Page 1 of This Heart
Liam
Two Years Ago
I stared at the paper in my hands, trying to make sense of what I was reading. Hope had lied to me.
“What are you doing?”
The sound of Hope’s surprised voice caused me to look up from the devastating news I had just read.
“You lied to me?”
Fear stretched across her face as her eyes bounced from the paper I was holding back to me.
“Liam, you have to let me explain.”
I slowly shook my head. “Is it true, what this says?”
Swallowing hard. Hope looked away and whispered, “Yes. It’s true.”
My stomach felt like it dropped to the floor as I realized that my entire life was nearly a lie.
“How could you do this to me, Hope? How?”
She walked into the room and stopped a few feet from me. “I didn’t have a choice, Liam. I was desperate. I didn’t know what to do, and you…you were there, and I knew you would be able to fix it for me.”
I felt my eyes widen. “Are you fucking serious right now? I don’t even know who you are anymore, Hope.”
She forced a smile. “I’m your wife, Liam.”
“No, a wife wouldn’t do this to her husband. This is low…so fucking low I can’t even look at you right now.”
“Liam, we can make this work. I know you’re mad right now, but we can make it work.”
I drew in a breath, then exhaled. I tossed the papers onto the floor and turned away from Hope. “I’m going tomorrow to file for a divorce. We can work out a custody arrangement for Winnie. I think fifty-fifty is fair.”
A sharp intake of breath came from behind me. “You want shared custody?”
Turning, I glared at her. “I don’t give a shit what you do, Hope. Stay in Moose Village, tour the world like you’ve always wanted, but this between us hasn’t been working since the day after we said I do. You know it and I know it. This little stunt just dealt the final blow.”
I walked past her and stopped at the door. Turning, I said, “I’ll make arrangements to go live somewhere else.”
“What?”
My gaze met hers. “I don’t want to be under the same roof with you ever again.”
With those departing words, I walked down the hall, through the house, and to the front door, where I slammed it so hard I thought for sure I had broken it.
Feeling my heart slam against the wall of my chest, I slid into my truck and shut the door. The crazy thing was, I wasn’t the least bit sad our marriage was over. Hell, it had been over before she had gotten pregnant. I was mad I was so easily deceived.
It started out like a dream. Marrying Hope, moving back to Moose Village. Starting my rooftop bar and restaurant. She had told me she wanted that dream until the day after we said our vows. Looking back, I realized I had been caught up in the idea ofus.
Reaching for the ignition button, I started my truck.
“Time to come back to reality and face the future, Liam,” I muttered to myself as I drove away.
The idea was to divorce Hope and get equal, shared custody of Winnie as I possibly could. Little did I know everything would change, and my entire world would be turned upside down in just one month.
One year later - December
