Chapter 3 - The Secret Liam Never Intended to Tell
Nobody touched the food after Liam mentioned Hailey.
I took my daughter from my mother's arms and held her close.
“What does Vanessa have to do with our baby?”
Liam rubbed his forehead. “I can explain.”
“Then start explaining.”
He looked toward the windows, where the last daylight was fading over the yard.
“Vanessa's father, Richard Reed, owns a financial group that invested in my company. I needed his support when the business was struggling.”
“So you slept with his daughter to secure an investment?”
“It wasn't that simple.”
“It's always complicated when a man wants to avoid calling his choices what they are.”
His jaw tightened.
Diane began to cry quietly.
I expected another excuse. Instead, Liam admitted that Richard had offered him a major partnership months before Hailey was born.
In exchange, Liam had agreed to discuss a marriage between himself and Vanessa if his existing marriage ever ended.
“You promised her you'd leave me?” I asked.
“Not then.”
“But you promised eventually.”
He said nothing.
I reached into the envelope and removed the final document.
It was a copy of a business agreement bearing Liam's signature. One clause referred to a proposed marriage arrangement, contingent on the end of his current marriage.
My father read it twice.
“This is disgusting.”
Liam lunged for the paper, but I held it away.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent me a photograph of a document from a hospital.
Below it was a message.
Ask your husband why Vanessa Reed has been trying to obtain your daughter's medical records.
I looked at Liam.
May you like
His face had turned white.
And suddenly, the affair was no longer the most frightening thing about my marriage.
