~~Scarlette~~I wanted Liam.All of him. His rage. His cock. His body pounding into mine until I couldnāt breathe his name without choking on it.He scooped me off the vanity and carried me to the bed.I laid flat, heart pounding, eyes locked on his. He stood at the edge, naked, hard, smirking like the devil himself.āWhy are you still standing there?ā I whispered, my voice trembling with need.It felt like my body was begging louder than my voice could. Every nerve inside me screamed for him. To fuck me. To ruin me. Just like he said he would.He tilted his head slightly, that smug look not leaving his face. āYouāre pregnantā¦ā he said roughly. āAnd IāI donāt know how to be gentle. I hate that Iām even saying this⦠but I canāt. I canāt be soft with you, Scarlette.āāI didnāt ask you to be gentle,ā I breathed out. āPlease⦠I want you so bad. Please, Liamā¦āI sounded like a begging child desperate for candy. Only this time, the craving was raw, filthy, and aching.He gave a half-smile,
~~Scarlette~~A week.A full damn week.And Liam hasn't come home.Iāve tossed and turned every night, pacing the house like a ghostāevery corner of it filled with his absence. Even the silence feels louder now. Colder.And of course, Mother won't shut up.āThat boy left because he knows that babyās not his,ā she hissed earlier.I laughed.Not because it was funny, but because if I didnāt, Iād scream. That old woman really believes Liam ran away because he canāt handle the truth?Ridiculous.Sheās ridiculous.And she has no idea what sheās talking about.Every second, Iāve been tempted to call him. To storm out, drag him back by his damn collar and demand he looks me in the eye. But I wonāt.No. He owes me.He wronged me. In the most cruel fucking way.Iām carrying his child. His. And what does he do?He disappears like a coward.Doesnāt check in. Doesnāt care how Iām feeling. Doesnāt even have the decency to ask if the babyās okay.He just⦠left.And yesāmaybe I told him to stay away
~~Scarlette~~I donāt want to remember how we got home.Or how I ended up inside the Newton house.Or how Liam dragged me into the car while his mother kept shouting about how I was embarrassing the family name.I donāt want to remember how I screamed on top of my lungs at the man who broke me the same day I was supposed to give him the best news of our lives.Or how, in all that chaos, I finally realizedāIād played right into the dirty Newton game.And while I was falling apart, yelling like a fool, Emelia and Mel were smirking.Smirking.Like it was all some kind of win for them.And somehowāsomehowāMother still found a way to tag Mel along.The second we got inside, I ripped my hand out of Liamās grip."Stay the hell away from me! Miles away, Liam!"I didnāt care if I was screaming again. I didnāt care who was listening.I turned and stormed upstairs, not wanting to hear another word. Not from him. Not from any of them.But I didnāt make it far."Not so fast, Scarlette!"Her voice
~~Scarlette~~Liam's face was unreadable. Hard. Cold. Like he meant every damn word.If Ethanās betrayal tore me apart, Liam just shattered what was left of me."Youāve lost your fucking mind," I snapped, my voice sharp. "You owe him? And what am I? A body you trade to pay your debts?"His jaw clenched. He didnāt flinch."This doesnāt make sense, Liam! You want me to sleep with Kayden? Thatās sick. Thatās disgusting."He didnāt blink. Just started pacing slowly, like it was all part of some plan.āIām not forcing you,ā he said flatly. āBut Kayden keeps showing up, pushing himself into your space. I told you Iād handle it.āKayden sat on the bed, legs crossed, smirking like a king waiting to be served. Every nod from him was a slap across my face.āYou call this handling it?ā I hissed.Liam picked up the glass Kayden had offered me earlier. He didnāt drink it ā just twirled the liquid like he was hypnotized by the mess he created.āWhat the fuck is your point?ā I demanded, stepping tow
~~Scarlette~~Suddenly, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder.I turnedāand there he was.Liam.My body gave a little jolt, like Iād just been caught red-handed. My brows shot up before I could hide the reaction. My heart? It skipped. Maybe two beats.He looked at me with narrowed eyes.āWhat the hell... Were you scared?ā he asked, stepping in closer, gaze locked on mine. āYou just had this lookālike you did something wrong.āI blinked fast and shook my head, forcing out a light laugh that barely masked my tension. āNo. No, Iām fine. I was talking to a woman⦠one of the guests. I think she was one of the few I counselled last yearā"Liam didnāt respond immediately. His eyes were still on me⦠but then shifted. Over my shoulder.āWaitā¦ā he murmured, squinting. āIsnāt that Elder Mateo?āFuck.He was looking past meātoward the exit. Mateo hadnāt gone far enough. Not fast enough.āI mean, that looks like him from the back. I canāt be wrong, can I?ā Liam added, a frown forming. āBut whyās he lea
My head must be spinning. Noāit is spinning.There's no way I could be pregnant. Thereās no way. I took the pills. I never missed them at that time. They donāt fail. Right?But here I am, staring at three test sticksāpregnancy test sticksāand all three of them show the same thing. Double lines. Bold. Clear. No faintness. No doubt.Do I need to get my eyes checked again?I should be happy. I should be. But how do I even begin to feel that emotion? My fingers were trembling as I started sticking the test sticks back into my purse, wrapping them tight with tissue.And thatās when someone walked into the restroom.A tall woman in a wine-colored dress stopped mid-step, eyes narrowing like sheād caught me stuffing diamonds in my purse.Mind your business. Damnit.Liam must be waiting for me. I told him I had a running stomach just so I could sneak here. I didnāt think Iād be met with a damn staring committee in the restroom.I thought this whole event was going to be one of those grand Newt