Chapter8
Thinking about how Liam stood up for me against Lola today filled me with joy.
I’d finally married a man with a clear head who wouldn’t be fooled by such cheap tricks.
After dinner that evening, once Marcus and Sarah had left, I wrapped my arms around Liam’s waist.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’s this about?”
“Your reward.” As he looked down at me, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his lips.
Liam’s gaze paused for a moment, then without hesitation, he cupped the back of my head, closed his eyes, and deepened the
kiss.
Around eleven o’clock, my phone suddenly rang on the nightstand.
I squinted and glanced at it.
It was an unknown number, and they hung up before I could
answer.
Liam sat beside me wearing his silver-rimmed glasses, reading a book. His profile was handsome, with long lashes casting
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shadows downward.
I had to admit his energy was truly excessive.
He asked, “Who called you?”
I said, “I don’t know. I don’t recognize the number.”
Liam nodded.
After a while, noticing I’d been staring at him, he turned to look
at me. “Why do you keep looking at me?”
I said, “You really have amazing stamina.”
“You think this counts as good stamina?” He smiled.
I caught a hint of mockery in his tone.
He said, “If it weren’t for the fact that you looked tired…”
I covered his mouth. He took my hand and gently kissed the
back of it.
I asked, “When you used to debate with me, you never held back. Did you ever think I might be your future wife?”
He looked at me, his eyes holding emotions that were hard to read.
He said, “If I had lost to you, would you have had such a deep impression of me?”
I said, “How could I not remember? I even went out of my way
to…”
Went out of my way to ask about you.
His handsome features curved into a smile, with a hint of teasing. “You asked about me?”
I said vaguely, “Yeah. We were at the same university anyway, so it was hard not to hear about you.”
He was particularly aloof-either making money or on his way to make money, yet somehow his grades consistently ranked first in the department. He even developed software with classmates and started a company.
I asked curiously, “So why were you so driven back then?”
He was quiet for a moment before asking, “You want to know?”
I said, “Of course.”
He hesitated, as if weighing whether to say it out loud.
I sat up and hugged him, leaning against his chest. “What is it? Is there something you can’t tell me?”
Liam said softly, “Saying it feels like I’m playing the victim.”
All these years, Tate and Hazel had barely taken care of him.
In middle school, he was sent to live with distant relatives, helping out at their small restaurant in exchange for three meals a day and tuition. Throughout high school and college, he had to earn all his living expenses himself. During university, his adoptive parents frequently found excuses to ask him for money to supplement the household income.
He used to think it was because they were poor and didn’t know how to express love that they neglected him so completely.
Until their second son was born, and he saw how they loved a child.
That’s when he realized that not being loved simply meant not being loved-there were no so-called hardships behind it.
From then on, he rarely went home, because there was no one there who welcomed him.
Even so, Tate and Hazel never stopped demanding money from him.
That plot of land and house of theirs-90% of the money came from Liam.
No wonder he worked so desperately to make money back then.
Listening to this made me furious. “Tate and Hazel are terrible. I suspect they knew all along you weren’t their biological child- otherwise, how could they be so heartless?”
“It’s okay. You have me now, and I’ll love you properly.” I said, half-joking and half-serious, reaching out to stroke his head.
He suddenly held me tightly, lowered his head, and buried his face in the crook of my neck, letting out a long breath.
He said, “Remember what you said, Evelyn.”
