chapter 21

Not This Time.....

Judith had spent three years loving Liam Smith.

Three years making excuses for him.

Three years convincing herself that one day he would look at her and see more than a responsibility, a contract or a familiar presence in his home.

The worst part wasn't that Liam had been cruel.

It was that he hadn't been.

Cruelty was easier to hate.

Indifference was harder to heal from.

Because every disappointment came wrapped in hope.

Maybe next time.

Maybe next month.

Maybe next year.

Until eventually there was nothing left to hope for.

The morning after Liam admitted his feelings to himself, Judith arrived at Lux Group expecting an ordinary day.

Unfortunately, ordinary days seemed to have abandoned her life.

Her assistant entered looking nervous.

"Miss Lux."

Judith looked up from her laptop.

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. Smith is here."

She froze.

For a moment, she genuinely thought she had misheard.

"Liam?"

"Yes."

Her assistant hesitated.

"He refuses to leave."

A headache immediately began forming.

Liam was waiting in her office when she walked in.

He stood the moment he saw her.

The sight was strangely familiar.

Once upon a time, she would have been happy to see him.

Now she simply felt cautious.

"What are you doing here?"

Liam looked unusually serious.

"I wanted to talk."

"About the baby?"

"No."

That answer immediately put her on guard.

Judith closed the office door.

Then crossed her arms.

"Then what?"

For several seconds, Liam simply looked at her.

As though he was trying to figure out where to begin.

Finally he spoke.

"I made a mistake."

A small laugh escaped her.

Not because it was funny.

Because it was absurd.

One mistake?

Was that really what he thought this was?

"I know I wasn't a good husband."

The words sounded sincere and Judith hated that.

Because sincere Liam was much harder to resist than indifferent Liam.

"You weren't a bad person, Liam."

His expression softened.

"Judith—"

"You just weren't there."

The room fell silent.

She wasn't angry.

That somehow made it worse.

"I kept waiting for you."

Liam's chest tightened.

Judith looked away briefly.

Toward the large windows overlooking the city.

"I waited on birthdays."

Her voice remained calm.

"I waited on anniversaries."

Liam lowered his gaze.

"I waited after work."

Another pause.

"I waited every time you promised we'd spend time together."

Each sentence landed harder than the last.

Not because she was accusing him.

Because she wasn't.

She was simply telling the truth.

And the truth hurt.

"You know what finally broke me?"

Judith looked back at him.

For the first time, Liam realized her eyes weren't filled with anger.

They were filled with exhaustion.

The kind that came from loving someone for too long.

"I stopped expecting anything."

The words hit him like a punch.

Because he remembered that version of Judith.

The quieter version.

The one who stopped asking him to attend events, stopped inviting him to dinner and even stopped waiting up at night.

At the time, he'd thought she was becoming independent.

Now he understood.

She had been giving up.

Liam took a slow breath.

"I love you."

The confession left the room completely silent.

Judith stared at him.

A year ago, hearing those words would have meant everything.

A month before the divorce, she would have cried from happiness.

Now all she felt was sadness.

Not because she didn't believe him.

Because she did.

For the first time, she truly believed him.

And that made everything worse.

"You do."

Liam frowned.

The response wasn't what he expected.

"You believe me?"

"Yes."

His heart skipped.

Then she shattered the hope before it could fully form.

"But it doesn't change anything."

The words lingered between them.

It was painful and final.

Liam felt something sink inside his chest.

"Why?"

Judith looked at him quietly.

"Because loving me now is easy."

The statement caught him off guard.

She continued.

"You realized what you lost."

A small smile appeared.

Heartbreaking but beautiful.

"But I lived through the part where you didn't realize it."

Liam couldn't argue.

Because she was right.

Every single word was true.

For the first time in years, Liam didn't know how to fix a problem.

Because there were no strategies or solution for this problems.

Just consequences.

Consequences of choices he'd made long before he understood their cost.

"I don't expect forgiveness."

His voice was low.

"I know."

"I don't expect you to trust me immediately."

"I know."

"Then what do I do?"

The question sounded almost helpless.

And Liam Smith hated sounding helpless.

Judith looked at him for a long moment.

Long enough for him to understand how serious her answer would be.

Then she spoke.

"You be a father."

The simplicity of the answer stunned him.

Nothing about reconciliation.

Nothing about romance.

Nothing about second chances.

Just the baby.

Just responsibility.

Just showing up.

"You be a father," she repeated softly. "And if you're truly different now, eventually people will see it."

People?

Not her.

People.....

The distinction wasn't accidental.

When Liam finally left the office, Judith remained standing by the window.

Her hands trembled slightly.

Not because she regretted what she'd said.

Because she didn't.

The truth was, a small part of her still loved him.

That was the problem.

If she didn't love him anymore, rejecting him would have been easy.

But she did.

And that was exactly why she couldn't give him another chance.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

Because she refused to build her future on promises.

She had already done that once.

This time, she wanted proof.

Across the city, Liam sat alone in his car long after arriving home.

Judith's words replayed in his mind.

Loving me now is easy.

For the first time, he understood something important.

Winning Judith back wasn't going to happen because he finally said the right words.

It would happen because of what he did next.

And for a man who had spent most of his life speaking through actions rather than emotions, perhaps that was exactly how it should be.