The house was quiet. Dave and the housekeepers had all retired for the night, but Laura was still in his bed. Liam took one look at her and made a beehive for his study. He couldn't bring himself to sleep beside her. Not when he was so confused. Not when his mind was racing with thoughts of Eden in his arms, and his dick grew hard just thinking about her. He turned on his MacBook and tried to work through the agenda notes for tomorrow's board meeting, but his mind kept drifting back to Eden's reasons for leaving him. He tried to think back to that night at Crush two years ago, but he couldn't remember ever mentioning marriage to Eden. He could see why she would jump to that conclusion though. Julian and Matthew had invited a few friends from college for a night out on the town to help him accept his future as Anderson Logistics' CEO. A group of guys at a club and one of them mentioning it's his last night of freedom can easily

Eden and Cassandra spent a few minutes outside the hair salon, making plans for the weekend. They parted ways soon after her friend got a call from her assistant. Something about a burst pipe. "God, I'm not cut out for this business crap!" Cassandra grumbled as she snapped on her helmet and jumped on her bike. "Thanks again for doing this," Eden called after her as she watched her pull away from the curb and race down the street, towards her studio not too far from the Civic Theatre. Eden turned to her car and sighed as she touched her hair, wishing it was all a dream, and Franco hadn't gone crazy with the scissors. At least it's soft; she consoled herself as she unlocked her door. It smelled amazing too, so there's that. She was about to slip in behind the wheel when her phone rang. It was a private number, and despite common sense telling her not to—because whoever was on the other end was only calling to sell her insurance or other such services she couldn't possibly afford—she

Eden opened the folder, took one look at the offer and pushed it back. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline. If I'm so important to Mr Anderson's recovery, he can do better than that."Gibby stared at her, mouth agape, almost as if she's seeing her for the first time."You said so yourself I'll be performing two roles." Eden carried on, not caring at all that the other woman thought her shameless.One thing she learned from sitting in in too many of her father's Economics lectures—through no choice of her own—was the art of negotiation and bargaining. She was in a much better position to negotiate because Liam needed her more than she needed him.He really should have taken her when she was still okay with just the R325K, Eden thought as she picked up her cup with a much steadier hand."Let me chat with him," Gibby said as she called her boss. She kept him on the phone while she scribbled another figure and passed the contract back.

"Are you okay?" Eden turned to the all too familiar gravelly voice and spewed out a string of expletives under her breath. She really must have been a very terrible person in her previous life to experience so many misfortunes in one night. "Simon," she said quietly, her lips pressed together, her arms crossed over her chest. When she found out she's pregnant, she lost interest in all things Simon, never thought of him, never stalked his social media pages and never wanted to hear about him. She forgot him the moment she moved to the Blue Mountains. But now, here he was, in all his Greek god glory, still very much the handsome devil he was when he sent her a breakup text. He looked happy, healthy, and still very married if the ring on his left finger is any indication. "Hi!" Her ex-fiancé waved at her, his mouth curled upward, his face beaming as if their chance meeting was a much anticipated joyful reunion when in reality it was anyth

The minute they were alone, Liam threw his glass across the booth, it hit the wall partition and splintered into crystal shards on the floor, splashing brown liquid everywhere.He watched the mess, but his rage did not cool, and he was not satisfied.He grabbed the still-full bottle and was about to subject it to the same fate when Julian sprung to his feet and snatched it away from him."Whoa, dude chill! You know how damn expensive this is!""I paid for it," Liam grunted and eased back in his seat, his heart still pounding out control, his anger roaring in his ears way louder than the music blasting from the overhead speakers."What's gotten into you, and why was Laura so pissed off?" Matthew asked and waved at their waitress—a Jade or some other stripper name Liam forgot as soon as she introduced herself when they first arrived— to bring them an empty glass.The lingerie-clad blonde bombshell, whose tiny bra was struggling to