Page 146 of Begin Again, Part 2

"They hate him, remember? Any reason is a good reason for those stuck up pricks."

"Those stuck up pricks pay your salary."

"I know that." Clara huffed on her end. "But I don't like the way they treat the Dragon sometimes. How is he? Is he going to be okay?"

Eden assured her Liam would be fine, and there was no need for her to panic. "But you have to keep this to yourself. If the board didn't announce it, I don't think they want people to know."

"You know me, I haven't told anyone you're pregnant, so I can keep a secret," Clara said quickly.

"Oh God, did you have to bring that up right now? I won't miss you when I leave!" Eden said, grumbling under her breath. "But seriously, not a word to anyone about Liam being in hospital."

"I get it! Nothing tanks share prices than a dead CEO!"

"Too soon," Eden said.

"Sorry," Clara said. "Anyway, speaking of the Ivanovs, did you hear Andrei's back?"

The name sounded familiar. But for the life of her, Eden couldn't place it.

"The other twin." Clara cleared up her confusion. "So I heard from a friend who works at Aero Shipping that he was abroad all this time, handling their overseas operations. But he flew back a few hours ago. It was such a huge deal, the prodigal son back and all. Though he's not the prodigal son since he's the favourite and is set to take over from their father."

Eden half-listened while she sent Sarah an acceptance email. She'd start as her freelance designer as soon as she was done serving her notice as Liam's assistant.

"Makes sense now why he's suddenly back. He's here to clean up his little brother's mess. Anyway, if you thought Aleksei was hot, wait until you see Andrei."

"I thought they're identical?" Eden stifled a yawn.

"Well, Jessica and Elizabeth were identical, but one was still prettier than the other!"

"Who are they again?"

"Argh, Edie! Sweet Valley High? The book series?"

"Bye, Clara!" Eden laughed and hung up. If she never saw Aleksei or his twin, it would be too soon.

After her call, Eden contacted the estate agent and gave her the go-ahead to put her house on the market. Next, she emailed a few storage companies for quotes for her furniture.

With her housing issues sorted, she tackled her mammoth task—Aiden's book. She hadn't opened the draft in a while, and now that she was expecting again, she was determined to finish it before the arrival of the new baby. By the time the sun crept up, she only had a few more illustrations to add to the book before shipping it off for editing and proofreading.

Eden snapped her laptop shut and called the hospital.

After spending an unnecessarily long time identifying herself and explaining her relationship with the patient in room 406, the nurse assigned to Liam assured her he'd slept through the night and was still out. If there was any change in his condition, she'd notify his family. She hung up before Eden could get another word in. Dejected, she stared at the phone for a moment or two, tempted to call back and tell her exactly what she thought of her attitude. But she talked herself out of it, in case they all started ill-treating Liam.

Eden sent a check-in text in the group chat and updated her friends on the roller coaster that had become her life, deliberately leaving out her pregnancy news. She wasn't ready to deal with Lydia's judgy comments and Sienna's scolding.

Cassandra was the only one awake, and they spent a little while catching up. The back and forth texting wasn't working for Eden, so she called her and was glad she did. Her bestie was at her wits' end with Chef's Kiss. "Edie, I don't know what to do anymore. I think I have enough to keep the place running for the next two weeks. After that, I'll have to close shop and sell out to greedy giants like Van Holt Industries."

"Selling out isn't necessarily a bad thing, Cass," Eden said sensibly. "Look at me. I never thought I'd go corporate. But here I am. It wasn't my dream job, but I learned a lot. Bills don't care if you sell out or not. They still have to be paid."

"Argh, you're right!" Cassandra groaned out her frustration. "But you know this has always been my dream!"

"And you're not giving up on your dream. You're just putting it on hold for the time being."

"Who are you, and what did you do to my best friend?" Cassandra asked.

Eden chuckled, but still took a moment to reflect on her question before answering, a hint of sadness in her voice. "She's still here, but she came close to losing what's important to her."

"I'm sorry," Cassandra said. "You've been through so much. How are you still sane?"

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