Chapter 5

"You're… pregnant?" Liam asked.

I thought he would ask why I'd ended the pregnancy. Instead, his face darkened. He barely glanced at the paperwork before tearing it to shreds and throwing the pieces in my face.

"Victoria gets pregnant, and suddenly you're pregnant too? Are you seriously trying to compete with her for my attention? After everything we've been through, is this how little you trust me?"

I almost laughed.

The nerve of him. He was the one who had betrayed me first. Yet without asking me a single question, he'd already decided I was trying to compete with Victoria.

And somehow, I was the one who didn't trust him.

I couldn't be bothered to argue. I gave him a flat look. "Think whatever you want."

Just then, Julian called to say he'd arrived.

I was done with this. I pushed past Liam and headed for the door.

When he realized I was actually leaving, his temper flared. "Fine. Go! But if you walk out that door, don't even think about coming back!"

I didn't stop. I only walked faster.

When I got home, Julian cooked a huge dinner to cheer me up. After we ate, I took a long, hot bath.

I was getting ready for bed when a message from Liam popped up. "Victoria, didn't you say you wanted roasted chestnuts? Do you want the regular ones, the small sweet ones, or both?"

So he'd texted the wrong person.

In the past, a message like that would've sent me into a jealous spiral. I would've called him immediately and demanded an explanation.

But now, accidental or not, I wasn't going to let anything Liam did get to me anymore.

I forwarded the message straight to Victoria.

She replied almost instantly. "See? Liam loves me, not you! Natalie, if you know what's good for you, you'll get out of the way now. Save yourself the embarrassment of getting dumped later!"

I couldn't be bothered to respond. I was already getting sleepy, so I yawned and got ready for bed.

Just then, Liam started bombarding me with calls and messages. He called more than a dozen times and sent me 99 voice messages.

"Natalie, have you lost your mind? Why did you forward that message to Victoria?

"I know you're at Julian's. Are you done throwing your tantrum yet?

"When are you going to grow up? Do you seriously have to run back to your family every time you get mad?"

Liam used to say he loved how childlike I was. He said I was innocent and carefree, and he found it adorable.

But now, those same qualities only seemed to irritate him. To him, I was being unreasonable and making a fuss over nothing.

I guess that was what happened when someone stopped loving you. The things they once found charming became flaws overnight.

I replied coldly, "Wasn't that message meant for Victoria anyway? Or am I wrong?"

Liam didn't answer.

That was fine by me. I went straight to sleep.

After that, Liam seemed determined to get a reaction out of me. He started flaunting his relationship with Victoria all over social media.

He posted pictures of them cheek to cheek, holding hands, and showing off meals he'd cooked for her himself.

I got sick of seeing it, so I blocked him and deleted his contact.

But that didn't stop him. He started putting on the same show in front of Julian instead, and every time, Julian came home complaining about it.

"That jerk Liam was at it again today! Victoria doesn't eat cilantro, so he actually sat there picking every piece out of her food for her. He's completely whipped!"

I laughed bitterly to myself.

Liam used to swear I was the only woman he'd ever treat that gently, the only one he'd ever spoil. We had barely broken up, and he was already giving Victoria the same tenderness he'd once reserved for me.

So much for all his promises. In the end, none of them had meant a damn thing.

A few days later, Julian told me Liam had arranged a party to help me get over the breakup. He'd even picked out a man he thought would be a good match for me and planned to set us up.

Even after we'd broken up, Liam still went out of his way to provoke me.

I was about to refuse, but Julian wouldn't hear of it and dragged me along anyway.