Across town, at a family-owned restaurant whose speciality is all things Italian, in a secluded corner booth reserved for very important people like his parents, Liam was just as miserable as the woman he'd kissed on impulse in the printing room earlier in the week. He was seriously glad his shitty week is finally over. Now he can drink himself to a stupor and forget all the shit with Eden. He glumly picked at his starter—a hearty minestrone soup— and silently fumed over their latest confrontation in his office. He'd called her in because he'd wanted to have an open, honest conversation with her about their relationship, and offer her an olive branch of some sort. But the minute Eden put up walls around her again, the same walls that took him over a month to break down, the lengthy apology speech he'd prepared flew right out of the window— "—Darling, is everything okay?" His mom’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Liam looked up from his soup, start

Eden had never been so glad to see a jug of ice-cold water in her life. She attacked it the minute they all sat down in their VIP room, her body trembling with relief at the realisation that she's managed to avert disaster yet again. She couldn't keep having these close encounters and near misses, though. Her luck was bound to run out at some point, and it's only a matter of time before the truth about Aiden's paternity came to light. "You were in such a hurry to get away from the Andersons. Is there a reason you didn't want to dine with your boss and his family?" Steve asked, interrupting her panicked thoughts, a concerned look in his eyes as he patted her shoulder gently. Erica barely noticed the mini-crisis Eden's in. She was still floating on air, elated over the tons of compliments the Andersons had showered on them. "Honey?" Steve touched her arm gently, trying to get her attention. "What is it? Did Anderson Junior treat you badly? Do yo

Mystified by the last three minutes, Liam watched Eden dash off. One second she's crying buckets on his chest and the next she's babbling all kinds of strange things about Laura. He stared at the emergency exit she'd just slipped through, debating whether to follow her or not. She's clearly distraught, but as her least favourite person in the world at the moment he should just let her be. Shrugging his broad shoulders, Liam turned to the bar, where a bottle of something—cognac, maybe bourbon—with his name on it, waited for him. But he paused when panic stirred in the pit of his stomach, threatening to suffocate him. "Fucking hell," he groaned. She wouldn't. But this is Eden. Anything's possible with her, especially in the emotional state she's in. Without putting any more thought into it, Liam ran after her, bolting through the emergency exit and up the stairs. By the time he reached the rooftop, he was

The minute she was alone again on the rooftop, Eden burst into tears and cried harder than she has in a while, the howling wind and the constant stream of cars ten stories below drowning out her loud, heart-wrenching sobs. She'd told Liam she wanted to be alone, but the truth is she would gladly take his company any day over this feeling of aloneness gnawing at her heart. "Pull yourself together," Eden told herself over and over. But she couldn't. She didn't know how to. She's twenty-six, with a baby of her own, and her parents' divorce shouldn't affect her so much. But it did, and in ways she'd never have imagined or would ever wish on anyone. Maybe it was the suddenness of it all or the complete randomness, but her parents' announcement had devastated her world beyond measure and shattered all the illusions she'd had about love and relationships and family. Yes, her family was dysfunctional at the very least. But, there was a sense of safety

Liam was in his living room, destroying his cousins in a heated round of F1 2020 when his head of security called. He paused the game and grabbed his phone from the coffee table. "Dude, that's such a pussy-ass move!" Matthew barked from behind him. "It would be if I was losing," Liam smirked over his shoulder. "I have to take this." "Anderson," he breathed into the phone as he stepped onto the patio. "Sir, Paradise is home," James said on his end. "I'm sorry, paradise what?" Liam asked, puzzled by the other man's announcement. "Paradise," James murmured. "That's the code name for the Missus. Since her name's Eden, which means paradise, the guys thought it's a great code name for her. What do you think?" After the long evening he's had, Liam wasn't in the mood for the other man's theatrics. He gripped the phone tightly in his hand and breathed in slowly as he mentally counted to ten. Confident that he can speak w