Page 90 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

“I knew I shouldn’t have done this. I knew it! The whole damn thing backfired.”

I stopped in front of him, his stoic composure flaming my anger even further.

“There is nothing to worry about, Liberty,” he added, his voice pure ice.

“Maybe for you,” I shouted angrily. I came to stop in front of him. “But it seems to me I have even more to worry about now. I had a better chance of getting Brandon alone, without this damn marriage. Against you, I have no chance, and you know it. And his last name. How could you even recommend he adds your last name to his? Your name!”

“What are you scared of, Liberty?” he roared back, his calm demeanor gone. “Were you ready to run as soon as you got custody of Brandon?” His body cornered me against the wall. “Did you forget there was a bargain for us to get married so I got the publishing house?”

I pushed on his hard chest with my hands.

“Don’t you dare turn this around?” I yelled at him although he was only inches away from me, tears threatening to spill over. “I wasn’t going to run. But this wasn’t supposed to happen! How would you feel if I got fifty percent of your publishing house? At least with the business, no state resides over it. When we get divorced, the state will decide what is best for the child.” I pushed on his chest, angry tears running down my cheeks. “Tell me, how are you going to fix that?”

“Simply,” he retorted. “We won’t get divorced.” I watched him, my mouth opening and closing, but no words came out. I must have looked like a fish out of water. Then he continued, his voice scolding. “Why are you so afraid of giving this marriage a chance, Livy? We could remain married, have a real chance at it.”

I opened my mouth again to tell him he was crazy and before I could get the words out, the door opened and Maxim entered.

“Whatever you two are shouting about, get it together,” he warned. “Grandfather is here.”

I quickly wiped my eyes, Maxim’s gaze followed my movement.

No sooner he said that, their grandfather’s figure showed up.

“There you all are.” He was smiling happily. “I am so happy to finally have a granddaughter in the family, my dear. How was the honeymoon?”

“Hello, Mr. Caldwell.” I tried to put a smile on my face and knew I was probably failing miserably. I wasn’t good at hiding my emotions like Alexander.

He must have caught on because he glanced between all three of us curiously. I wondered if he saw me as a complete mess and Alexander as his perfect self. Even Maxim was shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another.

“Call me Grandfather, dear. First fight, ha?” his grandfather chuckled softly as he slowly walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek. “That means you both have a spark and love each other. When you stop fighting, that’s when you should worry.”

This damn plan was backfiring from all the angles. It was wrong to lie to this old man. We were going from bad to worse within seconds. I wanted to take Brandon and leave this damn place and Alexander behind. There was no way this was going to end well. The silence stretched in the room, I avoided looking in Alexander’s direction, but I also didn’t want to look at his grandfather, scared he’d see telltale of our deceit all over my face.

“Okay, you two,” his grandfather broke the silence. “Why don’t we all sit down? I have a proposition.”

I stiffly walked to my chair and sat down. This was such bad timing, all the way around. I placed my trembling hands in my lap and waited. I wanted all this to be over with.

“I’m ready for the transition of the publishing house,” he started and I snapped my eyes to his grandfather. “I decided it will be my wedding present to Alexander and you, Liberty.”

I stared at the old man with kind blue eyes, and I felt like the most rotten person in the world. Unsure what to say, I remained numb, waiting for either Alexander or Maxim to say something. But it seemed they wouldn’t say anything either.

“Nothing to say?” the old man mused. “I thought you’d all be happy about it.”

I just nodded, but said nothing. What was I expected to say? Thank you? I felt like a complete cheat.

“Alexander mentioned you didn’t like being his secretary, and let me say, I don’t blame you. He also said you worked in publishing before,” he continued. “So this will allow you to do what you love, Liberty.”

Wondering if he planned all this, I glanced at Alexander. His gaze was on me, but as usual, I had no idea what he was thinking. Maybe it was just the odd timing, Alexander did say his grandfather was ill.

“Thank you,” I muttered softly, unsure of what to do or say.

“You’re welcome, my dear.” His grandfather chuckled softly. “Now, can I have lunch with all of you and Brandon? It has been too quiet since Brandon and Maxim came back to London, leaving me alone in Scotland.”

I didn’t feel like it was for me to say yes or no, but everyone’s eyes were on me so I nodded. I was so out of my element and game here. This felt like getting buried deeper and deeper with no light in sight.

“Where do you usually have lunch here?” I asked. I only knew where Alexander’s study, bedroom and kitchen were at this point.

Grandfather's laugh filled the room. “Alexander, you have to do a better job of taking care of your wife. Otherwise, she’ll run away.”

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