Chapter 2

Olivia pushed the glass door open, the sliding sound making both of them jump. Liam' s head snapped up, and the color drained from his face. For a second, he looked genuinely panicked, his eyes wide with shock.

"Olivia," he breathed out, his voice a strangled whisper. He quickly pulled his arm away from Sarah, who shrank back as if Olivia were a monster.

He stood up, trying to compose himself, to paste on a look of concern. "You're back. My God, why didn't you call? We were so worried. We didn't know what day you were being released." He took a step toward her, his hands outstretched as if to comfort her.

Olivia didn't move. She just stared at him, her expression unreadable. She watched him lie, watched the performance, and felt nothing but ice in her veins. When he got close enough to touch her arm, she flinched away as if his skin were fire.

Liam' s hands dropped awkwardly to his sides. "You look... tired," he said, his voice strained. "It must have been a long trip. We... we kept the guest room for you. You can stay there, for now."

For now. In her own house. He was treating her like an unwelcome guest, a problem to be managed. The audacity of it was breathtaking.

Sarah, seeing her opening, began to cry. Soft, delicate sobs that were perfectly designed to make her look like the victim. She struggled to stand, her pregnant belly making the movement clumsy. "Olivia," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to be a burden. After Mark died... I was so lost. Liam... Liam has been my rock. He's been so good to me, to us."

The 'us' again. Olivia' s eyes narrowed. She finally spoke, her voice low and dangerous. "My brother's widow. In my house. Pregnant with my fiancé's child. You call that being a rock, Liam?"

The direct question shattered his composure. His face hardened, the fake concern vanishing, replaced by defensiveness and anger. "What was I supposed to do, Olivia?" he snapped, his voice rising. "My life didn't stop just because you went away! Sarah was grieving, she needed someone! She was alone!"

"She wasn't alone, she had me!" Olivia shot back. "Until you convinced me to go to prison for a crime you committed!"

"I did what I had to do to protect the firm! To protect our future!" he yelled.

"Our future?" Olivia laughed, a bitter, humorless sound. "Does this look like our future, Liam?" She gestured around the cold, unfamiliar patio, at Sarah weeping into her hands, at the undeniable proof of his betrayal.

Liam' s face twisted into a sneer. "Maybe it would have been, if you hadn't gotten a criminal record," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "What did you expect? That I would put my life on hold for a convicted felon? Sarah needed a man. Noah needed a father figure. I stepped up. That's something you should be grateful for, not throwing accusations around the second you walk in the door." He had twisted her sacrifice into a stain on her character, a justification for his own treachery. He was devaluing her, dismissing her, trying to make her feel as worthless as he had treated her.