chapter 13

Liam didn't sleep, he couldn't sleep.

He sat in his study until nearly dawn, a glass of untouched whiskey on the table beside him.

The city lights outside gradually disappeared as morning arrived, but his thoughts remained exactly where they had been for the past twelve hours.

Judith was pregnant.

His child.

The words still felt unreal.

For years, fatherhood had been something distant, a future event that would happen eventually. Something he would think about when the timing was right.

Now that future was suddenly real.

And he had missed the first three months of it.

He had missed the doctor's appointments.

The morning sickness if there was some present.

The fear.

The excitement.

All of it.

Because he wasn't there.

Because he had divorced her.

Liam leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

For the first time in a very long time, he didn't like the man staring back at him from his own memories.

Across the city, Judith was trying to enjoy breakfast.

Trying being the important word.

"He's going to call."

Ava pointed a fork at her.

"He is absolutely going to call."

Julian didn't look up from his newspaper.

"Then I'll block his number."

Judith sighed.

"You cannot block the father of my child."

"Watch me."

"You are impossible."

"No," Julian said calmly. "I'm protective."

Ava nodded.

"To an unhealthy degree."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

Before Julian could respond, Judith's phone rang.

The three of them looked at the screen.

Silence.

Then Ava slowly smiled.

"Oh, this is fun."

Liam Smith was calling.

Right on schedule.

Judith stepped out onto the terrace before answering.

For a few seconds, she simply stared at the screen.

Then she accepted the call.

"Hello."

The silence on the other end lasted longer than expected.

When Liam finally spoke, his voice was quieter than usual.

"How are you feeling?"

Judith blinked.

Of all the things she expected him to say, that wasn't one of them.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

A small smile appeared on her face.

"No."

For some reason, that answer seemed to relax him.

"Have you been eating properly?"

She laughed softly.

The sound surprised both of them.

"When did you become so concerned?"

Another pause followed.

Longer this time.

Then Liam answered honestly.

"When I found out I had a reason to be."

The words settled heavily between them.

Neither spoke for a moment.

Finally Liam said,

"I'd like to see you."

Judith's smile disappeared.

There it was.

The difficult part.

That afternoon, they met at a quiet café neither of them usually visited.

Neutral territory.

Away from their families.

Away from reporters.

Away from everyone.

When Judith arrived, Liam was already there.

He stood immediately.

The gesture caught her off guard.

Liam had always been polite.

But there was something different about him today.

Something she couldn't quite identify.

She sat down across from him.

For a moment neither knew where to begin.

Then Liam's gaze dropped briefly to her stomach.

The movement was subtle.

Almost invisible.

Yet Judith noticed.

Of course she did.

"You're staring."

Liam looked slightly embarrassed.

An unfamiliar expression on him.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

Another silence.

Then he asked,

"How's the baby?"

The question sounded awkward.

As if he wasn't sure whether he had the right to ask.

Judith softened slightly.

"The doctor says everything is normal."

Relief flashed across his face.

Fast and gone almost immediately.

But she saw it.

───

For the next hour, they talked.

Not about their marriage.

Not about the divorce or about themselves

Just the baby.

The doctor appointments.

Things they hadn't expected to discuss together.

Eventually Liam set down his coffee.

"I want to be involved."

The words were direct, steady and certain.

Judith looked at him carefully.

"I figured."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

Liam leaned forward slightly.

"I'm not asking because I feel obligated."

That surprised her.

"Then why?"

He held her gaze.

"Because it's my child."

Something in his voice made her believe him.

Completely.

And that scared her.

Because believing Liam had never ended well before.

───

When the meeting finally ended, they walked outside together.

The afternoon sun was warm.

The street was busy.

A strange contrast to the conversation they'd just had.

Near the parking area, Liam stopped.

"So what happens now?"

Judith looked at him.

At the man she had spent years loving.

The man who had broken her heart without ever intending to.

The man who suddenly wanted back into her life.

She chose her next words carefully.

"You can be involved with the baby."

A flicker of hope appeared in his eyes.

Then she continued.

"But that doesn't change anything between us."

The hope disappeared but not completely.

Just enough.

Judith hated herself a little for noticing.

"Liam..."

"No."

He shook his head.

"I understand."

For the first time, he actually did.

This wasn't something he could fix with money, influence, or determination.

Trust didn't return because someone wanted it to.

It returned because they earned it.

And Liam hadn't earned it yet.

───

That night, Liam stood alone in the nursery section of a luxury department store.

He wasn't entirely sure how he'd ended up there.

One moment he'd been leaving a meeting.

The next he was staring at baby furniture.

A sales associate approached.

"Shopping for your child, sir?"

The question made him pause.

For the first time, he answered it aloud.

"Yes."

The single word changed something inside him.

A small shift.

Barely noticeable.

Yet important.

Because for the first time, the future didn't feel abstract.

It felt real.

And for the first time in years, Liam Smith wanted something he couldn't simply buy.

He wanted a place in Judith's life.

The problem was that he had been the one who walked out of it.