Liz Walters swallowed nervously. “No, it’s okay! I won’t be long, and then I’ll be right back, good as new.” She attempted another weak smile.“Alright,” Xander gave her a nod before getting inside the elevator.Once the elevator doors slide closed, she exhaled a sigh of relief. She was so close to getting caught. If she’d blurted out anything she wasn’t supposed to say, words would have gotten directly to her grandpa. That was something she did not want to happen right now.She wore her jacket. It was getting cold outside. It would look odd if she’s said she was going out but didn’t take her coat.Walking out, she nodded a greeting at one of the receptionists she vaguely recognized.It didn’t take long for her to find a pharmacy which was not that far yet not that close to the company. It was a few blocks down the road to the left. She checked her surroundings before going inside.She went straight to the first lady she saw working behind the counter.The woman in her late thirties l
Liz Walters went home and immediately found herself in her bedroom.How long she stood with her back against her bedroom door she didn’t know, but when she realized she needed to do something, rather than just stand there and stare at nothing in particular, she noticed that tears she’d been trying to hold back had started rolling down her cheeks.Those were tears for her pitiful life…for her contract marriage… for what had happened with Adrian and now this pregnancy.She’d initially thought that everything would be okay after she’d left everything behind and returned home but she was so wrong!There was a new concern, a new fear and a new reminder of Adrian about to turn her life upside down.She’d told herself that she was brave enough to do this but was she really now that she was pregnant? Walking out of her office with a partially inflated belly had been like leaving her reasoning behind.When she had left Adrian behind, she’d known right there and then that she’d never be the sam
Liz Walters woke to waves of nausea and staggered sleepily toward the bathroom, hoping she wasn’t about to throw up all over her bedroom floor. Thankfully, she made it, and washed her face afterwards, rinsing her mouth with water and blinking tiredly at her reflection.I look awful. Where’s that glow everyone usually talks about while pregnant? She thought.Downstairs, dressed and ready for work, she stared at the breakfast the cook made them for today and felt nausea so she searched through the contents of the fridge and the cupboards for inspiration. She needed to eat, but what would stay down?There was a packet of chocolate cookies, half empty, so she grabbed a couple of those and ate them. It seemed to help, so she packed some to eat in the office in case she couldn’t eat the lunch her grandma had packed for her and drank a glass of juice before heading to work.She felt apprehensive working alongside her grandpa since she was struggling with her emotions around people nowadays.
Almost against her own will, Liz let her eyes trail lower. Her heart kicked up yet another gear as she fought to control the hallow breaths that jostled inside.If she didn’t know better, she might have thought that nothing has changed. He looked as fit, honed, as lethal as ever. And her fingers practically itched to reach out and test it for herself.But, she knew that he wasn’t the same man she’d met that night at that bar, he wasn’t the same man she’d loved and he definitely wasn’t the same man who used to make her feel loved.That night they had an argument, she’d seen another side of him, a side she would never want to see again. A side of him that could only see the flaws in her character and the mistakes she committed but it was all part of his imagination, all part of what that person who’d sent him pictures of her and Ivan together, wanted Adrian to believe.But, she was wronged, not just by that person but by Adrian as well. She was blamed for committing mistakes she never d
Liz Walters watched as Adrian stared at her in utter disbelief and felt guilty.“I want you to tell me the reason why you hid the truth from me, Liz,” he pressed her, with deliberate emphasis.Liz immediately thought about the truth she was hiding from him. Was she really going to hide this huge matter from him seeing how irate he appeared knowing that she hadn’t told him about her real identity? But this truth was something she wasn’t ready to talk about.Still, just like that, just because Adrian had spoken, she was Liz again. The same Liz she’d been when she was living in New York City, living with him as though the past month had never happened. “How did you know I was here?”“Anna and her assistant tracked Ivan down and found out that you were both from the same hometown. I took a chance and came here. I thought it would be difficult to search for you in such a huge town and I wasn’t sure I would even find you but there were talks about you around here. It didn’t take long for me
A lot had changed in this past month. Adrian had changed. How many times had he imagined finding her, explaining himself to her, asking for forgiveness? But not here, not like this...He needed to do it properly to show her how he’d turned his life around. This was the chance he’d been waiting for to get her back. And he wasn’t about to blow it. If only he could work his tongue loose to say a damned word. “I heard you’ve been awarded with the Forbes under 30 as one of the top innovative leaders,” Liz blurted out, clearly unable to stand the silence any longer. “I was doing my job.” He simply said with an indifferent shrug. “The newspapers don’t seem to think so,” she babbled on but, irrationally, he was more fascinated by the way her pulse was leaping erratically at her throat. “They said you’re impressive for having achieved this award in such a short time.” He’d hated the publicity for that. Impressive, nonsense! The public had lauded him for that award, yet all he could thin
Adrian Moore gripped the edge of the table. He had a bunch of questions running through his mind, questions to which he needed answers. “What did you decide?” The question was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He needed to know. “Isn’t it obvious already? I want to stay here. I need to take care of my grandparents, my company and –” She stopped abruptly as though she was about to say something she shouldn’t have said and he had no idea how he resisted the impulse to go to her. He felt a bit weird knowing that she’d chosen to stay here, that she hadn’t thought about him at least once. “What about me?” Adrian couldn’t stop himself. Although he might have sounded childish, he was genuinely curious.She couldn’t have possibly just decided to stay here when he had to stay in New York City…? How would they live so far away from one another? But why she would think about me, he then thought. If she’d moved on, she would not be thinking about him and his feelings. That would
Liz Walters watched as Adrian moved quickly to her side, snaking an arm around her shoulders before introducing himself, “I’m Adrian Moore, Liz’s husband.” Her head whipped around. She stared at him, horrified that he’d openly announced that he was her husband when they’d only been together through a contract marriage. In other words, he wasn’t her real husband. They met each others’ gaze for a few moments – maybe an eternity – neither of them wanting to be the first one to break the pin-dropped silence. But one of them was going to have to, and, after everything, Liz knew it had to be her. She was the only one who knew Adrian was lying and also, she was the only one who could reduce this tension arising between these two men. Liz turned to look at Xander. He seemed like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes kept switching back and forth between me and Adrian. “Can you give us a minute, please?” She politely asked the man. Hearing Liz’s voice, Xander snapped out of his state of sh