Chapter 9
Liam’s face fell. “I’ll make something else.“]]
“Don’t waste your time. A clean break is the best thing for both of us.”
“O
At the company holiday party, he could remember that Hannah hated lamb, ginger, and garlic, but he couldn’t remember the time I accidentally ate cheese and ended up in the emergency room with a severe allergic reaction.[]
Love and not loving. The difference was obvious.[]
But Liam didn’t seem to think so.]
He frowned, annoyed. “Couples shouldn’t hold grudges, Claire. I’m already humbling myself to do all this. Why are you still being so picky?“[]
“Besides, I’m busy running a company! It’s normal for me to forget things!”
“Mm,” I nodded. “And it’s normal for us to break up.“[]
Liam finally snapped. He slammed the plates down on the table with a loud crash.[]
He glared at me, his brow furrowed, then completely lost his patience and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.[]
This was the beginning of our cold war.]]
I sighed wearily. In the end, I hired a cleaner and packed up all of Liam’s things, shipping them to his address in the suburbs.
I was used to packing for his business trips, so it didn’t take me long.
The house closing went smoothly on the scheduled date.[]
Liam seemed to finally realize that this breakup wasn’t a threat. He sent me a string of insulting texts. When I didn’t respond, he started flooding his Instagram feed with pictures of him and Hannah.]]
I was busy with my new job. By the time I noticed, I had several notifications from his “close friends” story.]]
That’s when I saw he’d posted about taking Hannah to the safari park.]
The next day, it was a hot air balloon ride.[]
The day after that, he posted that the company was doing well, so he was rewarding Hannah with a trip to Bali.]
In the photos, he deliberately showed off the matching couple’s rings on their middle fingers.]
The caption read: [The one who is loved is always secure. But no one knows, it’s the child who doesn’t cry that needs the candy most.]
I knew he was trying to get to me.[]
Chapter 9
He was waiting for me to get jealous, to get angry, to beg him to come back.[]
And then he would condescendingly lay out his terms, as if he were doing me a favor.]]
But I didn’t care anymore.]
I was about to close the app when I accidentally liked one of his posts.[]
Worried it would cause more drama, I immediately unliked it and then calmly removed him from my “close friends” list.[]
I went back to focusing on my work.[]
My arrival at Olivia’s company helped streamline several projects.]
The business development team gained new confidence and landed a nine–figure deal.]]
One day, as Olivia and I were on our way to a meeting to discuss the project contract, Liam sent
It was a picture.
Puzzled, I opened it.]
Staring back at me was a “Prenatal Exam Report” with Hannah Donovan’s name on it.[]
15
me
a
text
Out of the blue.
