Chapter 4

Betty’s POV

I had wished that the past would remain hidden. I had hoped that hiding away in this small seaside village, changing my name, and getting out of the metropolis would keep me safe.

However, I was mistaken.

It all began when I first spotted Larry standing in the resort lobby, his towering body obstructing the sun, his keen eyes searching the area like a predator. My heart stopped beating. He located me.

It got worse when he saw Liam.

Although it wasn't the name he used to know me by, Larry's strong voice cried out, "Betty."

Or ought I to say... Megan? "

I went cold. I gripped Liam's little fingers with shaking hands. Innocently, he was playing with his toy car, not realizing the impending storm.

I made an effort to speak steadily.

"Larry, what do you want? Why are you here?”

He clenched his jaw. He approached me till I could smell his cologne—the same one that used to make me shaky. All it did now was make me sick.

Whose kid is he? With a knife-sharp voice, he demanded. He looked at me and then at Liam.

"Tell me, Megan," he said. Who is the father of the boy? "

I gave Liam a closer hug. I was certain Larry could hear my heart beating so loudly.

"It’s irrelevant. He is my son. That's all you need to know.”

Larry slammed his fist against the table next to me and yelled, "Don't play games with me, Betty."

People in the lobby looked at us, but I could see he was having a hard time controlling his anger. He resembles me. The same eyes. The same hair.”

His voice came almost like a whisper, “Is he mine?"

With tears in my eyes, I shook my head frantically in defence, "No... no.. no, you don't own him. Larry, just Leave us alone.”

However, I knew deep down that I couldn't keep the facts a secret forever. Larry looked at me for a brief moment, his eyes softened, then hardened once again.

"I'll find out myself if you won't tell me."

He then bounded out of the resort, leaving me frightened and trembling. The days that followed were agony. I hardly ate or slept. My chest felt heavy, the hurt, the guilt, all at once.

I watched Liam sleep peacefully. "What happens if he takes you from me?” Liam slept peacefully with his tiny hand nestled against my chest. "Baby, I can't let you go. You are mine, everything I have...is you. All I have is you. However, Larry was a man who consistently achieved his goals. I also knew he wouldn't give up, and so would I.

I heard him talking to the resort employees one day. He was seductive, slick, and frighteningly intelligent. When I discovered what he was doing, my heart fell.

A DNA test. He had somehow obtained one of Liam's mugs. I nearly passed out when my knees began to weaken.

I whispered to myself, "Ooh…no, no, no, he can’t know, can’t ever know.”

However, it was too late. I roamed the tiny flat like a bird in a cage that night. I couldn't stop the shouting in my head.

"How about if he is granted custody? What if I have nothing left after he takes Liam? What happens if Vivienne discovers? "

I felt like the walls were closing in on me.

One afternoon, I watched her beautiful black automobile pull up outside the resort. When she stepped out wearing her overpriced heels, and her sly smile, my blood froze up.

She knocked on my door, I opened the door, and her poisonous voice greeted me, "Hello, Megan, uhmm, Betty?, or whatever you're calling yourself these days."

She forced her way in when I attempted to close the door. "Don't bother wasting your time. I know Everything Damien informed me already.”

She smiled broadly. “How could you be so stupid? I paid you enough to erase yourself.”

I held Liam tight. "Please, Vivienne, we don’t want any trouble.” She lets out a hideous, icy laugh.

"Oh, I won't be leaving. When Larry learns that you concealed his son from him, do you think he will forgive you? No. He will despise you and I'll be there to make sure he takes these little bastards from you.”

As her words took hold, my entire body trembled. Her aroma choked me as she drew closer.

“What do you mean? Vivvan, it was your idea!”

“Well.. that is your own story, it is your word against mine. Who do you think Larry is going to believe? His wife or his one-night stand?”

And there go the ground-breaking, heart-shattering blades. Classic Vivian. The most terrifying moment arrived sooner than I had anticipated. She storms out with a satisfying smile.

Larry was standing there when I opened my door two days later. His face was pale. In his hand was an envelope.

I recognized it right away. I nodded my head frantically as I whispered his name. "Larry..." but he interrupted.

“Don't..’ He spoke in a low, shaking voice,

"Don't say a word." He pushed the papers in my face, the DNA test results