chapter 18

Three days later, Judith's morning started terribly.

It began with nausea.

Then dizziness.

Then a meeting she absolutely did not want to attend.

By ten o'clock, she was exhausted.

By eleven, she regretted getting out of bed.

And by noon, she found herself sitting alone in her office trying not to cry from sheer frustration.

Pregnancy was beautiful.

and pregnancy was magical.

But regrettably pregnancy was also extremely annoying.

The door opened.

Ava entered carrying food.

"You look terrible."

Judith glared at her.

"You always know exactly what to say."

"I have many talents."

She placed the food down.

"Eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Ava narrowed her eyes.

"Eat."

Judith sighed.

Then obeyed.

Mostly because arguing required energy she didn't currently possess.

An hour later, her phone rang.

Liam.

Judith stared at the screen.

For some reason, she wasn't ready to answer.

So she didn't.

A few seconds later, another call came through.

Not Liam.

Ethan.

Without thinking, she answered immediately.

"Hello?"

His voice sounded concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Judith blinked.

"Why?"

"Ava called."

She immediately made a mental note to murder her best friend.

Slowly yet Painfully.

Ethan continued.

"She said you've been sick all morning."

Judith sighed.

"Traitor."

"That's not an answer."

A reluctant smile appeared on her face.

"I'm fine."

"You're lying."

"You sound like Julian."

"I'll pretend that's a compliment."

───

Forty minutes later, Ethan arrived with soup.

Actual homemade soup.

Judith stared at the container.

"Did you cook?"

"No."

"Good."

"I'm not that bad."

"You once burned water."

"That happened one time."

"Twice."

Ethan sat across from her desk.

Watching her eat.

Making conversation.

Keeping her distracted.

And somehow, by the end of the afternoon, she genuinely felt better.

Not because of the soup.

Because she hadn't been alone.

That night, Judith realized something.

When she was having a bad day, Ethan was often the first person she wanted to get called by.

The realization wasn't romantic.

But it was important.

Because trust wasn't built through grand gestures.

It was built through hundreds of small moments.

And Ethan had been there for many of them.

Liam was reviewing contracts when his assistant walked into the office.

"Sir, the Blackwood partnership proposal has arrived."

The name alone irritated him.

Which was ridiculous.

Blackwood Capital was one of their biggest business partners.

Ethan was competent, reliable and espected.

There was absolutely no reason for Liam to dislike him.

Except one and that one reason was great momentum to dislike him.

Later that evening, Victoria found her son sitting alone in his office.

"You look annoyed."

"I'm working."

"You always say that when you're annoyed."

Liam rubbed his forehead.

His mother sat down.

Then casually asked,

"Did you know Ethan brought Judith lunch today?"

Liam looked up immediately.

Victoria smiled.

Got him.

"How do you know that?"

"Margaret told me."

Of course she did.

The Blackwood and Smith mothers spoke almost every day.

A terrifying reality.

Victoria folded her arms.

"Ethan seems very attentive."

Liam said nothing.

Victoria smiled wider.

"Oh."

"What?"

"Now I know."

"Know what?"

"You're jealous."

Liam almost laughed.

"I am not jealous."

Victoria stood.

"If you say so."

The annoying thing was that she looked entirely unconvinced.

That night, Liam couldn't stop thinking about something simple.

Judith hadn't answered his call.

Yet she had answered Ethan's.

A small detail which was insignificant.

Yet somehow it bothered him.

Far more than it should have.

A week later, Liam attended a charity luncheon hosted by the city's business leaders.

Normally he would have skipped it.

Unfortunately, his mother insisted.

Which was how he found himself seated at a table with several women from high society.

Including one woman who had known Judith during the marriage.

The conversation was casual at first.

Then Judith's name came up.

And everything changed.

"She was always so sweet."

One woman smiled sadly.

Another nodded.

"I felt bad for her."

Liam looked up.

"Why?"

The women exchanged glances.

One finally answered.

"Because she was always alone."

The room seemed quieter suddenly.

The woman continued.

"Every charity event. Every gala. Every fundraiser."

A pause.

"She always arrived alone."

Liam felt something tighten in his chest.

Another woman spoke.

"I remember one winter gala."

She smiled sadly.

"Judith spent nearly two hours waiting because she thought you were coming."

Liam froze.

The memory surfaced instantly.

That night.

The gala he had skipped because of work.

The gala he had completely forgotten.

The woman continued.

"She kept checking the entrance."

No one at the table spoke.

Because suddenly nobody wanted to.

For the first time, Liam wasn't hearing opinions.

He wasn't hearing accusations.

He was hearing memories.

Real ones.

Moments he had never witnessed because he hadn't been there.

And the worst part?

Nobody sounded angry.

They sounded sympathetic.

Sympathetic to Judith.

Because everyone had seen what he never bothered noticing.

That evening, Liam drove home in complete silence.

The mansion gates opened.

The driveway stretched ahead.

The same driveway Judith had walked down the day she left.

For the first time, he allowed himself to imagine her perspective.

The waiting, the loneliness, the hope and the disappointment.

Again and again.

For three years.

A sharp pain settled in his chest.

Regret.

Because Liam finally understood something he had spent months avoiding.

He didn't miss Judith because she was carrying his child.

He didn't miss her because she had moved on.

He missed her because somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, she had become the most important person in his life.

And he hadn't figured it out until after he lost her