Page 115 of Begin Again, Part 2

"Don't come any closer," he warned, fury dripping through his voice as he sidestepped her, opened the door, and called his butler in.

"Mr Anderson, do you need something?"

"Yes," Liam nodded. "Help Mrs Stone pack her stuff and escort her out of the house. Make sure she doesn't leave anything behind."

"Sir?" Dave sounded as bewildered as the housekeeper looked, with her mouth slack and her eyes wide with trepidation. "What's the reason for the dismissal?"

Not in the mood to explain himself, Liam barked, "Get it done!"

He picked up his phone and spent the next ten minutes on the call with his legal team, firing instructions at them to file a lawsuit against his former housekeeper for breach of contract.

"Why are you both still here?" he asked his butler when he hung up from George Whitman and his team.

"Well, sir, I need to understand—"

"You don't need to understand anything, Dave. Get this shit done!"

The butler nodded and threw an angry look at Mrs Stone as he tried to bundle her out of the room. But, she refused to go away quietly, begging and pleading with Liam. When that didn't work, she brought out the waterworks. "Mr Anderson, I made a mistake. Please don't let me go. I'm too old. Where will I find work at my age?"

Her argument didn't deserve a response, and her tears did little to move him. Her daughter had taught him all he knew about crocodile tears. So he ignored her, turned to the bottle of bourbon on his desk, and poured himself a shot.

"This isn't right," she screeched behind him when her tears failed to induce sympathy from him.

For five minutes, she went batshit as she ranted about everything Liam had done to her precious daughter. "My Laura was with you for three years, and as soon as that classless, lowlife of a woman comes back from the back of beyond with her bastard child—"

She didn't finish her rant. Liam was already on his feet and almost had her up against the wall when Dave pulled him back. "No, Mr Anderson! You don't want to end up in prison. Think of the missus and the baby."

Eden stumbled in. The commotion in the study had interrupted her nap. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked. "Liam, what's going on?"

Before he could even explain and assure her everything was just rosy, she heaved and covered her mouth with her hand as she raced out of the room.

"Dave do the necessary," he instructed his butler as he dashed after Eden.

He found her in their bathroom, sprawled over the toilet pan.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he knelt on the floor beside her and held her hair away from her face while she carried on retching.

"I think it's safe to say I'm not feeling too hot right now," she said as she finally stood up and flushed the toilet.

"You still look hot," Liam said, reaching for her toothbrush. He spread toothpaste over the bristles and handed it to her.

"I try," she smiled at him, but her eyes didn't shine like they usually did when she was happy. She looked drained, and the faint dark circles around her eyes he noticed earlier had turned a darker shade of bluish-black. Her radiant skin, too, was now a pallid complexion.

"When did it start?" Liam crossed his arms, leaned on the shower wall, and watched her brush her teeth while he held her gaze in the mirror.

Eden shrugged. "I don't know. A week, maybe more, I think. On and off."

"If you're still feeling sick tomorrow, I'm taking you to the doctor," Liam said.

"There's no need," she shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm sure it's a tummy bug or something. It should clear up in a few days."

"Well, I'd rather be safe than sorry," Liam said and picked her up.

As he carried her to their bed, Eden didn't squeal with glee or plead to be set down like she had earlier. Instead, she nuzzled close to him, sighing in his neck, "Liam, I'm so tired."

"You look tired," he said as he set her down on the mattress and tucked her under the covers. "Get some rest while I make you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Eden tried to sit up, but he gently eased her back on the bed.

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