I’m better now,” he said, mustering up a weak smile, as he held my hand and brought it up to his lips to place a kiss on it. “Thank you”. “Hey,” I rubbed the back of his neck. “Everything’s going to be alright. Besides, I have a feeling that we’re here to receive some good news. Nothing that’s going to spoil either of our moods. Okay?”“Okay,” he nodded, then turned off the car. As he started to open his door, I held him back again for
Emma’s POV“Happy anniversary, baby,” Liam said, cheesing from ear to ear, as he walked into my room with a tray filled with waffles, bacon, eggs, an assortment of fruits, and two glasses of orange juice.“For me?” I smiled as I looked up from my phone. “Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, placing the tray on the nightstand next to me. “Happy anniversary, my love,” he said again, as he bent down to hug me. “I love you,” he pecked my cheek. “Happy anniversary, Liam,” I cooed in response, hugging him tightly, making sure to sniff him in the process. “How early did you wake up for you to have taken a shower and made me breakfast?” I asked, genuinely wondering. “Early enough,” he shrugged his shoulders, hopping into the bed and squeezing closely next to me. “I see that,” I turned my head to face him. “Did you sleep in here with me though? Because I don’t even remember sleeping off. I had planned to come over to yours after taking a bath, but I guess I must have fallen asleep after doing that”. “
Emma’s POV“So, talk to me. What’s going on in that big head of yours?” I joked. “Rude,” he scoffed, feigning a hurt look. “Whatever,” I chuckled, unwrapping my hands from his waist. “This seems like serious talk, so let’s go over to the living room please”. “Alright,” he nodded, pushing himself off the counter that he was resting on and following behind me until we got to the living room and sat comfortably on the couch. “Now,” I moved a bit closer to him. “Talk to me”. “Okay,” he cleared his throat, evidently nervous. “I don’t know if you know… but tomorrow is our first anniversary,” he stated, then averted his gaze from me. “Is that it?” I chuckled. “What do you mean?” he asked with furrowed brows. “I mean, is that all that’s bothering you?”“Yes, it is. Now can you please stop laughing,” he grumbled. “Sorry,” I stifled a laugh. “Listen,” I grabbed hold of his hands. Can I be honest with you?”“Sure,” he nodded, fiddling with my hands. “I know”. “Seriously?” he looked of
Emma’s POVIt had been a long day at the office, but thankfully, it was finally over. As I packed up my sketches that I planned to work on over the weekend, my phone buzzed on the table, but I didn’t pick it up immediately because if it was something important, I’d have assumed the person would call me. After about ten minutes of putting my stuff together, I was done packing up for the day and finally picked up my phone to check the time. The time wasn’t what caught my eye though. It was my notification; specifically, the one that came ten minutes ago which I ignored. It was a notification from my Reminders app, reminding me of what tomorrow is – Liam and I’s first anniversary. Shit. How the hell could I have forgotten? And especially now that Liam and I are actually in true love with each other, and we’ve been so good with each other these past couple of weeks too, fuck!As I walked out of the office, I began brainstorming the excuse I was going to give Liam for forgetting about t
Liam’s POVWhen Ryan and I were done eating, we immediately began our journey back home. “So, have you decided what you’re going to do yet?”“About what?” I asked, optimistic that the meaning behind that question wasn’t the same as when he asked me this same question ten minutes ago. “About you and Emma, silly,” he scoffed, looking at me like I was dumb. “No, Ryan. I have not decided what to do, just like I hadn’t decided ten minutes ago when you asked me the same damn question,” I said, tightening my fingers on the steering wheel momentarily, before letting out a deep breath in annoyance and releasing my grip on the wheel. “My bad,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m just trying to be helpful,” he murmured. “Then be helpful by suggesting what I should do!” I raised my tone slightly and kissed my teeth. “You being helpful isn’t you asking me the same question repetitively at ten-minute intervals hoping that my response would be different? Helping would be you trying to help me brainstorm o
Liam’s POVIt had been a week since Emma had made her choice to be with me and for this last week, I’ve probably been the happiest man on this earth. Now, our first anniversary was in three days, and I had no idea what to do. Before we got married, I remember while I was having one of the pre-wedding discussions with my mother, she said she would love for Emma and me to throw a party or a ball or something in that regard to commemorate the milestone, while also making sure we appear as a happily married couple in the public light. However, with how things are going in the family right now, with my dad’s sickness and the rift between Emma and my parents, that party that my mother would have wanted us to have just doesn’t seem probable. And to be honest, I haven’t even had a talk with Emma about this anniversary of ours, so God knows if she actually remembers that it’s even coming up or not. “Liam! Where are you!?” Ryan yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts as he stepped into the apa