21. Liam
Chapter twenty-one
Liam
I watch her rush away.
She doesn’t even look back.
The clinic door swings shut behind her, the faint sound of her footsteps fading into nothing.
And I just… stand there.
For a moment, my feet won’t move. My chest feels tight, my stomach churning as my mind races to catch up.
Everything was going so well.
Or at least I thought it was.
We’d spent weeks growing closer — laughing, talking, even just sitting in silence. I could feel her walls coming down, one brick at a time. I thought she trusted me.
And then — just like that — they’re back.
Higher than ever.
This time, I’m not sure I’ll be able to break them down.
I run a hand over my jaw, letting out a slow breath. My fingers tighten around the keys in my palm, and for a second, I consider going after her.
Pushing just a little harder.
Forcing her to tell me what’s going on.
But then I stop myself.
She made it pretty clear she needed space.
And if there’s one thing I know about Lucy by now, it’s that pushing too hard only makes her retreat even further.
So I let her go.
Even though it feels like my chest is being crushed as I watch her disappear.
I shove my hands in my pockets and head back to my car.
It’s dark now, the streetlights buzzing faintly as I slide into the driver’s seat. I sit there for a long moment, staring at the steering wheel, my thoughts spinning in circles.
What on earth happened?
Everything was fine at the gala. We were fine.
She laughed. She smiled at me like she meant it.
And now…
I shake my head, starting the engine.
I can’t do this alone tonight.
I reach for my phone and send a quick text to the only two people who’ve always known how to steady me.
Me: Usual spot?
It doesn’t take long for Nate to reply.
Nate: Already here.
Bryan: On my way.
I pull out of the parking lot, the quiet rumble of the car the only sound as I make my way across town.
The bar is warm when I step inside, a little too bright compared to the cool evening outside.
Nate and Bryan are already seated at our usual booth near the back, each holding a beer, with a third waiting for me.
Bryan glances up when he sees me, giving me one of his easy smiles.
“You look like you got crushed,” he says lightly.
I give him a look that probably confirms it.
Nate leans back in his seat, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “What’s going on?”
I drop into the booth, wrapping my hands around the cold glass in front of me.
For a long moment, I just sit there, staring at the amber liquid as it catches the light.
Finally, I shake my head.
“Don’t want to talk about it.”
Bryan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t push. He just takes a sip of his drink.
Nate watches me for a long time, then nods once. “Alright,” he says simply.
That’s the thing about these two. They’ve known me long enough to know when to press and when to leave me alone.
We sit there for a while, the familiar buzz of the bar filling the silence. Nate and Bryan talk quietly about a new property deal they’re working on, but I can’t focus.
My mind keeps circling back to Lucy.
Her smile.
Her laugh.
The way her eyes refused to meet mine tonight, no matter how gently I tried to get her to open up.
I don’t understand.
Did I move too fast?
Did I say the wrong thing?
I play back every moment from the past few weeks in my head, searching for something, anything, that might explain the way she’s pulled back.
But I come up empty.
I’m so lost in my thoughts I almost don’t notice the man who walks into the bar.
He’s dressed sharp — tailored suit, polished shoes, hair perfectly styled.
But there’s something about him that makes my stomach tighten.
Maybe it’s the way his eyes scan the room like he owns it. Maybe it’s the faint smirk on his lips.
Whatever it is, I don’t like it.
He doesn’t stay long — just orders a drink, downs it quickly, and then leaves.
I watch him go, a faint unease lingering in my chest.
But after a moment, I shake it off.
I have bigger things to worry about right now.
When Bryan and Nate finish their second round, I stand, tossing a few bills on the table.
“I’m heading home,” I tell them.
Nate gives me a look. “You sure you’re okay?”
I force a faint smile. “Yeah. Just tired.”
They don’t press.
I step out into the cool night air, letting it clear my head a little.
But instead of heading straight home, I take the long way.
I tell myself it’s just habit. That I like this route better.
But I know the truth.
It’s the street that passes by her house.
The closer I get, the more restless I feel.
I just… need to see her.
To make sure she’s home safe.
I slow as I turn onto her block, my eyes scanning the familiar little house.
But what I see makes me slam on the brakes.
There, standing on her doorstep, is the man from the bar.
The sharp-dressed stranger.
Something in me snaps.
I throw the car into park and climb out, my heart hammering in my chest as I cross the street.
He hasn’t seen me yet — his back is to me as he knocks on her door, standing just a little too close, like he has every right to be there.
My jaw tightens as I close the distance.
“What on earth are you—”
But then the door opens, and I freeze.
Lucy stands there, her eyes wide when she sees me.
For a second, she just stares.
And then the man turns to her with a smile that makes my blood run cold.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he says warmly, like he belongs here.
My breath catches.
Sweetheart?
Lucy’s face goes pale, and for a moment I swear she looks like she might faint.
“Theo,” she breathes. “What are you doing here?”
Theo.
The man, Theo gives a little laugh. “I came for you,” he says simply. “We still need to finish up the wedding preparations.”
My chest constricts painfully.
Wedding… what?
Lucy’s sharp intake of breath is loud in the quiet night.
I turn to her slowly, my voice low, barely audible.
“Lucy,” I say, my throat tight. “Who is he?”
She doesn’t answer right away.
Her eyes dart between me and Theo, her face a mask of something hard and cold now.
Finally, she lets out a shaky breath and meets my gaze.
“This is Theo,” she says.
Then she adds, “My fiancé.”
It feels like the ground falls out from under me.
For a moment, I can’t even breathe.
Fiancé?
I stare at her, willing her to take it back. To tell me this is some kind of mistake.
But she doesn’t.
Her shoulders square, her chin lifting slightly as she meets my eyes.
Her face is unreadable now.
Hard.
Like she’s already decided to shut me out completely. Everything we built, every smile, every laugh, every quiet moment, it all crashes around me like waves against the rocks.
And I realize, too late, that I was already all in.
***
I can’t shake it.
I try to. I do everything I can to forget the way her eyes met mine when she told me about Theo. Her fiancé.
Fiancé.
The word rings in my head like a drumbeat I can’t silence. It doesn’t make sense. It feels like I’m trapped in a dream — some nightmare where everything is wrong, and I’m the last one to wake up.
When she didn’t say anything before she left, before she shut me out, it hit me harder than I could’ve imagined. I thought I was just another person to her, a distraction — someone who didn’t matter. But the silence… the silence has eaten at me for days now.
I can’t stop thinking about her. Her face, the way her eyes shimmered with a coldness I hadn’t seen before. The way she shut herself off completely the moment Theo walked into the picture. My heart breaks every time I think of it.
Maybe I meant nothing to her. I think that every time my phone buzzes, hoping for a message that will never come. The silence is louder than anything she could’ve said.
She’s gone. And I’m still here.
Stuck.
I can’t focus on anything at work. I’m trying to, but my thoughts keep drifting back to her — to Lucy. To that damn fiancé of hers.
I keep asking myself the same question: Why? Why didn’t she tell me before? Why the lies? Why the distance?
I close my eyes, rubbing my temples, willing the headache to go away. I can’t get over this. I don’t know how to. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face, the way it looked when she said fiancé.
It’s like everything I thought I knew about her, everything I thought we had, is just a lie.
A soft knock on the door snaps me out of my thoughts.
“Liam?” Nate’s voice filters through, concerned.
“Come in,” I mutter, not looking up from my desk.
I hear the door open and close, the sound of footsteps, and then Nate’s voice again, quieter, like he knows better than to push right now.
“Bryan’s here too,” he says gently, his voice more familiar now. “We figured you could use some company.”
I don’t say anything at first. I can’t. My throat’s too tight, and the lump that’s been in my chest for the past few days feels like it might crack me in two.
I wave them in, but I don’t lift my head.
I hear the chair scrape against the floor as Bryan sits next to me, and Nate takes the seat beside him. I can’t even look at them. I can’t bring myself to. They know. They know what happened.
“Liam, listen,” Nate starts, but I shake my head, cutting him off.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I mutter. My voice sounds foreign to me, rough, tired. “I don’t want to talk about her. Or him. Or anything that’s happened.”
“You don’t have to,” Bryan says softly, his voice always calm, always understanding. “But you should. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
I feel the weight of his words sink in. They’re right. I’ve been shutting myself off, trying to bury everything beneath the surface. But it’s not working.
Leaning back in my chair, my hands grip the arms, and I finally let out a breath.
“I thought it was different this time,” I admit quietly. “I thought… I don’t know. I thought maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t like the rest of them.”
I can hear the sympathy in their silence, but I don’t look at them. I can’t.
“She left, Nate. She didn’t even have the decency to explain.
She just… disappeared. After everything we shared, everything I thought we had…
she didn’t think to tell me the truth.” I let out a frustrated sigh, my fist slamming onto the desk.
“It’s like she used me, made me believe in something real, and then just tossed me aside when the real thing showed up. ”
“I know you’re hurt, Liam,” Bryan says quietly, “but you’re not seeing it clearly. You’re assuming she meant to hurt you, that she used you. But maybe, just maybe, she didn’t know how to tell you. Maybe she didn’t know how to explain what she was going through.”
“Don’t,” I snap, cutting him off. “You don’t understand. You weren’t there. You didn’t see the way she looked at me. You didn’t see the way she shut me out without a word. How on earth could I ever trust her again?”
I lean forward, rubbing my hands over my face.
“I don’t even trust myself anymore. I was stupid enough to fall for someone who clearly didn’t care.
” I laugh bitterly, shaking my head. “I’ve spent so much of my life pushing people away, avoiding love because of what it does to you.
And then, of course, I go and fall for the one person who can break me. ”
Bryan and Nate sit in silence, and I can feel their eyes on me. They’re waiting for me to stop. To breathe. To let this all go. But I can’t.
“I don’t want to be this guy,” I continue, my voice shaky now. “I don’t want to be the guy who believes in something, only to have it ripped out of his hands. I’ve always been afraid of that… but I let myself fall for her. I let her in. And now, I’m paying for it.”
I pause, my voice lowering. “And I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop wondering why she couldn’t have just been honest with me.”
Nate sighs, leaning forward a little. “Liam, you know you can’t control what other people do. You can’t make someone open up to you if they’re not ready. But that doesn’t mean you have to shut yourself off from love. You’re not beyond redemption.”
“You can’t push everyone away just because of her,” Bryan adds. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve someone who will give you the same love you give them.”
I scoff. “Love? What’s the point? She didn’t even care enough to explain why she did what she did. How can I trust anyone again?”
“You’ll find a way,” Nate says, his voice steady. “But you have to let go of this anger. Let go of the idea that everyone’s going to hurt you. Because if you keep holding onto that, you’ll miss out on something real.”
I clench my jaw, my fists tight at my sides. “I don’t know how,” I mutter, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’m tired of being afraid of being hurt, but I’m even more afraid of loving someone who’s just going to leave me.”
I sit there in silence for a long while, the weight of everything pressing down on me. I can feel my chest tightening again, that ache in my heart growing worse by the second.
Nate stands up, clapping me on the back. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. But you have to let go of the past, Liam. You have to stay open for love. I know it’s hard, to believe in it. I just want you to be happy, Liam.”
I nod slowly, not entirely convinced. But there’s something in their words that makes me think it’s worth a shot.
I grab my coat and head out with them, my mind still swirling with everything that’s happened. But one thing is clear — I don’t know how to stop thinking about her. And I don’t know if I can ever truly let her go.