All Chapters of THE WEIGHT OF LOVING YOU: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

JESSICAI stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection like it might change if I squinted hard enough. My makeup was halfway done, my curls pinned loosely, my dress still hanging untouched in the closet. I wasn’t even sure if I liked my eyeliner.“Jessica, you’re overthinking again,” I muttered to myself, leaning in closer to inspect my wing. Ugh. Too sharp. I’d fix it in a minute.With a soft sigh, I padded out of the bathroom and down the hallway, barefoot, the wood cool against my skin. The apartment was quiet except for the low playlist I’d left running earlier, a soft R&B track humming faintly in the background. Liam had told me to “get ready” because he was taking me out tonight. And when Liam said that, it usually meant two things: trouble… and something expensive.The doorbell chimed.I frowned. That was weird. He wasn’t supposed to be here yet.Jogging lightly down the stairs, I brushed a curl from my cheek and unlocked the door—only to find… no one.Just a small b

JESSICAI swear, my heart forgot how to work.“Oh my God… Liam. What the fuck are you doing right now?” My voice came out shaky, broken — somewhere between shock and panic.His head lifted slowly, and I caught that familiar look in his eyes — the one that always managed to undo me, no matter how mad I was at him.“Jess,” he said softly.I couldn’t breathe. My heels clicked against the hardwood as I rushed forward, my chest tight, my hands trembling. “Get up,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Please, get up. You don’t have to do this.”But he shook his head, slow and stubborn, the way he always did when he’d already made up his mind.“No,” he said quietly. “Please. Just… listen.”My stomach twisted so hard it hurt. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to stop him, to run, to not let him do this — because if he said the words I thought he was about to say, there was no coming back.His voice was rough when he spoke again, breaking just slightly at the edges.“I know the wedding we had…

LIAMI shouldn’t have been driving that fast.I knew it.God, I knew it.But knowing didn’t matter. I couldn’t stop.Jessica’s smile was still in my head, looping like a song I couldn’t shut off — soft, unguarded, almost shy when I dropped her home from the airport. There was something in the way she’d looked at me… quiet, lingering, like she wasn’t ready to let go yet. And if I was honest, neither was I.I’d wanted to stay. I should’ve stayed.But then the phone rang.An urgent call from work. Numbers. Deadlines. A client losing their mind over something I couldn’t even care about. I barely listened, just muttered, “I’ll be there.” Because that’s who I was — the guy who showed up, no matter what.So I drove. Fast. Reckless. My mind wasn’t in the car at all. One hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gearshift, my head filled with nothing but the memory of her laugh — low, warm, the kind that reached into your chest and stayed there.I thought I had all the time in the world.I d

LIAMI hated hospitals. The smell. The silence. The way the white walls made you feel small and fragile. But the worst part? The way Jessica’s eyes had been red for two days straight.“Careful, Liam. Don’t rush,” she said as the nurse gently removed the IV from my arm. Her voice was soft, but I knew that tone.I winced a little at the sting and shot her a grin. “I’m fine, baby. Stop hovering.”Her glare hit me instantly, sharp, full of warning, but it softened just as quickly, like it always did when her worry won over her temper.“You almost died, Liam,” she whispered, her voice breaking for just a second. “You don’t get to joke about this.”That killed me. Watching her fight to keep it together while I was sitting there being an idiot. I reached for her cheek, brushing my thumb over her skin. Her eyes finally met mine, and I kept my voice low, steady — like I could transfer some of my strength to her just by saying it out loud.“I’m here,” I told her. “And I’m not going anywhere.”S

LIAM My hands were clenched so tight around the edge of the altar that they’d gone numb, but I couldn’t make myself loosen my grip. It was the only thing keeping me grounded, the only thing stopping me from falling apart. I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think of anything except the one thought that had been clawing at the back of my mind for the last hour: What if she doesn’t come? I’d told myself I wasn’t going to think like that. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t spiral. But standing here, with the weight of every single pair of eyes behind me and the sound of the ocean crashing softly in the background, panic kept curling around my throat like a vice. I forced myself to breathe — deep, steady, even breaths — but my chest felt like it was caving in on itself. The air was warm, thick with salt and sunlight, clinging to my skin. And still… I was cold. A hollow, creeping kind of cold that settled deep in my stomach. My heart was hammering, a wild, uneven rhythm, slamming